ONCE BURNED was made by MEL. Copying, altering, or stealing any of the site's content is prohibited. All of ONCE BURNED's characters are the original work of their owners and may not be replicated or stolen. All images and graphics belong to their rightful owners and ONCE BURNED does not claim to own any of them.
Her office was the one place in all of the academy that offered true privacy for the trainer. Even so, her door was almost always open for students to come in any time she wasn't preoccupied with training. The wooden desk was old but sturdy, a laptop sitting on top while her bag rested in her chair. She pulled Teddy in further into the space, using her free hand to extend towards a picture frame. Fingers curled around it, turning it to offer a photo of her family, animals and parents surrounding Natalie. "This was from when they visited a couple years ago."
She let the image settle a little longer before she looked back up at the lawyer. "You can ask me anything, any time you want." She said responded finally. "And I know this is probably helping you more than it is me on the subject of things being new, but I never really have been in a relationship before. Not one that was serious, at least. Nobody had ever seemed... right."
It was so easy to be drawn towards Teddy. She had a magnetic pull that Natalie couldn't help but to be drawn into, and she wanted to be pulled into. The hand on her waist circled to the small of her back, inching her just a little bit closer.
She had to laugh, at least a little for the way Teddy worded herself. "You don't give yourself enough credit." She responded. It felt important that she needed to know it couldn't be broken down so simply. But she complied with the request made of her, taking steps back as she held on to her hand to guide her towards a door in the corner of the room.
"And you're also implying that I've had a genuine connection with a man." She thought to add, eyebrows rising upwards as she twisted the handle to the door. Inside was a small, but personal office, decirated mostly by the plant life.
It was interesting to hear Teddy's story. How it was never really even discussed, but rather just accepted. It helped the trainer paint a picture of the lawyer's parents. A hand intertwined with her own brought her even closer as she squeezed it, the opposite settling on Teddy's waist.
She hummed at the thought process she admittedly never considered before then. If only because she found herself so wrapped up in the first. "What if you're just lucky?"
In this instance, it was likely a good thing that her parents lived so far away. Were it their way, they would have already arranged dinner or something to meet her. The Arazi family could be a little much, at times - as much as she loved them. At the first sign of steps taken in her direction, she was moving, too. At least, to meet her part way.
"I told them about your line of work, and that you moved here from England. And that you make me happy." Facts that were easy to list off. "My father was so happy to realize you were a woman," she added with a laugh. "He said something on the lines of it's about time I figured that out."
There was definitely a lot of love in her family. As much as Natalie had no desire to move back to New Hampshire, it was hard being so far from them. Though an opposite side of the same country was still better than being in a different one entirely, eo she couldn't complain in the given company. "I do." She replied easily. There wasn't a doubt of that.
Slowly, she came to a stand, eyebrows quirking up at the gesture between them. It still seemed like the best way to describe them; like words wouldn't be able to properly explain whatever it was between them. "Oh yes." And she laughed lightly. "They're already dying to meet you. I'm pretty sure they'd be here tomorrow if they could."
The dream. Natalie nodded at that, though her mind wandered towards potential thoughts of such dreams becoming a reality. It strangely didn't seem so unfeasible, being the optimist she was. And with the company she held, she wondered if should point it out.
But before she could humor the subject further, a question turned towards her about her parents. Instantly, her smile grew at the thought of them. "They're great." It was easy to give her parents such a label. "They own a bakery and have put their heart and soul into it." A little laugh escaped her. "And it's so sweet to see them; it's been thirty-four years for them, and they're still romantics."
As Teddy started to move, Natalie kept her own feet firmly planted where she stood, watching the lawyer with interest. She was so clever and calculated, even in the steps she took around an unfamiliar space.
The dogs then moved to Natalie, and she sent her knees to offer them a little bit of her attention, but her gaze remained fixated.
"You wouldn't have to." She replied with a shrug, drawing a hand along brown fur up to Jodie's ears to scratch them.
The corner of Natalie's mouth twitched upward at the first answer she was given, and it hadn't taken a prompt to get further details from the lawyer. She listened, eyes fixated on Teddy as she moved to stand upright. Her own feet wished to take steps back to her counterpart, but with a topic like this, she couldn't let herself be so overwhelmed so easily, as much as she wanted to.
"Circumstances aligning," Natalie repeated with a nod of her head. "Because of your work?" It was a safe guess; the lawyer was fully committed to her job. It was part of who she was as a person.
Dark eyes continued to look about the familiar training room. She was in it so often that there was nothing to take her by surprise and hold her attention, but she did so anyway. And although she didn't watch Teddy's interaction, she caught it - and their excited return of their feelings to her. Natalie had to briefly wonder if they missed her as much as she herself did over the short time they had spent apart.
Compliments came so easily from the lawyer, and she always sounded so sure when she offered those sort of words. Teddy truly was working on building some sort of ego for the trainer to have. A humored breath escaped her as she smiled.
And within moments, her heart rate spiked again. "I'd like to be. Sometime." Natalie admitted, eyes drawing back to Teddy now. "What about you?"
Distance created should have made things a little easier - in theory. Natalie felt the ease of breathing without having someone so overwhelming so close, but she immediately felt the desire to follow her. Her dogs, on the other hand, were happy for the attention. Tails were wagging happily as they sought out the hands reaching out to them. Natalie's own hands filtered to her pockets, watching the adoring interaction between them.
"It branches out, depending on the situation. Most of my students do have animal related powers, in some form or another." But there were always exceptions. "I do have a couple of telepaths, because you can break down communicating in the same way. And I've recently taken on a student with a power completely different from anything I'm familiar with, but he's rather timid. I think we were matched together for more personality reasons."
Her eyes cast upwards, glancing around the training room to keep herself busy.
Though she had gestured to her dogs, she hadn't actually torn her eyes away from the lawyer. She doubted she could. As she explained herself, she realized that she had yet to ever voice her thoughts about training all together. So few wanted to learn in depth about what she did; conversation often dropped at trainer. It was refreshing to break down her own thought process on it, and then to say it out loud to a listening ear.
But her thoughts came to a halt with words offered so casually, her breath stalling in the same moment. It must have been obvious, even as Natalie forced herself to suck in a shot of air within the next second. "If only I could have, then." The words slipped before she could have much thought to stop them. "Given what you said about your trainer. It's horrible that you had to deal with that."
Closeness was something Natalie wasn't ready to deny, especially when words like that fell from the lawyer's lips. She had her, and the trainer sucked in a quick breath at the thought, eyes drawing shut briefly. The thought of luck filtered into her mind again; how she managed to be so lucky as to gain the attention of this woman.
At the question of her work, Natalie opened her eyes again, but she didn't pull away just yet. A smile crept into her features as Teddy pointed out something she was proud of in being a trainer. "Almost every student has to walk away from their families to come here." She recalled her own journey halfway across the country, and even considered the story Teddy offered about her father's threat to sue. "Whether it was parents, or siblings, or friends - they all left something behind. I want my students to know their not alone, and then work forward from there." Results of which spoke for themselves.
"These two steal the show, though." Natalie pointed out with a little laugh as she tilted her head down to gesture at the dogs by their feet.
It had seemed their scheduled coincided well for this particular day of the week. She smiled at the idea of Teddy having a regularly planned dinner with her best friend, even if it meant that the lawyer had plans for that evening. "That's very sweet of you two to do." Even she couldn't manage to keep regular plans with Clarke, only catching the redhead every couple of weeks or so.
And even though Teddy had plans for the evening, it still didn't change the fact that she came looking for her all this way. She would take any amount of company that she would be allowed. "I'm glad I have you for now, then." Natalie tilted her head a fraction, the tip of her nose drawing lightly against Teddy's.
Hands against her back needed no pressure to draw Natalie in closer; any distance between them was practically gone by then. Even in the middle of the room she regularly worked in, there wasn't anything that could seem to stop her from closing what was left with another little kiss, and like the last one, it was painful to pull away. "That may be just a rumor," Natalie played along, eyebrows quirking upwards.
It was endearing that Teddy went to find her - how she continued even after realizing that Natalie wasn't home. Really, the academy was the next best place to look. Teddy was smart, but it wasn't as if Natalie ever doubted that fact.
"Did you have any other evening plans?" She asked, hoping to have already known the answer.
Though the sinking feeling of shyness started to wear on her features, Natalie didn't let them settle for long. IT was hard to tell if she'd be pushing past any lines in the short time they'd been seeing each other. It hadn't been that long, but the trainer found herself constantly wishing for her counterpart's company. More so, now, after learning further details on the lawyer. She didn't want to push, but Natalie could say she was practically encouraged to.
And her smile grew at the idea of luck. Again. It was a running theme between them at this point, and the trainer let out a little laugh. "Wednesdays are my long days," she replied without hint of complaint in her voice. She had a fortunate schedule to work with - staying late once a week wasn't at all a bother. "What made you consider I would be here, then?"
