FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Hey loverboy, now do you believe me? That's not all I can do.

- Sticks and Stones by The Piercers

Florence ends up following Aizawa to the staff room, mostly because without Nezu or a map nearby, she is still not fully confident in her ability to navigate the large grounds by herself. To his credit, Aizawa doesn't immediately shoo her away nor does he seem too irritated at leading her there. Tired, maybe, but it feels like he expected to have to show her as if he knew she would get lost otherwise. If not for the fact that he is right, she would be more upset at the assumption.

For the most part, neither of them try to fill the silence with small talk. Anything Aizawa tells her is straight to the point and out of necessity such as pointing out the building that Nezu said that she would be teaching in and showing her the main building, which is where he starts to lead her toward the staff room. She doesn't ask many questions, knowing that Nezu can always answer any later and for the most part, she is rather informed on UA as a whole having researched it the moment that Nezu became principal of the Japanese branch. After being offered the position, she even went as far as seeing which pro heroes were teachers there; if anything, so she wouldn't be too out of the loop to her coworkers and knew which ones to keep an eye on. If Nezu noticed her swiping some of the teacher files - aside from All Might's, as his hasn't even been written up yet - he did not say anything.

If memory serves her right, she glances toward her impromptu guide, Aizawa is actually an underground hero much like her. Eraserhead. He doesn't seem to notice that she stays two steps behind him, careful of his blotched, watchful eyes. His file didn't shy away from the logistics of his quirk and if their last encounter was anything to go by, she has to admit that she has a bit of concern of what could happen if his quirk was activated for too long against her. She would do everything she could to avoid a repeat of that incident.

She shivers, swallowing thickly as she still remembers that cold feeling washing over her and how uncomfortably familiar it was. She hopes that is wrong about what his quirk could mean for someone like her.

"We're here."

Aizawa at least holds the door open for her, even if he doesn't seem thrilled about it. For the first time since walking together, she goes on ahead of him, giving him a brief nod before she enters the room. Immediately, to her discomfort, all eyes turn to her upon her entrance. She can see that the rest of the teachers - presumably most or all of them judging from the number of them there - are already there. Even All Might himself is trying to appear smaller by hiding away in one of the corners of the room; something that is pointless considering his sheer size.

"Ohhh, seems like ~Eraserhead~ already got pretty comfortable with the newbie."

The teasing remark comes from one of the women. Midnight, her file had read. Nezu's personal notes had listed the woman as entertaining, but overall eccentric to the point of mild annoyance. Overtly sexual in nature, but knows boundaries. Considering her UA teaching ID photo had shown the woman winking, blowing a kiss toward the camera, Florence imagines that Nezu's notes are not that far off. Even now, Kayama Nemuri is flirtatious, leaning seductively forward as she presses her elbows together at her chest, her eyes hooded and suggestive. Nezu had a small note that Kayama has a habit of trying to 'adjust' certain female hero costumes.

She makes a mental note to avoid the woman as much as possible. Especially if in costume.

"I never imagined Shota would put the moves on her so fast," the loud blonde's voice carries throughout the room. "Were you holding out on us?"

Present Mic. Yamada Hizashi. She imagines that his loud voice could get too stimulating very quickly and almost wonders if there are precautions in place for students with sensory issues - either due to their own mental health or from their quirks. She imagines that it is something Nezu wouldn't have much in place for considering his own almost lack of concern for the safety of humans in general. But she spots Recovery Girl - someone who she makes a note of, she imagines that everyone sees the older woman a lot - takes care of those types of issues.

"That's enough." Aizawa's tired voice cuts off the teasing remarks and despite seeming annoyed, he takes a seat right between the two teasing him the most. Even now, they silently poke at him with teasing smiles, but he seems to begrudgingly accept it.

Her eyes drift to the other teachers. None of them stick out too much to her, but at least due to Nezu's files, she knows who they are - with the exception of All Might. Her eyes immediately go to him, just briefly, to see if she can get any sort of read from him. He seems to try to hide himself away, but she isn't sure if it's because he doesn't like social settings or if he is just more comfortable at taking a back seat in the staff meetings. He does seem to be more intimidating this close in person, but she doesn't forget how she saw the blood leak from his mouth during that villian attack.

She turns her attention back to the rest of the staff, bowing formally with an even, if a bit unimpressed, look on her face. The others carefully look her over as she does so. She doesn't look like what they expected for a strategic and self defense teacher; she is not overly buff or muscular like Vlad or All Might or even tall. Instead, she looks almost average - and painfully western with her tweed choice in clothing. The red hair and green eyes make her at least stand out some, her hair even being enviously long down to mid-back, but the brown of her clothes wash most of it out, making her eyes seem dull, and make her seem even paler than she is.

"It is a pleasure to be a part of UA's staff. As I am sure Nezu explained, I am Talbot Florence and I will be leading the new self defense and strategic course. I am looking forward to working with you and with your students."

Even her speech is average. Simple. Straight to the point, if a bit of a lie since she isn't exactly looking forward to working with any of them. Aizawa seems to be the only one suspicious of her, looking at her carefully with guarded eyes. She keeps her face even and unreadable as the others start to introduce themselves, pretending that she didn't already read their files.

"Tell me, dear." Midnight leans forward with interest, eyeing Florence with obvious distaste for clothes, "Is that really your hero outfit?"

After a moment, Florence decides to answer honestly. "No. This is mostly casual. I don't see the point in wearing something that is going to bring so much attention all the time."

Vlad King takes the reins of the conversation, unimpressed with her answer as he crosses his arms.

"-And what if a villain attacks? You really want to waste time just to get dressed?"

Seeing that each of the teachers don't seem too impressed with the answer, nor the idea of not being ready for an attack at any moment, Florence debates for only a moment before deciding that action would get point across faster than words. She leans forward toward the desk, slamming her hand down into it. The metal claws on her fingers immediately dig through the metal, cutting straight through it with a vice grip. The action gets all of them to sit more straight, pulling their focus on her with more apt interest.

The look on her face is shadowed, almost haunted, as her voice cuts through the room.

"Wearing this doesn't change the fact that I can - and will - put up a fight. A hero should be ready to fight at any given time, regardless of whether or not they're actually in costume. Do you really wait to slip on that spandex before helping someone? At least I don't have to. I have my support items on me at all times and that is all that matters."

She slips her hand out of the desk, the motion making a sickening creek that cuts through the silence of the room. Her point made, she takes an empty seat a bit further away from anyone else at the table, hands crossed delicately in her lap. Everyone watching her, yet no one speaks - the silence is almost palpable as no one is sure of what to say or even do next.

Snipe is the one to finally break the silence, giving a bit of a huff of laughter as he tips his hat at her.

"Well, I don't know about any of you, but that sure is a hell of a first impression. I think she will be just fine working here."