[center][h2][color=#CCFFFF][i]Presidio[/i][/color][/h2][img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img][/center]It was a fine speech, she thought as she mingled with the crowd, it made her respect the Director more. She’d not seen much of the man since her joining, there’d been little need for them to interact, which was fine, she supposed. Mostly she’d done a few patrols with her new associates, well...that and power testing and paperwork. She’d learned more than she would have expected from the power testing, funny that. Though, it wasn’t too unexpected seeing as she’d only had her powers for roughly a year. At the thought a small frown flitted over her features, before they smoothed out again.

Her thoughts flitting elsewhere she remembered his mention of the coffee pot needing refilling and how two of her colleagues had reacted. Her masked gaze drifted down to her hands and she fidgeted, they were empty. Maybe he hadn’t thought to acknowledge her? She was rather new after all. Her lips ticked up faintly at a new thought. Maybe he’d thought her presence was obvious and didn’t [i]need[/i] to be mentioned. The thought, no matter how unlikely it was, warmed her.

As the speech ended, Presidio turned away from the stage and to the rest of the Final Guard’s team, or at least those who were present. Her head tilted faintly. She’d done her research on them, but had yet to meet them all. Mostly she’d interacted with [sup]4[/sup]sight and Dart, the two she’d patrolled with before, the latter twice in fact. Thinking back brought more of that bubbly warm feeling up through her chest, brightening her smile.

She took steps forwards, gently making her way through the edges of the crowd and back to the other parahumans even as the crowd thinned out, most people leaving. Her eyes drifted to the two present she didn’t know and she felt her heart briefly flutter, her breath catching for a moment before she forced herself back under control.

[i]'Focus. It’s okay, you know [/i]of[i] them even if you haven’t met yet. Can’t be too bad. Heard good things. They’re competent capes. Look! SWAT is even shaking hands with the Director. A man of integrity'[/i] Her gaze darted back to Slingshot, the hero looked...decidedly tired based on posture, or maybe bored? Those were natural, he couldn’t be too bad.

Gritting her teeth against the anxiety in her mind, Kari steadied her beating heart as she approached and then offered the group a friendly wave in tangent with a winning smile. [color=#CCFFFF][b]“Room for one more?”[/b][/color] She asked, her voice steady and almost teasing.

[i]'Thank god,'[/i] she thought, realizing that all those days and nights of practice had let her slip into the persona of Presidio rather than resorting to the hopeless shyness of her civilian identity. It was a relief honestly and her shoulders relaxed slightly as the anxiety faded into a quieter sort of background noise. Feeling more confident now, she glanced at the Director after casting her gaze across each of her colleagues. The man was engaged with SWAT, that was fine. She moved to shift her attention but remembered that the others were paying attention to the Director as well. All this taken in, she tested a posture, resting a hand on her hip and swaying her weight to one side as she regarded the man, eyes no longer darting between people. She swallowed slightly, hoping the progression had looked natural.

Maybe she should have hung back till they’d finished talking? No, that would have been much more awkward. Ugh….

Why did people have to be so hard?

Unconsciously she’d begun lightly tapping one finger against her hip, one of the few pieces of evidence that pointed to the emotions she was trying to keep hidden behind the “easy” smile and relaxed demeanor. She [i]desperately[/i] wanted to make a good impression.