When her voice bellowed out again, it didn't take Pearl nearly as much by surprise as it had previously. The woman sounded a bit more warm now as she gave her name and even had a pleasant chuckle towards the end. Who knew something so serene could come from someone so unlikely? Pearl found herself smiling up at Jasper as she extended her hand, trying to push to the back of her head the fact that she was about to willingly touch someone else's sweat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jasper. My name is Pearl. I've heard some good things about your classes!" When she mentioned joking about eating the children, the instructor gave an awkward laugh, murmuring, "Aaah, o-of course it was a joke..." She rubbed her hands together nervously, realizing she had made a bit of a fool of herself once more.<br/><br/>Jasper went on to mention why the joke was there in the first place and Pearl found herself frowning softly. "To think someone would bully a child over things that are not in her control..." she murmured to herself, shaking her head with a heavy disapproval. When her crimson gaze found Jasper's once more, she smacked her fist into her palm with determination. "I do not tolerate teasing of any sort in my class. I admit the co-ed concept of this fencing class is new to me as most of my dancers are girls, but that's no right for anyone to tease each other. And I know a thing or two about skin conditions.." She gestured to her overall pale complexion and eerie red eyes that tended to stand out. "I assure you, my class is run at peak performance and even if there is an accident here or there, as they're still just kids, everyone here has a passion for learning." And as if it was planned, Mala started pulling away from her mother, reflecting that same desire. Pearl clapped her hands together in excitement and brought them to her mouth. "You won't regret it, Mala!" Jasper chimed in about possibly staying late and the mention put a hitch in Pearl's excitement. She had the dance class early in the morning tomorrow and a private lesson that afternoon, but when she saw how happy Mala was, she couldn't say no. Her expression melted into a warm smile as she nodded. "Stay as long as you'd like."<br/><br/>She glanced over at Jasper sitting on the bench, chuckling softly as the poor bench gave way just a bit to her. For a moment, she wondered what drove the woman to be a strength trainer or do build her body to such a degree. Passion was the likely answer. At least that's what Pearl had hoped and not that it was done due to some manner of stress or need to prove ones self. Pearl had taken up fencing as a means of self-defense after having been picked on herself sometimes, a few instances actually being rather dire. When someone saw her fragile appearance, they just assumed her an easy target. Nowadays, she carried a fold-able baton in her purse and with the help of a few years of practice under her belt now, she could confidently persuade most attackers to turn the other cheek.<br/><br/>Mala gave Pearl a bright smile that the woman couldn't help but return in full and then she opened her mouth.<i>"Ma is a big softy, but she would still eat a person alive if they messed with me."</i>Pearl felt the shiver down her spine as she frowned, as if someone said a bad word to her.<i>Such a vulgar action... ugh.</i>But as she watched Mala run back into the fray and the way her mother looked on with that prideful look on her face, she could kind of understand the fierce desire to protect.<br/><br/>As the kids went back to their one on one duels, the last event for the evening, Pearl wandered over to Jasper and gave an awkward wave. "Hello there, Miss Jasper!" She smiled and stood beside the woman, her arms folded behind her back as she looked out onto her class. There was a moment of silence before Pearl attempted to fill the void. "Ahm... Mala, she's really good! She's already made such great strides in the last week I've taught this class. You must be very proud of her. And she seems to get along well with everyone now." The teasing in the class when the last instructor had it compared to when Pearl took over was drastically different. She did her best to make it a safe, but stern environment where horsing around wasn't tolerated.<br/><br/>As she spoke, her eyes were constantly following the movements of her students. A part of her wanted to get to know the woman beside her, but her duty to the children still came first in her mind. She had always been a work before pleasure kind of person and that often meant 'pleasure' would stand by the wayside and never get used. When she noticed one of the children growing 'lax in their movements, she politely excused herself from their conversation and jogged over to the two girls sparring. It only took a moment to correct the situation with a few extra moments of the child whining that Pearl did not tolerate. When they were back in perfect form, she stood by to observe them a moment longer before making her rounds to all the other students, making sure none of them had questions. This continued on until the class was mostly over, leaving Jasper, Mala, and her to have the room to themselves.<br/><br/>Turning to Mala, Pearl had a giant grin on her face and bent down slightly with her hands on her knees. "Want me to teach you some of next week's moves?" It almost looked like Pearl was just mocking Mala's excitement, but the woman was truly happy with her job and that showed on her face and in her graceful movements.<br/><br/>[Muwahhaahha~ Take THAT, woman!]