Luke had been too nervous to really look carefully at anyone before he was moved from the waiting room to the small interview room, but as soon as he had seen who else was called with him it was hard to keep a straight face. And, okay, it was impossible for him, he utterly failed. But at least a jaeger pilot was probably used to a certain level of stunned recognition.

"H..Hi. Uh. Holy crap, really..."

Luke's mouth started wandering off before his brain could catch up.

"I mean! Sorry! I-I'm Luke."

Despite the stuttering, Luke was less bashful than startled. He had never exactly given much thought to the pilots that had kept the disaster at Telluride from being even more of one. To him, the pilots were just as hard to realize as the massive robots themselves. Larger than life, unreal, and not someone you just run into. And for all he was trying to get accepted to the Academy, he hadn't really expected to meet anyone but other hopeful wannabes like himself.

It takes him an extra several seconds of staring before he hesitantly goes to shake her hand, even while mostly expecting her to pull it back.