AN: You know these two would totally throw down at some point.
Overdue
"Pardon me."
Laura looked up from her desk with a smile, greeting her butler with a polite nod. "Think nothing of it, Klaus. Is there something that requires my attention?"
"Indeed. Two visitors have arrived seeking an audience; well, to be more specific, one of them has come for – "
She tilted her head in curiosity; clearly, Fie's influence had left its mark. "A challenge, perhaps?" Laura finished, setting her pen down and looking at the older man intently.
Klaus hid a smile of his own, undoubtedly remembering the same kind of reaction from a much younger Laura – and a much younger Viscount, for that matter. "Correct. They claim to have been on an arduous training journey, and one of them wishes to test their skills against the inheritor of the Arseid School."
She nodded once; it wouldn't be the first time someone had appeared at their doorstep with that motivation, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "I see. I'll be there to greet them shortly and take them to the training hall, though I must ask – do you think their confidence accurately reflects their ability?" she inquired, trusting his judgment implicitly while knowing full well that most of the time, the answer was 'no'.
The ensuing moment of silence told her another story entirely.
"… Be ready, my lady," he exhaled solemnly, every fiber of his being exuding respect.
With that, Klaus bowed and walked out, Laura's sharp gaze following him all the way out the door, and when she arrived at the foyer dressed for battle with her sword at her side, she immediately understood why.
"Yo," Loggins called out, raising a hand in a casual wave. "Sorry for barging in like this, but she couldn't wait. Some things don't change, y'know?"
She acknowledged her former upperclassman with the briefest of glances, and as her gaze turned toward the second visitor, she was wholly unsurprised to find her opponent staring back, her violet eyes shining with a determination that Laura knew was reflected in her own.
"Well met, Laura S. Arseid. I apologize for my intrusion," Friedel said with a polite smile that barely cloaked the steel beneath, the erstwhile Fencing Club captain ever dignified as she tapped her sheathed blade with an index finger, "but I was hoping that you might indulge a request of mine…"
… And as her blood turned to fire and made her spirit roar to life, Laura found herself smiling back, much to Loggins' amusement and Friedel's satisfaction.
"I believe that can be arranged."