Lessons about formality (Evergreen/Erza)
Erza Scarlet is good at many things, or so people think. She's actually bad at a lot of stuff, and it just so happened that she was terrible when interacting with members of the high society. She could be polite and act respectful, but she had problems with keeping a conversation going and other little things that these kinds of women had been taught since childhood.
She had taken a job whose description said she had to attend an event where a politician suspected of making deals with dark guilds would be too, that required for her to go undercover as a noble lady, which is how she ended up in Evergreen's dorm room.
"No!" the brunette slapped her hand as she, once again, selected the wrong fork. "That's the dessert fork, you have just been served fish!"
"They look the same!" The two of them might not have the closest friendship, but Erza knows there isn't anyone who is best suited to teach her etiquette than the self-proclaimed queen of fairies.
"One has three tines and the other has four!"
"There are too many forks!"
Evergreen sighed, "Okay, let's focus on something else." she walked up to her bookcase. Erza followed, standing at the end of a line previously drawn on her floor and straightened her posture.
The brunette retrieved three books of considerable size, placing just one in the redhead's head and instructing her to walk by the line. The book stayed on top of her head, never faltering, even when the other two were added.
"Well look at that," her voice sounded both pleased and disbelieving. "At least you are not a lost cause."
"You'll be surprised by how much balance you need to brand a sword," her eyes twinkled with pride. If there was something Erza was most satisfied with, it was her masterful swordsmanship.
"Not really, I have seen some of Freed fencing practices. Your technique, however, is so different I would have thought you relied mostly on force," she only recognized the hidden insult by the sly smirk in her peachy lips.
"Okay, I'm getting tired of your attitude," Erza requiped a sword with a one-and-a-half-inch width blade. Evergreen took a step back, thinking for a moment that she was about to be punished, but instead, the knight offered her the handle. "Let's see if you can even hold a sword."
"Are you trying to derail this lesson?"
"Are you afraid of a challenge?" that was all it took for her to fix her glasses and snatch the weapon. She was taken aback by its lightness, then she grabbed it with just her right hand and pointed it towards Erza's chest. The knight clicked her tongue in disapproval.
"No, no. That's a terrible stance! You're angling your arm wrong and I bet you don't even know the difference between a Longsword and a Zweihander."
"Oh, shut up," she swung the flat part of the sword at her with annoyance. "You aren't even making an effort to be a decent teacher as I was."
"Fine, I'll get serious," she requiped another sword, similar to hers, and made a pose. "For a defensive position, your feet have to be like this and your blade in this angle. See?"
"You know this but you can't spend more than five minutes in a conversation without saying odd things?" she complained, yet she followed the redhead's instructions.
"Of course I can."
"I will be the judge of that."
What ensues is almost a type of art. A juxtaposition of calmed, nonchalant voices speaking about social matters over the sound of clashing iron, only interrupted when one of them instructs the other. Erza mirrors the brunette's haughty tone and poise, while Evergreen copies the redhead's movements and searches for a weakness.
The knight takes advantage of a moment of distraction and softly presses the tip of the blade to her sternum, a victorious smirk on her lips. The refined woman takes revenge by asking her something she hasn't heard of, feeling pleased with the sight of the stoic woman stumbling for the right answer. They went on for another few minutes, with each successful strike from Erza, Ever got the upper hand on their conversation until she was pinned to the wall and the redhead was at a complete loss of words.
Their breaths came out in arduous gasps and the way the knight stared intently at her eyes of stone made her feel a bit restless. Seconds passed until, finally, Erza spoke in a smooth voice.
"...You have potential." Those three words shouldn't have made Ever's heart skip a beat.
"You aren't so bad yourself." Another pause before Erza surprised her.
"Would you be interested in teaming up for this job? I don't think I'd last long on my own."
The brunette barely hesitated to say yes.