A/N: This is definitely a modern au, it takes place in a more "realistic" version of Remnant. Everyone is aged up by 2 years, making Ruby 17 and everyone else 20. The T rating isn't for adult situations, there's just swearing that pops up pretty often. This is really more like PG-13.
Chapter I: Of Chalk Pens And Peonies
The day was rather depressing, with the sun hidden away behind the clouds, and rain pounding down as a thunderstorm raged on the murky horizon, making for a dreary afternoon...or "dreamy", if you were Nora Valkyrie. Through her eyes, the sky was a canvas painted in light gray, white lightning tearing it apart periodically. Rain consistently tapped against the windows, forming a peaceful yet energizing melody. She hadn't had any customers book an appointment that day, so she spent most of it sitting on the windowsill and sketching flowery designs in a sketchbook, yellowed with age.
The desaturated shade was swapped for bright gold as the color briefly flashed in her periphery, blonde hair cascading around her like a curtain as her coworker, Yang, peered over her shoulder to view Nora's work. "What kinda flowers are those?" She pointed to one sketch, careful to avoid actually touching the ink. As artists, they both knew well that smudging the delicate lines of ink was perhaps one of the most infuriating things ever, second only to forgetting to save a digital design and the computer crashing.
"Peonies," the ginger smiled, "I thought they looked good for one of those 'finally eighteen, time to disappoint my parents' designs."
Yang laughed, "Goodness knows we get enough of-" the ding of the little brass bell above the door rang through the room. "I don't remember any appointments." Yang mused, walking back to the main area.
Nora shrugged and sat up, following her out of the break room, "We haven't had a walk in for a while."
"Maybe it's one of the usual- Ruby!" Yang set her hands on her hips, "I thought I told you to wait at the ice cream place until my shift ended. You aren't supposed to be here."
The small girl laughed sheepishly, "I couldn't find the ice cream place and the cafe was full of college kids." She pulled her hood down and shook her head like a dog, little droplets of water spraying the entrance.
Yang raised an eyebrow, "It's across the street, two doors down."
Ruby pulled her hood down and tried to shake wet bangs from her face, "There's no ice cream place across the street."
Nora grumbled, turning to Yang, "You know how fast little places like that go bankrupt when the bigger brands move in down the block." If it were up to them, the entire block would still be the assortment of small businesses it used to be. Thankfully most places still were, but the bigger companies were relentless and finding out a little restaurant or craft store had left so suddenly was no longer a rare occurrence.
Yang glanced through the window at the street, "That's true." she sighed, "Damn, I liked that place. Even if the owner did stare into your soul while she waited for you to order."
Nora grimaced, leaning against the counter, "Hopefully it's another small business that takes the spot. Getting kinda sick of all the huge names taking money away from all the little shops."
Yang rubbed her temple, prosthetic arm making a light clicking noise as she bent her elbow. "Ditto. Okay, Ruby, you can sit in the break room, but even if we don't have any customers, you still aren't allowed in the work area."
Nora laughed, "All the crazy stuff you've done and you're worried about letting minors in the tattoo shop."
Yang scowled, "She looks at things and I don't want to have to... explain certain designs."
"Yang," Ruby groaned, kicking at the tile. "I'm seventeen, I'm not a baby."
Nora raised her hands in mock surrender, drifting back to the break room, "C'mon Ruby, I'll show you where we keep the snacks."
Yang sighed, gazing out the glass door at the slightly flooded street, "So what kinda place you think moved in where Neo's had been?"
Nora considered, "Hopefully not another food place. They'll get overshadowed by the cafe asap."
Yang smirked, "Everyone loves Coco until she runs you out of business."
"True. Want me to go and check the new place out?" Nora asked, perking up. She had a knack for meeting new people.
Yang checked the clock. "You know what, go for it. If nobody's come in yet, nobody will." She played with a pen, sitting behind the counter. She muttered, "We may as well have taken the whole day off."
Nora grinned, "If it's a food place, I'll bring back some dinner and the three of us can eat here. If your dad is cool with that."
Yang shook her head, a smile slowly spreading across her face, "Ruby's spending the weekend with me. She said she just wanted a change of scenery, but I don't see her leaving the apartment that much."
Nora beamed, "In that case, I'll drop by Coco's and get you some cookies. You're gonna need them."
Yang shook her head, "Alright, but the next snack run is on me." she paused, "When you go to Coco's, please remember for the love of God, you have a limit."
Nora rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, no more than 16 ounces of caffeine at once." She grabbed her jacket, a denim one with pale pink wool lining, and headed out.
Nora stood in the new shop's entryway, taking in it's appearance. The signs seemed half finished, no art or anything, but from what she could tell, they sold flowers. She figured she would go in anyway and say hi, considering how friendly all the small businesses tended to be. It was the principle that they had to support each other over larger brands.
It was that solidarity that accounted for large percentages of the business they got. It didn't matter if Starbucks was closer, you went to Coco's. It didn't matter if you didn't even drink, you went to the bar when Flynt was performing.
And now, Nora supposed as she approached the building, the next time she accidentally killed one of her succulents, she'd come here.
Looking up at the rain draining through the gutter, she smiled and took an extra moment to stomp one boot in the resulting puddle puddle, and strolled in.
The interior was minimalistic and structured, with small, pristine aisles full of premade bouquets and single flowers, and assorted vases of various sizes and colors on display. It seemed only one employee was there at the moment, a boy with long jet black hair reading a book behind the counter.
There was no bell to announce her arrival, so he didn't realize she'd come in until the wind violently slammed the door behind her.
"Hehe... Hi." Nora said, trying to play off the way she had jumped like a surprised cat.
"Hello. Are you here for anything in particular or just... house flowers?" He said it like he'd been given a script to follow and Nora internally sighed. He'd drop the structure soon enough, once he realized pretty much everyone on the block was their own special brand of crazy.
"Oh, I'm not buying, I just wanted to say hi. I work at the tattoo place, across the street?" She explained, gesturing at the door, "Everyone working on the block knows each other pretty well, so I figured I'd just drop by." She skipped up to the counter, holding out her hand, "Nora Valkyrie!"
He blinked and tentatively shook her hand, "Lie Ren, but everyone just calls me Ren so you go ahead and uh... do that."
She raised an eyebrow. This was totally either a friend's business or his family's, because nobody would have someone so obviously uncomfortable with strangers working the cash register. She smiled, "So... is this your shop or...?"
"My mother's." He said simply.
"Oh. Cool."
"Yeah."
She briefly rose to her toes and stretched, giving him a tight lipped smile. "So... how long you been in the city?"
"What do you mean?"
She gave him a onceover. A pink streak, messy hair in a way that was attractive yet accidentally so. Faded green button up over jeans that had been rolled up slightly, underneath a white apron already stained with dirt.
"You don't really look like you're from the city." She glanced up at him.
He sighed, setting his cheek against his palm, "My parents have been living upstate for a while, I just got back from college."
That piqued Nora's interest. "Which one?"
"Beacon."
She squealed, "I lived up there for two years!"
His eyes widened at her sudden volume increase and he shifted in his seat. "You lived up there or you went there?"
"I did an apprenticeship with a family of tattoo artists, the youngest daughter of which went to Beacon. Through a very long and convoluted story I will not share today, I ended up living in the dorms with her for a while."
Ren set his book down at 'family of tattoo artists' and leaned against the counter, "Interesting. By any chance, did the daughter have a... weird group of friends?"
"Ummm... yeah. But all college kids are-"
"Is one of them a girl who owns like, four cats and accidentally threw a book at someone?"
Nora blinked, "How do you know Blake?"
"She threw a book at me." He deadpanned, "So you know Ruby."
"Um, yeah. Small world." She laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
For the first time since she walked in, he smiled. "You know Jaune?"
"Tall, blond, kinda... lacking in certain areas of knowledge? Yeah," she smiled fondly, "He's dating one of my best friends."
"I live with him."
Nora froze briefly before screaming, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE THAT REN!"
"...what."
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GOT STRAIGHT A'S FOR FOUR YEARS!" Nora turned on her heel, running her hands through her hair and laughing elatedly, "Oh, you should have heard the jealous shit Jaune said about you."
"Pardon?"
"How have I not met you before?"
"I was...at... college..."
"Oh yeah." She grinned, hand on her chin, "It really is a small word."
He laughed before the color drained from his face and he looked vaguely afraid of her. "You're the one who shotgunned espresso."
"It was only eleven shots and-" she flushed, "Hey, hold on, I know you from how smart you are and you know me from shotgunning espresso? That's not fair."
Ren smirked, "Life rarely is. I heard you crashed hard."
"My limit is apparently stuck at five shots," she said disdainfully.
He shrugged slightly. "Still impressive."
Nora grinned, "So, Mister Straight A's, how has business been?"
He chuckled, "Well, Miss Eleven Espresso Shots, it's been.. Well, we've had a couple customers, but nobody's really been casually strolling in with the storm being so on and off."
Nora hummed, "Even without monsoon season, you might get more business if you worked on the signs a little more."
"What do you mean?"
"The handwriting is pretty but there's no... creativity. Pictures draw people in."
He sighed, "I can do fonts well, but art isn't really my expertise."
Nora lit up, "It is mine! You got any chalk pens?"
Ren raised an eyebrow, "Um, yeah," he pointed at one of the tables, "they're over-"
"Great!" She grabbed the neon pink one and ran outside, dropping onto her toes next to the boring sheet of coal gray, and did an (admittedly rushed) doodle of some peonies in two of the corners surrounded by leaves.
She strode back in triumphantly, handing the confused boy the pen.
Slowly, he smiled, "Thanks."
"My pleasure."
He put his chin in his hand, narrowing his eyes as he examined the sign, "Peonies?"
"One of my personal favorites," she brushed rain from her jacket. "They're very fun to draw."
He considered this, giving the sign a smug look she couldn't quite place. "I'm pretty sure most artists charge commission for drawings."
She made a face, waving away the suggestion. "They're just some doodles. I charge for tattoos and actual ink drawings."
"All the same," he smiled softly, standing up and crossing the room to one flower-filled aisle. He scanned the lines of vivid blooms before finding what he was looking for. Nora couldn't help but feel a little warmer when she saw the endearing, tiny look of triumph he had when he pulled out a single peony from the display. He handed it to her and smiled again, and she felt her face heat up.
"A peony for a peony." He said easily, leaning back with his elbows on the marble counter.
She grinned, "Thank you."
He shoved his hands in his pockets, "No problem."
She glanced down at the flower again and felt her heart skip a beat, and looked up to flash him a dazzling smile, "Maybe I'll see you around some time, y'know, all the mutual friends and all?"
"I look forward to it." He said genuinely.
She left the flower shop that day with a peony tucked behind her ear and butterflies in her stomach.
A/N: You can thank my friend Lea for this entire idea; we give each other writing prompts for Renora constantly just for fun, and she gave me "tattoo artist and flower shop AU", which is an AU I'd literally never heard of, but I got a ton of inspiration from it so this is now the next 10+ chapter Renora fanfic I'm doing. But yeah, I should honestly be posting chapter 2 sometime in the next few days. I now have Lea as an editor/beta reader so this should go much faster compared to my last Renora story.