A/N: Honestly, in this house we love Lea. This entire chapter was written and finished in like, 5 hours. The last chapter of "Of Pink Pancakes and Love Letters" took THREE WEEKS. And now with Lea it's like? How? Seriously, this entire story wouldn't exist without her. Not only did she give me the idea, she's also editing all of it with me? Icon. Also I feel like I should mention that I'm an artist before I'm a writer, so all of the fun this story pokes at artists is literally me making fun of myself lol. I too, have thrown sketches in frustration after they don't turn out well. Sometimes I've thrown entire sketchbooks.

Chapter III: Of Sketches and Sunflowers

"I wouldn't have to get involved if you'd just listen to your heart." Pyrrha shook her head, setting the can of disinfectant down on the chair.

Nora huffed, peeling off her gloves and chucking them into the trash. Cleaning the shop several times a day was a necessity, with sterilization being imperative, though she wasn't a big fan of the chore as it was. But this conversation was making the task significantly less enjoyable.

"There, you're all done," Pyrrha said warmly as Nora walked away from the last bench.

Nora shot her a glare before disappearing into the break room with Pyrrha jogging after her. Nora sat on the windowsill, pulling the rolling drawers over to her with her foot. She grabbed her sketchbook off of the top, shoved the bottom drawer open with the tip of her sneaker and extracted a handful of pens.

Pyrrha watched, her expression laced with worry, as Nora quickly drew a sunflower and quickly grew annoyed. With what, herself or the drawing, Pyrrha didn't know, but Nora ripped the sketch out and balled it up, thrusting the pen into her pocket.

"Nora-"

Nora stormed out of the room and paced for a minute, eyes screwed shut, before throwing the balled up sketch with a frustrated grunt.

"Oof-!"

Her eyes snapped up like a deer caught in headlights to see Jaune rubbing his face and…

Goddamnit.

Pyrrha ran up, smiling brightly, "Jaune! You-" she froze for a moment and turned to Nora, "I know you're upset with me, but that's no excuse to throw paper at my boyfriend."

"I wasn't trying to hit him," Nora grumbled, refusing to look at any of the people inside and instead examining the painted flowers on her sneakers.

Jaune smiled, "I'm fine, it happens."

Ren blinked, "How often do people throw things at you?" he glanced back over to Nora, brows knitting in concern at her state. "Are you okay?"

Nora opened her mouth, searching for a way to respond, when Pyrrha gently grabbed her shoulders, "She just got a little frustrated with her pens, that's all. Artists, you know?"

Nora nodded, "Yeah this um, this sketch wasn't turning out very well."

Ren picked up the crumpled paper and opened it curiously. "It's a little messy, but still really good." His eyes widened, "Um, not that I'd know better or anything-"

"Oh, no, thank you that's uh, that's actually really nice of you, thanks." Nora said hurriedly, voice growing smaller by the second.

Pyrrha wrapped her arm around Jaune's. "I nearly forgot to ask, one of my tires is a little low, would you mind checking it?"

Jaune smiled, "Sure. It hasn't been that long since the last time you got them filled, so it shouldn't be too bad if you want to wait-"

"Actually, the rain seems to have slowed down," Pyrrha shot Nora a brief smile, ignoring the glare she received in response, "So if you could check it now, that would be lovely."

Jaune grinned at her, "Sure thing," he turned to Ren, "Good luck, buddy."

"I-" A panicked look flashed through Ren's eyes, "Um, Jaune-"

Jaune merely waved at him as he left the building, arm in arm with a very smug looking redhead.

Ren turned back to Nora, "The uh…" he swallowed, "Coco came by the shop earlier."

Nora smiled, "That's good, she's pretty nice to all of the new people."

"Yeah, ordered a bunch of bluebells for the tables. I was going to drop them off later, but I um…" he smiled, "She gave me business, so I figured I'd return the favor and Jaune wanted to ask Pyrrha for coffee anyway."

Nora raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Yeah, so, it would be rude not to invite you so do you want to go to Coco's with us?"

She grinned, "They seem a little busy, so it may just be you and me for a bit."

"I'm okay with that," he smiled.

Nora dragged her jacket off of the counter, eyes never leaving him. "Well then… shall we?"

"I've never been here before, so you may have to deal with me not knowing how to order," he smirked, holding the door open for her.

She gestured to one of the booths. "This should work," she smiled, "If Jaune and Pyrrha end up joining us, they'll have room."

"Valkyrie!" Coco called from behind the counter, walking through the little wooden side door. "And new guy."

"Ren," he smiled.

Coco hummed, "Last name?"

"Uh… Ren."

She made a face, "Oh. Well, that takes the fun away from yelling it."

Nora laughed, "So where's Velvet?"

"Where I always am!" Velvet piped up from the back area, waving through the little window.

Nora waved back, turning to Coco, "Please tell me the ice maker is working today."

Coco nodded, setting her hands on her hips, "Don't worry, kid, the iced mocha option is back on the table."

Nora pulled her fist back, "Yes! I'll-"

"Your usual dose of diabetes, got it." Coco looked over her shoulder and yelled, "VELVET!"

"What?"

"Nora wants-"

"I know!"

Coco rolled her eyes and smirked, "So what about you, new guy?" She pulled a chair away from a nearby table, sitting in it backwards with her arms crossed over the back.

"Uhhh…" he trailed off, "What do you have?"

She flashed him a prideful grin. "If it involves coffee, we have it."

"Do you have tea?"

Coco immediately gave him a look like he'd insulted her, "No, but we have a door you can use."

He glanced at Nora with a pleading look in his eyes, "I- I didn't mean to-"

Nora put her arm across his chest, "Forgive him, he's new."

He sighed with relief, "I'll just take plain black."

Coco smiled, "That's better." she turned, "VELVET!"

"I can HEAR ALL OF YOU!"

"THEN GET TO WORK!" Coco sighed and poked Ren, "If you ever want tea again, I suggest you go to some Starbucks," she said the word with a venom, "Because...why?" she gestured to Nora.

Nora grinned, "Because Coco's does not serve nor support leaf water."

"Thank you." Coco said with a satisfied smile before glancing at Ren and patting his shoulder. "You can relax, nobody is actually kicking you out."

Ren loosened his posture, though a slightly uneasy smile still played at his lips, "Yeah.."

Coco straightened, shoving the chair back under its designated table and sitting on said table instead, "The only thing that gets you kicked out is being an asshole."

Nora shrugged her jacket off, easily leaning against the yellow cushion of the booth. "Then why haven't you left yet?"

"Hah!" Coco ruffled her hair, "Your jokes are almost as stupid as Yang's."

Velvet shoved two drinks out next to the cash register, "Nora!"

Nora shot up, turning to Ren briefly, "I got em!"

Coco smiled after her before turning back to Ren, locking onto him with a steely glare, "If you hurt her, you'll have to deal with me, Yang, and Nikos, so keep your hands and eyes to yourself and your pants zipped, and we'll get along great."

She sauntered away, heeled boots clacking against the wooden floors, before he could respond- not that anything would have come out beyond a series of panicked squeaks.

Nora sat down, sliding a steaming mug towards him as she sipped from a reusable plastic cup, ice clicking against the inside.

"What's that?" he asked, relaxing, holding his mug flat on his palm.

She smiled, looking up at him, "Iced mocha, baby~"

"How much espresso did you put in there?" he smirked.

"Only four shots, thank you very much."

He huffed a laugh, noticing how dark the liquid was, "You don't strike me as someone who likes bitter coffee."

"I don't," she grinned, "It isn't dark because of the coffee, it's dark because of the chocolate."

"I'm almost scared to ask."

"Eight pumps."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "She wasn't kidding when she called it a dose of diabetes."

Nora shrugged, smiling playfully and swirling the drink with her straw, "Well, I'll work it off." Her eyes landed on a napkin near the edge of the table and she lit up, pulling the pen out of her pocket.

Ren watched, enraptured, as she determinately drew a sunflower on the napkin, admiring the way she was able to create such ornate details with fluid lines and dots. Maybe even more so admiring the intense, focused glint in her eyes.

"Done!" she declared, grinning triumphantly, "Now the sketch has closure."

A smile slowly spread across his face, "That looks really nice."

It may have been the lighting, but he swore he saw her cheeks flush a little redder.

"So, what did you think?" Nora asked as they left, pausing under the awning. Rain tapped across the top, beating at and rushing down the sides, cascading like a canopy of water.

He smirked, "I didn't really get anything special, so I suppose their plain coffee is good."

She smiled, looking down at her drink, "Yeah... " she sighed, "I should probably go back now."

"Yeah, probably." He was shocked at the amount of disappointment he heard in his voice, and his eyes widened as she started to leave. "But hey," he added hurriedly, before she had the chance to leave the awning, "Even if Jaune and Pyrrha weren't there, I had fun talking to you."

She bit her lip, "I had fun talking to you, too."

For a brief moment, only the harsh patter of rain filled the silence as they looked at each other, before her eyes finally flicked away and she smiled at the water.

"See you around?" she asked.

"Definitely." He promised.

She pivoted to walk back to Ink About It, but quickly stopped once more, looking up at him through her lashes, "Oh, I thought you should know," she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and smiled slyly, pulling the wrinkled napkin from her pocket, "Jaune knows that Pyrrha's had coffee at my apartment every morning for three years, and she doesn't like drinking more than one cup a day. But as far as excuses go, it was a nice try." She pressed the napkin into his hand, turned on her heel and disappeared out into the fog and rain.

Ren was left speechless, heat rushing to his cheeks as he watched her leave. His eyes drifted down to the napkin, to the crinkled sunflower, and he smiled.