[ OPEN ]

[lethechained]

Who: lethechained and OPEN to passersby/latte lovers/coffee buffs/just about anyone, really
When: Any day (or multiple days!) between or including IC date 6/11 to 6/16
Where: A coffee shop in the Shopping District
What: Latte foam art and coffee shop AU shenanigans, mostly. Someone’s gotta keep Naminé busy at her new job, right? Feel free to request specific subjects for said art or let her think of something on her own.
Rating/Warning: None!

---

[ A. ]

[The shop is cute, cozy and pleasant with the smell of coffee so thick in the air that it’s nearly enough to give one a caffeine high all on its own. The sign says there's a special on lattes with a little side note about them including custom art, whatever that means, and plenty of space to sit and wait should one decide to order said beverages – or any other, for that matter. There’s a young blonde girl who can’t be much more than five feet tall bustling around behind the counter, so surely it won’t be long before--]

[Ah, there we go, she’s turned to read off the name of the owner of the most recently made drink. Her voice might be a little quiet for it, but surely one would recognize their own name, right? (Or whichever one they happened to give.)]


[ B. ]

[It’s gotten a bit slow lately, so instead of wandering around in the other part of the work area, that same blonde girl is at the register, regarding anyone who looks even remotely likely to come and order something with a passive sort of interest, whether they’re inside the shop or outside of it.]


[At least she’s attentive? Even if she might be staring a little. (A lot.)]


[ C. ]

[Everyone’s gotta take a break, right? That’s what this young lady seems to be doing – she’s still dressed for work – while sitting at one of the tables, sketchbook laid out in front of her as she draws away with a set of colored pencils. She might, in fact, happen to be sketching several of the customers. She also appears to have an only lightly sipped at drink in front of her, and it’s… actually water, ironically enough.]


[ D. WILDCARD ]
[Choose your own (coffee-related) adventure?]

Comments

[beaconed]

[ Ah. That went well. ]

G-Get it? Brush... frames...? Sorry, it's... it's a dumb joke. Heh.

...Y'know, 'cause... you're drawing..... sorry.

[lethechained]

[That expression continues to increase in its bewilderment until the exact moment he says 'drawing', immediately after which she seems to come to a sudden epiphany, complete with a soundless gasp of understanding.]

Oh...!

[It all makes so much sense now. Unfortunately he only gets a smile for his trouble, albeit a bright one.]

That's really funny...!

[So funny she forgot to laugh, apparently.]

I'm sorry, I didn't-- um. I was very confused about why you would be telling me that. It sounded very sad.

[Poor guy, being framed!]

[beaconed]

It's okay, I... heh, I'm just-- off my game, I guess.

[ Is he ever on his game? Still, recent developments from his world weigh heavily on his mind, his joke was as much for Namine as it was for his sake. ]

So... mind if I join you?

[lethechained]

[She eyes him, wondering about it, herself - not whether he has any game to begin with, but whether he's off of it for a reason. Mildly, she adds an almost thoughtful,]

It wasn't a bad joke.

[(Not that she. Would know, or have any actual taste since she never hears them, but.) Blinking at the question, she hesitates only briefly to process it before a smile curls her lips and she shakes her head.]

Of course not. There's plenty of room.

[And maybe it'll give her a chance to look into this 'being off his game' issue. Late and a little shyly, she tacks on what's probably intended to be a humorous,]

You don't even have to climb, this time. [So that's an improvement over their last meeting.]

[beaconed]

[ It does manage to get a small laugh out of him, so she's already doing better than he did. Upon hearing her consent, Jaune takes a seat across from the girl, but he's focusing on her drawings instead. ]

So this is where they got you working, huh? Are the drawings part of the service, too? It looks kinda fun...

[lethechained]

[Success! Even a small one is positive reinforcement. (Because it's still an experiment, this joking stuff. She knows that it's a thing people are supposed to do with others they view as-- well, friends, but in this case she's willing to apply it more broadly to 'people with whom she would like to get along'.) Her eyes follow his line of sight to her drawings; she pauses only briefly before letting the sketchbook flatten onto the table and sliding it closer to him, offering her unspoken permission for him to take a proper look. The contents, at least of the page to which its open, appear to be sketches of the other patrons of the shop, and a few of passersby.]

Mmhm. But-- no, they're not. [Although - now that she reconsiders it,] Not exactly, anyway. I do draw here, just... not on paper. On the drinks.

[Which sounds awfully weird when one puts it that way, thank you Naminé. Eyeing him for a moment, she decides to favor inquiring upon a light subject rather than what she's actually more concerned about. Her voice, however, still has a certain gentleness to it.] Do you... not draw?

[beaconed]

Eh... I used to do it a lot more when I was growing up with my sisters. [ He doesn't doodle as much now, though. It's the kind of thing that seems more fun to do with others, which reminds him, didn't Namine say she was lonely or something when they met? ]

Hey, dooo you mind if I draw with you? I'm pretty good, y'know!

[ No, he's not. ]

[lethechained]

[Probably - whether it was in those words or not. She seems to brighten at the mention of his siblings, brows raising.] You have sisters? [You'd think it was surprising, the way she asks it.]

[-- Draw with her? Is such a thing possible?! (Obviously it is, as odd as it feels to never realize she's never really considered it. In fact, the idea is one she's quite pleased to discover she likes.)] Sure...! If you want to. [But that does require supplies, doesn't it? And after a moment she seems to realize this, because she says,] -- Oh. Do you... need some paper?

[beaconed]

Paper would help, yes. M-Maybe a pen, or... something-- anything that leaves a mark. I once drew an Ursa with just a highlighter. [ Why is that supposed to sound impressive?? ]

... My mom thought it was a cow.

[ ... ]

[lethechained]

[Nodding, she glances toward her own drawing materials. Her eyes flick back and forth between him and the sketchbook as he speaks, and she listens while she flips to a new page to very carefully, delicately tear it out. Once it's free, she reaches to place it on his side of the table - but not so far as to be intrusive - and picks up her box of colored pencils to hold them out to him. Oddly enough, she doesn't appear to be using a plain lead pencil; there's a black one, but it's in amongst the other colors.]

You can use any of them you like. [It seems she's been considering his claim with probably more thought than entirely necessary as she moved things around, because it's then that she asks, without pausing,] What's an Ursa?

[She needs to know whether it's supposed to look like a cow before she can tell whether that means he's awful or not.]

[beaconed]

[ Jaune gratefully accepts the supplies and starts doodling as he continues the conversation. ]

Heh, oh yeah, I... suppose you wouldn't know. Of course. Ursas are monsters back in my world, I guess the closest animal they can be compared to are bears? But, y'know, just... more evil, and... horns and all.

[ Wait. Don't scare the poor girl with monster chat. Change lanes!! ]

Have you... been making friends since you got here, Naminé?

[lethechained]

[Her own pencil is shifted idly in her hand as she listens, not getting back to her drawing just yet. Bears, huh...? She's loosely familiar with the concept of bears. She tries to match one up with a cow, to little success. At least until--]

Oh...! Horns. I guess maybe that's why it looked like a cow.

[She does not, however, appear to be frightened - if anything, that question seems to take her aback far more than the description of a fearsome beast did. Pausing, she appears to debate with herself, something guilty in the way she turns her eyes back to her sketchbook, shoulders a little higher.]

I've-- met a lot of new people. [That much she can state freely enough, her voice lifting slightly with her,] Many of them were very kind to me.

[(Except there's a 'but' in her tone, even before she actually says it.)]

... But I don't know if I could call them friends. [Her expectation seems toward the negative, if the way she says it means anything, yet she does concede an,] I haven't asked.

[beaconed]

Hmm. Y'know, my mom always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. So... I think you got 'em...

[ He would consider her a friend at least?? Though, he does stop drawing for a moment to look at her. ]

I-I'm sorry, I... I dunno why I keep bringing up my mom. I gotta stop doing that...

[ People think he's weird enough as it is! ]

[lethechained]

[Then he'd better tell her that, because she's in no mental position to assume it. In any case, she tilts her head at him.]

Why would you need to stop?

[Genuinely confused.]

I like to hear about your mother. I'm... glad for you, that you have one, and that she means something to you.

[beaconed]

W-What, no... it's, h-heh, c'mon, that's embarrassing...

[ AUGH, he's not THAT much of a mommy boy! Flustered, Jaune keeps his head down as he goes back to doodling his masterpiece. ]

--a-anyway, your drawing... I-I noticed you're missing something in yours, heh...

[lethechained]

Why would it be embarrassing? [Again, as if she can't fathom the reason it would bother him.] I think it's really sweet that you remember her often.

[Fortunately for him, she's readily enough distracted from the subject.]

-- Huh? [Perking in her bewilderment, she lifts her sketchbook slightly to look down at it, expression puzzled.] What am I missing...?

[beaconed]

[ Jaune flips over his own drawing and gently slides across the table for her to see. ]

You.

...I-I mean, you're drawing everyone in here, right? That means somebody's gotta sketch you, 'cause... w-well, you're here, too, and... o-okay, this made a little more sense in my head, I think.

DFGKJFDBJKDFBFDJKGD OH GOSH OH NO THAT'S THE CUTEST THING I CAN'T EVEN!!!!!!!!!

[lethechained]

[She stops short, expression freezing in place.]

[The way she stares at the drawing, you'd think she'd never seen such a thing before, like it's totally unfathomable to her that it should exist. It's only for a moment or two, but the blank shock is clear enough, and when she does start to move again, it's to curl her fingers over her mouth with a series of quick blinks, brows drawing together. (Why does it feel like she just got punched in the chest--?)]

That's-- I--....

[Sorry Jaune, looks like you broke her again. Faltering, she seems to recover.]

No-- you're right. It makes sense. ... That's... really sweet of you. [Even if it feels weird, actually being drawn rather than the other way 'round, and she always draws herself with her eyes closed and always where she shouldn't be, but-- now's not really the time to have an existential crisis, is it?] ... I like it.

[Even though she's still giving it kind of a funny look.]

WORTH THE WAIT LMAO

[beaconed]

Eh, i-it's alright, I... I know it's not my best work, h-heh... I just-- y'know, I kinda rushed it so I can make this dramatic point about... well, yeah. Look, it's fine! I'll draw a better one, like, with colour, and... shading and stuff.

[ Note to self: Look up "shading and stuff" in regards to art later. ]

On the other hand, I guess it could have looked worse. Imagine I drew it like a cow again! ... Not that you're... a... t-this is going well.

SO WORTH IT 8//A//8!! I MADE THE MOST RIDICULOUS NOISE YOU HAVE NO IDEA

[lethechained]

-- Please don't. [Draw another one, that is - and it's not quite an outburst when she says it but it comes out quickly, and after it she hesitates, as though she's surprised herself.] I mean--... you don't have to draw another one.

[And she doesn't even object to being compared to a cow, really dodged a bullet there. Her chin tucks, almost shy but more-- conflicted, somehow, even as she says with remarkable sincerity,]

... It's perfect.

[beaconed]

Wait, really? S-Sorry, it's just... you don't smile much, so... I thought maybe you don't like it. Heh.

[ Not that he has been smiling a lot recently, but he's always quick to help others if they might need it. ]

It might seem scary, being here in a new world, but... you're not alone.

[lethechained]

Of course...! [She says it as though she's surprised it wasn't more clear, but wilts slightly at his explanation. Does she... really not smile? No sooner has that thought crossed her mind than that same mind supplies her with the fact that no, she wouldn't, would she, being as she's incapable of feeling any of the emotions that would cause one to smile. This makes her feel, in direct and ironic violation of this idea, a mix of sadness and guilt, and then she's really not smiling. But because she can't say, 'I love it,' even though she'd almost like to, she says,] It's not that at all. You did a wonderful job.

[No matter how recently she has reminded herself that she is without feelings, there's still an odd sort of warmth in her chest at the sentiment he expresses next, her throat doing something funny that she doesn't quite recognize. Not alone, huh?]

[It's hard to wrap her mind around.]

It still-- [She stops herself mid-confession, adjusts to remove that one word that starts with 'f' that she can never quite bring herself to say, and continues,] -- It's still easy to forget that. But I shouldn't, I know. We're... all here together.

[That's 'not alone,' isn't it? Whether any of them count as her friends or not. (There's still an odd sort of distance in it, though, with the way she says it - like she knows it but she doesn't quite believe it.)]

For better or for worse.

[beaconed]

Well, yeah, but-- I don't mean it like that, like in a general sense. I meant, just... if something's on your mind... [ Because he recognizes that troubled look, it's not one that he hasn't worn before, or even Pyrrha on her final day. ]

Just. I can help! And I know others who can, too. So... don't be afraid to ask, or say if something's bothering you.

[ Not that he's one to follow his own advice. ]

[lethechained]

[Blinking at him, she studies him with a slowly growing hint of disbelief. It's not derisive, not in the slightest - rather, she is doubting her own understanding of his meaning. Somewhere between perplexed and attempting to laugh it off without actually laughing, she asks,]

Isn't that something friends do?

[And it's clear in her tone that, to her, that means that it isn't something that would be - should be? - offered to her. Maybe that troubled look, the shadow of which still lingers, tells half the story of why; she does not yet think of those around her, compatriots or not, as her friends.]

[(Or rather, she is not used to it being mutual, that willingness to aid those who are bothered by something. She would set to it in a heartbeat, herself, for a stranger or a friend or even an enemy, but for so long she has also viewed it as her own responsibility to refrain from asking for help, from burdening others with the feelings she doesn't have. So what she truly meant was this: Does that really apply to me, too?)]

[beaconed]

That's right! Th-- ...wait, w-what do you mean?

[ Because he's pretty sure he already explained the whole "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" thing. Unless... she doesn't want to be friends? It wouldn't be his first friendship rejection, not that he's good at detecting those in the first place.

Persistence beats resistance! ... That's not a quote from his mom. ]