Valkos Week Day 2: Coffee
AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29302278/chapters/72002670
Fic behind a cut:
Beacon University had a small coffee shop on campus that allowed students to work part-time (as long as they met a certain GPA) and was fairly popular with students and faculty alike. Pyrrha had never been too much of a coffee drinker before, disliking the bitter black liquid her mother would drink during her junior track & field competitions (she snuck a sip when she was 13 and instantly hated it). But she’d heard the place had a variety of really nice things besides coffee and after a few months on campus she couldn’t resist her curiosity about the place anymore.
It was a Saturday, and Pyrrha had no class that day and her track practice had already ended. The cafeteria had been bombarded since there was some sort of club event going on there. Pyrrha was never overly fond of crowds anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity to walk across campus and finally check out the little coffee shop. There were thankfully less people there that morning, just a small group of girls at one table going over a group project; there was a white haired girl and a girl whose hair was black with a red ombre arguing quietly over something while a blonde laughed and another girl with black hair (was she wearing cat ears? cute) was trying to get them to focus.
“Hello! I haven’t seen you around before!” A chipper voice suddenly grabbed Pyrrha’s attention, turning her towards the counter. There was a shorter girl with red hair (more orange shade than Pyrrha’s own) and a wide grin, a glint of something in blue eyes.
“Oh, um. Hello. I haven’t been here before. But I’ve heard really good things.” Pyrrha stammered, taken aback a bit, face flushing slightly.
“Well, that’s okay. New faces are always welcome around here. Go ‘head and look at the menu or ask questions if you’re not sure of anything.” The barista said, bouncing in place a bit.
“Nora, you didn’t sneak a cup of non-decaf again, did you?” Another voice said, a guy with long black hair who was brewing some tea.
“No Ren, I’m just excited. You know me.” The small girl said, going over and playfully batting the boy’s arm. Pyrrha glanced over at the clear teapot; she’d never seen a tea be such a bright shade of pink before.
“You have tea here as well?” Pyrrha asked softly. She had truthfully never been to a coffee shop that wasn’t a Starbucks.
“Oh yeah, and we make iced and frozen drinks too, and some smoothies. As well as some baked stuff--Ren’s really good at making those. Do you have an idea of what you want?” Nora replied, looking up at Pyrrha with a bit of pink to her cheeks.
“Not at all. What do you recommend to someone who has only had coffee once by stealing a sip from her mom and hated it?” Pyrrha said with a giggle. Nora giggled along and nodded.
“What didn’t you like about it?” Nora asked.
“It was...really bitter.” Pyrrha replied, grimacing slightly.
“Oh, it must have been black. Do you know if your mom ever added anything to it?” Nora continued to question.
“...no, come to think of it she would just drink it as it was poured from the coffee machine.”
“Yep. Some people like coffee like that. When you don’t add sugar or cream or milk with it it’s called Black coffee.” Nora explained. “Me, I add a lot of cream and sugar to mine. And I like iced coffee more than hot.”
“Wait, you can drink it iced?” Pyrrha mused, blinking. Nora nodded.
“You sure can. And there’s all kinds of blends; he got the house blend, vanilla, hazelnut,” Nora went on for a minute or two just listing off all kinds of coffee flavors, most of which Pyrrha didn’t even know existed. “And most also come in decaf, which means there’s less caffeine than regular coffee. I have to drink that kind, regular coffee makes me shaky as heck.”
“Not to mention you can lose several days of sleep if you drink too much,” Ren added in playful banter.
“Hush, tea drinker.” Nora spat back half-heartedly, sticking her tongue out at her friend. She turned back to Pyrrha. “Don’t mind us, we’ve been besties since we were kids.”
“I see.” Pyrrha giggled. “I’m still not sure what I want, though. There’s so much to choose from.”
“I gotcha. How about I make you something I think you’ll like? How sweet do you like your drinks?” Nora offered, beaming a bit. Pyrrha had a feeling she should indulge the other girl. Plus it was rather hard to say no to someone so cute.
“Fairly, but not overly so.” Pyrrha answered.
“Caffeine okay?”
“I can handle a bit, yes.”
“And hot or cold?”
“Hot, please.” It was the middle of autumn, so Pyrrha wanted something that would help fight the cold breeze.
“Okie dokie. Any particular flavors you like?”
“Something...seasonal.”
“...got it. Gimme a bit.” Nora said before she retreated from the counter. Pyrrha looked around the cafe some more. She looked back over to the four girls, not realizing until then they’d grown silent and were all looking at her. She waved, a nervous smile creeping on her face. They waved back then returned to their work.
“Okay, ready. I made you a Pumpkin Spice latte!” Nora said, placing the insulated cup on the counter. Pyrrha picked it up and took a careful sip. It tasted almost like a slice of pumpkin pie, with a hint of something familiar but much more pleasant than she remembered.
“Mm, that’s...wonderful, Nora.” Pyrrha complimented, smiling at her. “How much do I owe you?”
“It’s only $3.25, but...I’ve got this one. If you’ll come back more often.” Nora said, biting her lips slightly. Pyrrha’s face grew warm again.
“Of course,” Pyrrha said. “Even if just to see you more.” Both the redheads blushed where they stood, and the table in the corner was suddenly all giggles and some shushing.
“By the way, what was your name?” Nora asked.
“Pyrrha.”
“You can’t buy drinks for every girl who comes in here just because you think they’re cute.” Ren later teased Nora. She elbowed him in the side.
“First of all, I don’t do it that often. Maybe once or twice.” Nora replied huffily.
“You’ve bought drinks for all four girls at that table.” Ren pointed out.
“Well, Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss are all really cute, okay? So sue me.” Nora rolled her eyes, “Plus you did it for that one guy. What was his name? John?”
“Jaune, his name is Jaune.” Ren said, blushing slightly. “And come to think of it he should be getting out of class any moment now.”
“Right.” Nora said, giggling. “Do you think Pyrrha will come back?”
“I think you made a good first impression, certainly.” Ren mused sipping some water from a clear plastic cup. “I don’t think I’ve seen you make someone blush like that in quite a while, actually.”
“You think?” Nora said, bouncing on her feet again. Ren nodded, chuckling.
“I think so.”
And sure enough, the next day, Pyrrha came back, and would again every day that month. At some point, Nora wrote her cell number on the cup she prepared the Pumpkin Spice latte in. She got a text later that day, and from there, the two would spend a lot more time together, and not just in the campus coffee shop. A visit of curiosity got Pyrrha much more than a taste for flavored coffee lattes. Who knew going to a coffee shop would get you a cute girlfriend?
