The man sitting right across from her offered thanks just before he slid into the booth opposite to her. He then speaks his name, apologizing for startling her. Roman Lionel. A name unlike any she had heard, for sure, but an oddly fitting name for the flaxen-haired man before her. "No need to apologize, I should have been paying more attention," the woman offers a slight smile and laughs a little at herself before continuing. "My name is Fiora Murdoch. It's a pleasure to meet you, Roman." If nothing else, at least the auburn-haired woman could say she had good manners. She reached her hand across the polished oak-cut table and shook Roman's outstretched hand, which was very large compared to hers. His hand had a bit of a leathery texture and her delicate, petite fingers could feel hints of calluses that formed on normally-worked parts of his hand. If hands and his muscular structure were any hint, this was a man who worked hard.

Fiora watches as he takes a sip of his coffee, and almost finds herself asking if it was any good. She stopped herself, though, based on his reaction he seemed satisfied with it, and she couldn't help but smile at his enjoyment of his beverage. "I don't think I've seen someone enjoy a shot of caffeine that much in... a really long time. Even then, it was probably me." She didn't mean to make him uncomfortable, she was simply trying to spark some conversation with more self-deprecating humor.

The man's tenor tones ring through the air once again as he admits he was born with little artistic talent, the humor of his own recognizable, and Fiora finds herself laughing with him. "Well, if it's any condolence, my early sketches are terrible! I think if someone is willing, they can be taught." She spoke frankly as she took her mostly-empty mocha to her lips and took in what remained of the now-lukewarm beverage. Of course, she took his easy smile and response as a yes, and began blocking out the shapes of his face while listening to his responses to her attempt at conversing. It is what he says next that fully captures her attention.

"I've always been better at repairs and yardwork than making something beautiful." The yellow number two pencil slips from thin, dexterous fingers as she looks up, awe touching her features as, just for a moment, the childlike wonderment of happy coincidence shows.

"Really? Well, I recently bought a place that needs a lot of repairs, I hope to open a public art space to teach others about art and help them find a passion they might not have known about! Of course, I don't have much extra money after accounting my place's rent and food, but, I could pay you a little bit. And, if you were willing to teach me, I could help with the repairs and painting! I totally understand if you decline because I can't pay you much, but every other handyman has rates I just can't afford..." Her lyrics are truthful, and excited when talking about her dream and passion to Roman. She regrets not having more to pay him, but as she said, she would try to work with him on the project and would be more than happy to give him what little she had to spare.

He then inquires about what she had been drawing, and she sheepishly turns the page back. "I was trying to draw some characters I came up with a few months ago, but this one ended up looking a bit more like my older step-brother, and this one is mostly just a sketch, it's not super refined." she offers him the sketchbook to look through as he pleased, before remembering the pencil she had dropped earlier, and silver blues quickly found it and she reached out to pick it up.

"Mostly just sketches in there, but you can look through if you want, there's nothing... obscene in there, if that's what you were worried about." Another attempt at humor on Fiora's part, which she hoped would bring more of Roman's laughter. The sound was sweet and rich, and she confessed she quite liked him already, and was hoping that he would accept her offer so that they could hang out more. He seemed like a fundamentally good person and she hoped maybe they could become friends.