She's sitting on the table, rapidly tapping her pen against a notebook open on a blank page. 'Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.' Nothing came to mind. She needed to write a poem for her intro to creative writing class, but she had nothing. Kara was a great artist, she liked painting, she loved writing stories 'and poems are just stories that have rhythm, stanzas and are shorter.' She tried to motivate herself. Kara grunts and leans back against the back of her chair and takes a sip of her mocha. 'How can I have nothing?' Her eyes wander around the cafe; sometimes "people watching" inspire her. Seeing people's little quirks, things people do only when they're in a cafe sipping whatever they ordered alone. Nobody's watching. Well, at least that's what they think. Kara loved people watching. But nothing seemed to stir her imagination.
Her eyes keep on looking, she needs something. And then her eyes lock with green ones and Kara knew she was being watched just as she was watching others. In that moment Kara is sure the whole world has stopped. No one around them is moving. Time has frozen. Even her heart has paused to watch this. To look at those eyes. Just for a second, time is clearly relative and definitely unneeded. The eyes quickly flick away and focus back on the book in the girl's hands. And suddenly the world is moving again, and not only is it back to movement, but apparently it's running faster, even the heart in her chest has decided an accelerated pace is the appropriate one for the moment. It all startles and yanks Kara out of her trance making her backhand her coffee, but thankfully she's quick to catch it before it spills all over her notebook. Kara takes a deep breath hoping it will all stop. If time can't stop like it did before, it should at least go back to the normal pace, right? Tap. Tap. Tap. Kara looks again. The green eyes are no longer on her. There's a split second of disappointment, but then she realizes this is her to see more of what makes those eyes so perfect. They flick back and forth as its owner reads the pages of her book. Framing them are two nicely shaped auburn eyebrows, under them a cute round nose. Freckles spread over it and around those almost rosy white cheeks. Kara stares as a strand of auburn hair drops over the girl's face, and she's quick to tuck it behind her ear. She licks her lips. Eyes flick back and forth, she flips the page. 'Damn, she's a quick reader.' Kara looks at those eyes hoping to get more out of them, if only the girl would look again. They were so full of secrets and determination, Kara wanted to know what else they were full of! 'What if I- Maybe I shouldn't… KARA YES!' Kara beams, her courage and impulse, as usual, takes her over. Kara slides her pen into the spiral of the notebook so it doesn't slip away, stands up, grabs her notebook and coffee and strides with confidence to the table across the cafe where the beautiful redhead sat, nicely tucked in her turtleneck sweater, legs crossed one over the other, tapping her boots in a steady pace against the air.
"HEY, I'mKarahowareyouyou'rebeautifulcanIsitherewithyou?" What the hell was that? The girl practically jumps, startled. She looks up at Kara with her eyes wide, and Kara's dumbstruck.
"What?" The girl frowns.
"I'm, um, sorry." Kara tucks her notebook under the arm holding her coffee. "I'm Kara,"she stretches her hand out. "Would you mind if I sit here with you?" The girl looks at Kara's hand and then back at her eyes, still a bit startled.
"I'm Gordon. Barbara Gordon." Barbara shakes Kara's hand. "And sure, you can sit here." Kara smiles widely and sits, placing her coffee and notebook on the table before her.
"I'm- I'm sorry for interrupting your reading. I know that can be very annoying. And like, rude."
"It's," Barbara side smiles. "It's quite alright. And really, you're saving me from dying of boredom. This is my coding textbook, and although I know everything here, I need to know the wording 'cause the teacher demands we write it exactly the same way."
"That's really annoying! And I'm glad I could be helpful. It'd be awful if you died." Barbara chuckles.
"Well, why are you here? Were you about to die of boredom as well?" Kara laughs.
"No, no! I was dying from lack of inspiration. People usually help me with that. But my muses just won't sing to me. I mean, that is… 'till I saw you." Barbara raises her eyebrows in surprise, her cheeks blushing slightly. "I saw you and was like, I bet she can inspire even a nuclear engineer to write epic poems."
"Oh my god." Barbara giggles and buries her face in her hands in embarrassment. Kara beams and shines at the sound of Barbara giggling and the sight of her cheeks gaining colour. When Barbara looks up again, they lock eyes, and she sees them just like before. Blue, full of courage, kindness, and pure goodness. And she wondered what else laid behind them. What is this? Is she made of like, sunlight?
"I- I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn't mean to. I was just saying what I think. And sometimes I do that. I just spit out what I'm thinking and it can be a bit-" Barbara reaches out for Kara's fidgeting hands to make her stop talking.
"It's quite alright. You didn't embarrass me. You just made me…" Barbara bites her lower lip and her eyes quickly flick down and then back to Kara's eyes. Kara's jaw has gone slack, her eyes wide with wonder, surprise and hope, the warmth of Barbara's hands calming her and fueling her all at once.
"I made you… what?" Kara asks quietly but daringly. Barbara takes her hand away, leans back on her chair and takes a sip of her coffee as she looks around the cafe. But it's like Kara's frozen, she can't take her eyes off of her. She- she's my muse. They haven't been singing to me because now she's it. I just had to find her.
"I-"Barbara puffs letting deep breath out. She huffs and looks at Kara, "So, Kara right?" Kara nods smiling.
"And you're Gordon. Barbara Gordon." Kara imitates the girl's serious tone. Barbara chuckles.
"Yea… how do you feel about us exchanging numbers and then meeting in the park after classes so we can watch the stars?" What?!
"I- What? I mean yes! Absolutely! I mean, that- that'd be nice… really nice." Barbara shakes her head smiling widely. What am I getting into? Kara's smile just grows wider at the sight. This is amazing!
"I have to go. My classes start in 15 and it's across campus." Barbara swiftly grabs Kara's pen and writes her number on Kara's blank paper and stands up. "I'll see you tonight, then?"
"Definitely!" Kara beams at her. Barbara hesitates for a second but then she leans down and plants a kiss on Kara's cheek.
"See you, then." Barbara says timidly with a small smile and speed walks away, cheeks burning and heart fluttering like they haven't in so, so long.
