2. Bats feast at night
Barbara was extremely tired. Yet, she would have to endure a few more hours of small talk before she could finally throw herself on her bed and sleep at her content. Being Doctor Barbara Gordon, PhD, Head Librarian of Gotham City Public Library, she had to endure the cocktail party that closed Gotham City Public Library's Third Symposium on Preservation, Conservation and Restauration of the Human Record; after all, she was the one who had decided to revive the event after some forty years of oblivion.
After having talked with a few of Gotham's socialites, who sought to promote themselves through the donation of some of their money to the library, she went to the bar. "Straight scotch, please." Barbara had barely told the bartender her order, when a tall, dark, blue-eyed, square-jawed, handsome man in his late thirties approached her. "A rather bold choice, Doctor Gordon. I wouldn't take you for a straight scotch type." As the bartender served Barbara, the man next to her ordered, "A Vesper martini, please." Barbara drank a little bit of her scotch and turned to the man, "Well, I may not look like a straight scotch type, but your order does correspond to the billionaire philanthropist playboy cliché, Mr. Wayne." She smirked and took another drink.
He looked impressed at her answer and continued the conversation, changing its subject. "I would like to offer you my congratulations on the successful event, Doctor Gordon." Back to her professional mode, Barbara answered him, "Thank you, Mr. Wayne. And thank you for the grant from Wayne Foundation that made this symposium possible." The bartender brought Bruce Wayne's drink and, after thanking him, Bruce continued, "It is always a pleasure to help relevant initiatives like this one. Unfortunately, I have to confess that I don't personally evaluate every application that Wayne Foundation receives." Barbara nodded her head and added, "In any case, I'd like to thank you on behalf of GCPL". She hoped the man would be satisfied now, would tell her goodbye and would leave. However, he didn't. He merely gestured to the space in front of him and said, "I think it's best if we continue our conversation where we don't get in the way of others who want to order their beverages." Barbara put herself in motion, and Bruce was soon by her side.
She was having a hard time coming up with something to say next when he resumed the conversation, "I enjoyed the symposium enormously. A lot of things I learned here will be put into practice in Wayne Enterprises and Wayne Foundation. Oh, and at Wayne Manor as well, considering my family gathered a rather unique collection throughout the years." Barbara merely nodded and drank some scotch, wondering if he was a vacuous playboy well versed on social pleasantries and situations, or if he was being genuine. Bruce went on, "Particularly fascinating was your lecture on the role of bats in pest control, Doctor Gordon."
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I appreciate it."
"I was unaware of the fact that bat colonies existed in libraries and helped the preservation of their collections through their diet of bookworms. I suppose bats are not the hideous creatures most people think them to be."
"Most certainly not." Barbara couldn't understand where he was going with that conversation. "Besides, Mr. Wayne, I hardly think anyone in Gotham would see those animals so. After all, the residing vigilante made us all far more tolerant regarding bats."
"Indeed." For a moment Barbara thought Bruce's expression darkened, but if that had actually happened, it was a change of short duration. "The renewed conservation and preservation policies of GCPL are also worth praising. And I don't mean just your discovery of a colony of bats here, the right kind, and its integration to the preservation and conservation policies of the library, but also the educational programme for children."
"Thank you for your enthusiasm, Mr. Wayne. I believe freedom of information and adequate methods for its management and availability are crucial to the transformation of Gotham. Teaching our children about the importance of information and its materiality is essential to the construction of their identities and citizenship. Besides, considering how corrupt our city is and that people are far more interested in the disappearance, not to say destruction, of human records than in their preservation, educating children is part of our duty in building a better Gotham. Without records there is no evidence of criminal activity and no information on how to fight crime, so if we can enlighten the Gothamite children, maybe we have a shot at making this city less corrupt."
Bruce looked surprised after Barbara stopped talking, "You are absolutely right, Doctor Gordon. Wayne Foundation had helped this library before, but I suppose it has not been enough. I feel like, as one of the few privileged in this city, I should do more regarding this matter."
"Mr. Way–"
"There you are!" A tall, dark, blue-eyed, square-jawed, handsome young man in his early twenties approached them. He was slightly slimmer and a little bit shorter than Bruce. "I was looking for you!"
"What are you doing here, Dick?" Bruce looked at Dick Grayson's hand and before the younger man could answer, Bruce quickly added, "And what are you drinking?!"
"Kryptonite!" Barbara could see in Bruce's features that this answer made him rather more unsettled. Dick probably realised the same, so he continued, "It's a drink made of vodka, mint liquor and ice." Bruce Wayne raised his eyebrows and in a judging tone repeated, "Vodka and mint liquor?"
"And ice!" The young man sipped some of the drink through a straw. "Don't look at me like that, Brucie! I'm 21 now!"
Sighing, Bruce seemed to remember Barbara's presence. "Doctor Gordon, this is my son, Richard Grayson. Dick, this is the Head Librarian of Gotham City Public Library, Doctor Barbara Gordon."
Dick eagerly shook hands with Barbara. "You don't look like a librarian, Doctor!" he exclaimed in jest, with a playful smile upon his face.
"Librarians come in all shapes and sizes," answered Barbara, shrewdly. She followed her answer with a drink of her scotch.
Not long afterwards, a middle aged woman with her brown hair up on a voluminous bun and cat-eye glasses approached their little group. "Excuse me, Doctor Gordon, Mr. Wayne–" She stopped for a moment, thinking on how to address the third in the party. When she found out how to call him, she continued, "Young man… Miss Vale from the Gotham Gazette is looking for you, Doctor Gordon."
"Thank you, Miss Prentice. Excuse me, Mr. Wayne, Mr. Grayson. I must leave you." Bruce and Dick nodded, giving her leave to depart. Watching Barbara walk away with Miss Prentice, Dick turned to Bruce, "Now, that lady does look like a librarian."
Author's notes:
1. Bats are used as pest control in two Portuguese libraries: the Biblioteca Joanina and the Mafra Palace Library. As explained in a Boston Globe article (Bats eat bookworms, by Kevin Hartnett, 17 September 2013), "the bats, which are less than an inch long, roost during the day behind 'elaborate rococo bookcases' and come out at night to hunt insects which otherwise would feast on the libraries' books."
2. Miss Prentice is a librarian who appears in episode 23 of the 1966 Batman television show, titled The Ring of Wax.
