3. Not much to listen to

Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.

J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit


Barbara Gordon's management of Gotham City Public Library led to a large increase in its overall use. Consequently, a lot more was demanded from the library's employees, and even from Barbara herself. Immersed in her many regular duties, Barbara still had to deal with many contingencies, from the news that a famous thief of rare books had made his first robbery in the USA, to having to fill in as a tour guide when an employee called in sick, which was exactly what she must contend with that very day.

Gotham Academy's seventh graders were about to arrive, and instead of taking one of her employees from their designated duties, Barbara decided to take care of the visitors herself. She hadn't been much of a fan of teenagers when she was one of them, and she was sure that her current 28-year-old self had not grown much fonder of that demographics. Yet, she put on her best professional face and walked to the group of teenagers dressed in the blue and grey uniform of Gotham Academy.

As expected, the overall teenager had not changed much since Barbara had been one herself. However, here was the thing that she knew from her teenager days: more often than not, teenagers could be positively surprising. Upon this knowledge and her own memories of adults who tried to "fit in" with adolescents, a rather pathetic sight, she did exactly what she had always wanted from adults when she was a teenager herself; she treated them as her equals. With this, Barbara managed to be seen as an authority figure while remaining approachable. Of course, there were always those kids that thought that caring about anything was a sign of conformity, so they would do whatever was in their power to show how rebellious they were. These she just ignored.

The seventh graders got very interested in what Barbara had to tell and show them. Her explanation regarding what was information and what was being informed opened many minds, and resonated with the students. They were fascinated by the notion that they could do their own research to investigate the veracity of what they were taught at school, much to the displeasure of some of the accompanying teachers. The students were also filled with both wonder and dread at topics like online privacy and information security. However, what filled Barbara's bookworm heart with joy, was the interest shown by the teenagers on the importance of the material aspects of information, be it analog or digital.

The visit ended up being a success, even though there was one teacher who came to Barbara to tell her that some of the things she said were not adequate, for the students might conclude that they could think for themselves. "Oh, I do hope they did come to that conclusion!" was the only thing Barbara replied before leaving to resume her regular duties as head librarian.

As workaholism was a genetic predisposition of the Gordons, even though it was way past six o'clock, Barbara was still working. Needing access to a document located in the library's permanent archive, situated opposite to her office, Barbara was crossed the library's lobby when the sight of one of the Gotham Academy students stopped her. The boy sat at the foot of the big marble staircase in the middle of the entrance hall, his backpack resting on the floor next to his feet. He was reading a big book that rested on his lap. As Barbara got closer to him, she identified the boy as one of the most engaged ones during the visit, one who asked many questions and was occasionally bullied by the "cool" kids

"What are you doing here all alone?" Barbara asked sweetly, approaching him.

His dark haired head lifted up, and a beautiful pair of blue eyes stared at her. "I guess my..." he started as he rose to his feet, "Family had some trouble and hasn't been able to pick me up yet." His answer was matter-of-factly, and he didn't sound upset by the fact he uttered. Actually, the tone of his answer led Barbara to believe he was used to this kind of situation.

"I see… And you decided to wait here? On the hall? After your earlier enthusiasm I supposed you'd be happy exploring our collections…" Barbara sat down on a step and the boy followed, sitting next to her.

"Oh, I much rather roam the shelves, but I wanted to be clearly on sight for when my legal guardian arrived." He must have seen the surprise in Barbara's face at his words, because he started again, speaking rather hastily, "I'm terrible at talking to strangers about this. Not that you're strange. I mean, I met you today, so you are a stranger, but you're not strange. In the sense of weird. You're not weird-" He was blushing profusely at this point, so Barbara stopped him by laying a hand over one of his.

"You don't have to explain me anything." Her words were soft and low, but he still explained himself.

"It's just that I have a semantics problem, you know?" Barbara raised her eyebrows at this. "Because I… I don't really know how to refer to my legal guardian when I need to. You know, to strangers." He looked like he was about to start rambling again, so Barbara stopped him by saying she understood his meaning. He continued, "Yeah, so… You see, I was adopted after my parents died, rather recently, so I don't call my adoptive father 'father', because I can't bring myself to it, even if I'm talking to a stranger. And 'adoptive father' sounds so weird, you know, in a random chat. Like, 'oh, I'm waiting for my adoptive father!' It always makes people uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. And when I go, "oh, I'm waiting for Bruce", which is how I call my adoptive father/legal guardian, because it's his name, I always end up having to explain who he is anyways, so… 'Legal guardian' may be weird, but it is in a sort of limbo between comfortable and uncomfortable, because it's enough to access my effective situation while it doesn't make me say the word 'father', and it's enough for strangers to get that I'm not waiting for a parent. But it still causes some uncomfortable situations, so-"

"It's a semantics problem." They said simultaneously. Both remained in silence for some time, and the boy was the first to speak again, "It's Bruce Wayne, by the way."

"Excuse me?"

"My legal guardian. After my parents died, Bruce Wayne adopted me. I'm his third 'son'", he air quoted the last word. "He has a soft spot for orphans, having been one himself, you know?"

Barbara smiled and nodded. Yet, she thought it would be better to change the course of the conversation, "I'm sorry, but even though you know who I am, I still don't know your name…"

"Timothy" he said as he extended his hand, "Timothy Drake."

Barbara took his hand in hers and shook it. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Drake."

"Just Tim is fine."

"Very well... Tim."

She smiled at him and he smiled back at her, telling her, "You don't have to keep me company or anything. I'm thirteen, you know?"

"Oh well, since this is the case…" Barbara said sarcastically as she pretended to be getting ready to stand up and leave. As she straightened herself, she continued, "I really don't mind keeping you company, but if you prefer me to leave-"

"No! I just don't want to be a bother…" He duck his head, attempting to hide his blush.

"Well, you're not." Barbara gave him a sweet smile when he looked back up and indicated the book on his lap with a movement of her head, "The Lord of the Rings, huh? Are you a first time reader or are you rereading it?"

"First time reader. Have you read it?"

"More times than I can count." Barbara blushed a little and looked at the page where the book was opened. "Oh, you have just met my favourite character!" She pointed to the passage where the character was first mentioned, and added, "I think Faramir was my very first love. He ruined all real men to me." Wait, did I just tell a thirteen-year-old I have a major crush on a fictional character?!

"I think my very first crush was Lucy Pevensie, from The Chronicles of Narnia." He blushed again.

"Well, how can one not love Lucy?" Barbara felt an immense relief at the boy's answer. Instead of judging her for her love of a fictional character, he was revealing he was just like her.

As his blush faded, he spoke again, "Since you're keeping me company, would you mind me asking a few more questions…?"

Of course, Barbara didn't have any objections. He asked her about the topics covered earlier during the tour, being eager for more details. She answered all of his questions, and soon they were debating the laws, customs and morality enveloping the world of information.

It was the first time in a long while that Barbara had such an interesting conversation with someone new, and she felt she had been kind of blessed by having found such a smart kid to talk to and renew her faith in the work she was doing.

Neither could precise how long they had been talking when they were approached by a third party. A young man entered the library and walked towards them, calling for the boy.

"Dick!" Tim rose up to his feet, Barbara following the motion. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I came to pick you up and take you home! When Bruce arrived at the manor Tim-less, Alfred freaked out, and before Bruce could get into one of his fancy cars to rescue you, Alfred called me and asked me to pick you up and take you home, considering I was already in the city." Dick used the pause in his speech to muss the hair of his little "brother". Looking at Barbara, he started again, "But I suppose Alfred was stressed for nothing. You look like you were having the time of your life talking to the beautiful Doctor here. Hey Doc!"

"Hello." Barbara answered.

"So, how is everything going?" Dick asked her.

"Fine, Mr. Grayson."

"I really did impress you, huh? Remembering my name after just one brief introduction…" He smirked.

"I have an eidetic memory, Mr. Grayson."

"Richard, please."

"Dick, we should really get going. You know how Alfred gets when we're late for dinner…" Dick's manner was starting to make Tim uncomfortable.

"Just a moment, Tim. So, Doc, I have this class on intellectual property-"

"Dick, stop bothering Doctor Gordon. I'm sure she needs a very much deserved rest after such a long day of work, especially because she had to put up with a bunch of teenagers…"

"Oh, of course. I just want to ask a quick question, Doc."

Barbara saw how anxious Tim was, so she decided to make the boy a little more comfortable. "It's alright. You may ask your question, Mr. Grayson."

"Richard. And, as I was saying, I'm taking this class on intellectual property, and seeing you are an information professional of the highest rank, I would like to know if you would be available for consultation or for an official interview. You know, we always have to hand in an essay by the end of the semester, and the symposium of a few days ago gave me some great ideas regarding the conflicting nature of intellectual property and the preservation of information records that are bound by intellectual property legislation. You know, the good ol' private versus public interest debate..."

Tim couldn't help himself, he facepalmed.

The tone used by Dick didn't escape Barbara. It was a mixture of genuine inquiry and light flirting that amused her. She answered him in the same manner, "Well, your topic is a very interesting one, although I'm sure you understand the nature of academic research, and therefore you have to delimitate the spectrum of your analysis before starting to work, but I'm sure your university has a very good collection for you to research in. Nonetheless, if you do think that the perspective of someone with present, concrete experience on the matter will benefit your research, my work schedule is kept by my secretary, so if you would be so kind as to call her, I'm sure she can book you an appointment with me."

As Barbara finished her speech with a smile, she could see the surprise in Dick's face, his dark eyebrows raised and his blue eyes wide open.

Tim used his brother's momentary speechlessness to take control over the situation, "Good bye, Doctor Gordon. Thank you so much for the exemplary tour. And thank you very much for keeping me company."

"You're welcome, Tim. And if you have any other questions, you may contact me whenever you want. Now, if you'll excuse me..." With that, Barbara turned away from them, returning to her office.

Dick watched her walk away, mesmerised. Tim gave him a playful punch in one of his arms and added, "She is way out of your league, dude!"