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Roy didn’t like to think of himself as easily impressed or anything. Although, the more thought he put into it, the more he considered he was . That wasn’t the point of anything right now. Right now he was leaning against a computer desk in the Clock Tower, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Barbara’s fingers work magic on the keyboard. The speed at which she worked (completely mistake free, it seemed) was impressive to almost everybody. Hell, there was even almost something calming about the sound of the keys clacking rhythmically without pause. Calming enough that Roy allowed himself to get lost in thought until the other redhead cleared her throat.
“Ahem, Earth to Harper?”
“Hm?” He perked his head up, gazing at her from underneath his blue ball cap. “Ah. Got it?” It went without asking but Roy didn’t want to seem like a total idiot.
“Mhm,” Barbara replied, loading the information onto the USB drive. She popped it out of the computer before turning and wheeling herself over to him and reaching up to hand him the drive. “Next time, tell Jason he can come ask me for favors himself.” She added casually.
Roy felt himself pause. He hadn’t even mentioned Jason when he asked Barbara to look up the information for him. Then again, he hadn’t not mentioned him either. He flushed a bit, taking the drive and shrugging a shoulder in one single motion. “You know how he is. ‘Sides, you like my company.” In return, Barbara was completely straight-faced and Roy could feel the heat of a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Smooth Harper, real smooth.
Before he could open his mouth and either a) shove his foot further inside or b) actually formulate something else to say, Barbara broke into a gentle smile and nodded. “You’re not bad company, Harper.”
Not bad company. Hell, Roy would take it. She didn’t despise his existence and glare at him like Bruce did whenever he was around. Except Roy wasn’t the type of person to just leave things at that. He had to keep pushing. “Not bad company, hm?” He shifted his stance, letting his arms drop from his chest. “I think I’m pretty good company.”
Shaking her head, Barbara turned and wheeled back over to her computer. “You’re not as chatty as Stephanie but chattier than Tim. You’re okay company at best.”
“You haven’t kicked me out yet.” Roy followed her over to the computer desk, leaning against it instead of the one he had previously been leaning against. “I think you like me.”
Her green eyes flicked up to him and the eye roll she gave was perfectly smooth . Something Roy could never be. “Whatever you believe, Roy. Whatever you believe.”
“You’re not denying it.” He kept pushing. That was the thing, Roy never knew how to quit while he was ahead. He wasn’t sure what he was pushing toward but he was pushing toward it without thinking of consequences.
“Roy,” Her tone became more serious as she focused on him. “Aren’t we a bit old for these teenage games?”
“Probably. But they’re fun.”
“We’re not teenagers anymore. You’re overly flirtatious ways aren’t that cute anymore.”
“So they’re still somewhat cute?”
Her glasses were off, resting on the desk next to her as her fingers moved to her temples and Roy could feel a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. He knew he got underneath people’s skin, he was good at it. Jason told him all the time he was trying, yet people somehow seemed to find it endearing. Hopefully, Barbara would be one of those people. She looked up at him and gave an exasperated sigh. “What do you want from me, Roy? I don’t have time for whatever game you’re playing.”
“Well, you could tell me I’m cute for starters…”
“ Roy .”
“Fine,” He sighed, removing his baseball cap and shaking out his messy hair. He dropped the cap on the desk behind him as he focused on Barbara. “I was just wondering...would you, uh, like to grab coffee sometime?”
Her eyes went wide just as she had put her glasses back on. “Are you asking me on a date, Roy Harper?”
“If you wanna call it that. Or it could be two friends getting coffee and me telling you you look lovely in whatever you’re wearing.” He waggled his eyebrows for, what Roy liked to think, was extra charm.
“You realize that this ,” Barbara paused to gesture to her wheelchair before continuing, “can get in the way of things.”
There was something about the way she said it. No pity, no self-hatred. It was just a simple fact. Yes, the wheelchair made things complicated. As if Roy hadn’t thought about it. But those thoughts were often ignored and pushed aside compared to the thoughts of her stunning beauty, the sound of her laugh or the way she chewed on her lip when in deep concentration. Or how Barbara Gordon was one of the most badass, incredible people he had ever met. “Uh-huh.” He nodded slowly with a shrug. “So?”
“So? Is that all you’re going to say?”
“I asked you to get coffee with me, Babs. That’s it. You’re the one making excuses.”
“I am not.”
“You so are.” He couldn’t help but grin as her face turned pink and her nose scrunched up, clearly annoyed with him for either a) figuring her out or b) just being Roy Harper. He’d take it either way. “Look, I should probably get this,” He tapped the flash drive. “Back to Jaybird before he has an aneurysm. You have my number, call me when you make up your mind.” Leaning down, he pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek before heading toward the door of the Clock Tower.
Right as his hand gripped the doorknob and gave it a slow turn, he heard her finally speak up, “Tomorrow afternoon, around three. I’m free.”
“And I’ll be here.” Roy said, giving her one last smile before leaving.