Somewhere in the Between [Peanut]

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It was called Mephisto’s Café. A small corner coffee shop you had to travel south to get to, in Downtown Gotham. The only way to go from Mephisto’s is up. It was away from all the business of the city, but because it didn’t have enough customers, the prices of a coffee black with two sugars cost the crippled redhead in a wheelchair $4.19 plus tax.

Barbara had sat blowing on her mug; it was a one of a kind coffee, with beans grown in the backyard. It still had that Earthy taste to it. Barbara was quick to remind herself that Earth meant dirt. Well, at least she enjoyed it with sugar.

She wore what was appropriate in this time of year, a green sweater, a scarf, and a wool cap; though it was her thick rimmed glasses made Barbara feel like she was a turning into a hipster.

Now Barbara had been waiting for almost ten minutes, waiting was never one of Barbara's strong suits, but it was always a test for patience. The hacker had been in constant communication for the last month and a half with a robotics engineer, she felt they both could offer each other a great many deal of services. She also knew for a fact that this Pendelton Pemsworth was looking for work in the underbelly of Gotham; not exactly on the right side of the law, but then again, neither was she.

For all she knew, they were cut from the same cloth, not evil as evil can be, yet not exactly the product of a good moral absolute. It was possible, since no one gets a masters degree in Mechatronics and online and decides they're going to go straight to Gotham's Underworld to make a name of yourself. There simply wasn't enough money involved; and thankfully that was something Barbara had a lot of.

None of it really being hers to begin with, but if it could benefit the hacker in some capacity, she was willing to take the risk. She didn't see money with greed, unlike other, for her it was just another tool.

Then he walked through the door, Barbara perked up and looked over a few tables and chairs at the sight of another customer even walking through the door.

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Kevin walked into the dumb, hipster cafe after tying Peanut up to the leg of a chair out on the little shops patio. He sniffed and rubbed at his nose, which was red from the cold; his jeans were two sizes too big and sagged down well passed his ass, showing off boxers with Pac-man all over it in.

He looked like a hobo, everything he wore was dirty and his hair was tied back in a matted ponytail. The saddest thing was, he was wearing the nicest clothes he had(as per Peanut’s instructions), but the teen didn’t seem to much care about how he looked as he scanned the present crowd.

When the barista finally caught his attention and smiled, he grunted and swaggered forward in a way that made him feel like he was mean mugging the whole place; in reality it just looked like was walking with a severe limp.

“How may I help you today sir?”

“Yo, I’d like a kids cup of whip cream with a little caramel on it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”


The barista just nodded and tried not to scrunch up her nose at the smell of pot that practically fumed off of the stranger. It took her two seconds to make the requested thing, at which point Keven slapped a three bucks on the counter and waved her off.

A minute later he was sitting down across the Barbara, leaning as far as he could in the chair and smirking at her.

“Yo” Was all the teen had to say.

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Barbara, despite all in her nerves, smiled at Kevin. It wasn't a warm smile, or even a smile to be friendly, it was more of a smile that expressed pity. Other than her being the only one in the coffee house, she wondered just what made him think it would be okay to sit in front of her, confront her even.

Still Barbara knew this had to be it. She wasn't stupid, this wasn't PugLyfeA1, he was merely a messenger. The redhead decided to entertain the thought that he was in fact the mechanical engineer, she was going to speak so much until he cracked and went outside to get the pug.

She was going to start off slow, then build the momentum in the conversation. She should start off with a lie. "Well aren't you cute?"

Having his attention, now reel him in with a hook. It had to be subtle. Though she wasn't sure if the punk teen would ever pick up on it, it would make her feel satisfied with herself. "Didn't expect someone like you to be the Pendelton Pemsworth."

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Kevin’s face turned red, but he did not stop smirking and tossed his head back to utter a groan of impatience. “Look lady, let’s just cut to the chase here. I didn’t come in here to be laughed at by some nosy jerk in a wheelchair”

Outside, the tiny dog stiffened and shook his head irritably, before going to scratch at his ear with his back leg to play off like he wasn’t angry. The small concealed earpiece hidden under Kevin’s beanie, uttered a small whisper, almost inaudible.

“I towld yoo no name calling Kebin”

The teen scowled then and shifted in his seat uncomfortably, he couldn’t believe this was THE Oracle. What a fuckin babe! Kevin almost wished he WAS Pendleton Pemsworth, what a kick in the sack that a pug was getting this hottie’s attention.

“What do you want, Gordon?”

Kevin took utter delight in being able to use her real name, though he made a show of placing his hand over his mouth and acting shocked. “Was I supposed to use your handle?”

“Kebin. Imb warning yoo…”

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Barbara was unimpressed with Kevin's attitude, she gazed downward into her coffee and brought it up to her lips. "You know so little about the world." She idly mentioned taking a sip out of the china and placing it back on the dish. "You'll always be taking hits from those you least expect." The dirt water was refreshing, despite what connotations her mind would allow. She almost called him a child; but that would only make her feel old.

"You're young, you don't have a lot going for you, I see that. If you don't change that now, time will pass you by so quickly you won't have the time to realize it. Ever second is a moment of time that slips away from you so quickly, when you look back it'll amount to everything that you've done."

Lifting her dish and cup again, she finished off her coffee and set it down on the table. Barbara pulled out her wallet and left several bills on the table as tip. She wasn't trying to give life advice to some punk teen she doesn't know; she felt like she was almost talking to herself in that moment. Barbara began to roll backwards, then turned herself away from the table. Every move had to be meticulous; thought out and planned in advance. 

"I'd like to see the pug now, if you don't mind."

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Kevin openly cast a look of pure venom at the red head, his face contorting and struggling over the angry words he wanted to shove down her throat. He could hear Peanut breathing on the other end of his earpiece and he had to behave himself, lest he incur the wrath of his boss; who was capable of being terrifying if he really needed to be.

On the other end Peanut listened to the woman quietly, staring out at the passing cars as he absorbed her words. Of course she was well spoken and her intellect showed in her tirade at his rude cohort, but he still wasn’t too sure about this whole meeting. From the get go he knew that she was aware of his true self, knew about the security breaches in his systems that lead her to discover who he was and what he was up to. It’d be a cold day in Hell before he’d let himself be surprised by her, and went into this precarious situation assuming she was aware of everything.

It was better to prepare that way.

Peanut chuffed and gave a close-mouthed bark at a passing bicycle in response to Barbara asking to see him. Kevin grunted, and stood up, only to place the tiny cup with whipped cream and caramel sauce onto the woman’s lap. “ Do what you want”

The teen sat down after that and crossed his arms, glaring out the window and ignoring the red head from then on out.

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Determining the looks the twerp was giving her, it seemed like he was constipated and needed to find a toilet. His scowling didn’t make her as uncomfortable as he was probably going for; instead the redhead merely felt like this was just going on for too long. Then he dropped his cup into her lap. Probably some self righteous act to make him feel better.

Barbara looked down at the cup with the melting whipping cream, half in disgust and half trying to play it off that she wasn’t in disgust. She picked at the cup and placed it on the table, smiled at the angst and turned her chair around, rolling her wheels and her eyes at dealing with teens. As if Drake wasn’t enough on her plate. The cripple wheeled herself to the door bumping it open with her useless feet.

Out in the brisk cold, wind rushed past her and into the café. Barbara looked down at the pug tied to the bench, the door slowly closing behind her. “You know I wasn’t talking to your… associate.” She said plainly, moving her chair over to him and untying his leash, unclipping him, and wrapping it around her armrest. Despite his demeanor, she didn’t want him to feel like a dog of war; which was probably what she was going to turn him into.

“Walk with me, will you Pendleton?”

She asked rolling away, in a sweeter voice than she gave Kevin.

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Peanut did not speak at first, merely staring out at the busy street as Barbara approached him and proceeded to unlatch him from the table. They both knew it was all for show, but the pug knew she appreciated his penchant for the dramatic and the facade of the game they played.

If she did not appreciate it, surely she would understand it.

Peanut heaved a rough sigh as his lead was lassoed around the armrest of her chair, standing up he followed after her, continuing his silence as he contemplated what she had said before. It was almost a relief that she judged his skills and intellect not by his species but by his age.

Once again, Peanut assumed she knew just who and what he was.

As they proceeded away from the cafe, the canine finally spoke. “Dat was my whipcreem yoo know. Now Kebin weel eat it” [That was my whipcream you know. Now Kevin will eat it] The dog uttered a soft laugh, waddling along easily at the red heads pace. “Whut a shamb” [What a shame]

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“I wasn’t aware; I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” Barbara apologized, looking down at the smiling pug. “Why don’t you hop in my lap? It’s not the most dignified place to be, but at least you won’t have to awkwardly talk to me like this.” She said noting that he was having a hard time keeping up with her. The redhead patted her lap allowing him the chance to decide if he wanted to hop on or not. At least she’d be somewhat warm by comparison to the cold Gotham streets.

“I want to discuss nanobot technology. The application, development, and the usage of it. Does this sound like something you’d be interested in?”

A smile couldn’t help itself but make its way to Barbara’s face. The thought of nanobots had always seemed like science-fiction to her; her, a world known hacker who literally can break the internet. She who can turn off the engine of a car in the click of a button from over two-hundred miles away. Nanobot technology was present, even cloning, but for her to use it herself, that was something she had always been interested in.

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Peanut looked up at Barbara, considering her answer before managing a regretful shake of his head. "I amb nod berry good at jumbing up on things. Ids a bid dibbicult wiff these legs."

No. He was alright where he was, walking along beside her felt right at the moment, he was a gentleman after all and would not want to presume too much. 

"I probmise if I ged too tired I'll say so" 

With that, Peanut instead chose to consider the topic of nanobots, his tail gave two little wags at the very notion. What fun little things to play with, though it was a challenge for him, he had not the appendages to play with the instruments required.

"My dear Oragull. I ashure you, the abplication for nanobots is nearly limidless. Id all depends on the creatibity of the user" [My dear Oracle. I assure you, the application for nanobots is nearly limitless. It all depends on the creativity of the user]. "Whad spesifically do you hab in mind?"