Tell me a story

Coffee

"You do realize he could kill you?" Tim said, shielding his eyes as he stepped out of the comparatively dim WE building.

"Sure." Stephanie waved him off hoping it came off as nonchalant as she'd meant it to. "You don't criticize my suicidal projects and I won't criticize yours."

"Just checking." He looked at his watch before nodding. "I have half an hour, what did you need my help with?"

"The one thing only you, oh great and knowledgeable Tim Drake can be trusted with." She said, guiding him down cluttered streets surrounding the business hub of Gotham.

"And what, I this instance, am I so knowledgeable about?" He yawned. "I should get coffee while I'm out."

"Exactly." She raised a finger, bringing it up to his face. "How many cups of coffee do you drink a day?"

"I thought we weren't criticizing suicidal habits today." He rolled his eyes.

"I said, projects, and I'm not criticizing you." She stopped in front of the highest rated coffee shop in Gotham, waving her arms dramatically at the building. "I needed you specifically for your unmatched coffee expertise."

"You want my advice about getting coffee?" Tim arched one sharp eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure if I show up tonight with my cheap filter coffee he'll break out of Arkham just to strangle me to death." She joked, but she really wouldn't have put it past Jason to do just that if just asking him to eat his favorite food got the guy violent.

"Did you stop to think that showing up with anything would have the same effect?" Tim dug around in his blazer pockets. Stephanie groaned in anticipation of another lecture, but he carried on as though he hadn't heard her. "If you're not going to stop doing this, maybe do it a way that doesn't antagonize him."

"What do you think the food is for?" Stephanie asked. "I have thought this through Tim." Well, she'd tried thinking it through, then thinking about it almost made her deicide not to visit again.

"With bad information." Tim paid for the coffee Stephanie hadn't even noticed him order and handed her one of the steaming cups. "'Hey Jason, lets eat some ice-cream and talk about how messed up you are'" He spoke in a high pitched voice that was clearly meant to be an imitation of her.

"What's so wrong with that? It's good to talk your problems out." She was tempted to toss her coffee at him, but a second of thought was all it took for her to realize how petty that would have been.

"It's patronizing." Tim watched her over the rim of his cup like he knew exactly what she was thinking and that she was welcome to try. "Nobody likes a condescending know-it-all, and implying he needs your charity just makes it worse."

"You know all about condescending know-it-all, don't you?" Steph mumbled. She hated when he did that, turned on his big brain and made her feel like she had no idea what she was doing. Most off all, she hated that he was right.

"I know a lot about a lot of things." He smirked.

"And I know I hate you." She took as big a sip of her hot coffee as she dared.

"Happy to help Steph." He checked his watch again. "I have to go, good luck." He waved over his shoulder and disappeared into the throngs of people on his way back to his big important board meeting or whatever he did at WE.