Richard was running a little late that day, he had to catch up a briefing with the Commissioner and then there was a whole new case of drug trafficking for him to deal with. The fact that he had slept in and hadn't noticed when he had snoozed the alarm didn't help the situation either.

He was a whirlwind of chaos dashing through the GCPD headquarters that day, face flushing red from embarrassment and his haste was quite visible.

Only by the evening tea break did he manage to get all his pending stuff done and when he returned to his cubicle, he collapsed on the chair exhausted. His eyes flickered towards Barbara's desk, finding it empty which was a little unexpected.

But soon after, he spotted her coming towards him with two cups of tea and a soft smile playing upon her lips.

"Bet you're exhausted," she remarked placing the cup down that he gratefully accepted.

"Wow, what a reverse of situation," he replied, "usually I am the one to say that."

"Because usually you're not running this late at work."

"I'm so sorry," he remarked, blue eyes wide showing that he genuinely meant it, "I slept in, don't know when I had dropped the alarm clock and it broke and when I woke up, the briefing had already started. I have never felt this embarrassed my entire life."

"Now that's something I can't believe. You have been through twice more embarrassing situations than this one," she remarked playfully, knowing that she wouldn't have to recall any because the slight dash of pink on his face confirmed that he was thinking the same.

"Green shorts and pixie boots is a terrible terrible idea no matter what age the person wearing it is in," he mumbled in a low voice and she burst out laughing. A small smile flickered up on his face, the slight pink gradually fading. 

"Anyhow, what's been up with you lately?" He spoke up, changing the topic, "assuming something good since you seem less broody today."

"And I might take that as a compliment."

"However you please. But that's not the answer to my question."

She paused, assessing what to say and he had noticed her slight reluctance immediately. The two had known each other for too long now that they could easily guess what the other was thinking just by their mannerisms alone.

"Nothing much, the usual," she replied vaguely.

Richard rose an eyebrow skeptically, "okay... That's totally believable."

"What about you? When are you bringing Kori over? I told you that she could drop by and we could have a girls night out or something like that but it seems as if you're scared I'll steal your girlfriend." Barbara knew that was the only she could change the topic and divert Richard's attention. And just like she had expected, it worked. 

"I'm not scared, why would I be? You're welcome to have a girls night with her anytime you please."

"Good, then I hope you don't have any plans with her for this evening. I might just drop by myself and say hi."

"Sounds great," he nodded, "yeah I don't have any plans as of now and Kori would love to have you around."

The bell rang announcing the end of the tea break so Barbara returned to her desk back to the files that she had been studying earlier. However, Richard had noticed that there was something she hadn't told him but he didn't probe further, respecting her privacy.

To him, she seemed a little different; in the past few days she had always been thoughtful as if pondering over an unsolved equation. But that day she seemed rather relaxed, as if whatever she had been pondering on had been answered.

Besides, her readiness to meet Kori too struck as strange to him because even though Barbara had never been uncivil to her, she had never herself made an attempt to reach out towards her either.

But the running clock did not allow him to ponder on such questions any longer so willing himself to get up, he took his licensed pistol and badge, leaving the cubicle for the investigation at hand.

***

Barbara rang the doorbell and stepped back, the door opened shortly afterwards revealing Koriand'r. A bright smile spread on her features seeing the visitor and she stepped forward, hugging her tenderly, "Barbara, what a pleasant surprise!"

She had bright green eyes, orange skin and deep red hair that seemed to give the impression of a burning fire; the sort of beauty which clearly hinted at her Tamaranean descent. But she was a very friendly person and had a kind nature, an aspect in her personality that Richard adored.

"I have been asking Richard for so long to bring you over to my place but he somehow always keeps finding excuses."

"Oh he never told me," she opened the door wider to let her step in, "it's great you came by yourself then. I was getting quite bored by myself."

A pleasant smell was wafting from the kitchen as they stepped inside and before Barbara could ask, she replied herself.

"I've been learning to cook food the way you people like," she had led her directly to the kitchen, "since I figured food on our planet is a little different from yours."

"It smells delicious."

She smiled, "why don't you stay for dinner and try it? It's something called a skillet, I never heard of it before but the recipe seemed easy enough."

"Oh it's lemon chicken skillet," Barbara remarked looking at the dish in the pan that was simmering.

"Yeah that," Kori lifted the lid and stirred the contents, turning off the stove. "And then the recipe said something about parsley..."

"Here," Barbara noticed that Kori had spread out all the ingredients on the counter and even though it wasn't messy, she wasn't exactly that organized. She sliced the parsley slightly and handed it over.

"Thank you," Kori remarked appreciatively and sprinkled it on top, closing the lid of the pan again, "I know you're thinking I've made quite a mess but I keep forgetting the names of these things and then I have to check twice. I hope I haven't made any blunder in the dish itself."

Barbara found her readiness to talk and converse informally rather refreshing. Whatever barrier that had expected before the two seemed to have crumbled down by now and she did find herself enjoying the Tamaranean's company.

"I'm sure it will taste as delicious as it smells," she assured her, "and even if something did get missed then it would have a unique taste, an unexpected little surprise."

Kori's smile widened, "you're too sweet. I see exactly why you and Dick are such good friends."

"You know, Kori, I was wondering if we could be friends too," Barbara found the words escaping herself before she could contradict it but then decided to go with the flow, maybe it was for the better, "I don't know why I haven't really reached out towards you before but I think I should rectify that."

She gently took her hand in her own, her beautiful smile lighting up her face, "that sounds perfect. I love making new friends and especially when they're as nice as you, Barbara."

She nodded smiling as well, it seemed as if a weight had lifted off her by that one decision. And then Neal's words came bouncing back to her; she was too judgemental that she missed out on the good things of life because of that trait in her to judge people apparently. She had never gone deep into how people around her were actually like, minus a few exceptions.

But as she had begun to open herself up to the possibility of people being different than her initial judgement and had even begun to take the chance to rectify it, she had found that it had only proved to be a sort of relief for her.

All the things that held her back, she was slowly letting go of those unnecessary suspicions one by one, accepting the people around her and giving them a chance to fit more than just the black or white zones of nature.

The biggest example of that had been Neal himself who was someone she couldn't figure out but the more she got to know him, the more she began to like him. And she could see that the same was the case with Kori. Since she had never gotten to know her earlier, there had been a barrier between the two.

But with that slight attempt and Kori's own readiness to accept her as a friend that barrier had broken down at last.

"Since we still have a few hours before dinner, what do you suggest we do in the meantime?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Kori's voice and looked up, glancing at the clock. "Have you ever watched comedy shows?"

"Like the circus?"

"No," she shook her head stepping out to the living room with her, "it's like a short funny movie. My favorite is Brooklyn Nine Nine."

"Oh the one Dick has all the streamed episodes for downloaded on his laptop?"

"Exactly."

"I have seen bits from it but never the full episode," Kori admitted laughing slightly as she switched on the TV and sat back with Barbara on the couch.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

"Right," she nodded, handing her the remote and leaning further back in the comfortable cushions placed on the couch, "I always fall asleep in the middle though so if that happens even now, wake me up when Dick returns."

"Sure thing, Kori, no worries."

***