Chapter Text
According to all aerodynamics laws, the bumblebee cannot fly because its body weight is not in the right proportion to its wingspan. But ignoring these laws, the bee flies anyway.
Huh. Mother Nature was a curious thing, was she not? Kid flipped through the pages, hoping to find something on the particular kind of insect. However, to her dismay, she found nothing of the sort. Then again, it made sense. Hornets belonged to the genus Vespa of the subfamily Vespinae, whereas the bumblebee belonged to the genus Bombus. So, even though to the common person it may seem like they were similar, they were indeed very different. It was due to this common misconception that Kid had bothered to look through this book at all.
Once she was certain she would find nothing on hornets in this particular volume, she stood up, and put the book back. There was a book on the top shelf that looked like it may contain more information. Kid jumped up in an attempt to reach the book, however she did not reach. In fact, she only reached up to two shelves beneath it. Determind to at least be able to see the book title properly, Kid jumped again, and this time held on to the shelf. Quickly, she pulled herself up until she reached the book. One hand still holding the shelf (it was one of those shelves drilled into the walls, so her weight wouldn't make everything topple over), she reached out and pulled the book out of the shelf.
"Alex!" Miss Gordon whisper-yelled — after all they were in a library — and strode over quickly. Once she reached Kid, she helped her back on the floor. Miss Gordon did not look pleased. Because Kid hated that look, she decided to stare at the ground, as if that could make the look go away. "You could've gotten hurt. I've told you before, if you need any help, just ask me."
Miss Barbara Gordon was a student at a nearby University — Kid often wondered why she was studying here when she grew up in Gotham and had every intention of going back once her studies were over — and worked in this library in her free time. Kid had first met her when she needed the definition of a word, and Miss Gordon was the only librarian available. Miss Gordon had been the first grown-up not to question her choice of books, and it immediately made her likeable.
Why Miss Gordon worked in the library, Kid did not know. Perhaps her father didn't pay for her studies, and this was how she intended to pay for them. Although given Miss Gordon's intellect, Kid assumed she'd gotten a scholarship, so it couldn't be that. Or perhaps it had not been a full-ride scholarship. However in that case, Kid was sure with how close Barbara was to her father, that Comissioner Gordon would pay the difference. After all, he was a Commissioner so he was surely financially secure — an expression she often heard adults use which she found just meant rich, but it sounded fancier — and he did seem to care for her greatly.
Perhaps she would know if she asked, but that was none of her business. After all, if she started asking questions about Miss Gordon, the latter may be encouraged to do the same to her, and Kid did most certainly not want that to happen. For numerous reasons. Miss Gordon would know she lied.
"I’m sorry.” Kid said. Truly she was, she didn’t want to scare Miss Gordon. “I won’t do it again.”
With that, Miss Gordon went back to work, leaving Kid alone with the book. It had the Oriental Hornet on the cover, so that was promising. Indeed, in the book, titled (overdramatically) “Dangerous stingers of the world”, there was a table of contents, divided into three big sections; bees, wasps, and hornets. Kid flipped to the hornets' section.
The library door opened. It was Britt Reid, publisher of the Daily Sentinel, and Kato. She did not know anything about Kato, except that he was Mister Reid's valet. Not even his surname! Kid wondered why there was practically no information on the man available given his employer. Probably he was just a very private man. Besides, tabloids had their hands full with Mister Reid alone already. Kato seemed to sense someone staring as he suddenly seemed to look around for something (if discreetly), so Kid focused on her book before he could realise it was her.
The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) [not to be confused with the Asian Giant Hornet], also known as the yellow-legged hornet or Asian predatory wasp, is a species of hornet indigenous to Southeast Asia. It is of concern as an invasive species in some other countries, including most of Europe.
Why did she care so much about Britt Reid and Kato? Something felt… different about them. There was a secret they were keeping, she was sure of it. And considering Mister Reid's job was quite literally partly uncovering lies and finding the truth, did it not make him a hypocrite? Kid did not like hypocrites. Was she a saint? Definitely not. But she was no hypocrite.
"Alex?" Miss Gordon had approached her now. Kid checked her page and closed the book. From outside she could see it had gotten dark. "You seem really interested in that book, unfortunately the library is about to close. Why don't you borrow the book?"
"Oh. No, I'll just come back another day. I'll lose it if I borrow it." Kid stood up and gave the book to Miss Gordon. The latter put it back onto the shelf.
"Don't your parents worry when you stay here so long?"
"My mother's passed away, and my father's at work. All the time. Work, work, work, that's all he ever does, really." The lie rolled easily off her tongue, she had told it enough times by now. Although, technically, half of that was the honest truth. That was actually an expression she quite liked because "honest" and "truthful" were not exact synonyms: being truthful meant nothing that was said was a lie, while honesty meant there was no deceit in the statement, no lies of omission ; meaning an honest person was a truthful person but a truthful person was not necessarily an honest person. However the second half of the statement, not so much honesty, nor truth at all. Maybe her biological father worked all the time. Maybe not. Maybe he was a lazy sack of potatoes. Maybe he was dead. Kid hoped he was dead.
"If you say so, Alex. When you get home, promise me you'll have a nice hot meal and a good's night rest, alright?"
"Promise."