"Hey now," he teased when she said she could do it. "What am I? Chopped liver?"
After all this time, though, it took effort to not flinch or apologize for stepping on her toes or for ever hinting that she was incapable of anything. Like most things, he had taken to jesting with her on matters of The Chair and finding ways to never point it out blatantly while fully addressing that yes, she could do just about anything--but she didn't need to do everything to prove it. The sting was that, yes, some very simple things such as getting plates he could do faster, and he could just be so focused on doing anything she hinted at that he would forget that she didn't want that at all.
He'd gotten the plates without a thought, and found himself checking himself if he should have, then decided that yes, he would have grabbed the plates even if the chair did not exist and the feeling disappeared quickly on whether he was accidentally clipping at Barbara's pride.
Because damn, was she a proud woman. Fierce, dedicated, focused, an over-achiever, just like any of them. She made sure no one stepped on that pride either, and while well-meaning strangers were one thing, it was understandably not acceptable from him, Bruce, or her friends. She would be the first to call them out on their tender footing, their BS, when they were trying to fool themselves. She was one of the few people who could run circles around Dick with wit, and could keep him on his toes or ground him with a word.
No, there wasn't any comparing Koriand'r to Barbara Gordon when it came to what the former Batgirl could do to him inwardly. Babs pushed and could pull him along and challenge him. Kori had always held back. In Gotham you didn't pull your punches. So maybe it was a fault of Batman and Gotham that made it so Dick couldn't admire anything less than someone who wasn't afraid to bare their teeth and go full throttle. It wasn't about legs and skin when it came to a beauty and bravery like that. (Also he had never thought she didn't physically compare. All those times of trying to act casual when they had to change in and out of civvies when younger... He deserved an award for then!)
He wasn't thinking about any of this at all though as he made a point of pushing the prettily packaged cheesecake with chocolate flakes arranged on top and a crust black with cocoa toward her while he took the one with strawberry slices and sauce. Then he went about dishing himself up pasta, still steaming in the middle, and hogging some of the halved little tomatoes on his plate.
"Yeah, no, he doesn't." A heavy sigh, because that had always been something Dick had watched growing up around Bruce. The self-ostracizing and the habit of pushing his loved ones away because they got in the way of his focus had always been a problem. "And those two with their stubbornness... Did I tell you when she first started dating him that I did the whole questioning thing to see how serious she was about it? Oh man, talk about a lack of amusement on her part. She cut me off pretty quickly and assured me she was a big girl. And she is. If anyone can yank his chain and rattle his cage, it's gonna be that lady. She's going to make things be on her terms, too, so it's good he's got someone who is going to force him to negotiate where needed."
He ate a steak tip, leaning on his elbow and eyeing the colorful salad on his plate. "New kid is going to make things interesting, too. It's something they want, but I don't know that they know what to do. Heck, I wouldn't know what to do either. No, let me change that. I don't know what I'm going to do with just a baby sibling even, let alone the best way to help. I'm going to be old enough to be this kid's dad, when you look at it, so going to miss a lot."
A pause. "By the way, anything you can throw to Jason mission wise will help. I've roped him in a bit, so he won't kill on anything we give him. He gets that it's going to leave a gap in operations with them having a newborn. Or at least it should." Another glum, occupied look as he picked at the salad.