After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,48Please respect copyright.PENANAYIrrroqphS
“So… do you have any plans on where to go?”
Claire nodded. “Let’s head to Queen Street. There’s a nice American-style diner there.”48Please respect copyright.PENANAIStR6CCmi8
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.48Please respect copyright.PENANA2siuM136J0
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.48Please respect copyright.PENANAKS08joI34p
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—48Please respect copyright.PENANAoF6qGWL28Y
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.48Please respect copyright.PENANAU6Hfq5UQKa
That mark was long gone, as if it had never existed at all.
Claire finished locking up and turned right.
Dick frowned slightly, watching her back as he said,48Please respect copyright.PENANAKpKfgxM0og
“Isn’t Queen Street to the left?”
Claire nodded. “I know. But I want to take the long way.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, without any explanation.48Please respect copyright.PENANASJlufSevhz
Her tone was as casual as saying, “I feel like drinking something hot today.”
Dick tried to make sense of it, to interpret the logic.48Please respect copyright.PENANAB0BN6GR9ZS
‘The long way’ = more time together?48Please respect copyright.PENANAUd0yZ25o0H
Was she trying to get to know him better?48Please respect copyright.PENANAcpxLhqh4DM
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.48Please respect copyright.PENANAAumfdELVJu
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?48Please respect copyright.PENANAR3Sz19XErm
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.48Please respect copyright.PENANAzECyWwxPZi
Warm orange streetlights stretched their shadows out behind them.
Naturally, the conversation began.
Claire asked, “Is being a police officer really busy?”
Dick nodded and gave a textbook answer:48Please respect copyright.PENANAuW0j4geta6
“Workload’s heavy, pace is fast. But we work in shifts, so we get rest. Our precinct’s got decent security—less hectic than other districts.”
Claire didn’t call him out on the vague, PR-style response.48Please respect copyright.PENANA4Bq21DGSfs
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.48Please respect copyright.PENANA8GmsR6NSWa
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.48Please respect copyright.PENANAVcMBHrpBXM
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.48Please respect copyright.PENANAQOT9zCXLDG
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.48Please respect copyright.PENANAmI3vcBBmpt
It’s tiring, sure, but you get used to it.”
Her voice was steady, but when she mentioned “regular customers,” the corner of her lips twitched slightly—like she’d remembered something funny.
“Your precinct chief drops by almost every day. He loves hazelnut lattes,48Please respect copyright.PENANAeCXa8wyYhP
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.48Please respect copyright.PENANAkjZJygNTy8
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.48Please respect copyright.PENANAMbAi7Nxore
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.48Please respect copyright.PENANAn7yMftxh6F
There stood an old motel with a flickering porch light and faded signage. Claire suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the upper floors.
Dick followed her gaze.48Please respect copyright.PENANAhIPPLaVdg7
There was nothing. No lights, no movement, not even a stray cat.
Then Claire turned left toward Queen Street without a word, her pace steady, as if she had already seen whatever she needed to see.
Dick looked puzzled and caught up with her. “What were you looking at just now?”
Claire turned and looked at him, her expression calm, voice equally so:48Please respect copyright.PENANAi0uYf5qfWZ
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAo7IBan065F
…One more person?48Please respect copyright.PENANAc8USeqTub9
Now?48Please respect copyright.PENANApX6ogDZOwY
At this time of night?48Please respect copyright.PENANAk7591Uywjs
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.48Please respect copyright.PENANAlsPrwH29jQ
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—48Please respect copyright.PENANAimt9zzOprh
she meant someone was joining them.
This woman had planned a three-person date.
Is this a trend now? Or have I officially lost track of how modern dating works?
Dick glanced at Claire, who kept walking like nothing was wrong, and he couldn’t tell anymore who was leading this whole situation.48Please respect copyright.PENANAgZB41B1bmE
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?48Please respect copyright.PENANAd2w5ggnbFM
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.48Please respect copyright.PENANAD9Ccg0tBzg
Not dangerous—but the kind of scary where you could never guess her next move.
Dick tried to keep his cool and picked up his pace to match hers.
He lowered his voice and tried to sound casual:48Please respect copyright.PENANAIX6IwTcLOD
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,48Please respect copyright.PENANAjfv94Rkcw8
Why are you asking so much?48Please respect copyright.PENANAZIDN6Lm3Pb
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.48Please respect copyright.PENANAOKG6F6xndV
She said it so naturally, but his brain was entering meltdown.
He quickly calculated her age, build, manner—she didn’t seem like someone who had a kid.
So… whose kid was it?48Please respect copyright.PENANAVIw7wMC9Jr
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?48Please respect copyright.PENANAev4WiXgmLM
What kind of parent would be okay with that?48Please respect copyright.PENANAiLT0iPShM1
Or… maybe the kid wasn’t hers at all?
The whole thing was getting weirder by the second.
As they walked on, Dick started to seriously wonder if he’d accidentally stumbled into some underground recruitment process,48Please respect copyright.PENANAYZ8LVsedLJ
or if this was all a carefully disguised evaluation.
This woman’s actions were completely outside the bounds of any logic he’d ever associated with “ordinary people.”
48Please respect copyright.PENANAdZh8CWRrwL
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,48Please respect copyright.PENANAAWulj4hEae
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,48Please respect copyright.PENANAb9VXp1FBPM
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
48Please respect copyright.PENANAZvJ5SXiYdI
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.48Please respect copyright.PENANAAYVreIJRbV
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,48Please respect copyright.PENANAqM14iWcqYv
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?48Please respect copyright.PENANA1Xn9iXSt0s
Didn’t you just say a cute kid was joining us?”
He tried to keep his tone steady, but his brain was already running at full speed.48Please respect copyright.PENANAkD2eHjuTLL
He was trying to form a logical picture,48Please respect copyright.PENANAa70sWERyHq
but every clue felt like a kite with a broken string—pulled once, then gone with the wind.
He began mentally evaluating her mental state.48Please respect copyright.PENANAXMeQRT4HT0
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.48Please respect copyright.PENANArNlAp5Odhh
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,48Please respect copyright.PENANATreE8fRAec
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:48Please respect copyright.PENANAcoDk84Zcfc
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.48Please respect copyright.PENANAd6OAJi3QxO
He’s joining us for dinner.”
Dick felt like his brain exploded on the spot.
He jolted where he stood, stopping in his tracks almost instinctively.
Robin?48Please respect copyright.PENANAUdMSNtSDGk
She said she was looking for Robin?48Please respect copyright.PENANAJxvqm2JHOj
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?48Please respect copyright.PENANArhwqZuDenx
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?48Please respect copyright.PENANA6KNFWKZjrd
—She invited Robin to dinner?48Please respect copyright.PENANA13m6DbzKNk
—Does Robin even know her?48Please respect copyright.PENANAQVzWLK6viC
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.48Please respect copyright.PENANAJyrVFdhQb6
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.48Please respect copyright.PENANA5zNN0Ao9Xb
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,48Please respect copyright.PENANAhu0NdOKuSx
Claire suddenly stopped walking.48Please respect copyright.PENANAeX4pm1A60F
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,48Please respect copyright.PENANAIro3eyWcBw
and her eyes lit up.
Dick followed her line of sight.
Up on the rooftop of a tall building at the corner, shrouded by the faint veil of night,48Please respect copyright.PENANAcl4tBHqF5p
a figure swung across the skyline.48Please respect copyright.PENANAaouScd7V1m
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.48Please respect copyright.PENANAxnlUcCZ9ET
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,48Please respect copyright.PENANAmJ5pFsVbvu
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,48Please respect copyright.PENANAmrMBfMTo8R
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.48Please respect copyright.PENANA8ZGqXkJDLN
She said simply:
“Found him.”48Please respect copyright.PENANAaPougfwGUk