After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,50Please respect copyright.PENANA1p6GQevM5N
“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.”50Please respect copyright.PENANAzemAvNjtpK
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.50Please respect copyright.PENANAQWdz2DUKXG
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.50Please respect copyright.PENANAbXnf2bil3Y
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—50Please respect copyright.PENANAWWrqAHB1In
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.50Please respect copyright.PENANAIbGvQjnATm
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,50Please respect copyright.PENANAo5gOYaQzG3
“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.50Please respect copyright.PENANAJX5EYb3IbF
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.50Please respect copyright.PENANAXmJMQXMSVi
‘The long way’ = more time together?50Please respect copyright.PENANA6uN5ShPuWx
Was she trying to get to know him better?50Please respect copyright.PENANANfmOPptaKX
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.50Please respect copyright.PENANAwNpbRfxuaF
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?50Please respect copyright.PENANAYLnh6Nkzxl
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.50Please respect copyright.PENANAYCSBgJ76Pi
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:50Please respect copyright.PENANAYNIEMZu6s1
“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.50Please respect copyright.PENANAAy86opjBxm
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.50Please respect copyright.PENANA1feJKIqXE0
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.50Please respect copyright.PENANAENrsUIcq34
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.50Please respect copyright.PENANAjAdZnmDGIr
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.50Please respect copyright.PENANAzV9iaUHhCt
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,50Please respect copyright.PENANAXbwBwmqBiK
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.50Please respect copyright.PENANAJsodZNigSa
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.50Please respect copyright.PENANAO9Rqjpo6Oq
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.50Please respect copyright.PENANA5OEjxOpEKu
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.50Please respect copyright.PENANAb6QeC9Xcmh
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:50Please respect copyright.PENANAl1lED5lzKN
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
50Please respect copyright.PENANARBU4yQZ6Td
…One more person?50Please respect copyright.PENANAvAKb11spQc
Now?50Please respect copyright.PENANAlZXRrMyhLB
At this time of night?50Please respect copyright.PENANAO6km17wlDd
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.50Please respect copyright.PENANAsHuqZ42rOQ
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—50Please respect copyright.PENANAOlZ3719apq
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.50Please respect copyright.PENANA7jjy3L8YUL
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?50Please respect copyright.PENANArwxFL80Q96
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.50Please respect copyright.PENANAcbvgeqCfQ6
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:50Please respect copyright.PENANAToQMMsANSQ
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,50Please respect copyright.PENANAqkbVIZcq9a
Why are you asking so much?50Please respect copyright.PENANA8lrZX7OkBa
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.50Please respect copyright.PENANA1yIEsMJ4cM
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?50Please respect copyright.PENANAS0cMj1gMS2
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?50Please respect copyright.PENANAwxQX5jYNsS
What kind of parent would be okay with that?50Please respect copyright.PENANA1YEzCNPG6F
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,50Please respect copyright.PENANAOOeY6JyVsE
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.”
50Please respect copyright.PENANAL45ZLsM0yD
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,50Please respect copyright.PENANAfwQPXPgWka
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,50Please respect copyright.PENANAXNq1uOUfuy
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
50Please respect copyright.PENANAoik8qBnbci
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.50Please respect copyright.PENANAEpGbandNVl
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,50Please respect copyright.PENANA6PhciVDjhy
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?50Please respect copyright.PENANA4swj9MoPic
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.50Please respect copyright.PENANAWi3lzelf8x
He was trying to form a logical picture,50Please respect copyright.PENANA9OT24lBiLM
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.50Please respect copyright.PENANACeRdc0ZEW3
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.50Please respect copyright.PENANAQLFu99uEuR
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,50Please respect copyright.PENANA6weCj4jnlG
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:50Please respect copyright.PENANAstWdKf4QN1
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.50Please respect copyright.PENANAesdVcOQ7Vj
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?50Please respect copyright.PENANASbS4JIWntu
She said she was looking for Robin?50Please respect copyright.PENANAKMPWsaFdEi
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?50Please respect copyright.PENANAHC2LebgjKd
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?50Please respect copyright.PENANAbYpwuDL0pp
—She invited Robin to dinner?50Please respect copyright.PENANA7XkgeSVcQr
—Does Robin even know her?50Please respect copyright.PENANAfiDZbceOf0
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.50Please respect copyright.PENANAMI6IDzxGFf
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.50Please respect copyright.PENANAg5jb2Umhn9
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,50Please respect copyright.PENANAldnJuDz4LS
Claire suddenly stopped walking.50Please respect copyright.PENANAQA1CBjjDip
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,50Please respect copyright.PENANAeUGejt6zZk
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,50Please respect copyright.PENANAMXNUNuA2wa
a figure swung across the skyline.50Please respect copyright.PENANAumFzwY511Y
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.50Please respect copyright.PENANAacxGe6HRjd
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,50Please respect copyright.PENANAwzZVYhDbW5
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,50Please respect copyright.PENANANBtw2jaEnD
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.50Please respect copyright.PENANAvcW2j1caEK
She said simply:
“Found him.”50Please respect copyright.PENANAs0PQxb1mQk