They entered the restaurant.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzFygofP3q
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJ2mvac9ka
After placing their order, the clinking of silverware on the table signaled the beginning of that perfect phase—conversation.
Robin was the first to speak. His tone was calm, his words short and direct:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwd00rX2Iy1
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqim0csthkf
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpDOndEXXW
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoL6K1T15aO
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqw6miVyMd
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6RVuKgZVj
and now he had to accept this narrative?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3IEWj2bXm
And in front of his little brother, no less?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0qKXN5rCN
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoXPnascnI
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV6m7k2QWI
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDseGVqkuC
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8X8uIPJH2z
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU8zvdR3y4
“I knew Robin was hungry, so I invited him.”
At that moment, both pairs of blue eyes across the table widened and met for a brief second.
Of course.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7SXZ3lsAz
Magic-side.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZktxyqnoi
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ydkch0o1K
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfXoqBkeki
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Z4xNdnHwJ
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg08DOqS9ed
the drinks arrived.
The waiter smiled and placed three drinks on the table.
Claire’s was a cocktail—a pale golden drink with a hint of lemon.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95ZDMJCE5b
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMhCgQwAKK
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4cpZxQ1b4
Both ordered cola.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd64ONgTtMQ
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHlc1GMHNI
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5OrUPdXYc
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu19IXGkGwH
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2jMr3Lj68
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsIKAGlSPv
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQCiKy0dfJ
Her tone stayed light—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hN1bBDLzS
but the question she threw was a fastball straight at the heart:
“Is Batman your dad?”
PFFT!!!
Both of them instantly spit out their drinks and erupted into violent coughing.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxuxpmNVOR
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprxhRaMcfk
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqALlhObII
coughing as he turned to stare at her—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bKttOCYuh
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcjM10bvOB
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLcfXqyjpc
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb888yKkv9n
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXWqZSltxi
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpHHbkzFYZ
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmC9A3Dnx30
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzUnwR9SGM
There was a hint of red at the corners of her eyes, her lips subtly glossed by the alcohol.
To Robin, that expression didn’t sit right.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggaponXRms
It wasn’t just casual confidence.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3Ucdv3j3s
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ojRoQCiOl
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YwxVVRhcX
“It’s a logical deduction. When I was a kid, Robin was a kid. And now—Robin’s still a kid. So I thought... maybe Batman has more than one kid?”
The moment her words landed—
Both of them almost spit out a second round of soda.
Her tone was just too natural, too reasonable—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBefaBdJFp1
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIsGIACmvv
But the scariest part was—
She was right.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3ecPC8BqE
Dead-on.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlot8sTJw5t
And now, the two “kids” she was talking about were sitting right in front of her.
Claire smiled again, her eyes curling into crescent moons.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIp8jb5Y5z
The blush on her cheeks deepened, her whole presence glowing with a soft—but undeniably dangerous—femininity.
She lifted her glass, swirled the ice inside, and casually added:
“So I’m guessing that other kid... is Nightwing.”
Clink.
That single sentence hit like a block of ice dropped on the table.
Robin nearly bit his own tongue.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhBi1GP1In
Dick, still dabbing his mouth with a napkin, had already started mentally counting down whether he should toss a smoke bomb and vanish.
Their scalps prickled. For real this time.
It wasn’t the kind of shiver you get from being hit.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNqrPwmGn3
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwLtbLfmtO
She had observed them.
Claire, meanwhile, had no idea she’d just earned herself a bright red tag in the vigilante brothers’ minds: “High Risk Civilian.”
But the truth was—she’d suspected for a long time.
This wasn’t some sudden spark of intuition.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBaHrmudKI
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EOHZ08c5V
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlJrajuHSa
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc0qImTKbv
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwi3x4NIjlk
This wasn’t some simple coworker dynamic.
It was the vibe of a grumpy dad handling two rebellious sons who kept screwing up their homework.
She wasn’t blind, okay.
29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmdnJwbO6X
