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