They entered the restaurant.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcla2uGFmHF
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlnVShDxwv
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:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrjkddTsZG
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5xGIjFCw9
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfZKLKlGe0
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWphRvcol7G
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAClN86vp81
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0FBt6fV4W
and now he had to accept this narrative?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ELZMia9Az
And in front of his little brother, no less?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPo9SGcyQg
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDgwnHysxK
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ670hwtnb9A
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmZLmQf2k0
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrN0pX9QEJN
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeGJsZ9vX2
“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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71JZ6xnq4p
Magic-side.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNADWqOD72C
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wuwMPPjF4
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03MEhS3aeV
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBBu2N32k9
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtiDWspJ6R
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzbUibzm2b
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79ELmhDE2K
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIhBdK1NzL
Both ordered cola.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7dY4tqXq6
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUdV3VewW0
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW70nLGMYHQ
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceTvhy0j5M
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKbIVKbUHW
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNheX03Y8xi
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwVSO9FBvI
Her tone stayed light—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyKX1iSWIL
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj07fvsJq9
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSIH80ddBh
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgMZ0HrG4D
coughing as he turned to stare at her—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcZkZYsll9
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJCc64GE1f
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP3VQaYQg2
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27QlmD7wj0
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTjNeavZ4e
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcC9qFU7qD
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlBPISLHDa
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbayCxqN9FW
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RwFCT8c4H
It wasn’t just casual confidence.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIU6Z1jEGg
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqzMf88m20
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhL2bSlpGR
“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—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiS3LpWAlb
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hCF5LlqoL
But the scariest part was—
She was right.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oNueuPkdO
Dead-on.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQFcCSWk2o
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2fjqkXPK7
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QEWZmtb93
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48ZbNBP8K7
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH49KfjiCFr
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV4chHRkZr
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoIgQEws23
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNefFmRO1g
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgKJbpsnf1
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKj339UCHd
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.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDw6LaEpzq
