They entered the restaurant.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWd7507Q0uz
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXePeydUUW
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:18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqW04Lo6Tv
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeyCiM9RE3
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWU6DImJkn
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPEb5ApQMe
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAYbmMw2Tf
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU1vFCKB5k
and now he had to accept this narrative?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEX6n2WEEbS
And in front of his little brother, no less?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxhYMTwK5s
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgS8VVD0dx
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR5ET8Tq8h
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHF3iLjMDD
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2n2mzBT6O
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbo8YSBPXv9
“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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aVnndHgt5
Magic-side.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsjozqstdJ
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkEVjlCi1H
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbSYsFI7QO
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bWJ7v20kY
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkLokGiFGU
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqvhyOse08
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1maFZnN1XX
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci78qc66QF
Both ordered cola.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCPfXNOavE
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyW7dKDgFb
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggf46g7tjL
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs799UKQWlR
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouRjRAM8MF
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4QGiwvUlL
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmtSyzVmsk
Her tone stayed light—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDXAL8V8TD
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkm8sJu5i8T
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh21QeMrwT
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7o9FzWxH2Y
coughing as he turned to stare at her—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0JHz5UTs0
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpXsDARCiO
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfB8NR4Ho4f
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKXHjydEPu
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBUvaXVb1t
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdHXzR93vQ
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡums4anucoX
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Twyw9pwqq
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwJwInfdKa
It wasn’t just casual confidence.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQxbcSxmqO
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4F70PBV8H
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCNCviqv5l
“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—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNO8JaBpKE
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkGGZ0Jc8a
But the scariest part was—
She was right.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8tsegNR8r
Dead-on.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8Q2XSEYAz
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yFcCcP8zW
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAJ63WJaK3
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2ACWBqgnl
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYvEzTINbQ
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaevVe9tQb
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2azNEh7cE
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZyPTJoMxR
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmnceq2Chq
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnXs2MF1rd
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.
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOKlPCOeof
