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