They entered the restaurant.40Please respect copyright.PENANA2eBtoKKgoq
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.40Please respect copyright.PENANAsrQE4E1AFY
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:40Please respect copyright.PENANAE4iv0HcHSX
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—40Please respect copyright.PENANAufAcFFpijv
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,40Please respect copyright.PENANA1WjwQSsQPK
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”40Please respect copyright.PENANAb9n0mTD8nX
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.40Please respect copyright.PENANAqmoKG3JjqK
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,40Please respect copyright.PENANA4G4SeXfDyg
and now he had to accept this narrative?40Please respect copyright.PENANA2ro3qwYMUB
And in front of his little brother, no less?40Please respect copyright.PENANAa5kyWMxfpE
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,40Please respect copyright.PENANAJ5e7Wp7GWU
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.40Please respect copyright.PENANA6hVm82N6Iu
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.40Please respect copyright.PENANAW9d1gdsVwI
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:40Please respect copyright.PENANAKbf5mimNjm
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”40Please respect copyright.PENANAoNrXIhZMEk
“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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAyITDmvYDco
Magic-side.40Please respect copyright.PENANAEWVIY4OLET
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—40Please respect copyright.PENANA7qVCyXdiz1
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.40Please respect copyright.PENANA1cJoMtjIfm
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?40Please respect copyright.PENANAOiXU6T0wrk
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—40Please respect copyright.PENANA6nw87Vsm0d
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAGsclK8jwls
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.40Please respect copyright.PENANAyiO8YvW3y3
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...40Please respect copyright.PENANAWp6MDfvTco
Both ordered cola.40Please respect copyright.PENANAKMe9SUMiBx
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.40Please respect copyright.PENANADxjrk19LAj
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.40Please respect copyright.PENANAvsRQgJIzla
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”40Please respect copyright.PENANAnb2x87AGiZ
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.40Please respect copyright.PENANAeqCBVukFSa
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.40Please respect copyright.PENANAQImHq7DbQR
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.40Please respect copyright.PENANA8Dk8rSCfUx
Her tone stayed light—40Please respect copyright.PENANA2b3bHerzSc
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAHTWggXrF6r
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.40Please respect copyright.PENANAMt7Oztt7aO
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,40Please respect copyright.PENANAyiTCKxIgu4
coughing as he turned to stare at her—40Please respect copyright.PENANAwpsyUXPxhp
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,40Please respect copyright.PENANASaiYcCrwSi
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
40Please respect copyright.PENANANAmFDkSuFZ
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.40Please respect copyright.PENANAet1YcoxoNi
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—40Please respect copyright.PENANA457MlZL3ca
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.40Please respect copyright.PENANAEmEPAqeiO3
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.40Please respect copyright.PENANA9H2QIYKAnh
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.40Please respect copyright.PENANARrPJK1EsVv
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAYBTGqabYk2
It wasn’t just casual confidence.40Please respect copyright.PENANA80utF4ZBfi
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.40Please respect copyright.PENANAHzPbMQ5qiN
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:40Please respect copyright.PENANAb1cC5IyAa9
“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—40Please respect copyright.PENANAZYqQfApmsV
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.40Please respect copyright.PENANAGQ5VyX5n8e
But the scariest part was—
She was right.40Please respect copyright.PENANAXy29ZQGA8C
Dead-on.40Please respect copyright.PENANAHyPqRFzdS7
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAW8zffTJ572
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANAUih6PrOpXQ
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANA7vTpKWPgE0
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.40Please respect copyright.PENANAMOzdCIEwnP
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.40Please respect copyright.PENANA4kX4iiHEHv
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.40Please respect copyright.PENANAdbWPPTSMVJ
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.40Please respect copyright.PENANAcGXP0rlk53
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.40Please respect copyright.PENANAWshZceIl9A
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—40Please respect copyright.PENANAEduZ1ijOQJ
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.
40Please respect copyright.PENANAtfUhA4crSy