They entered the restaurant.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaev6UeKOhn
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnSHlsg7sx
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:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1odLf25fK
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6l1z8SPyw
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oHCVx9Bj4
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlzlP5Luxc
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmqrHZsCnM
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKtunuPBjW
and now he had to accept this narrative?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBem1MPkTqM
And in front of his little brother, no less?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzopiRPwVBf
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwPPApjEKY
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMyDQR9Izf
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HHu3xLiWp
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ESicJBZVc
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiq4H21yUGD
“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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0H7qrfkjmB
Magic-side.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4asdffRku
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DCN8QVzUs
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEq93oCnEHe
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HP203SFHz
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDU1Tacpp8
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9vmhHpeX9
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOKdpmWCMl
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6g6k6N2FZ
Both ordered cola.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGa1ZU6Beh
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxKVYVWYcu
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYPyiw8aBL
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVawA7BVjRR
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaU4jybX16r
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZbp91gGKZ
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetnUpSaIVP
Her tone stayed light—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqKKWSEzhI
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppXnHmpA0k
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TDiKQCqsJ
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9S9Dca8HX1
coughing as he turned to stare at her—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EsFmZ9rnC
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKFIpxQWNT
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKzPbaV06W
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ChZr7MyjR
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIV1zXJHxks
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuW4TabTEy
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5Wkde8ylh
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyMsd5AFiN
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ64wLs0gCJe
It wasn’t just casual confidence.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XUbHH15lI
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcZwDqKoYJ
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszU5MUx6Hx
“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—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1suMIAffga
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWb8Xqinp3
But the scariest part was—
She was right.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuZ2j2Jneh
Dead-on.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdM9LcNvlhz
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHOZIkcN7M
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMSlhSYU80
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhJ6mG91b8
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV05sESVuD2
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBKAlhfij0
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbEPx2kq3x
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCwSxIMeCs
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mGgHJC435
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTay9BBglvM
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.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOqWMVacUv
