They entered the restaurant.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1Ri7IYQAC
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCDTa8Lqu6
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:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkfSELffKF
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpS1z5v5H4
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtd2nHOQC3N
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiJAwdo7wR
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmUL3VxJYy
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kadeFFCau
and now he had to accept this narrative?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwu0NLtq4jc
And in front of his little brother, no less?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvc5ICucSnQ
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxFNrgWD74
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPke8h28JG
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qiJZjmHzd
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVR1osz3Uxp
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfdGKkewoW
“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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDpddTYUsS
Magic-side.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeLSWoezyX
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjW5ABy0RV
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjBsOBS3Mo
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0BT2uVoOj
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ808NgY5U9l
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4c2pqvXKk
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjz1hUsNa5a
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbA6RKQAS3H
Both ordered cola.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6gpxfMyur
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7NMFMJdVo
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnIZY0l2aR
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8NxgbXgz1
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvpbHs8Tuz
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7X9GaRcCW
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpXTk9gPPN
Her tone stayed light—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJy5eAfLYUj
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1Ampeqdi5
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk9khcY1Cr
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvoyoYZXvn
coughing as he turned to stare at her—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu25O7YZvgo
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgu6duY7Vu
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQULOeKNd8
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UHvDsOoAi
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAMEsX1UWQ
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiN36vN4kF
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3sS0KgznJ
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitdlWi71cJ
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINE1caIXqM
It wasn’t just casual confidence.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuhZXxTmDw
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmpVLNTEzh
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaR3BiZZb8A
“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—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpY0qt0LlR
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmX7wshle8
But the scariest part was—
She was right.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFVoOOPvf6
Dead-on.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tjKFUJHK6
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKk7ztDN7Y3
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dQm7pi9BK
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8q9DKR9Ux
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3CU9mETB7
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtDTbQYRWC
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolREAHA333
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqIUWC19aU
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8idUfkY50a
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rCqJ9bzzo
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.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGJ7GJ7LcV
