They entered the restaurant.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqiMw8rIbX
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsA7NnNGcx8
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:9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NVWnLPUVO
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhV19ZLlrls
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxQNEKCftA
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnM1yR7K6M
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnxoyiVfM2
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lbOlenxIE
and now he had to accept this narrative?9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡten7S0hylO
And in front of his little brother, no less?9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddkf7Wk3Yr
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCM3g9uRKC
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPw6riu9o6w
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWqTsRZmSC
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBs0NTRxfz
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iR6qM5H3M
“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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpiHl02Vm3
Magic-side.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFgzrBjCAc
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbf5CfPaWO
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa7Pyzfdbq
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3W8DMyThZ3
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0FAVvv7HA
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwG8Dm2Lk2l
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGSZsZJUrb
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM84yoBQ6B6
Both ordered cola.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgopmELXAAA
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdTwiDz8VM
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQTb3jOJja
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78q8cdkwST
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvzr3DxfIu
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZE54yhiKH8
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJInTkENMy
Her tone stayed light—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4OyXFQySl
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK0pwnuVuf
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUta5clpqOX
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0yLu74tiH
coughing as he turned to stare at her—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlbIDE7Qzc
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicUdFJyRMe
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvVimOJULQ
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqo5HFxpS3
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSfsTMg0Da
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdxlq2MZz7
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzT8xREY8uW
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFdZvLO0Ts
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg02NHXa8mY
It wasn’t just casual confidence.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CnwPBPcf6
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w0V5XxAFX
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjNr9aqLJ3
“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—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqymkHDl6H
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapHtZ7hgYT
But the scariest part was—
She was right.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5jL7WU8Wa
Dead-on.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIERcDek32
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMBYmVuEbR
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcseVQpMsd3
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeQCQerrmy
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuXgzDyTs1
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUgTtPh5PS
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonZp6RS85R
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixTyFEC9Gk
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DtUagm7fH
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHg5uYuBAe
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.
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LdyHveRse
