They entered the restaurant.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y0Melk4sc
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXQ60WzHL1
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:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRo8XsTlys
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEBmwMvwj1
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡle4MvpVBva
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZywQd8cD6o
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKNbZ17IDc
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtOsNh9v0a
and now he had to accept this narrative?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BAH3YekIO
And in front of his little brother, no less?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HNmX3jb9S
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkSNoxdP0O
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4VTknfMgZ
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgTVjeOlBG
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRmsxxiP3Z
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFzSLMMH8i
“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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPA9pEywPd
Magic-side.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvaMQVAzsi
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWcPSAY3eC
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpQ6CmxLJF
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZjEi88iQg
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTF8WGYG9vs
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFgJZhU7l1
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVwXkKD6r4
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2npptz32tV
Both ordered cola.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5zSURzssl
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpcNqGPp8I
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2jBC9v83I
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaB16ZO6aKr
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SvfZWCqpN
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZB7ZDYlL1
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmd1PVGoiY
Her tone stayed light—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkValRce97
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh953moGoQ
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMcM19Bbo2
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdc2B5VEjV
coughing as he turned to stare at her—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FhtqUQ5IH
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡteS3MLYdXK
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinI2hnTquU
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vvVEbGob8
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLke4k9piv
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFChOST7KS
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQvdtGzJgZ
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveuuvb08dF
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KBoZt7GIT
It wasn’t just casual confidence.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxrVQMPE4j
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU04ipQUZ1Q
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuj7lTePwFE
“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—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5915n1O9r
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnuxpwGEQd
But the scariest part was—
She was right.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDYSeDP2Kc
Dead-on.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQNlT2ENJl
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4ALivhj4B
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzk7LCQIOA
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoCn34XPqN
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7UxnIp7sr
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWadfR7gqVT
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhPlghiPG1
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlDNqbXkpq
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzEUncRYA4
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2E102McjVJ
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.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfheaUgKUlg
