They entered the restaurant.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRzvJXWZ2d
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgDpFuik05
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:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgd5BRUfgH
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxoE2Ot9vb
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAtqJ4Pi3f
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xgVB1UHJ4
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDPHkj9BgK
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru3Sg2Li1v
and now he had to accept this narrative?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWMmnVnS4Z
And in front of his little brother, no less?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HVgneXCzO
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplkc4wUaD1
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0p0NsmNkdO
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ208dygTb46
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWILNQKh9u8
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8x2st0qDF
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf71qM7UpA2
Magic-side.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbjVTZFxf3
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pUcMo7aEx
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxjZ5SmPBz
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAf4uh7uIDD
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfLssmLAbP
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzJOcdtn3N
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZafisZHgTj
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgSKEExw7J
Both ordered cola.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45Fup0QpSH
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7p3NqAjZDs
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeHaTVaVgS
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7FlejbvJB
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWBIeLN915
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHs53dyvDca
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGQKBmjm5D
Her tone stayed light—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoaX0Wm1QC
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1eejgaO1L
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VfQ869b5R
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbhBbvw1Nd
coughing as he turned to stare at her—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCN5fV81Ax
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzMo4VFg1f
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpxjRDD7yX
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPbZmCqUGl
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nhmXdZT8B
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngEr4BhcS3
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydBOA22SX0
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyV9hrWNQi
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSiC3fGrwt
It wasn’t just casual confidence.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRVliawDVc
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyFCcwbySm
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggzXV8nT9q
“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—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSYMHLPtqK
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTL9zwzgTqV
But the scariest part was—
She was right.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EmSiKgdRI
Dead-on.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5o2qhadBJ
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6O3wsx6Wzf
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP0mvvC7dM
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq7SqvRitk
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkT2VKxFCI
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqTXnAYmQT
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJH08SlC3DL
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF095VbwiwP
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9wyOWzjOd
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUQNQC1dwQ
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.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrMMmggQ3h
