After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tsIuho7Wp
“So… do you have any plans on where to go?”
Claire nodded. “Let’s head to Queen Street. There’s a nice American-style diner there.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXbuuLAIUf
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ0pYu00Jk
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLeZCaP0pQ
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL5TnGbcZE
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaBhydl1u6
That mark was long gone, as if it had never existed at all.
Claire finished locking up and turned right.
Dick frowned slightly, watching her back as he said,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg8g7RqZyh
“Isn’t Queen Street to the left?”
Claire nodded. “I know. But I want to take the long way.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, without any explanation.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYnEy0l2xE
Her tone was as casual as saying, “I feel like drinking something hot today.”
Dick tried to make sense of it, to interpret the logic.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiipOfPbyGo
‘The long way’ = more time together?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8M0S6XJMH
Was she trying to get to know him better?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HAdojNZh0
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy8I4QLrGV
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZawOjkBE4O
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqbiTTCQ35
Warm orange streetlights stretched their shadows out behind them.
Naturally, the conversation began.
Claire asked, “Is being a police officer really busy?”
Dick nodded and gave a textbook answer:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7BYsszy18
“Workload’s heavy, pace is fast. But we work in shifts, so we get rest. Our precinct’s got decent security—less hectic than other districts.”
Claire didn’t call him out on the vague, PR-style response.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgXwbkpnoa
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0TBdh3z6ag
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUvu1gWO6D
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93Tm6BYO2V
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87Fr5mcydE
It’s tiring, sure, but you get used to it.”
Her voice was steady, but when she mentioned “regular customers,” the corner of her lips twitched slightly—like she’d remembered something funny.
“Your precinct chief drops by almost every day. He loves hazelnut lattes,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3LH44oxFX
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpJ2VuMtsK
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBNBAeVdYF
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9AsN5d4d6
There stood an old motel with a flickering porch light and faded signage. Claire suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the upper floors.
Dick followed her gaze.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKRIBc2z6A
There was nothing. No lights, no movement, not even a stray cat.
Then Claire turned left toward Queen Street without a word, her pace steady, as if she had already seen whatever she needed to see.
Dick looked puzzled and caught up with her. “What were you looking at just now?”
Claire turned and looked at him, her expression calm, voice equally so:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6VEQpZzbz
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvbC90yy07
…One more person?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULqFXHZTS7
Now?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqv7DPqOZre
At this time of night?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEA6QZshDV
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1WCGzERCE
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8R4fJhCWh
she meant someone was joining them.
This woman had planned a three-person date.
Is this a trend now? Or have I officially lost track of how modern dating works?
Dick glanced at Claire, who kept walking like nothing was wrong, and he couldn’t tell anymore who was leading this whole situation.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLl1rNife7
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeOTc7wEfU
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdWqa8ylZp
Not dangerous—but the kind of scary where you could never guess her next move.
Dick tried to keep his cool and picked up his pace to match hers.
He lowered his voice and tried to sound casual:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEgKzCHNlz
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CwbF2Ttoi
Why are you asking so much?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5B7VEQNYdU
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7Vbfq7A5H
She said it so naturally, but his brain was entering meltdown.
He quickly calculated her age, build, manner—she didn’t seem like someone who had a kid.
So… whose kid was it?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7I4DsAep3D
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvp7QBxd1Z
What kind of parent would be okay with that?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CyjXDLRlt
Or… maybe the kid wasn’t hers at all?
The whole thing was getting weirder by the second.
As they walked on, Dick started to seriously wonder if he’d accidentally stumbled into some underground recruitment process,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFiouUOrOH
or if this was all a carefully disguised evaluation.
This woman’s actions were completely outside the bounds of any logic he’d ever associated with “ordinary people.”
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKxCtI0vhK
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgh7YRYZfd
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZQ15qQdou
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUanwM0vv4m
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEkJYB1BaK
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAhLYDUIhy
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjp6tjr5Du
Didn’t you just say a cute kid was joining us?”
He tried to keep his tone steady, but his brain was already running at full speed.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCM0TmaAs7
He was trying to form a logical picture,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCVfJrcnae
but every clue felt like a kite with a broken string—pulled once, then gone with the wind.
He began mentally evaluating her mental state.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT75XkG0Y1J
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxoUi3o6D1
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZMFU2jING
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutbjoyxHbh
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wXVR3S90T
He’s joining us for dinner.”
Dick felt like his brain exploded on the spot.
He jolted where he stood, stopping in his tracks almost instinctively.
Robin?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogLxgZESQs
She said she was looking for Robin?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ew6eTqtNR
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eNJs3OrUf
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNC5aGGlUZw
—She invited Robin to dinner?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDg5eUHonq
—Does Robin even know her?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrgkAVHvuy
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqRJHRqPrr
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKUGUDwUFyu
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqQrErvC9z
Claire suddenly stopped walking.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxM9rlJHLFc
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Rqj8aAaZj
and her eyes lit up.
Dick followed her line of sight.
Up on the rooftop of a tall building at the corner, shrouded by the faint veil of night,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9NIS5UrbQ
a figure swung across the skyline.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmp6UxDNK3c
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSS3S9ft8Nh
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllDhuS1khz
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvEweFvKF3
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vY1e13dJR
She said simply:
“Found him.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4N2DfumCp
and then Add to home screen.