They entered the restaurant.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZsbd2R3wX
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSCg1632lF
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:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupCuGSZofB
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk18VsFqCl5
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0c3d0bhWVz
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWigR9IyMrL
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrZl56hyhs
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoucRKzP1x9
and now he had to accept this narrative?6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wBbcLAwiY
And in front of his little brother, no less?6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNfe2Vxk2R
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2n29pv2VT
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPF3c5msYRB
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzHkWtEja8
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShoUTR24B5
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqTk8hPLrx
“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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdThVi4yBPp
Magic-side.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6VY0KoRfA
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93YV5pdu0a
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutIYSmIxtE
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1j0M6VZeKl
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZcOIuudZf
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuPuhoGB0X
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EfWSYPsyd
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVzfytVqjx
Both ordered cola.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcKrVqMJwV
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4O6p6D0mhc
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67e8VBkBDA
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10b3E5LLGG
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTtAJGoiON
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIjpylRXcb
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavkwhWo7jq
Her tone stayed light—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt1xZW2nmP
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZBj43RdEE
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi25iKo1dq5
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rWPZXll6S
coughing as he turned to stare at her—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3BYgnsUlh
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ipX8fVNFK
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8XksTRO5I
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCxNo2W0oV
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8ZH4E6eXD
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmBMBcKpTT
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2NCBLDkbH
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSLlosdXuP
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbqwVuItKM
It wasn’t just casual confidence.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAc8kaMYTgB
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbIMkUBHWp
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRd1lYFGIe
“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—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNiyvXO5wD
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcB6fC8PGJ
But the scariest part was—
She was right.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEDv4lsVv3
Dead-on.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG10UkyvkBL
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2BKIlKqm8
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnEasa1Zg0
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHJrLB301R
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVI2VtUnP8
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMd4rUDx6G
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnu10xOwKy8
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNWus5Xu2y
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0XA8vKF0d
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytrE8vQW1O
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.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dc0roaK3f
and then Add to home screen.