They entered the restaurant.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwxvhl0yZL
The table was by the window, the lighting was soft, and a few vintage-style American paintings hung on the walls.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnhRikJsFz
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:210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3jqDeVL1R
“Is this a date?”
Dick was just about to say something—the words were turning in his throat—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlLDrYKYa2
but Claire had already nodded without hesitation and added,210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyzhwuMsE5
“I asked him out.”
Her tone was so casual, like she was simply saying “I ordered that dish.”210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeLQmPuj0E
No hint of flirtation. No trace of concealment.
Robin instantly turned to Dick, eyes glinting with mischief.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIGVrr4mKb
“Nice one, bro.”
Dick nearly choked.
He had just learned her name was Claire,210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TnJ6bk9Ek
and now he had to accept this narrative?210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0K7vqvgZ6
And in front of his little brother, no less?210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8UId6o2zQ
Sometimes life hit you too fast—it left you speechless.
Robin followed up,210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmBtkZfWKP
“Why did you invite me to dinner?”
This was the one question that mattered most to him today.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMqWIfv2uG
He didn’t have a public trail, wasn’t someone regular people could just reach out to.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6xXqr00AA
How did this woman know he was even in Blüdhaven?
Claire shrugged. Her tone remained breezy:210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDAxMQAVh4
“Oh, I have a certain ability. Let’s just call it... clairvoyance.”210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuNDzeINqz
“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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIWnuEd16n
Magic-side.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhSDpmZCPW
No wonder everything felt like some cosmic joke from the start.
They each silently recalled those bizarre missions that had ended in magical chaos—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyQiojTS3x
and yeah, her behavior tracked perfectly with that non-logical pattern.
Claire noticed their faces shift into that classic “alert level rising” expression.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfV9snluhI
Her lips twitched slightly.
What is it with these people?210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fbfQ6Y4Aw
The moment you say ‘clairvoyance,’ they act like I’m about to summon a demon.
Just as the atmosphere started slipping toward “awkward” again—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tV3nUztwB
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eUL1Zw4ez
The clink of ice against glass was crisp and pleasant.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9utkvw60f
She hadn’t had a drink in ages—today, she finally had a small excuse.
As for the two across from her...210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2QrHLAwWu
Both ordered cola.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oAjhwUjR9
Robin—well, obviously underage. No questions there.
Claire took a sip.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYoI2rZ4fA
The mix of bubbles and alcohol sent a warm, tingling sensation through her.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXGhgcqghI
Her eyes glinted faintly.
She turned to the kid sipping his soda so seriously.
“Can I ask a question now?”210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMPGy4vSjP
Her smile was gentle, her cheeks tinged a soft pink.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttT0VfxIcI
The alcohol was beginning to work its magic.
Robin nodded, unguarded.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBS0rx4R7TL
“I don’t mind.”
Claire tilted her head slightly.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRtQp9nciZ
Her tone stayed light—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFV7ayiwF6
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FBj7UfyR5
The entire table descended into chaos.
Dick was red in the face, grabbing napkins and pounding his chest.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjyKnUJXSc
Robin looked like he almost snorted his cola through his nose,210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwipcEpiNqe
coughing as he turned to stare at her—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8lXz85uFb
as if she’d just asked, “Are you an alien?”
Meanwhile, Claire lazily raised her glass,210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVQ0IiT1ga
watching them like two birds that had just forgotten how to speak.
210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJWB8g9sdo
Robin and Dick finally recovered from the chaos of nearly drowning in soda.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnUIPHnG8J
Each held a damp napkin, their faces still dotted with drops of cola, their breathing uneven—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgtbHeA5S8
but their eyes had gone razor sharp.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDTNH3SFtR
Both were now glaring directly at Claire.
She, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqjfhoLjM2
Propping her chin on one hand, she smiled gently, her expression relaxed, faintly tipsy.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0Grf2ApHR
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9znkGRtej
It wasn’t just casual confidence.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrlfJh8wGl
It was—calculated? Or maybe... she had a plan all along?
He tested the waters.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gFFLo05Y1
“Why would you think that?”
Claire shrugged, voice light as ever:210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxnsSmmZid
“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—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lcFAj2UmP
even laced with an innocent kind of puzzlement.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdAZPBmd1n
But the scariest part was—
She was right.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBk34ESXKI
Dead-on.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCCZnPzaDf
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWu1q84oMao
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeOADQZuK2
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnPQAUpJ6F
It was the kind you get when someone sees through you too easily.
And they both knew—
This wasn’t just a lucky guess.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlcYKthhgw
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.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMLqbVjz7V
It was the result of months of quiet watching and gut instinct.
The café’s daily comings and goings.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2W5CnQRs4
The way Nightwing and Robin interacted.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWxl1hiHcN
The rare, heavy silence when Batman appeared.210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZ4kVgHd1Z
Claire had seen it all.
The glances, the unspoken hierarchy, the weight of command and familiarity—210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSFjyID0qF
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.
210Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPK0TLljooZ
and then Add to home screen.