After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzQL4ZwnxH
“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.”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5B3Jcaf29H
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSSvBXQsqj
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQn2z27FRua
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnhUpEGPgv
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZbqOs45gU
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,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxOCaLc76a
“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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnnuuTkQzX
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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWTzrVG7pQ
‘The long way’ = more time together?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxv4rcdN1X
Was she trying to get to know him better?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xzwT4SJj3
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhLmepiyQZ
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCl7o1SAuF7
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFQX8dyeOP
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:112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDYrberi09
“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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRg2wZtzvmO
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hVhusbsYn
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGorA9R02bc
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBX34XPwz1
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFGDGh5eDg
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,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmapcBAjYBW
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYDxz7vJZd
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQrE1bmZMj
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlxRcj1zVi
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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AY9hXfSJX
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:112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrRuKKH2AU
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniD3SZ3lHn
…One more person?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTv5K0bNrNC
Now?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡep4UzyqORr
At this time of night?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGP7YQIR8y8
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCS8IrAhVk
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6z1K4cxlp
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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM78HJ1H2BG
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5pvc2QG2L
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgvFsoNEvu
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:112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOISvJ92A8k
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgd6P0DimLL
Why are you asking so much?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKdoRofNiR
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZp4ZWEUPd
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?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzv2QbVHVv
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzmSUZApQM
What kind of parent would be okay with that?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaD9sc6HzE
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,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7jvOOAgJX
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.”
112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR4fQ7hf8Y
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSGPB1idwm
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhnJEGBc7D
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePsXwp454V
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchBZKvM01B
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDI3LHgczrj
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48Svoqdu0h
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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZj4oDHed85
He was trying to form a logical picture,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoMbgxAg6h
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.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3xC7TrItP
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfGrLqYqeN
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuDGzD6Gau
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uP7CpJn7L
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlSATpdvXf
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?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwH2zqaWGtJ
She said she was looking for Robin?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpMPoreR1n
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrTzJ52uJq
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zBtubLmuO
—She invited Robin to dinner?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RBC29XG9q
—Does Robin even know her?112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Y4J04X4mW
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OQOixNTEr
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75HujEvztK
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWb53anrpz
Claire suddenly stopped walking.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4rDSQzfNV
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HXUvWcF1l
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,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdU9HnR3Ii
a figure swung across the skyline.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmymyiFpdj
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHmmMkXQCp
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWPlZ1lNST
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXoEBjJugH
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQQ9qKoMG8
She said simply:
“Found him.”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4D7iA5Lxb
and then Add to home screen.