Riley was more than a little fascinated when Ashton described his band. Riley hadn’t done anything like that when she was growing up, but then again she’d been busy working retail jobs so she could afford to do teenager things in her spare time. It made her laugh a little and shake her head in the dark theater, ”It sounds like it was great.” she intoned seriously when he was finished.

She thought about it again, and chuckled again, the movie forgotten for a moment as Ashton’s descriptions remained fresh in her mind. It was all so…white-picket fence, and therefore completely foreign to Riley.

”It’s a shame.” Riley said, voice full of humor, ”About the mullet, I mean. “

He still had the guitar and drums though, that was something. She turned back to the movie and checked her popcorn…pretty much gone. Good thing the movie was almost over.

”So, did you just keep them to look at them…or do you still play?”

>>”It’s a shame.” Riley said, voice full of humor, ”About the mullet, I mean. “

"Seriously."

>>”So, did you just keep them to look at them…or do you still play?”

"From time to time."

Ashton fished out his box of chocolate-covered raisins. His eyes flicked to the screen. Why wasn't it over yet?

"Want to cut out early?" Ashton asked, from out of the blue. "The movie's nearly over, and coffee won't drink itself."

Did she want to cut out early? Riley looked at the screen, she’d paid to see the movie….then sat and talked through the whole thing and watched maybe five minutes. She looked at her popcorn bag….empty besides the crowns and other generally unpleasant things that people didn’t really eat. Riley jiggled her cup, pretty much just ice.

”Sounds like a plan.” she said, shrugging her shoulders and preparing to stand.

”Got anywhere specific in mind for coffee?”

He did. He told her. They went. The chocolate-covered raisins in the box were a gift, along the way.

It was a nice coffee place. Very black, with straight angles. V-shaped wall adornments took up space. Square tables covered the customer base seating arrangements. Bitter coffee aficionados brewed behind the counter. As they entered, Ashton did not wave 'hullo's to any of the patrons. He led Riley to the front counter. It was an 'order your order, get it, go find a seat' type of place. Not one of those 'they come to you' establishments. He ordered what he wanted. They ordered what they needed. They found a table.

"So." Ashton warmed his hands on his coffee cup, and let the so fill in a bit of the very large gap in the conversation. Hopefully, the woman would help fill in the rest.

They made it to the coffee shop and Riley was pretty impressed, taking time to look around while they waited to make their orders. It was a nice place…not exactly homey, but a little swanky for a coffee shop. As nice a place as any to have a conversation. She got her drink and followed Ashton to a table, sliding into a chair across from him as he spoke.

Riley took a moment to push back her hood, now that they were seated and take a sip of the coffee. She’d gone simple, one sugar, a little bit of cream. It was good, and it was warm.

”So.” she countered with a small smile, the lighting was much better here than in the theater and she studied her companion for a moment, ”You were telling me about your band, and how you still play. Are you from around here?” Riley didn’t count on it. Nobody was actually from New York.

She really was attractive... not that he'd come out and say something so corny. His coffee was far too bitter and strong for lines that sweet. He sipped it as she met his so with a 'so'. So so. The coffee was just as good as it ever was. The topic of choice was once again his old band. Actually, no it wasn't.

"I'm from Rhode Island," Ashton coolly changed the subject. "Newport. I went to college here. Berkeley."

Annnd once again, not actually from New York City. Riely couldn’t even pretend to be surprised by the revelation that the good Detective was from Rhode Island. She nodded her head to show that she’d understood while taking another sip of coffee. He’d gone to college in New York, and apparently stayed.

College. Something Riley had never been the least bit interested in. Counselors had always tried to imprint on her how modeling wasn’t the kind of career that people put all their stock in, but she hadn’t listened. She’d known better then…and she really knew better now.

”You’re probably the closest thing I’ve ever met to a native New Yorker.” she contributed to the conversation. ”And Berkley? Pretty fancy. Criminal Justice major?” she guessed, keeping the spotlight on him for the time being. She was in control of the conversation…just the way she liked.

"Criminology and sociology," He clarified. "Interesting stuff. What about you?" He used a sip of coffee for a dramatic pause, then continued. "College? Native New Yorker? Where'd you grow up? Favorite music genre? Anything. Usually, I'm the one doing the questioning here, Miss Detective." He wasn't lecturing. He had a subtle joking smile.

Riley had to hide a smile behind her cup of coffee as Ashton took a turn at asking questions. He had, at least, answered her questions first. Sociology and criminology. Very different from a simple criminal justice degree. She figured that’s why he had the fancy Detective badge.

All those questions though. Where was a girl to start?

”Native Chicagoan.” Riley said, accents on all the proper vowels. ”Emigrated here after I graduated from high school. Nothing as fancy as college though. I came for all the glamorous opportunities the big city offers for small town girls like me.”

As for music…”Blues. Classic Rock…classic rock. I like music from the gut.” she said with a nod and grin, eyes looking towards the ceiling as if examples would be written there. They returned to the man across the table and Riley leaned forward on her forearms, ”I have been known to hum a little Billie Holiday while putting on bright red lipstick.”

She was from Chicago. What did he like from Chicago again? Oh right. Pizza. The accent had charm of its own as well.

She hadn't graduated college. Instead, she'd opted to seek out a glamourous future in the land of opportunity. For some reason, he'd expected more. That was it? Hm. He would have to dig. "Glamourous" left a lot to be defined.

As for musical tastes. She liked blues and Classic Rock. Maybe even some Billie Holiday. "Good stuff, all around." He commented. "Nice to see someone with a wide range of tastes. And bright red lipstick?" He took on the tone of one whose interest was suddenly piqued. "Good color. Now, what's this about glamourous." Then, he crossed his arms and changed the subject to something a little closer to home.

Boy. They were really talking about her now, weren’t they? Riley twitched an eyebrow up and took another drink of her coffee to buy time while she decided exactly how much she wanted to tell the guy. He’d complimented her taste in music…and her taste in lipstick. That was definitely a mark in his favor…a man who wasn’t afraid to talk about lipstick.

Riley pursed her lips. She wasn’t ashamed of what she did, but people tended to have strong reactions one way or another to the reality of what she did for a living.

”Mm hmm.” she hummed into the glass while taking a final sip before explaining. ”The Modeling industry in Chicago was obviously not wise enough to see the inherent talent I had. Obviously, New York would know better.” she explained.

”Now I know better.” she said with a slightly rueful smile, ”But. I work in the industry. Just not the side I thought I’d end up on. I do advertising work, some pin-up work.” she shrugged, ”It pays the bills.”

Modeling. Well, well, well.

"They obviously don't have eyes," Ashton commented dryly. If the bigwigs over in Chicago didn't think this woman had talent, they obviously didn't have eyes. "Advertising is good, though. Commercials? Magazines?" Centerfolds? Pin-up work, huh? "I've never known someone in the advertising biz.

He took a sip of his drink, and let the topic brew.

Riley smiled and inclined her head to Ashton’s compliment. She wasn’t the type of girl who lavished thanks on someone for saying something they obviously thought was true enough to say in the first place. Still, it was a nice gesture…if overblown.

He wanted to know more. Not shocking, Riley decided as she sipped some more coffee. Most guys wanted to know more when they found out what she did for a living. She shrugged, ”Not so much Commercials or advertising. I’ve done a couple of things recently though. Mostly the good ole magazines…not advertisements.” She shrugged. It was what it was. He’d either react well, or he wouldn’t.


She turned the question around, ”And what about you?” she said, with a nod in his general direction, ”You said you were a Detective…but aren’t there different departments? Like Homicide, narcotocs…et cetera?”

"I work in Mutant-Related Crimes," Ashton replied. "MRC." Pronounced Mercy. "Used to do something else. MRC is kind of new. Seems to be working out so far."

So, she wasn't a world class model or a television actress in commercials? Alright. It didn't matter much to him. That would have been interesting, but then she might have had extra stuff she had to deal with, like publicity or all that jive.

Ahhh. The MRC. Where had Riley heard that name before? Probably on the news, or in the paper, she decided. There were a lot of mutants in New York, so it made sense that there was a section of the police department set up to deal directly with them. Ashton was one of the members of that department.

She nodded. It made sense.

”Well, I’m glad it’s working out. You’ve probably never got a dull moment in that line of work.” Riley said, ”I’m always seeing things on the news.”

It would have been easy to inject a statement about her own genetic makeup here, but Riley let it slide. There wasn’t any point in ruining a perfectly good cup of coffee with something that tended to be incendiary.

”So did you grow up playing cops & robbers, or was it a calling later on?” she asked, hoping the subject change was subtle enough not to draw attention to itself, but enough of a hook to keep the conversation going.