"Made him blind, huh." Ashton asked skeptically. "By any chance, he have hairy palms?"

Okay, all joking aside, they were planning to test her ability, right? Without an inordinate amount of jackassery? Yeah. He looked around the area carefully. The street was quiet for a change. It must have been their lucky night. "I guess we could skip the trip and just test this here." He said. "These sorts of things usually have a maximum range, I'm guessing." Guessing, because he didn't have a clue. Ashton took a few steps away from her.

Riley laughed out loud at Ashton’s comment about the kid she’d blinded, ”I don’t know. Him and some other guy were chasing…get this…a gold guy fugitive. He stumbled into my photoshoot…which was some chintzy spy flick knock-off with…get this…gold guy models.”

Riley chuckeld and shook her head, ”You couldn’t make up some of the stuff I’ve seen recently.“

Ashton was looking around, and Riley quieted down to let him think. When he spoke, she wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, and when he started moving she followed, simply thinking they were going somewhere else. ”So we’re doing what now?”

"Wow." Gold guy models? He was impressed.

And could he make up some of the stuff she'd dealt with? Ashton laughed and let her think that. "Probably not."

Now, down to business. He took a step away, thinking she'd stay put. She didn't. Ashton shook his head with a smile.

"You're staying put." He said, then stepped forward to put his hands on her shoulders and shift her back a step to where she'd just been standing. "Right. Here." There. Much better. He let go and moved back a few feet. "Now I can test to see if there's some maximum distance away from you I'd need to reach before my power would work. Ready?"

Riley was pleased, she’d been able to take the conversation to a quid pro quo level with her story about the golden guy and the blind kid. This was nice, just talking and sharing stories, strolling down the street.

Well…not strolling. Ashton tried to walk off, and Riley tried to follow. He stopped, and stopped her. Riley looked at his hands on her shoulders and then up at his face with a raised eyebrow as he spoke, then nodded her assent as he stepped away. Slowly, a smile spread across her features…she already knew where the limits of her powers were. She eyed the distance between them as Ashton took a step back.

”Take another step back.” she commented off-handedly. ”And you might have better luck.”

"Will do," He said. And he did. He tried his power. No luck. Another step, then he tried again. The process repeated itself over and over, until finally... yeah. Finally, Riley could stop laughing (if she was laughing), because his power had worked.

Ashton looked at where he was and where the cinnamon-fresh trashcan in his past location was presently. He eyeballed the distance.

"What is that, four feet?" Maybe five? He wasn't that amazing when it came to measuring exact distances with his eyes.

He listened, but Riley could tell that the good Detective was still trying out his powers with each and every step. She considered putting him out of his misery and telling him to simply try and eyeball four feet…but watching his face as he went through the trial and error process was too fun. But then…it worked.

Riley let out a little, ’oh’ sound and took and involuntary step backwards when the trashcan and the Detective traded places in the blink of an eye. And was that…cinnamon she smelled? Surely the trashcan hadn’t smelled like that before.

Three or four golf claps later, Riley smiled, approaching the spot where the trashcan now stood. ”Very impressive. I should have just told you before.”

She nodded. ”Yup, right at about four feet. That’s what previous testing has shown.”

Riley shrugged her shoulders again, ” Jury back with a verdict on what you think of all this yet?”

"What's there to say?" He stepped back into her range, stopping a couple feet from where she stood. He stuffed his hands in his pockets haphazardly. "It's not like I'd go crazy and start pointing at you, is it? After coffee and all of that?"

Naw. That would be real dumb. Besides, he didn't hate the company.

"You could have saved me the trouble, though? On that, I can comment. Gee. Thanks." He said, wry smile slipping onto his face. "Bet you got a good laugh out of that."

”You’d be shocked what people would do after a lot more than coffee.” Riley commented with a shrug. She wasn’t one to launch into past exploits, but the comment had merit. People reacted strangely to how she was, and what she could do by simply existing.

”Not that I’m complaining of course. I don’t take kindly to the whole pointing and laughing thing.”

He took her admission about knowing her range in step and Riley had to appreciate his good humor…Ashton had been a good sport about a lot of things so far.

”I wouldn’t say a laugh…maybe a small chuckle. I liked watching you figure it out.”

Ashton was closer now, definitely within the range where he wouldn’t be able to us his powers. Riley nodded to the trashcan. ” Still…pretty neat trick.” she commented. ”That whole cinnamon thing is yours too, huh?”

Riley mulled things over while she waited for his answer. If they kept on this way they threatened another lull in conversation like they’d had at the coffee shop. It was probably time to call it good.

”It’s about time I headed home though.” she said with a surreptitious glance at her watch. It wasn’t a cop out…those were for dates that had gone horrible. This one had definitely not. It was just…time.

>>”Not that I’m complaining of course. I don’t take kindly to the whole pointing and laughing thing.”

"Nobody takes kindly to that," He agreed. Especially him.

She'd been able to help, but she hadn't. That wasn't funny. She probably hadn't meant anything by it. He hadn't taken offense. He'd laughed it off. She'd gotten a small chuckle out of it too. And liked watching him figure it out.

"Detective, Detecting, eh?"

She thought the trick was nice. The whole cinnamon thing? "That's me." He confirmed.

It was time for her to go.

"Cab fare's on me?" He offered. It was one way he could pretty much ensure she got home safely from this neighborhood, short of him walking her the whole way there. He didn't think they were at that 'walk home' point yet. Plus, that was a bit too mushy for his tastes. Free cab fare was cheaper... and a whole hell of a lot less sentimental.

The cinnamon was his, Riley had to chuckle at the admission. It was a nice little touch…even if it wasn’t really a result of anything the Detective had done. Riley had to admit, if only to herself, that she was impressed.

Ashton offered to pay for the cab and Riley almost wanted to congratulate him on a situation well played. Anything else simply would have been too much. The night had been a good one, Riley might have even called it a date…if she dated. Whatever it was, though, it had gone well.

They went about finding a cab, but they were in New York…these things took a while. It left them standing a little awkwardly. Riley tossed a couple of conversation ideas around, then settled on something that hopefully wouldn’t be too bad.

” So. I’m not all that interested in seeing the movie next week. It’s some larky happy musical.” she said, pulling a face at the concept, ” I wouldn’t mind coffee again though.” she let the offer hang. He could take it or leave it…for some reason, Riley was far more comfortable with the ball in his court.

>>” So. I’m not all that interested in seeing the movie next week. It’s some larky happy musical.”

He made the same face. Ick.

>>” I wouldn’t mind coffee again though.”

"Well then, I really should get your number, shouldn't I?" Ashton asked. He smiled at her disarmingly.

She was right. The night had gone smoothly. They'd gone to a movie, had good coffee, and hey, he'd even given her a show. Repeating the experience in different settings wouldn't be the worst thing. Pretty lady, a night of fun? Yeah. He could go for something like that.

Ah good, he’d caught on. Riley was forward, but she just wasn’t brazen enough to toss her number at someone. Not when she actually liked them. Hmmm, that was interesting, she actually liked Ashton. Yup, time to go home before she cursed it. They’d had a good time, twice technically, and doing it a third time wouldn’t hurt.

She gave him her number, and met his disarming smile with a similar one of her own. Their smiles could complete to see whose was more disarming, and would. Riley cursed internally, wondering if her stupid thought-monologue meant his was winning. Probably.

Where was that cab? Riley waved her arm a little more emphatically hoping one would magically appear. Headlights suddenly caught her eye and the lighted sign on the roof showed the thing for what it was. Thank. God.

”So yeah. Next week then. Anything but a sappy musical. ” she said as it approached.

"Next week," Ashton agreed.

The cab came. She got in. He waved once as it left.

Turning back towards the sidewalk, Ashton stuffed his hands in his pockets, lips puckering into a whistle. The whistle continued into the darkness as his back's silhouette faded away.

Tonight had been decent. Next week would be great.