It was interesting what people did when you least expected it. What wonders people-watching brought. Ashton stood, hands in pockets, still in line. He watched as the Charlie girl rushed right out of the line, and out the door. He stayed in line for a moment. Had she realized he hadn't followed her out yet? Would it be rude of him to stay here? It wasn't in his nature to chase after much younger girls. Even if they were helping him find clean shirts. It wasn't in his nature to be rude to women, either. Cursing his chivalrous nature, the detective followed the girl out the door.

Outside the restaurant, Ashton looked around. Where had she gone? It took him a moment to acclimatize to the sunlight outdoors, and to spot Charlie in the crowd. Without a word, he hurried after her. By the time she'd shouted 'come on', he was still trailing several meters behind her, at the risk of losing her in the crowd.

((OCC: Sorry it took me so long to reply. Didn't think I'd actually be busy over the summer. :/) )

Charlie glanced behind her, expecting to see that Ashton guy behind her. What she didn't expect was to not see him for a few seconds, and then spot him a dozen yards behind her. Needless to say, she was caught quite a bit by surprise. So surprised that she honestly didn't know how to react. So she stood there, semi-bewildered, as Ashton approached her.

"Sorry, I...kind of left you behind back there." She went to rub the back of her neck like she always did, then she stopped herself and put her hand back into her pocket. What was up with that? It was a little annoying, really. "Anyways, I thought this might be a good place to start. It looked rich. Well, richer."

She turned around and glanced at the place. Okay, well, it wasn't like she expected the roads would be paved with gold or anything. But...well, up close, it didn't look as impressive. Typical. Sooooo typical of Charlie to literally start in the wrong direction.

"Well, shall we, ah, get going?" she asked, motioning at the block in question.

Ashton turned to look at the place she'd found (ignoring apologies as he went).

The clothing store was crammed between two larger buildings. It was a two-story building. The windows showed mannequins with trendy outfits on them behind the glass. One of the female mannequins had a dress on that looked to be straight off the runways. One of the males was wearing an expensive suit.

Ashton arched an eyebrow.

"Do you really think I'm this trendy?" He asked.

It all looked rich, but really. He didn't need that major of a replacement for what he was wearing. Unless she thought he was out of touch?

"Do you really think I'm this trendy?"

Charlie started to speak, then stuttered slightly, then tried again with the same result, before finally just burying her hands deeper into her pockets and staring down at her Converse Low-Tops. She's messed up, and she knew it. Sure, she'd never actually admit it out loud, but she knew it.

"Well...yeah...I don't suppose you'd find a suit store around here." She decided it would probably be better to just shut up rather than dance around the issue some more. She nervously glanced from side to side. As she did so, something caught her eye.

It was one of those little tourist stands. The kind that sold hats, playing cards, maps...

Maps...

MAPS!

Charlie's brain kicked into overdrive, thoughts flying by at a million miles an hour. Charlie herself followed a similar pattern, quickly closing the fifty yards or so between her and the stand. Upon arrival, she grabbed one of the maps without asking and flipped it open. As she did so, a faint green tint began to form where her fingers hit the paper.

'Dammit, dammit, dammit...' Even now, after so much training and practice, her power still went haywire at times like this. She hated it. She hated being so used to having it, and still feeling like she was just scratching the surface. But even more so, she hated the fact that it was picking now to go haywire, with a cop following her around who could take her in whenever and wherever he wanted. What if he hated mutants? Or something?

Charlie did her best to hide the heavily tinted cover from view as she scanned the map for anything that looked like a mall, store, anything. She quickly realized that she still had no idea.

So she went ahead and said so.

"I have no idea where we should be going. What do you think?" The whole time, she didn't take her eyes off the map, and she really hoped that Ashton was behind her.

Ashton looked at her from fifty yards away, having not moved. He missed the question.

What was she up to, rushing off to grab something off a tourist stand? Weird girl.

By now, his clothes were probably dry enough that he could just get in his car and drive home. It wasn't a huge deal. He could deal with the stain there. Get a change of clothes. Buying new clothes just for this was slightly insane.

With a sigh, Ashton closed the distance between them.

"Thanks," He said. "But I think I'm just going to run home."

Charlie slowly nodded, taking in every word. Her mind flew back and forth between two conclusions. The first was that this was a good thing. After all, she'd get this cop out of her hair, which was probably a good thing. Part of her also didn't like it. After all, she owed this guy a coffee. And...well, he was alright.

For a grown-up.

She didn't really know what to say. Silently, she pocketed the map and grabbed another fry.

Then she slowly began to nod, and reply, "Alright. It's probably for the better anyways." She slowly began to wander away backwards.

"I guess I'll see you around then." She spun around and began skipping away, grabbing another fry out of the bag and chuckling to herself.

She was guaranteed to see him again.

'After all,' she thought, 'I still owe him a coffee.'

"Seeya," He said. One word. Toneless. Then she schoolgirl skipped away. He arched an eyebrow, then shook his head with a laugh. Somehow, that was funny to him.

New York. Crazy city. Most of the time, ya got a person spilling coffee on you, then yelling at you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time, he'd gotten the reverse. Heck of a difference. Maybe not a positive one. But at least she'd tried.

Weird girl. Somehow, he had a feeling he'd see her again. Hopefully, not on the news.