Nate had to stifle himself from laughing out loud when she hesitantly admitted to cheating for the sake of winning. Sweetheart, you don't know what it means to cheat your way to victory. The waitress left again and Quin playfully reintroduced the topic. "You were telling me how much you hate to lose... I have to warn you though, if I'm doing something, I expect to win." He took his glass by the stem, taking in the scent of the wine. "And you aren't the only one who'll bend the rules." Sweeping understatement. "I guess you can call me a bit of a South'n rogue."

He almost brought the glass to his lips before changing his mind, offering the glass as a toast. "To doing whatever it takes to get what you desire."

Ahh, so he was a man after her own heart. That could prove interesting, Quin thought as the waitress walked away and Nate explained himself. Quin could see it now. She had a tendency to make everything she did into a little competition, if Nate was the same way, soon enough they’d be playing games for everything.

The food was ordered, the wine was poured, and Quin reached for her glass about the same time Nate did. He stopped partway to his mouth and proposed a toast just in time for Quin to stop herself from drinking.

To doing whatever it takes to get what you want.[/color]

Quin smiled. ”To doing whatever it takes.” she said, smile faltering just slightly at that thought.

”Within reason.”

ooc - Are we maybe ready for a time skip? Feel free to take us there if you feel so inclined. (Unless you want to RP out how awesome I'm sure the food is)

"Within reason."

He grinned; she knew how to play with the rules, but she was still a moral cop. It was fortunate Nate had no intentions of pulling her to the dark side of the law, (though it was undeniable that those who knew the law made the best criminals...) "Within reason, of course... I'd like any use of handcuffs here not to involve business." There was a devious glimmer in his eyes behind those lenses. Surprisingly, that might have been the first real sexual comment made in her presence.

Their conversation continued fluidly, running from one topic to another and before they realized it, their meals came out. As with every scouting mission to the restaurant, the food was perfect. They enjoyed their dinner between sips of wine and stories shared. Thanks to the travel-habits of his identity, he could share a few of the real stories he liked to tell. (The Impala Incident came to mind.)

Soon enough, their plates were clean and the bottle was empty. With his upbringing, half a bottle was not going to affect him, though hidden behind his medium length hair, his ears reddened as they always did when he drank. Alexis seemed to notice their finished food and was getting ready to head over to ask if there was anything else they might want. He asked Quin, "Are you in the mood for dessert or would you prefer an espresso at my place?" Hell, he'd bake her a cannoli if it meant continuing with their night. He was enjoying their time in the intimate restaurant, but his math had come through and they were wrapping up dinner alongside the late summer sunset. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity to walk home against the backdrop of a red and purple sky.

Ahhh, the boys always liked the idea of the handcuffs. Well, at least the ones who’d never had to wear them for real and were clueless as to how uncomfortable the things really were. Quin smiled and shook her head. Nate had upped the ante a bit, and the redhead wondered if it was a test.

“I wish I had a dollar for every time I’d heard that…” she teased gently, ”But, yeah, keeping them out of the business column would be good.”

They continued to chat amiably through the meal, which did anything but disappoint. Contrary to the general social norm, Quin ate her fill, and probably then some. The food was too good to let go to waste, even for the sake of impressing a date. Besides…it was eggplant, and eggplant was healthy…right? The redhead went with that, ignoring the fact that it had been fried, doused with cheese and sauce, and plated on top of a pile of complex carbohydrates. She’d run tomorrow.

Soon enough, the food, and the wine, were gone. Uh oh. How had that gone and happened so quickly? How many glasses had she had? Quin finished off her glass and noticed that her cheeks were unusually warm. Uh oh, she’d gone and gotten just a little tipsy.

The waitress headed their direction, and Nate gave her the choice of where the night went. Literally. Espresso at his place? Sure, if espresso really meant espresso and not...something that a lady didn't do on a first date.

Nearly giggling at the thought that coffee could mean anything but coffee, Quin made her decision. ”Espresso sounds nice. I want to see those paintings.”

It was nice to see Quin and Nate were on the same page, which was the page that lead to his apartment. The bill was brought to the table and he quickly picked it up off the table and payed. He tipped generously, but his recent spending binge was bringing his funds to normal levels. He was going to have to start working for his money soon... but what would that end up meaning? He still had that choice to make.

He waved to the owners and their waitress as they left the restaurant. They walked with the sunset at their side, once more shoulder to shoulder. He noticed a shade of pink in her cheeks since they finished their wine. She was walking just fine, but he wanted to tease a little. "Blushin a little bit, aren'tcha? Was the wine a little strong for ya, sugar?" He offered his arm jokingly, "You can hang on to me, if it'd help." She was obviously not that drunk, but part of him wanted her to wrap an arm around his arm.

”I will have you know that I am flushed and not blushing.” Quin pointed out primly as they walked down the street. New York sunsets were lovely things, and they were being treated to a particularly fine one as they made their way to Nate’s “gallery.”

”Blushing happens when you’re embarrassed or flirting. Flushed is what happens when I drink.” Was she drunk? No. But Quin was definitely on the near side of tipsy and the banter felt nice. So did the arm she took when Nate offered it.

”So as gallant as your offer of an excuse for taking your arm was. I vastly prefer simply taking it because I want to.” Forwardness, Quin is thy name. Hopefully Nate wouldn’t mind.

”So how far are we walking?” the redhead asked, ”And my insistence to see your art didn’t ruin any other plans you might have had for the night, did it?”

Alcohol never failed to turned quiet girls talkative and talkative girls into ramblers, but Quin was just...adorable with her red cheeks and the vocal defense of them. His could feel a skip in his heartbeat when she, in typical forward manner, took his arm, accompanied by protests that she did not need it, but rather wanted it. "Darlin, if you want my arm, my arm is yours." Just having her now against him as they walked together made the walk more pleasant than the sunset could attempt to, especially to Nate who was expecting at most a held hand out of their walk.

"It's not a long walk," which was a shame considering how well the walk was going. "I actually live slightly closer to the restaurant than you do. And I've told ya already, you are the only person I want to see tonight."

Sure enough, they were soon at his apartment. They took the elevator up, a tipsy Quin still wrapped around his arm, only leaving when he had to fumble with the lock at his door.

They entered into his apartment, which was of course tidied up in anticipation of a possible guest. The room was as he had left it, with four canvases scattered around the room; the Van Gogh sunflowers, the Chrysler Building, the Carolina riverside and an empty canvas he did not have the time to get to the night before. "Make yourself at home, love." Nate grabbed his cell phone from the top of his drawer and went to make espresso.

It wasn’t a long walk, and suddenly Quin felt a little bad about making Nate walk all the way to her apartment simply to pick her up for dinner. ”Well, next time I’ll just have to meet you here.” Quin said, and then she did blush because she’d just suggested that there would be a second date.

Up the steps they went, and Quin stepped away a bit while Nate worked on opening the door to his apartment. The wine hadn’t exactly gone to her head, but Quin still had the momentary cop’s instinct of wondering whether or not she was making a good decision here. This was only the first date, and she was walking into a secluded living space.

Decision time.

Quin walked into the apartment.

It really was a “gallery.” There were paintings in various places, and Quin found herself drawn to the sunflowers. It really was a good imitation, but then she saw the river scene.

”This is gorgeous!” she said, approaching the thing and looking at it for a moment before moving to the blank canvas.

”I assume this is your interpretation of….air? A blizzard? Either way, it’s lovely too.”

Nate's phone was blinking, indicating a missed message. There was a missed call, a text message and a voice message from one of his fences. "Painting delivery. Curator, Post-Modern. Good pay." So there was someone seeking a thief who could steal a piece of art in transition from one museum to another. Post-Modern was a request for a thief with low-tech methods, implying an expectation of scanners or scramblers. Good pay... well, that was self-explanatory.

He shoved the phone into his pocket and finished the espressos. He came back to find his guest looking at his paintings. He could not help but grin; it was not often that he was rewarded with recognition that mattered to him. "That's a river I remember from way back." His smile was warm-- peaceful. "As for that blank one, I'm not that abstract. I never got the opportunity to paint it. I was not sure what I wanted to paint yet."

His phone felt like a stone in his pocket. Should he take the job? Could he keep postponing the inevitable return to crime or was it not inevitable at all? Things with Quin started off well, but it was too early to make any choices yet. She did not know his shadowy little secret yet, and that could prove to be the beginning or the end of them. He offered her the small espresso. "Here ya go, darlin."

Quin nodded her head when Nate explained that the river scene was something he remembered. The redhead smiled as she took the coffee…which was coffee. She sipped. Good coffee too.

”It would be an amazing thing to actually be able to paint the pictures in your head.” she commented idly as she sipped again.”I know there’ve been times when I’d have given a lot to be able to do what you do.”

Things were going well. Almost too well for a first date. It was a first date after all.

”So. I guess this is where we jump to the whole ‘getting to know you’ phase.” she said with a shrug, ”For starters….” she added, with a deep breath.

”I’m a mutant.”

It was a bold proclamation, but something Quin liked to get out of the way early in possible relationships. There were still people out there who were sheep, and had a problem with the whole x-gene thing. The redhead had always tried to let things like that roll off like water…but this time, she couldn’t help but hope.

Please let it not matter….

Nate finished his espresso quickly, so he was standing stunned with an empty cup. Honestly, what were the odds? Did the x-gene cause mutants to naturally attract other mutants? Kealey, Alli, Svetlana, Maxine and now even Quin. A feeling of relief rushed over him; he was worried she would have problems accepting him, and she admitted her mutation so forwardly. Slowly but surely, Nate was falling for Quin's bold, honest way of life; he could learn something from the lovely cop.

Nate realized it took him far too long to reply to her, which had to be giving off the wrong impression. If he was in her shoes, he would be sure by now that his companion was going to call him a mutie and run out of the room. He sighed, smiling and chuckling at the irony. "Oh sweetheart, you have no idea how much tension you just relieved. I was worried it'd ruin the night if I admitted it, but I'm a mutant, too."

Nate stepped back, allowing his shadow to form in front of him, unconcerned about showing an officer of the law his trademark talent. His shadow emerged from the ground, forming the shape of a cat. He figured a cat would be more inviting than the shadowy arm and hand he usually worked with. "I can make my shadow a physical shape and control it." The shadowy cat brushed its velvety form up against Quin's ankle as a real cat would. "I'm sorry if I'm a little excited, but I've never really been able to show this to a gal I like."

Nate called back his shadow, sinking it back into the ground and returning it to its normal position. "So I've shown you mine... as the old adage goes... could I ask for you to show me yours?"

The wait for a response….was too long. Quin mentally cursed herself for being so damn honest, then slapped her mental self for being such a coward. It wasn’t like her mutation was something she could, or would, hide forever. It would be a shame, but she would move on.

The redhead was looking for somewhere to set down her half-empty espresso cup when Nate finally spoke, and she froze mid-step.

He was a mutant too. Quin positively beamed.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur. There was a relieved explanation about his power, and then a demonstration. His shadow could turn into a cat! Other things too, apparently! Quin was relieved. SO relieved.

Her host had graciously shown her his mutation, and was now requesting a similar demonstration.

Quin could do that. The off-duty officer smiled at the request, remembering the first time she and Ashton had gone on a call together. Quin had tried to show off then, and had fallen on her face. The same would not be true here.

”That’s a neat trick with your shadow.” Quin quipped with a grin, ”But I can do more than parlor tricks too.”

Casting her eyes around, Quin settled on what she hoped was an empty plastic drinking glass, she focused and she could feel the polymers singing their special little song. Holding her right hand out, Quin concentrated, and the cup flew into her outstretched fingers.

”But wait, there’s more!” she said, with a grin, turning the cup so the open and closed ends were between her palms. A little more concentration and the redhead brought her hands together, effectively smashing the cup into a ball of goo with the consistency of silly putty.

”It only works with synthetics.” Quin said, closing the distance between herself and Nate and holding out the little ball she’d made from his cup. If he took it, the ball would be as solid as the cup had been, but to her it felt like play dough.

”And it sure comes in handy with a Kevlar vest.”

Quin seemed giddy as a schoolgirl to find out Nate was a mutant, and even more so to show off her power. She took an empty plastic glass he absentmindedly left on a table and turned it into malleable putty. He laughed in amazement, "That's amazing! Does it reharden? Maybe paintin wouldn't be your thing; we should get you makin sculptures," he teased.

Nate approached Quin, reaching for her hand. He took the ball, which immediately solidified in his hand. He examined it, impressed by how unique her ability was, not to mention versatile. His free hand moved to her cheek. "You know, when I start thinking I got you figured out, you find another way to surprise me." He met her eyes with his own. "I'm likin these surprises."

Nate was impressed, Quin could tell, and it made her smile even more. Her ability seemed pretty innocuous at first glance, but Nate could appreciate it, and even had a suggestion of how she could get into the arts.

”If I had a single artistic bone in my body, I might consider the possibility.” she said as he took the little ball of plastic from her hand.

”As it stands…I could probably only make a poor impersonation of that cup I just ruined.” she said with a mock-rueful smile. ”I hope you weren’t too attached.”

When Nate put his hand on her cheek, Quin leaned her head into it and smiled. He liked all of her surprises, the only problem was....

Quin chuckled and met Nate’s eyes. When had he gotten so close?

”I might be running out.”

When had he gotten so close?

She apologized for what she had done to his cup and he just shrugged. It was a plastic cup he had plenty of in the kitchen cabinets; this one could be sacrificed. He tossed the plastic ball at a loveseat nearby, landing it safely on the cushion.

His hand was still on her cheek, and they were closer than he originally expected. Was it the right time to move in for the kiss? What if it was too early? She had been the forward one most of the night; would she want him to be forward too? The last woman he kissed was on impulse because he needed a last kiss in the event that he was killed. He did not want to screw up his one chance at a first kiss with Quin. As he debated with himself, Nate's instincts were moving him forward, almost independently of himself. Realizing the choice was already made, he met her lips with his. It was a soft, long, innocent first kiss. He pulled away slowly, smiling. "Sorry, I waited as long as I could..."

Praying she would not feel awkward or smack him, he waited for her to say something. More so, there was something in the back of his head he knew he should be thinking about that was escaping him. Meanwhile, a skittering pet behind Quin went unnoticed.