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WHO: Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Temperance Brennan
WHERE: A restaurant.
WHEN: Saturday Evening
WARNINGS: TBA
SUMMARY: Peter absentmindedly hits on a lot of women. He didn't expect this one to say yes.
FORMAT: Short Paragraph?

It hadn't been long since Peter had been on a date. He'd taken Dana out a few times back home, but that didn't really matter in a city where she didn't exist, so Peter was checking his options.

Dr. Brennan, for example, she seemed like a smart woman. She was a scientist, like himself... although she did seem to have distaste for his profession. He couldn't lie to himself, it was really what attracted him in the first place.

He wasn't sure they would be discussing science over dinner, but he prepared himself either way, even bothered to buy himself a suit that wasn't khaki coveralls. He straightened it out before knocking on her door.

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Really, Brennan had no intention of dating anyone while she remained in this 'alternate universe,' but the opportunity to do something else so seemingly normal won out. She still did not know how she felt about the City and all of the associated strangeness. It didn't correlate with her rational sense of the world. Not at all.

Still, it had not been that difficult to find a suitable dress and matching jewelry and shoes. The apartment that was apparently provided for her by whomever (whatever?) had brought her at least had a good shower. She had been ready in relatively no time when Venkman knocked on the door.

The smile came surprisingly easily when she opened the door. "Hello."

Venkman smiled as she opened the door, "Hello, Doctor."

He turned pointing to a typical New York cab. "I hope this is classy enough for you?"

Despite her money, Brennan was no stranger to the public transportation system of cities. While she preferred driving to anything else, she also knew when to make do.

"I had actually expected us to eat nearby," she replied, looking vaguely amused. "But the taxi is acceptable. And even still classy, in certain cultures."

Venkman shrugged, "It was kind of necessary to get here. We could always walk, if you prefer."

Venkman looked around him. "Though I'm not really that familiar with this universe's New York. What's good?"

She gave an almost surprised laugh in return. Brennan shook her head and shrugged. "You've had more time here than me. And that aside, back in my universe, I live in Washington D.C."

"Oh, of course you did..." his voice trailed off in response as he tried to think of a solution.

"Well, there's always the old 'See where the night takes us'?"

"A course of action that I am both familiar and comfortable with," Brennan agreed. She began to walk from the apartment building, assuming Venkman would follow. "I take it you have not been here long?"

"Only a week or two." he replied, trying to remember. "But back home I do come from New York... and while the street names are all the same, none of the same places are here."

He looked a little sad to say it, but shrugged it off, following her down the street.

Even Brennan could not imagine a situation like that being easy. It made her curious to see what D.C. was like in this section of the universe. Curious and worried.

"I can see how that would not be easy. You grow familiar to a certain place and to have it suddenly taken away from you - yet remain so similar..." Brennan shrugged. "It cannot be easy."

"Nah, that's not the worst of it." he continued. "Back home it was 1989..."

He paused, "Was '89 a good year for you?"

"I was twelve for most of it," she mused, frowning a little. It wasn't a bad year, but in retrospect, it would mean she had had only two more years of being a part of a family. "Russ kept teasing me. He said I would reveal my true alien nature once I became a teenager."

"Make me feel old, why don't you?" he smiled, continuing to follow her down the street. "Who's Russ?"

It hadn't been her intent, but his joke made her smile. "Russ is my brother."

"Figured as much." he replied, looking ahead at restaurant and store fronts for anything that caught his eye. "So are you really an alien? I only ask because these days you can never be too sure."

"I'm Homo sapien," she answered, missing this joke entirely. "I do not believe in aliens."

Brennan paused when she realized that the statement was not entirely correct. "I should correct myself. There is no evidence of extraterrestrial life on my Earth."

"Of course you are."

Venkman wasn't quite used to dealing with someone so closed-minded. He liked to think of it as a challenge, really. Even back home, people broke eventually. Skeptics who, unless the world was crumbling at their feet, refused to believe anything was wrong.

"Nothing extraterrestrial. Nothing extraordinary. Sounds like a pretty boring place."

"I have to disagree," Brennan said quickly. "I work as a liaison to the FBI. My life is not boring at all."

"Pff, FBI..." Venkman replied, "I'll have you know that back home, the FBI used to back me up."

Bragging was always one of his strong points.

Her eyebrows raised, giving him a clearly skeptical look that implied he should continue.

"I saved lives," he continued, "Stopped the apocalypse twice. Won the key to the city..."

His voice trailed off. What a life to leave behind. Fame and fortune. What a shame.

He could be saying all of this to impress her. Even if Brennan did not possess Booth's skill in reading people, there was something in the way he trailed off that made her want to believe him.

"How did you accomplish that?" she asked, honestly curious.

"You know that stuff you don't believe in?" he asked, giving her a glance, "When it gets out, it's ugly... and there's only a few people who can stop them. That's me, Ray, and our other two colleagues, who are back home."

She looked at him and replied flatly, "You mean spectral anomalies."

"Ghosts, spooks, yeah, I guess that term works too." He shrugged, "But sometimes it gets out of hand, and you're dealing with a Class-Seven demigod."

"A demigod?"

"This is just sounding weirder and weirder to you, isn't it?" he said, deadpan. He could talk about that nonsense all night, if he had to... but that really wasn't what he cared about, in the long run.

Brennan smiled and nodded. At the very least, he was able to recognize just how stupid it sounded.

"I imagine it might be something I will have to grow accustomed to here."

"Yes, well..." he paused, "I might get used to the idea of having long, irrational arguments with you about the paranormal, at the rate we're going."

He smiled, "I guess it's not such a bad thing."

Her smile was surprisingly genuine in return. "Would you prefer I keep arguing?"

He shrugged, "Well, we could argue over what to have for dinner."

"I would not mind comfort food right now," she murmured after a moment of thought. "Do you know a good diner nearby?"

"Well, in alternate universe 1984, there was one close by, we can always check if it's there. Or... some version of it."

"It would not hurt to look," she agreed. "If not, I am certain we can find something nearby."

"Alright." he replied, "I'm not really going to be picky, at this point."

"There was no reason to be picky in the first place." Brennan smiled and gently nudged his arm. "While you might consider me closed minded about certain things, I am not about about food."

"Well what a relief." He smiled back, continuing to lead her in the direction he thought the diner was in. "Is anything else a touchy subject with you? I just want to make sure I bring up all of them."

"There are... a few things." Brennan glanced downward, frowning slightly as she thought it over. Things that Sweets would pick up on, without a doubt. "But I do not know you well enough yet to feel comfortable discussing them."

There were some lines Peter knew not to cross, and this was one of them. Up ahead he could see lights and signs for restaurants, taking the change to gesture toward them and change the subject.

"Any of those places look good to you?"

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