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None of this case was making any fucking sense.

With a grunt, De shoved one of her boot heels into the wood of the bench in front of her. She looked at the computer screen in front of her, comparing the images to the print outs on the table. And trying to find any logical explanation. At least her kind of logical.

Which, given that her kind of logical was far more lenient on the logic part than most, made it really frustrating when she was stuck on a case like this.

Hailing the waitress, she gave her a charming grin as she worked on sweet talking herself into another slice of cherry pie. And if she was lucky, it'd be a la mode, too. It would soothe some of the frustration over this bullshit case, if nothing else.

Picking up the image again, she studied the shape in the shadows with her nose wrinkling up, trying to see something new. Something she hadn't noticed before.

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Someone she hadn't noticed before emerges out of the shadows as if she grew out of the wood itself. Venus wasn't intending to be a wallflower this evening, but after a few people got a little too aggressive at the bar she chased them off and then found a corner to press herself into, as proud and self-preserving as a puffed-up cat.

She knows she shouldn't interrupt, but the girl in front of her seems to be trying so hard to get herself an extra slice of pie, and Venus overrides her instinct to leave well enough alone. She takes a seat next to the woman with the laptop and turns on the charm too, doubling the attack as if they're flanking the poor waitress.

"Oh my God, Linda!" She puts a hand to De's arm, as if she were greeting an old friend. "You look so good! Now you just have to put on all that weight you lost during chemo and you'll be good as new."

She winks with the eye the waitress can't see from this angle.

Who ever this woman was, she was also De's new best friend.

"Oh my god, Janis!" She squealed, putting the right amount of whoo girl into the pitch as she squirmed to throw her arms around her new BFF.

"It's just been the last few weeks I've been feeling well enough to go out. Oh, I still look like sucha mess...look how awful my hair is growing back in?"

Her hair was actually cute as hell. But girls always had to put shit down about themselves to each other. It was like a right of passage.

Venus is delighted that the girl decides to not only roll with it, but throw some garnish onto this bullshit pie they're selling.

"Oh, honey, your hair looks fine, but if you need to get set up with a good weave trust me, I know the place." She gives the stranger a squeeze and then turns to the waitress. "Doesn't her hair look like it's coming in good? You wouldn't believe it, last time I saw her she looked like Mr. Goddamn Clean."

And with a schtick like this, they might end up getting a whole pie free.

"Oh, it looks adorable hun."

De glances up shly, and can see they've got the pie. For this? She will happily share both her pie, and her spot in hell with this stranger.

God, with the misty look in the waitresses face, she might get her whole meal for free. Ducking her head, she gave a wetty, snotty sounding sniff. Tears would be over kill.

"Thanks."

The waitress leaned forward, dropping her voice.

"Lemme go get you girls some pie."

"Thanks." De repeated into her lap as the woman bustled away. When she was out of sight, De looked up at the other woman. "Hey, Janis."

"Hey, Linda." Venus grins and leans in, a coy smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she faux-whispers "my name's not really Janis."

Duh. Venus just looks delighted to have been able to play it up, to put those rusty acting skills to good use. It's not often she gets to go unrecognized, even less so when she gets to take on a character and use it.

"I'm Venus. And if this woman even charges us, I'll pay. I'm loaded." She never quite got over being poor as a child, as a teenager, and now wanting to flaunt it a little sneaks out despite her better judgment.

"What?! Janis, how long have you been lying to me?" De's face took on a comically shocked expression, hand spayed across her open mouth, before she too leaned forward, breaking into giggles.

Man, she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"I'm not looking a free meal in the mouth. I'm De." A little tipped grin had to replace a handshake, since that would sorta blow their cover.

"Your whole life," she says back, a conspiratorial whisper cracking into a near-cackle.

"Cute name. That's my real name, before, you know." She makes a gesture with her hand, like a firework going off. And she helps herself to De's water, which is mostly untouched and still has the lemon in it. "Hollywood."

"God, you can't trust anyone these days."

Hollywood, huh. De tried to place her face, but really, De's knowledge of Hollywood was...warped. She had her guilty pleasures, sure, but she couldn't tell you Bennifer from Bradgelina. She couldn't even really tell you that example was a decade out of date.

"So what do you do in Hollywood?" That was probably a loaded question, but she was intrested to see how her new friend responded.

"Uh, look at my face and take a few educated guesses," Venus teases, batting her eyelashes and casting bedroom eyes at what seems like the whole diner. De doesn't look like the kind of girl who watches the sorts of shows Venus is on, but there's a type that even she should recognize.

De tries. She really does. Finally she puffs out her cheeks and lifts her hands in defeat.

"I got nuthin, dude."

Reality show? This girl seemed too down to earth for that bullshit. But man, they did edit things. Or, maybe this girl was not as down to earth as she appeared?

But man, free pie. She couldn't hold anything against someone who helped her get free pie.

This was how the demons would eventually get her. She knew it.

Venus laughs, deep and throaty and less musical than she does for cameras, and rests her hand on her chin. "Oh, thank God you didn't say "porn". You just made my day."

She lunges for the pie with a fork, slicing off a small bit. She isn't planning on eating her way through much; got to watch her figure, after all. It's the price of fame.

"Reality TV. I'm a superhero."

"Oh! Yeah, I think I've caught that one..." Stan Lee's something or other. Pretty damn cheesy, but maybe now was not the time to share that point of view.

"Must be pretty cool. Is it as ridiculous as it looks?"

When reality TV had boomed, she and Sammy had had a long 'what if' conversation about a hunter TV show, and how sill it would be. Then they met the Ghost Facers and all of that was a bit too close to reality to be funny.

"And I men to be fair, I wouldn't recognize your face from porn."

"More ridiculous. Honestly, the craziest shit is what doesn't make it to the cameras. You've never seen a bunch of adults act like giant-ass children until you've me executive producers." Venus is aware she can be a bit of a drama queen herself, although she tries to just claims that she's 'assertive' and 'worth it', not a diva.

"If that's your attempt to try and get my top off to see if you'd recognize my tits, you'll need to get me way drunker."

Footsteps sounded behind her, and then someone was pulling out the chair next to her. "Mind if I join you?" He didn't wait for an answer before dropping down into the seat. "I'm not gonna say some crap like, 'Pretty girls shouldn't eat alone,' that's old hat, but..."

He leaned over a little. "Maybe, 'Stumped investigators shouldn't rack their brains over a case alone'?"

He looked like a normal guy. Brown hair, brown eyes, maybe in his early thirties, and his accent was plain middle America. But he grinned and added, "It's not a ghost, by the way. Pretty sure it's an alien."

Well, he certainly wasn't someone De would turn her nose up at by any means. But when he opened his mouth, her eye eyebrow went up, her curiosity suddenly very captivated. It wasn't ever day that someone pinned that sort of thing down. Bounty hunter, police investigator, stalker...but anyone who pinned down a hunter like her was "in the know."

Or completely nuts.

She hoped he wasn't that one.

But even if he wasn't, not everyone "in the know" was exactly a good person to be rubbing elbows with. Not if you wanted to see the sunrise. Settling back against the booth, she gestured to the seat across from her with a welcoming grin. "Now, you wanna tell a cute girl who's buying you a drink how you came to that conclusion?"

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