"Thank you," she said to Lily. "I think I'm more of an other-people's-dog lover." Then she shrugged at James. "Fascinating choice for a pet. If I were a bird I'd want to be in the raven family. They're smart, they can use tools." She glanced back up at the lights, subconsciously thinking that she was sure she'd seen something weird, but she brushed the thought to the back of her mind. "I'm glad I'm a human, though, I like having heating and electricity. And a periodic table to goggle at when I'm trying to make something." She took a battered bit of paper out of her purse to look with a smile at the table, which was marked with notes and numbers and letters in any blank space it had once had, then put it back.