The dog shifted at its owner's feet and Maxine smiled in its direction. She wasn't particularly attached to animals - too many times she had tried keeping one only to have her heart broken when it died so, so very early. If humans felt bad about that, imagine her. Still, she liked the precious things. Dogs didn't care that she had to kill once a month to keep sane, they loved her all the same. If only they lived indefinitely as well... Maxine held out a hand for the dog to sniff, and smiled at its owner. "I apologize, it is one part professional curiosity and one fascination for the irony of having a tree grown in a place with so much paper."
The man, she was now thoroughly noticing, was handsome. And he owned a book store, however off kilter it might be at the moment. Those were two big wins right there. "Do you know for sure what happened here?" She leaned closer conspiratorially, with a smile to boot. "Did you scorn an earth elemental ex-girlfriend?"