"I studied Psychology and literature. I studied people, both fictional and non-fictional." Lavinia took another drink from her glass, draining it to half-empty.  The thought amused her a little, as she'd only recently began to understand the sociological application of literature in the real world.  It was something that her professors had hinted at a little, but she suspected they had little understanding of it themselves.<br/><br/>"Hmm, at odds, I doubt petit Petey would have done well here on earth.  I would imagine the envirnment was very different from anything we have here.  And perhaps we would not have the nutrients needed to sustain a martian life form."  Most of this was meant to be comforting, but she knewind. how difficult it was to leave a pet behind.  Her dialect mad understand, and she a little of what she said hard to understand, and she recognize that.  So she spoke slowly and empetically.  "When I left Paris to study, I had a little dog I had to leave with my father.  He was a Bishon and we called him Tignasse, or Tig for short."<br/><br/>She couldn't keep herself from laughing at this point, thinking fondly of the little animal who used to curl in her lap and sleep while she read.  "You see, Tignasse is meaning, eh, mop or messy hair.  And we could not afford to have the dog groomed professionally very often.  So he had the long curly hair and looked like an old mop."