It was fuck this shit o'clock in the morning when Lala managed to drag herself out of bed, literally crawling her way to the kitchen with a single goal in mind, namely coffee. It took Layla Styles a grand total of thirty minutes to properly "boot up" after managing to get herself out of bed, and until then she was basically a ball of crankiness seething of hatred and displeasure. Engaging her before the thirty minutes passed, usually resulted in either scathing words or actual, legit bodily harm. 

As she crossed the living room, Layla inclined her head towards Ellie, with her usual morning frown on her face, which violently clashed her... sleeping attire. Ellie was always up before Lala, and she really meant always. Especially given that, sometimes, Lala hadn't even gone to bed when her flatmate woke up. She really couldn't with morning people. She didn't understand how one's body would willingly allow itself to start up at the crack of dawn, or you know... before noon.

Once the coffee maker was whirring to life, Lala took a seat at the tiny table in the kitchen and simply waited, with her head resting in her hands. She blinked away her sleep as she yawned and grunted at nothing in particular, she then raised her head a little to watch Ellie doing whatever she was doing and hummed softly. She supposed today was as good a day as any to have that talk she's been ignoring—well, more like denying it, really. It was definitely adventure time, the slaying of the dragon  was commencing, the shit was about to hit the fan.

"So..." she raised her head and looked straight at Ellie with an unsure expression, worrying at her lip. "The Jason thing? The one we don't talk about?" she looked away, far away from Ellie's face and whatever feeling it might hold. "I think we should talk about it?" she more asked than stated. "Because, errr—yeah... It's kinda been like three weeks and uh, we're still, you know... Seeing each other" she stuttered, just as the coffee machine binged and she got up in a flurry to retrieve her cup.

The bulk of Ellie’s work lately took place on weekends, or else at very early or very late hours if it was a studio set. Parties, weddings, quidditch games, weekends events the newspaper was covering— those were what helped her pay the rent. So today, a Wednesday, she had woken up and lazed a pile of developed film with coffee at her side, taking her time to find and toast a bagel and read all of her owl requests. She would have to go the dark room later, but for now, without an actual shoot or something to cover, she could work out of her room or the kitchen or from the couch.

Still in her socks and with Lala’s cats weaving around her legs, she hunched over a set of photos, looking for the best ones. Where muggles might do it on a computer, Ellie did it by hand, discarding outtakes into various folders, filing the best ones carefully for clients.

She stretched and reached for her (still charmed warm) coffee just as Lala appeared in the doorway. Ellie turned to grin at her, and settled into the couch with the mug in both hands and her legs tucked under her, as her friend moved to the kitchen and started the coffee maker up again. She raised the mug in cheers as Lala took a seat at the kitchen table. “I think it’s a little early for you."

The question surprised her, but she sat still, trying to conceal any awkwardness on her face and instead wear the kind Gryffindor I-can-do-this expression she’d picked up in school, among fellow stubborn adolescents. If there was still a hint of discomfort, it was natural, but not a sign that Lala should retreat. They didn’t always talk about these sorts of things. If it was surprising to her that her friend had been seeing Jason for three weeks, that it might be becoming a thing and not just a one-time thing, it was also possibly significant— Lala hadn’t seen anyone else for that long since they’d been rooming together (which was not for very long, but still), unless there had been someone she hadn’t told Ellie about.

Her own problems with Jason had a lot to do with her sister. She had mistrusted him early on in that relationship, and things hadn’t ended well. She was wary. But Lala and Sam weren’t the same person, and each were capable of making their own decisions.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s talk.” She waited for Lala to arm herself with caffeine. When her friend was settled with the coffee, she asked, “Is it serious? Like…” Her eyes rolled up toward the ceiling and she tilted her head back again, indicating Sander. She looked back to Layla.

All single digit hours were too early for Lala, which Ellie surely knew, so she settled instead for a numb nod. It wasn't that she had any problems with this conversation, it was just that Ellie's apparent discomfort with the conversation consequently made Lala feel uncomfortable. And that wasn't cool. They were bffs... right?

And that was just the thing... It wasn't like either of them was the sort to just blabber on about every small detail of their lives, but they did rely on each other for advice or just a shoulder to lean on or just... being a sound board. And this was a big thing for Lala, regardless how hard she was trying to deny it. Never mind that she'd stuck around for three weeks, but she stuck around for three weeks with the same dude, exclusively and never once thought to just run away into the night or worry about bigger things and how it will impact her life or found herself crippled with fear at all her little issues. Yeah, it was big. And she needed her friend to be happy for her... To let her know that it was okay to care, to feel.

She held her breath unknowingly, only taking a loud inhale when Ellie agreed. Lala turned around to fix her cup with sugar and milk all the while calming herself and attempting to put some order into her thoughts. When she was finally done, she took her cup with her and sat down on the raggedy couch. "Not really" she responded with a slow shake of her head. "I mean, Grumper's been in love with you for... years, even tho it took him quite a while for him to see it" she shrugged and gave Ellie a little wink, smiling fondly.

"But, maybe—some day—I think I'd like that" she said quietly, words muffled by the cup of coffee, the heat (of course the heat) causing a small blush to spread on her cheeks. "I dunno, really. I haven't actually did the whole relationship" she mimicked quote marks with her hand "thing. Not for real. And not healthily..." she let a little sigh. "And, well... I think he'd be good for that—the relationship thing—good for me" she scratched awkwardly at her temple and finally turned to look at her friend.

"I don't really what I'm doing" she muttered, gaze falling down to the cup, watching her own reflection in it. "Don't really know what I want" she continued, in the same tone. "But—" she raised her eyes back to her friend and gave her a warm, shaky smile. " But, it's good, you know? I'd like to try... at least."

Ellie didn’t usually blush, and fought against it in the same way she tried to swallow her discomfort. She didn’t know if she thought Lala was right about Sander’s feelings spanning that far back, but then Lala had her ways and had been a central figure in finally getting them together. Any redness in her expression diffused into a smile and she dipped her head a bit toward her photographs, pushing back dusky blonde fringe from her eyes with the corner of her hand— one of the photos happened to be one of several of her friends, a candid group shot at Alohomocha, everyone caught in the frame by chance. She looked up at Lala again. “He’s good at fooling all of us.” Sander, she meant.

So it wasn’t that serious, but it had potential. Ellie listened.

Her personal feelings for Jason aside, it sounded like Lala had found something that worked for her. “If you think it’s a good fit and you want to go for it, you should,” she said, honestly. “It’s not like there’s a right or wrong way to do it,” she elaborated. Merlin knew Ellie’s relationships had been all over the map, even if she’d been in a couple and had some kind of experience with it. “You should take the time you need to get to where you want to be, though. There’s not some timeline you have to stick to. But don’t be afraid to plunge into something if it feels right, either.” She thought it was sound and supportive advice, and she was being honest about relationships in general, if not exactingly careful. Everyone was different, Ellie’s own past certainly supported that conclusion.

“I just…” She bit her lip and paused to think, something that didn’t always come naturally before words poured out. What had happened to Sam hadn’t been easy on her sister, and she was biased. She didn’t want things to go badly for Lala, and she didn’t want one or the other of them to mad at her for trying to be loyal to both of them. Mostly, she didn’t trust Jason. It was a weird thing, for someone she loved to like him, and for another person she loved to have strong feelings in the other direction.

It wasn’t as if Sander got along with everyone, or that his siblings might be universally crazy about her.

She inhaled audibly and went for it. “I don’t want what happened to Sam to happen to you, and I don’t… know if I’m his biggest fan, right now.” She thought she might go after him with hexes, if he mucked up again. “It might take a while for me to get there, but it’s not about me. It shouldn’t stop you from doing what you want, what feels right.” It was the truth. “I just don’t want to lie. I want you to know. Not that you don’t…” She laughed a little. With the way they’d tiptoed around it, she knew Lala knew. “Anyway, maybe he’s changed. And whatever I feel about him, you deserve to be in a good relationship.” She raised her coffee cup again, gesturing toward her friend. Her smile was softer than when she’d joked, and there was sincerity in it. She would get past the Jason thing; it couldn’t be a sticking point, she knew, even if the hardheaded, Godric’s brood part of her could hold a grudge. Lala deserved the chance at something stable and lasting, and if it was with Marren, it was with Marren. And Ellie would keep her wand to herself in the company of said wizard. “Thank Merlin it’s not Lester.”

Lala offered agreement with a nod and a little grin, because it wasn't so much that Sander was good at fooling other people, but just that he was amazing at denial whenever it came to feelings. Especially with himself. It took years of living in close quarters with him, for one to truly start seeing beyond his emotional constipation. Also, incessant nosiness... Which Ellie did not master as artfully as Lala did.

"No, there isn't" she agreed absently, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. But she couldn't help but feel that she would fuck it up, as she'd done so many times before. And there was also the problem of her feelings, and the security blanket she liked to have around them... by which she meant Joan D'Arc style breastplate, more than actual blanket. "What if I open up and get trampled all over, tho?" she said in a small voice she couldn't believe was her own, as she raised her eyes to look at her friend. "What if I get defensive, as I usually do" she rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. "And push him off?" she smiled pathetically and gave a little shake of her head.

Sometimes she did things, she didn't even know why. Sometimes she woke up having completely destroyed a relationship without even knowing how, why or when it had happened. Her mind was a strange place that when feeling threatened took over and went into defcon 1 while everything else was on lock down, and ti was just a matter of helplessly watching herself completely ruin something.

"That's just it tho... I know something happened, but I never really knew what and at that time I wasn't in a position to ask. Crush and all" Lala said with a confused expression. "And, actually, I don't even wanna know. Me and Samia are different people and they're completely different situations and shit happens. It's a thing it tends to do. Relationships fail everyday and I don't think it should be reason to... You know, judge someone over" she continued, shrugging awkwardly. "I know it's not the same thing, but what if you and Sander broke up? Should I pick sides? Hate one, because the other caused the breakup? Of course not. Despite how invested I appear in your relationship-" she laughed a little "-you're both my friends and I wouldn't pick sides." She scratched at her jaw and hummed under her breath.

"But I get it, and I appreciate that you're willing to make an effort" she decided to take the higher road and not remind Ellie of some of her less unsavory choices. Like George fuckin' Carter. "I just—I really need something good to happen to me" Lala confessed eventually, a little broken down and just done. She never showed it, she talked a lot, but nothing of essence and despite her fuck it attitude... she was miserable. And she had been for quite a while. "And he's—he's good" she smiled small but warm only for her face to take a completely horrified look at Ellie's next words.

"Oh my god, St. James, you did not just bring that little shit into this conversation" she laughed awkwardly, eyes still narrowed at her friend. "We do not joke about that. That is a no-no. JFC" she said between laughs, feeling her eyes tearing up. Once she could breathe again she launched herself at Ellie and gave her an almost violent hug. "You're always gonna be my favorite person, tho. You know that, right?" she said into her hair, words barely making it out, because of how ridiculously feel-y this whole thing was.

“Well, if he likes you for you and you open up… it’s just more of you,” she reasoned. “He’s given you a reason to, hasn’t he?” Ellie knew it was hard, but she also knew that Lala had more to gain from being open than bottling it up or wondering, constantly. “You don’t know you’re going to get defensive until you’re honest in the first place. Besides,” she added, “If you push him off, you could just chase him back.” She meant it to lighten the mood, and grinned a little.

“Yeah…” She knew they were different people and that things happened. She knew that she wasn’t doing much to give Jason room to earn any trust or points. “She’s my sister, so it’s hard not to see things through her lens, I guess, but… There’s room to judge him on his own. And I don’t mean to judge you.” She was trying. Ellie could be stubborn. When there were too many sides to take and they were all the most important people… “And no… not unless it’s George. Then you should always take my side."

She was glad they were slowly getting somewhere. “I want you to have good things for you, too,” she said softly, reaching out to touch her knee and giving her a sincere look. She smiled again. “If you think he’s that, I’ll be here to cheer you on.” Again, it wasn’t Lester, and knowing that they could still laugh about things… she thought she’d come around to Jason eventually. She continued to laugh with her until she was tackled— at which point it turned into the desperate breath sort of laughter. “Yeah, I know. I’d better be. We pay rent together.”

Ellie hugged her back, tightly, before they both finally caught their breath. “This calls for take-away.” Because the idea of barging in on Lester in the middle stealing from Sander’s kitchen would be enough to ruin the moment… or make Ellie pee her pants from laughing.

"In what universe is more of me something anybody would want" she groaned, ending on a self-deprecating sort of laugh. "And when am I ever not defensive? I'm like 90 pounds of uncontrollable limbs and zero actual strength, I'm always defensive" she snorted and shook her head, letting out an... animal sort of noise. "I dun even know how the chasing thing works anymore" she laughed, throwing a glare at her friend. "I'm all like wanna get laid? Yeah? Okay. That's just sad" she ended with a frown and shook her entire body.

She watched Ellie tying and a wave of fondness bubbled up inside and she smiled, sticking her tongue there at the end. "Yes, George is forever a scumbag. George must die" she added seriously, jokingly making some sort of karate move, together with a high-pitched noise. "On second thought, no. Jet Li's too cool to even be in the same sentence as Asshole George. Ew" she grimaced, throwing her best friend a panicked sort of look.

Listening to Ellie be all supportive and nice, and—Ellie, had Lala battling the feels threatening to spill over in the form of big, crocodile tears. Nuh. There shan't be any crying today. Or ever. That was just depressing. But the hug was a no brainer. "Bah, rent, shment" she laughed. "Oh my god!" she practically screeched in Ellie's ear. "You're my person. My person" she repeated as if that was meant to be a grave matter and an obvious thing. "You're the Christina to my Meredith" she said breathlessly, looking bug-eyed at Ellie. "We're an actual soap show" she deadpanned.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeees. Food, lovely, lovely food" she moaned then cooed, because Lala's first love would always be food. "I vote for Chinese, and I want extra spring rolls because nobody should have to go through so much drama-mama without spring rolls. And we're marathoning Grey's Anatomy because of reasons" she declared, getting up to grab her laptop.