Phoebe shrugged lightly. "It just feels…. uncultured. And it's the most discriminatory First World Country. And we've got Trump as the President. And everywhere you look theres some twit trying to squash out the tiny pockets of happiness. Racists, sexists, and homophobes galore. Transphobia. EVen fascism. Everywhere."
"When you put it like that I can see your point. Why can't people just… leave other people alone and stay out of their business? It's not fair…" Elide huffed a sigh.
"I agree.." Phoebe answered, thoughts drifting to her mother, to the girl with the mussed blonde hair who'd moved away a year ago.. No. Stop it. She flinched away from the memory.
"You okay, Phoebe? You seem a little distracted…" Elide looked the girl over once and look in her appearance, Wow… no, stop it. Stop right now..
Phoebe forced herself to snap out of it. "Yeah– I'm fine." She quickly changed the subject. "Since we're both done, why don't we set up my room for sleep? I have extra pyjamas if you want."
"Yeah, totally. That would be helpful, thanks." Elide gave her a smile and slipped off the chair.
"I'll be right there, give me a sec to rinse off our bowls." Phoebe turned away before her smile could falter, crossing the room to the skin and beginning to do as she'd promised.
Elide hesitated for a moment, worried about Phoebe but left anyway. She slipped up to her room and waited patiently.
Phoebe finished as quickly as she could, unable to stop her mind from lingering on the awful events of last year. Trying her best to pull up an unruffled façade, she entered her room.
Elide looked up at Phoebe and gave her a small smile before it dropped, "Phoebe… what's wrong? Please don't lie, either…"
Phoebe's heart sank. "I'm just– tired." Emotionally. She plastered a smile to her face.
Elide frowned but nodded, "O-Okay… maybe we should go to sleep then…"
"Yeah, good idea, sorry we had dinner so late." Phoebe turned to her dresser and dug around for a minute before pulling out a pair of flannel pyjamas. She tossed them to Elide. "I usually sleep in a sweater and pj bottoms, if that's okay with you."
"Of course that's okay. Where's your bathroom? I'll change in there…" Elide hopped off the bed with the pj's in hand.
"Down the hall, on the left side." Phoebe offered her a genuine smile
"Thank-you." Elide gave her a small smile back before she scurried off.
Phoebe dressed quickly, her mind frustratingly stuck on ELide.
Elide hummed quietly as she changed and headed back to Phoebe's room. The clothes were a little big but she didn't care.
Phoebe slipped her oversized periwinkle hoodie over her head just as Elaine returned, her hair mussed. She refrained from biting her lip as her eyes flickered over her friends form. “Do they fit?”
Elide shrugged, “They’re a little big but it’s fine. Thank-you.” She gave Phoebe a small smiled and flopped down onto the bed.
Phoebe cursed herself when her heart fluttered lightly. The British accent…. the eyes…… dammit. “No problem.”
Elide’s smile grew, “You going to sit or lie down or just stand there staring?” She giggled a little.
A blush immediately rose to Phoebe’s cheeks. “I- uh— do you want to take the bed? I can grab a blanket and sleep on the floor.” She changed the subject quickly.
Elide shook her head, “No, it’s fine. I can take the floor.”
Phoebe shook her head right back. “Uh-uh. You’re my guest, you are not sleeping on the floor. Let me go grab extra blankets.”
“Or…” Elide paused for a moment, “We could just both share the bed? We don’t have to but it’s just a suggestion…” She added quickly before looking down at her lap.
Phoebe’s blush deepened. “Uh— Yeah— sure— good idea.” She swallowed, ducking her head and cautiously sitting down next to Elide. “Tired?”
Elide shrugged, “A little bit. What about you?”
Exhausted. “Same here. Do you want to sleep yet or just turn out the lights and talk?” Phoebe fidgeted slightly.
Elide noticed her fidgeting and took her hands in hers gently, “I’m fine with whatever. And you look really tired.”