While she knew that worrying did little to help any matter, however big or small, the honey-blonde woman just couldn't keep herself from wondering about the people in her life, how it was that they faring when she knew just how cold and sometimes unforgiving the world could be. More often than not, when her mind was preoccupied with the mountains of homework that only seemed to be getting bigger and more challenging as she made her way through the necessary courses and their almost endless number of classes, she was wondering. The first person that Elain would always find her thoughts moving to first and foremost was her brother, Lazarus. In the days since Vhalla has been gone, things seemed... different about the dark hunter. He had grown more restless, almost more broody broody - if such a thing were even possible. She tempted the idea that the white-haired witch had something to do with it, but her brother insisted that she was imagining things before going through the usual motions of either taking his half-full bottle of rum or whiskey up to his room where he was close the door and try to drown himself in the drunken haze which always worried the huntress, or the man would do something rather out of his normal and pack the gym bag he'd recently purchased and leave the townhouse. In all their young adult hears - or rather, his as he was a considerable number of years older than she was - Elain was used to seeing him just up and leave to what she could only predictably assume would be a club or a bar to try and find yet another one-night stand. This new habit of his, it had her concerned. She wanted to be happy for him, relieved even that she wasn't out there in the night starting some drunken brawl or causing some form of trouble. She truly was glad to see that he seems to have found something to busy himself with that wasn't just sitting in the house and binge-drinking, but he was beginning to stay out longer, returning just as she was leaving for school in the morning when before he would have slunk into the house while the sun had yet to rise, and the honey-blonde woman would hear his soft snoring when she passed by his bedroom door to get into the shower and begin getting ready for another busy day of college living. She would always try and ask him if he was okay, good something was bothering him, and she would always get the same answer, but being the hopeful creature that she was, she would not give up on doing what she could to watch out for him - even when it has always been Lazarus that would look out for her.

Then, there was Vhalla. The witch had been the very first real friend outside of her school life that she'd made here in Sacrosanct. Sure, the circumstances under which they'd met hadn't been the typical way friends were forged, but there had been a near-instant fondness for the white-haired woman that the huntress couldn't help but feel. No, Vhal hadn't been the warmest, but she was everything that Ellie considered herself not to be. She was strong and fierce, independent and clever. She was wild and beautiful. And the only one to ever knock her brother square on his ass with a blow to the face. There was a heated strife between the two most important people in the young woman's life, and it was so... fascinating. Lazarus and Vhal clashed like great forces. They reminded her of fire and lightning, her best friend being the intense flames that would fell even the greatest of trees while her brother was unpredictable - in some ways, anyway - and yet just as fierce. And yet, Elain couldn't help but swear that things had shifted between the two of them, and there was something more at work now than either of them were letting on or telling her. She can remember that night Vhal had taken her on a spontaneous venture to one of the classiest bars she'd ever seen (the only bar she'd ever seen the inside of thanks to those fake IDs), and she especially remembers how her best friend had flushed. Even if the dark, the huntress hadn't been able to miss the color change in those pale and freckled cheeks. But, it all got pushed to the wayside as the night progressed - ending much more abruptly than expected. All she remembers after dancing with Vhal is some dark and tall man, the way he'd tried to take her somewhere, and then after than she was back in her bedroom waking up with her first ever hangover. Oh, sure, Lazarus had been pissed when she staggered out of her bedroom and down the stairs to for some aspirin and a cup of coffee like she's seen the man do a thousand times over. He'd been fuming, telling her how irresponsible her choice was to go out drinking with the witch and that if he ever caught her at another club again there'd be things needing done. Moving would be her guess, though he never really validated this thought, but none-the-less she knew that he was only angry because he was worried, possibly about her ending up like him. That was just one more thing she couldn't quite guess at with him, but that was alright. His anger was the way that he showed he cared, and all she had been able to do was smile at her brother and tell him she was sorry.

Since that night, she and Vhal hadn't gone out to another bar or club since... only because the white-haired woman just up and disappeared. Elain tried to just tell herself it was probably work-related or something. After all, the witch surely had a life beyond the huntress or whatever it was she did for work. She probably had other friends she was hanging out with or making took a vacation somewhere out of the city. The more that the honey-blonde woman thought about it, the more she realized how much she didn't know about her best friend, and yet none of that had ever mattered to her. All the same, Ellie had expected to at least hear from Vhal. Text, phone call, maybe even a letter if wherever she was didn't have cell phone service... But there's been only silence, only guessing at where she was or if she was okay. She had tried asking Lazarus if he'd seen her around, but the answer she got was one that she had expected, despite knowing that the two had trained together a time or two and she certainly hadn't missed the ever so slight change in her brother. She opted not to say anything, though. Not until Vhal came back around to unknowingly help Ellie confirm her recent and increasing suspicions. In the end, they were both adults and perfectly capable of handling themselves... but it was just hard for the honey-blonde not to worry about them. Even with Lani, when she'd called so late that night and asked Elloe if she could take care of Chika while she went on a trip outside of Sacrosanct. It seemed strange, considering the blue-eyed blonde was always wanting to spend time with Andras, the fae man that Lani was so painfully taken by. But again, Ellie decided to hold her tongue for the older woman, simply happy to help in any way she could. If anything, Andras and Lani were just going to that cabin in the woods Ellie had heard about oh, so briefly when she had been able to hold back her curiosities on what it was that was growing between the two of them. And so, of course the huntress had said yes to looking after Chika - her favorite cat in the whole wide world - regardless of what adventure she was convinced the couple/not couple were going on. She stopped by every day to check on the tortoiseshell, making sure she had everything she would need as well as some playful and petting.

Today, with no school to fuss over, Ellie had decided to housesit. Instead of just checking in on Chika, she had allowed for herself to make herself breakfast. She knew that Lani wouldn't care, considering that they'd had several sleepovers at the apartment so that the honey-blonde could get away for at least a little while. It always took some convincing on her part - much more than it really should - to make Lazarus believe that the friend he never saw over at their townhouse was in fact a woman, and she had to assume that the only reason he didn't make a big deal out of it anymore is because he'd probably followed her to Lani's apartment complex to see for himself. She makes a small scramble, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the small living area as the huntress preparing a little saucer for Chika just as she knew Lani would, and once she's cleaned the frying pan and spatula she used, she grabs her own plate and settles onto the futon. She picks up one of the books she brought over with her and begins to read as she eats, looking up only occasionally to smile as the feline thoroughly enjoyed her own little meal. If only Lazarus would let us keep a cat. Or maybe a dog. He might not be so lonely if we had one. She is nearly finished with her own food when suddenly, she can hear the jingle of the tiny bell hanging onto Chika's collar, icy blue eyes looking up to see the feline with tall bristled in fear darting into the bedroom and disappearing under the bed. Hmmm... That's unusual. She pushes herself up from the futon to go and check on the startled creature, but then there is a knock on the door. Who could that be? Lani hadn't said anything about expecting anyone to come by. Moving over to the door, she reaches for the handle and opens it, icy blue eyes meeting familiar hazels equally as surprised as her own gaze. His words betray his surprise that he seems quick to hide, though Ellie makes no such attempt to disguise her own."Hey, Andras. I'm just watching the apartment for her. I thought for sure she was with you", she replies as she watches his attentions shift to the inside of the apartment, almost as if maybe he thought Lani was hiding or something. Which was quite a silly thought considering the huntress knew that Lani cared so much for him."She left a week ago, something about a road trip out of the city. Maybe to Willowhaven. She never did tell me, exactly...", she admits openly to the fae man. After all, though Ellie was more book smart that she was anything else, it was blindingly clear to her that there was something between her blue-eyed blonde friend and the man standing there in the doorway. She feels an uneasiness creeping into the corners of her mind now, having been so certain that her fiend would have been with Andras, but it was obvious that she wasn't."Maybe I should call her...", she says thoughtfully, more to herself than for Andras to hear, but now she couldn't help the feeling that something wasn't really quite right...