Lae'zel is cool, and Shadowheart was always so rude to her (and by extension, me). I spoke to her so little that I didn't even realize she needed to be around for the nightsong quest. I completed it without her, and she got angry then left. I didn't even apologize.
I'm the opposite. I didn't find Lae'zel until I went back from act 2 to fetch her. Then she was so angry all the time that I just left her in camp. Shadowheart is my pal, and has been with me the entire journey, Lae'zel is just some orc looking chick who I fought alongside one time on a ship, during the worst day of my character's life.
She's not, cause she's talking. Think about putting a bottle to your mouth, especially one that isn't completely full. Someone says something to you, you want to respond, but you don't need to put the drink down because you're going right back to sipping on it. You would tilt the neck/mouthpiece away from your mouth slightly. From a straight on look, this scenario would look just like the drawing