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It was an evening at the beginning of December. Christmas season had finally gotten started. Although, of course there were also those people who went crazy about the winter holidays even before October. Emilia, however, wasn't one of them. She had decided to call it a day and go to bed. It wasn't awfully late just yet, but she'd had a long and tiring day. She was expecting no further distractions of any kind for the day and already breathed out a sigh of relief. Outside her window big snowflakes were slowly falling down from the sky.
She groaned when she was forced back out of the sleep's clutches less than half an hour later. Just who dared to call her that late in the day? No one usually required her attention at that hour, but of course it happened on the one day she turned off the lights before 10 pm.
"Who the hell..?"
she groaned, one eye open and glared at her phone as angrily as she could. She waited for a few seconds, expecting the idiotic caller to give up. But it didn't happen. Emilia hadn't planned to get December started by her killing someone. She'd land on the naughty list in a heartbeat. Of course she hadn't believed in Santa Claus in a long time.
"Who is this?"
she mumbled, not having even bothered to check if the caller was someone she knew. She was perfectly aware of how grumpy she sounded.
"Hey, Emilia.."
A very familiar voice greeted her after a short silence. Emilia sighed internally. Of course.. Who else could it possibly be?
"Jona. Did you have something you wanted to discuss?"
She knew that she was sounding a little bit rude, but just couldn't help herself.
"..Oh,"
she heard Jona say as he seemingly put two and two together.
"Were you already in bed?"
"As a matter of fact, I was. For once at this hour."
She caught Jona cursing under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just.. Well, I only called because I wanted to hear your voice. But you can hang up, it's okay. I'll just call again later."
Emilia couldn't keep herself from smiling a little. He certainly sounded to be genuinely sorry.
"No.. It's okay. We can talk for a while. Feeling lonely again, are you?"
she asked him, sounding like she already knew what he would say next.
"Well.. Something like that maybe, yes.. But I swear I really wouldn't have called if I'd—"
"Hey, Jona,"
Emilia interrupted him.
"I already said that it's okay. I wasn't really even asleep yet."
Jona hummed quietly, as if he was wondering if she really meant what she said. Still, she didn't sound overly annoyed, so he chose to keep talking.
"So.. What are you doing around Christmas?"
"I don't know.. Probably doing some last-minute work,"
Emilia told him and decided to sit up. She was already fully alert again, so she didn't see much of a point in staying in bed. She walked into the kitchen and propped the phone against her shoulder while she got herself a glass of water.
"Would you.. I mean.. Do you have any other plans?"
Jona carried on talking.
"I'm.. I'm actually going to be spending the holidays in Finland this year and everything's a blank slate. Maybe, if it's okay with you, I could stop by on Christmas Eve? Or Christmas Day, whichever works better for you."
Emilia heard some faint shuffling from Jona's end as he most likely turned onto his side or something. It did sound like he'd also gone to bed but maybe just hadn't been able to fall asleep.
"I might have to swing by to see the family, but other than that, I haven't promised anyone anything. I'm sure I can find some time for you, as well."
"That sounds great."
Emilia could hear Jona smile and for a few seconds imagined the way he always looked when he smiled.
They kept talking for the next half an hour. Until little by little Jona started going quiet. The line was still open but Emilia grew slightly concerned when she couldn't hear Jona talk her ear off any longer.
"Jona? Are you still there?"
she asked, frowning. He still didn't respond, but she could then hear the quiet, even breathing from the other end. She slowly shook her head with a smile.
"Good night to you too."