Jon let himself into his apartment, shaking off the jacket and the cool air radiating off of it. He tended to enjoy the colder seasons more than most, but cold weather plus stress due to the holidays always knew how to hit him harder than most other days, creeping into muscles and joints to make his running around extra taxing sometimes. Unbeknownst to many, he was doing a bit of overtime himself so the employees under him wouldn't be working through the holidays as they'd all worked hard and didn't deserve a shorter paid holiday. He never let anyone notice how it was at the expense of his own schedule or sanity, not even Sabrina who curiously didn't seem to notice. A bit dejected from working later than normal again, not even bothering with going for the gym directly after, Jon was mostly interested in dressing down and relaxing for the rest of the day.
His tall athletic frame tensed a moment at his doorway before easing, realizing how tired he was, flashing lights coming from the direction of his living room totally evaded his notice at first. He would've slipped into a combat mode of some sort if he didn't remember Sabrina had took off a little earlier than everyone else. He had no idea what mischief was going on in his apartment, but there was comfort in knowing she would be behind it, and whatever her idea of fun was to come.
Stepping into the living room area, he was surprised the source of the lights flashing was merely Christmas tree lights going off and on, with Sabrina dressed in sweatpants and a white t-shirt hanging off one shoulder with a Christmas reef turning into a spiral decorating the front of it. Standing next to a bare tree, an annoyed smirk across her face was her greeting.
"You were supposed to go to the gym so I could surprise you," Sabrina half-complained.
"Sorry to spoil your Christmas caper," Jon smirked more genuinely, looking down at the supplies she'd smuggled into his place to set up a sizeable Christmas tree in his apartment. His head did a double-take as he saw Loqui sitting on his couch, in a sleeping position. The small black cat mewled as Jon's speaking woke her up; she saw fit for Jon to make it up for her by serving as a heated mattress for her to lay across.
"That's okay," her face morphed into a smile reserved for light-bulb moments when a sexy or hypnotic (or both) idea popped into her head. "You can help me decorate since you're here."
Jon tried to keep his sigh less exasperated, but enough of it came though. "Is this really necessary, Sabrina? You've got a big one up at your place. Shouldn't that be enough?"
"No," she stated, almost perplexed at the assertion. "As one of the few holidays I actually like, more abodes should have the proper trees present. You used to have one at your family home every year, right?"
"I did," Jon enjoyed the content purring as he stroked Loqui's black fur. "But like I told you before, I kind of grew out of the decorating phase of Christmas; the commercial gifting side of it I'll celebrate with ease, but decorations just seem....not necessary to me."
The redhead's mock sounds of disbelief got a snicker or two out of her boyfriend.
"It isn't a matter of necessity, Jonathan," she chided with hands on her hips. "It's about celebration, the spirit of the season, and expression."
"Really," Jon replied unconvinced, glancing over at her choice of decorations, all of it looking pretty standard fare for Christmas, but looking through the lens of WWSD - what would Sabrina do. "I thought it was a matter of distraction, the spirit of fixation, and mesmerism."
"Ancillary benefits don't preclude the original intent, Jonathan," Sabrina's voice got lower, and Jon couldn't tell if the drop in octave was threatening or inviting; he feared she might somehow make it both, despite his challenge of reason.
"Ancillary benefits? When didn't the average Christmas tree serve as some kind of beacon for you to blind someone with pretty lights so they could be more open to you?"
"I love how close you always are to stating an objective fact with just a dash of a misguided perspective," she chuckled. "Indeed I have taken a mind, or twelve, with the beautiful adornments of a Christmas tree. And while they do effectively blind their conscious mind, you yourself seem blind to how blinding their conscious mind allows the subconscious mind to open their eyes, to see, to relish in the true beauty only their deepest selves can appreciate. Our love of holidays and the spirit within them goes deeper, much deeper beyond the surface; that child-like love everyone speaks of, it takes the so much to cut through all the adult cynicism to reach it, but it's so wonderful when you reach it, right Jonathan?"
Looking away from his lecturing girlfriend, Jon was reminded again of how he needed to start doing psychology research to be able to confirm or deny some of the statements that sounded like averments. "Child-like love" he knew translated to "critical-thinking" in her language, but even that knowledge couldn't take away from how it was delivered to his ears, with indomitable confidence that always shook his reality, and that professional hypnotherapist tone able to make anything sound like empirical fact. He had to stop himself from questioning her words too long before they became what he wanted, and vowed not to get in a debate with sexy psychobabble he was sure to lose.
"Even if what you say is true Sabrina, there's nothing wrong with those who just don't feel like partaking in some aspects of the that...child-like love? I'm not trying to be a Scrooge about this all."
"That would've just made things more fun, haunting the error of your ways," she admitted.
"Ironically, you might resemble Scrooge more than me, so staunchly wanting things your way," Jon noted with satisfaction.
"Bah, humbug!" the expected retort got a laugh out of both of them. "All I want is to spread the joy of the holiday, to prove to some waywards that it's more than just enjoying a Christmas movies on TV."
"What's wrong with watching Die Hard around Christmas as a celebration?" Jon complained.
"Firstly, Die Hard isn't a Christmas move," she rolled her eyes.
"For the last time, yes. It. IS." His sharpened gaze almost made her giggle, ready to unleash his zeal about his opinion.