I love to chat late at night. It's ridiculously relaxing--the sound of someone else's voice there in the darkness just melts away the loneliness that the late hours can spring on me. I'll snuggle down under my sheets and just listen to the other person babble away for a while, and then I'll take my turn at it when they're done. That's what it's comes down to at those hours: babbling. I mean, some of those conversations get to be resoundingly intellectual, but in the end, the hours wear down our intellects and we're just left exchanging random ideas, just to keep hearing each other's soothing voices over the line. That's when you get the nonsencial talk:
    "Do you like Christmas?"
    "Yeah, Santa Claus is a cool guy,"
    "Yeah, he IS a nice guy,"
That usually happens at the point when both of us are on the verge of sleep but still refuse to hang up the phone in an attempt to fend off the sound of the waking birds a little longer. It takes a while until one of us finally musters up enough energy to suggest hanging up and then when we finally do, I just pass out; my mind contentedly exhausted.

But then there's the other kind of late night phone conversation: the one during which I don't say anything at all. Just the sound of the other person breathing softly on the other line is still enough to ward of the cold darkness of my room at night. Even though he's asleep, that's all I need at that hour--to know that someone else is there and I'm not completely alone...besides, every once in a while, I can hear the soft rustling of sheets and a deep sigh as he rolls over without fully waking up. Both kinds of late night phone talk is soothing, and sometimes I have trouble deciding on whether or not I want to stay awake, or just doze with the phone off the hook...I never like to choose, so I don't think I'll ever try to...