[He stutters for a moment, way to be direct, Rosa. Though it gets worse because of how that makes him remember Aneg's words on New Year, without being prepared to remember them.]

Maybe next year.

[Just another way to say "not any time soon" because it is too soon for that after all, thank you very much. Still he tries to recover a bit and smirks a bit.]

Assuming that we will want to invite you, that is.

[The filter needs to stay up as much as possible, yup.]

He's more than a friend, he's my best friend. And he deserves all the friends he can get, he's a great guy, really.