Happy holidays! Just a short one shot for the holidays , a spin off of my Piper Fic. it's a flashback to when Nico and Tyson were ten. just a load of fluff and cut NicoxTyson.

Nico's eyes flickered across the dark room, shivering with trepidation. He could just make out the Christmas tree, the lights flicked off but the baubles and other decorations reflecting the light of the moon and stars casting a strange red and green light across the floor.

He could feel Tyson shivering behind him, and all of a sudden he wanted to go back, wanted to run back to Tyson's room and hide under his blankets cuddling with his best friend. He didn't want to find out if the noise was Santa leaving presents or just the apartment creaking, he had heard Sally as Paul joking about their apartment often enough to know that sometimes it just creaked and groaned inexplicably .

But he couldn't back down. Not when Tyson was here. He wasn't going to loose the only person he had left. His best friend, not over something so stupid, not when the other boy had helped him through so much as the rest of his family drifted apart.

Gathering his courage he took a step forward freezing when his foot hit the cool floorboard causing a creak to echo across the room, Tyson's hand was on his upper arm, squeezing softly, whether to warn Nico or comfort him he wasn't sure.

He took another step and another and then he was sprinting across the wood floor not stopping until he was panting and safe on the warm Persian carpet. On a deep red diamond, one of five that created an exotic eastern effect, you were safe on the diamonds, it was a game he had played often enough to know.

Tyson wasn't holding his arm anymore but when he glanced back the other boy was standing right behind him, feet pressed together and arms wrapped around his body tightly, pressing peanut bitter his stuffed seahorse close to his chest, so as to fit perfectly in the second to last diamond.

Tyson was grinning his one brown eye and one blue sparkling with the childish mirth that Nico adored, that he had himself lost with the death of his mother, the loss off his father and sister - though they lived it felt like they didn't, the relationship was long gone at any rate.

Turning back to the tree he grinned himself lost in the moment. Under the tree, cut down by all of them two week prior - It was a Blofis family tradition, was piles of brightly wrapped present's all labeled with the swirly lettering that he recognised but didn't, it was the writing that came with every Christmas and disappeared with the labelling until the next year.

Jogging across to the tree he knelt down beside Tyson as they dug through the presents, sure enough he wasn't left out before he unwrapped his first present he watched Tyson pause in his endeavours to check the plate of cookies, he tiny stocking Nico had spent so long icing that day had a miniature bite taken from it and Percy's snowman was missing an arm, even Tyson's giant brick thing had a little nibble mark.

Clearly Santa was very thorough.

Blinking slightly he reached for the glass of milk taking a sip, it was still warm. Rather than opening any presents the boys took turns sipping the cooling milk and tasting the different cookies.

The sun was beginning to rise in the sky when they finally opened their first presents, matching knitted jumpers, Indigo with an Emerald N for him and Royal Blue with an Emerald T for Tyson, both clearly made by Sally, with marching scarves with dropped stitches and scabby ends in the same Emerald Green clearly made by Percy, they had spent all of December watching Sally teach Percy to knit and he wasn't any good, probably the ADHD he always abandoned his work before he could finish and would pick it back up knitting backwards and forward and all sorts of strange patterns that didn't quite work out. Clearly knitting wasn't his thing.

pulling on the marching jumpers they shared a grin, 'merry Christmas' he traced against the bare skin of Tyson's forearm as he struggled with the sleeves of the wool. 'Merry Christmas' the other boy whispered back, pulling Nico onto his lap as the smaller boy drifted off to sleep

When Percy came down the next morning a weary Leo and excited Ella in tow they found the two boys curled up half under the tree sleeping on each other, dressed in marching jumpers and scarves, peanut butter squished between them.