The holiday season, especially the one nearly coinciding with winter time, is a time of year filled with both stress and joy alike for nearly everyone who takes the time to celebrate it. Mike Pellino was no exception to that, either. Especially with the stressful part of the equation. Even when sitting on a chair in the warmth of his living room - wearing his seasonal sweater and everything even - he could not keep himself from relentlessly tapping his fingers and feet as his mind could not get numerous stressful thoughts out of itself.

His brown eyes turned to the window behind him, away from the room's television screen - which was playing traditional christmas specials. All he could see besides the spiky dark hair of his reflection was a combination of the white snow which looked almost blue in the moon's light, the yellow lights of other people's homes, and the vague shapes of said buildings in the darkness of the late night.

All he could do is take a deep breath.

After about a minute of that, he turned his attention to the christmas tree in the room - it was green, naturally, but mostly decorated with lights, ribbons, bows, balls, and even a star on top so it was truly a spectacle of colour. It would look out of place in the room if it were any other time of year, but here it fit right in. Right beside it were the stockings of the house, one for himself, and another for the person whom he lived with. They only had each other, so there were no other stockings.

He tried to smile, but he couldn't shake the nervousness from his mood.

The thought of the other person in the house with him did, however, make him finally let out:

"H-h-hey!" he tried to exclaim loud enough to be heard, "Is it ready yet?"

"Don't worry!" another voice called from beyond an archway into the kitchen and dining room area, "It'll just be a few more seconds!"

"A-alright."

Mike took another deep breath and tried his best to relax at that point. He closed his eyes and tried to think of thoughts that relaxed him.

Being warm.

Resting his head on a pillow.

Doing his hobbies.

Sleeping in his bed under the cover of blankets and bedsheets.

Being with the one he loved.

Then, he felt a good bit of weight hop onto his lap along with the sound of someone getting on top of it and the feeling of a single arm going to rest it's hand onto his back. Coupled with the smell of warm liquid chocolate, he finally relaxed as he opened his eyes and gazed right into both the eyes and face of his companion:

Cody Emment Jameson Anderson.

His skin just as young as Mike's own, except much less of a 'crispy' shade more of a 'vanilla' one. His eyes teal blue like a beautiful ocean, his hair short and of a chestnut brown colour, and his body just as thin and slender though not as well toned in the muscle department - though he had potential. His face looked at Mike's with a warm smile, his right hand resting on Mike's back while the left held a cup of homemade hot cocoa topped with cream. A second cup was resting on an end table beside the chair.

That cup was Mike's, and he had one of his hands pick it up while the other returned the favor to Cody's back. Cody did not take long, however, to notice Mike shaking. After taking a sip of his cocoa, he looked to Mike concerned:

"Mike….what's wrong?"

"Wha-what? Nothing! Nothing's wrong! Why would you think something's wrong?"

"Well first of all, you're all all shaking and jittering. What's up?"

"Nothing!"

"Mike…"

Mike sighed. He put down the cup of hot cocoa so it wouldn't spill, though he tried to take a sip first, and then he told Cody in a more quieted tone of voice:

"It's just, well, Christmas hasn't always been a very, you know, happy time for me."

"Oh"

As Cody came to the realization of what Mike was talking about, Mike himself looked down and closed his eyes, sighing himself as the memories of past Christmases were flowing through his brain and were all he could think about. All that need be said about it was that his parents were not on the nice list, so to speak.

"Mike" Cody said in a more serious tone of voice, "You don't need to worry about it anymore, that's all in the past, even if the memories still hurt you. You shouldn't let 'em get ya down!"

"But still...Christmas is supposed to be a time where you spend time with the people you care about the most, like your family...but..."

"But you have me! The Codester! Your Codester! Doesn't that make ya happy?"

"..."

"Mike!"

"Yes! Of course it makes me happy!"

"Then what was that pause for?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes!"

Mike sighed a little and explained:

"It's just…...I'm afraid of losing you…...and...what little of a family I actually even have left. I don't want to say the wrong thing and be alone forever."

"You know you're not alone...you have me! Always!"

"..."

"Mike!"

"Ah!"

"What's with you now?"

"I'm sorry! It's just…."

"Just what? Mike, you know you can tell me, baby. You can tell me if something's bothering you."

"Thanks..."

"So, you gonna tell me what's up?"

"It's just that….I remember when I….kind of...well….lit the Christmas Tree on fire when I was little….and….my parents….they…..were mad about it."

"Were you, you, or were you, Mal?"

"No...I swear! AAah!"

"Sssh, sssh! Calm down! Calm down!" Cody set his mug down on the table, grabbing both of Mike's shoulders and pulling him in close for a deep, loving hug. Mike, however, did not respond. Technically he did, though he only did so in a much colder, almost wicked sounding tone of voice as his personality shifted and contorted to match:

"I hate my 'old man'" this voice, the voice of the Malevolent One known as 'Mal', his hair changing accordingly to have one lock over his left eye, "I hate him more than you could ever imagine."

Then, Mal began gripping tightly onto Cody's back as he knew Cody was hearing every single word he was saying:

"I promised myself that I would be the downfall of him and his fucking slut of a wife. And I promise you that if you ever even think of betraying me, you will suffer."

"I'll never do that, Mal!" Cody assured him, trying his best to hide any sign of fear in his voice, though Mal smirked as he said:

"You're afraid of me. I can practically smell it on you."

"Well, yeah...you're kind of scary...", but then Cody quickly said, "But I still love you, just like I love Mike. I know at the end of the day you and Mike are the same person, I could never betray Mike. Not for anything in the world, no matter how evil you are….I can grow to like evil just as much as I like Mike's sweetness."

"...I'm not that bad, I can be quite loving...in a 'chained against the wall' kind of way..."

Then Mal bit down on Cody's ear, making the boy squeal out in response to it. The sound of his squeal made Mal chuckle.

"Your squealing is adorable. I want more of it already."

"Well you have to wait until nighttime, baby..."

"Make me."

Then Cody decided to look at Mal, those dark circles under his eyes, his sinister smirk, his one visible eye. Yet, he was still just as good looking as Mike was to him. It didn't change his decision to lean in and kiss the lips of the boy though, catching even Mal off guard. Even making him blush. Cody kissed his lips with enough passion and love to make Mal drop his sinister demeanor in favor of a more kind and loving one, in fact feeling his lips and tongue on Cody's own made his mind revert back to Mike's control, with Mike opening his eyes only to be gazing right into Cody's teal 'ocean' eyes, their lips still locked.

"Thank you, Cody..." Mike said warmly, parting his lips with Cody's.

"And I mean it, Mike. No matter who's in control, I'll always love you. All of you."

"...you mean it?"

"Yes. I mean it."

"Thank you..." and with that, the two shared a peck on the lips, a few seconds but still just as loving as their prior kiss.

"No problem! Now come on, your hot cocoa's gonna be turning cold now!"

"AAh! Sorry!"

"Hahaha!"

And with one more peck and a cuddle, the two took their hot cocoa in hand and took turns sipping from the mugs, kissing and cuddling, and watching television while they were warming each other up. Not just with each other, but also with love. Mike's fears and anxieties were now gone, he knew Cody was loyal. He knew Cody would never hurt him. He knew that Cody would no absolute nothing, but love him.

They had a very Merry Christmas to look forward to.