Working on the Buddy System

After making sure his junior warriors are tucked away in their respective dorm rooms, Santiago headed to the Corazón of Camp to meet Cyrus. They had made plans earlier in the day to try and set up a junior with a senior tribe warrior to try and help the younger ones cope with being descendants of the Aztecan gods. The son of Tepeyollotl was dressed in a tight, black shirt, dark blue jeans and boots. The weather got colder at night so he wanted to make sure that he was going to be comfortable. He had the files of those new blood demigods who needed help the most in one hand and a tray with two iced coffees in another. He had sure to bring some grapes along with him for Cyrus.

Walking into the beautiful grand garden, Santiago walked passed the fountain of Aulta and to a stone table that had seats around a table. Thankfully there was a street light over it so they could see while they work. Santiago didn't really need the light since he could see at night, but Cyrus needed it. He sat down on one of the benches and put his files, coffee, and grapes down on table and waited for the cute son of Tlaloc to arrive.

Cyrus was no detective, but he was almost positive that this wasn't officially a date. It wouldn't stop him from cutting up a little bit nonetheless. He had come to the garden with his hands full of two different types of files: a thick stack of his best warriors and a thinner stack of his...not so best warriors. He loved them all, and honestly the separation wasn't to spite any of them. He hoped that they would get paired with some of Santiago's better juniors because, while they excelled in fighting, their attitudes sucked. They needed a good attitude adjustment and Cyrus was going to force one on them.

Since the night had cooled down from earlier in the day, he wore a pair of grey sweatpants and the same black t-shirt he had on earlier. The blue face paint had been washed off, but he still had on the same tennis shoes. He saw the Junior Tribe Leader at one of the stone tables past the fountain and made his way over. "Santiago," Cyrus sang his name as he slid into the bench across from him. "I hope the past few hours have kind to you. ¿Listo para empezar?"

When he heard Cyrus sing his name, the Aztecan warrior blushed, hoping he wouldn't see. Instead he rolled his eyes playfully. "They have indeed. How about you? How was power concentration? Cause any rain storms?"Santiago asked in a joking manor before nodding his head. "Ah, Sí, Cyrus. I'm ready." He decided to start easy and work their way to the hard stuff. "Okay...let's see." He opened one of his files and started to read off of it.

"Alejandro Veléz, fourteen, son of Chicomecoatl. He's timid and doesn't want to fight back because he feels he's going to endanger himself or other people. His powers are pretty normal for a child of agriculture; having the power to control plants and what not." Santiago scooted to the edge of the bench. "I bought you coffee and grapes by the way." Santiago took out Cyrus' cup and put it in front of him along with the grapes. "Do you think you have someone to try and talk to him? I see real potential in this chico." In all honesty, the junior tribe leader potential in all of his student's; some more than others. He shifted in his seat, glancing around at the garden. It was beautiful at night with the fountain having light blue lights shining as well as the lamps that burned with fire. His eyes drifted back to Cyrus, staring at him discretely as possible.

"I have. Since when couldn't a leader have any fun?" Cyrus chuckled. One of his warriors tried to throw a hissy fit because they couldn't focus, so Cyrus had been responsible enough to give his own personal rain cloud until he could concentrate. He finished the session with the sniffles, but he had learned to use one of his powers. "But, yes. Ever since the Dining Hall I've been much happier. And now to work."

His statement from earlier had been false. Cyrus couldn't behave himself in any lighting. He went through the stack of better warriors, searching for one specifically... Ah, there she was. "Jaime Garcia, daughter of Ehecatl. I'm personally not a fan of gods that blow away rain, but Jaime could help Alejandro with his timidness. She's friendly but she kicks ass all the same," Cyrus slid the file over to Santiago like they did in those old cop movies so that he could look it over. Then he took the cup of coffee offered to him and winked at the other leader before taking a sip. "Gracias. I think Jaime could use some more responsibility anyways."

Santiago couldn't help, but to smirk when he asked the question. He had to admit that he himself had fun with his own powers and abilities. Like this one time, a couple of his juniors decided that they wanted to leave and go to the waterfall for some midnight swimming. He found out about it and instead of going out and punishing them, he allowed his jaguar to go and chase them down. They've stayed in their dorms ever since. The son of Tepeyollotl raised an eyebrow and looked up at his fellow leader. "And why is that if you don't mind me asking?" His eyes fell to the file that was slid over to his side of the table.

He exchanged the file of Alejandro Velez with Jaime Garcia's giving it a look over. "I think that would be a good matching, Cyrus." He nodded his head and put the file on the corner. Santiago glanced up long enough to see Cyrus wink at him. "I swear you'll flirt with a tree if it had a nice figure." He said while shaking his head with a smirk on his lips.

"She's a bit of a wild card," Cyrus laughed some at the thought of Jaime. They were never in a relationship or anything - that would be unprofessional - but he knew enough about her to possibly write a book. Cyrus technically wasn't supposed to have favorites, but there were always a few that stuck out to him. Jaime was one of them. She was strong, fierce, and...a little tough to get to follow rules. "She's good and knows it. She need the buddy to realize that there's more to being a good warrior than fighting." Cyrus opened up the file on Alejandro Velez and compared it to what he knew about Jaime.

"I agree." He nodded in return and moved Alejandro's file over with Jaime's, then began looking at the other files. Cyrus raised an eyebrow at Santiago's comment and tried (and failed) to sound as innocent as possible when he responded with, "Flirt? Ay, Santiago, I thought this meeting was strictly professional! I'll have you know that I only converse with attractive human beings, such as yourself of course. Now if you would focus on pairing, that would be nice." He thumbed through the files, his eyes focused on them. "Tch. Flirting." He mumbled.

That was true; there was more to being a good warrior than just being able to throw a couple of punches or making someone bleed. Being a good warrior meant having the ability to work well with others and knowing when to help someone in need. Even a hunter like Santiago knew the importance of teamwork.

"Well don't I feel special."  Santiago rolled his eyes a bit before picking up another file. "Oh good, Esmeralda Dice." That was a good subject change. "Fifteen, daughter of Coyolxauhqui. Her magic is...very interesting." He raised an eyebrow as he started to list the powers. "Telekinesis, astroprojection. levitation, divination. I mean  this bruja has some serious magic, Cyrus." He blinked his eyes a bit. "However she was raised catholic by her father and was taught that witchcraft is a sin so she's struggling whether or not to use her magic." It was a real shame too. Santiago actually liked this girl. She had a good heart, hard worker, but she's holding back. "Now I know not to take your flirting seriously."He mumbled under his breath. "So, who's good with that?"

Cyrus shifted in his seat, crossing his ankle over his knee. He was lifting up the file of someone named Farrah when he noticed Santiago's eye roll. An amused expression dominated his features now. "Are you upset, mi amigo? Besides my sister, you of all people should know how I work after knowing me for so long."

But, yes, the subject was changed and Cyrus was no longer able to mess with Santiago as much as he liked to. If you're wondering, no, Cyrus wasn't one to play with emotions. He was just shocked to catch Santiago rolling his eyes at his playfulness. If it was a serious eye roll, then that meant Santiago might have been into him with was always a delight. If it wasn't serious, then Cyrus couldn't help but to be offended. His skills took work and thought. Do he know how much mental math it took to be able to hit on that many people at once? A lot. A lot. "Farrah Valdez, daughter of Xochipilli. She wears those flower crown-things and is happy all the time...basically a stereotype of her father. She has the power to make people feel better about themselves, and she grows the flowers she puts in her hair. It's up to the rest of Esmeralda's personality. If not, then I think this girl Peyton Romo would be better." He glanced up when he thought he heard Santiago mumble something. "What was that?"

"And yet I expect more." He countered, not looking up from his files. "And no, I'm not upset. Just irritated." There were two things that got Santiago irritated: One is not being heard and the second was not having something that he felt like he couldn't have. And what he wanted was Cyrus.

He nodded his head slowly as the son of Tlaloc talked about one of his senior warriors. "Farrah Valdez seems like a good match up with Esmeralda." Santiago put the file over with Alejandro and Jaime's. He had a few more files left that were unmatched so they would be there for a while. Of course he didn't mind since it was with Cyrus. When he asked of him to repeat what he mumbled, Santiago cleared his throat. "I said "Now I don't have to take your flirting seriously"." He repeated, louder and clearer this time. "Do you mind if we take a break?" Without hearing an answer, he stood up from the bench and grabbed his coffee.

The son of the god of earthquakes walked over to the fountain, hoping it would calm him down. Santiago didn't know where that came from. He tried his hardest to keep his work with Cyrus professional, but how could you do that with someone you had an attraction to?

"Ah, yes. I can be very irritating." Cyrus agreed, still smiling. He leaned forward and folded his arms on the table. He did enjoy watching Santiago to see his reactions, mostly because his facial expression didn't change much. Even now Cyrus wouldn't have been able to tell that he was irritated if he hadn't said anything. He could have been happy or sad for that matter. His face was like a...dashingly handsome statue molded into one permanently pissed-off expression. The files were soon forgotten as he studied him more without discretion. Then he repeated what he had mumbled before, and Cyrus' smile slowly faded. Santiago then decided that it was apparently okay to take break whether or not the other party agreed with it. Rude.

Honestly, Cyrus couldn't see what Santiago was so irritated about other than his personality. What ever happened to this meeting being professional? Cyrus personally thought that he was doing a very good job at keeping the meeting professional. Seeing Santiago so upset about who the son of Tlaloc was made him anxious, angry even. The sky darkened even more as it slowly became packed with clouds, but Cyrus kept a relaxed face the entire time. He took a drink of his coffee and ate a few grapes before speaking again. "When you're done pouting over whatever it is you're pouting about, we have work to do."

Santiago closed his and tried his hardest to relax. He knew how Cyrus was, but a part of him wanted that to change. Change for him. He shook his head, trying to regain his composer by letting out a small tremor. It wasn't that much a shake- maybe enough for Cyrus to feel. After he got himself together, he turned around to face Cyrus. "You're right. You are irritating."  A small part of him wished that Cyrus took that as a joke. Glancing up at the sky, he noticed that clouds had started to form.

He knew that this was a sign that his fellow leader was also getting upset which he could understand. "And I wasn't pouting, Cyrus, but I apologize for my unprofessionalism." Santiago sat back down on his side of the bench. For the rest of the time they spent on matching up the demigods, Santiago stuck to his word and remind diligent. It was around 1:00 in the morning when they were finally finished. Santiago rubbed his eyes, tired. "Okay, now that's out of the way, I can become...not professional. Cyrus, I want to take you on a date. I really do, but how do I know if you wont go flirting with the waitress?" He asked him, starting into the cute face of his. Gods why did Xochiquetzal have to do this.[/color]

He felt the ground move right as he was drinking more of his coffee, and sighed in displeasure when a small amount of it spilled on his shirt. Santiago's comment after that didn't help him feel any better. In fact, the clouds above looked heavier and occasionally flashed to indicate that there was a storm coming. "That's what I said, Santiago. I didn't need your clarification." He looked up at the other young man...still unbelievably calm. "As you should be. Now if we may continue, por favor."

It was a very long past couple of hours trying to sort everyone into buddies, but the two leaders got it done. Over time the clouds had stopped thickening and eventually faded away to reveal the clear night/early morning sky. Cyrus' smile also returned at around ten o'clock and he was back to himself. "A date?" Cyrus asked in shock. He was now leaning on one of his arms that rested on the table, his cheek sitting on top of his bicep. He laughed slightly after he recovering from the shock and raised his head. "That's the thing, Eugenia. Who's to say that I won't go flirting with the waitress? I guess that's a risk you, my friend, are going to have to take."

"Yes, a date." Santiago repeated, leaning on the table with both hands gripping the edges. It was as if he was about to pounce on his fellow Aztec...and maybe he was about to. A small grin came across his lips. Comments ran through his mind that he could make towards the son of Tlaloc, but he couldn't find the right one to say. He decided to just stare into his eyes, admiring them. He honestly wanted Cyrus to be his. He wanted to show him what he had to offer as well as show him his softer side.

After a while, he found the right thing to say. "Don't play with my emotions, Cyrus. Please." He whispered, leaning in more. "For your sake." With that, he leaned back, still eyeing him. A part of him realized that his choice of words and tone of voice could have come out as a threat. No one was going to hurt him again. The son of Tepeyollotl sighed in contentment. "Well, we better head to bed." He said, not really wanting to move from his spot.

"I hate to burst your bubble, hombre, but listen closely now," Cyrus leaned closer to Santiago. With the two of them drawing near each other, there was only four inches of space between their faces now. His eyes focused on Santiago's before flicking down to his lips, then back. He pressed his own lips into a firm line and squinted his eyes as if thinking. "If I'm not yours, then how can I play with your emotions?"

He was tempted to kiss him. That was what Cyrus did anyway: kiss, date, repeat. He also didn't know what the "please" and the threat was about. He just knew that it was intriguing. He didn't lean back when Santiago, instead choosing to lean forward even more so that his elbows were almost his full force of support. Cyrus smirked. "I guess we should." He waited a beat, then leaned all the back to his original sitting position.

Santiago could feel Cyrus' breath on his lips, breathing it in. He also wanted to kiss the other, wanting to claim him right then and there, but he knew that he wasn't going to get his heart broken again. "You're right. You're completely right. How can you can play with my emotions if you aren't even seeing each other." He sighed deeply. rubbing his face. "I'm not going to risk going through the same pain that I went through with Juilo." Dammit! He cursed himself for mentioning that wicked song bird.

He stared into the son of the rain god's eyes and tried not show the emotion of pain and sorrow. Instead, he looked down at Cyrus' elbows. "I've known you for six years and from the beginning you have been playing through my mind like a broken record, but you have been with over half of the chicos in camp including Javier. I don't want to be another person under your belt. I want to be that person you can always come to. I want to be your one and only." He wasn't going to cry. Not now, not in front of the guy he has liked for the past six years. "And that's why...I want to take you on a date. An official date one and one.:

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. Julio...that name sounded very familiar. He vaguely remembered someone with that name a few years back. Whether or not he dated him was another question. But that wasn't what had Cyrus uneasy. He wasn't used to seeing this side of Santiago, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He was used to seeing him so strong and nonchalant. With the other leader confessing his feelings for the other, Cyrus felt like he was flying in uncharted territory. Like, he knew Santiago possibly liked him. But this much? For six years? That was more than enough to get Cyrus shifting awkwardly in his seat.

"What you're saying is both true and false. Santiago, you must remember," His face looked strangely serious. "I'm not the same as I was before I became a Leader. My morals have changed, but at the same time my habits will stay the same. Personally, I don't think you can handle me." Unbelievably, he still wasn't joking nor did his face change. He didn't want to be the guy that would break Santiago's heart a second time. He didn't even know how to feel about him besides him being very attractive. Cyrus cleared his throat, and his smile found him again. "I will agree to your date. It sounds fun. Maybe you'll see me in something other than sweats."

Santiago wished that he hadn't told Cyrus about his affection toward him and also mentioning Juilo. He should've just asked him on a date and be done with it, but nooo. He had to get all soft and vulnerable. Listening to Cyrus made his attitude shift back to being hard and cold. The feelings he expressed to Cyrus however was genuine, meaning every word for it. Santiago crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, studying Cyrus' awkwardly serious face. Even with him being up front, Santiago wanted to lock lips with the son of Tlaloc. "I know you're not the same hombre, Cy that's why I've decided to ask you out. If I thought that you were the same I wouldn't have bothered coming to you about this idea I had. I would've went to Maggie instead."

He stood up from his bench and walked over to the other leader's side of the table, leaning over, resting on hand on the table and one hand on the back of the bench. Santiago acted like he was about to kiss his neck, but stopped saying, "And I can handle you, gods I can handle every inch of you." Santiago whispered, his breath gently whipping Cyrus' neck like a hombre trying to tame a wild bronco . Santiago straightened back up again, picking up his stack of files. "I will pick you up at 18:30. You will wear something nice. We're making chocolate so eat dinner before you come." He Aztec touched the other's chin lightly. "Then maybe afterwards you can show me what you're capable of." Santiago stopped touching his chin, taking a step back.

"You probably should have went to Maggie." Cyrus chuckled. At least Maggie wouldn't have filled this meeting to the brim with not-so-hidden compliments about Santiago's appearance, despite probably not getting any work done because she would most likely be joking too much. His eyes remained trained on him up until it seemed like he was going to kiss his neck, which is when they shifted so that they stared straight ahead into the night. "Oh, stop. You probably use that line on all the boys." Cyrus teased and chuckled again. Once Santiago stood back up, he looked at him again.

"...Why did you ever turn down the Senior position?" It was an honest question, but the smirk he wore could have betrayed him. It had always been a mystery as to why Santiago had turned it down. He was fully capable of being high in status, he earned respect around here, and deep down Cyrus found him a better leader than himself. Cyrus had to try his hardest to be the leader the senior warriors needed, whereas it seemed to come natural to Santiago. He'd always admired that about him. He was fully capable of being in charge, so why wasn't he? Why wasn't he even higher? Once his hand was away from his chin, Cyrus stood abruptly and turned to fully face the other leader. Of course he was shorter, but there was something about how he held up his chin and hardened his face that made him seem tall. "And Santiago, as much as I do enjoy your stoic vibe you give off, I am also not one of your subordinates." He said quietly, a dangerous spark in his eyes.

Santiago raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. "Nope. I don't talk to a lot of guys like you do." He teased back, moistening his lips with his tongue. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking Cyrus up and down before pausing when he asked why he gave up the position of senior tribe leader. He knew that  Cyrus would ask that question sooner or later. Truth was that he had given up the position for Cyrus to take. He felt like the son of Tlaloc could handle it as well for the reason that he liked him. Instead of telling him the truth for fear of Cyrus cancelling the date and never talking to him again, he told him what he told every one else. "Because I wanted to help the new bloods just like I was helped. I understand how they feel so why not." He shrugged his shoulders, glancing down at Cyrus' shoes.

When the other Aztec stood up, his eyes quickly locked with Cyrus'. "I didn't mean to treat you like "one of subordinates". Let me rephrase that." Santiago cleared his throat. "I'm coming by your dorm to pick you up. If you want, you can dress up or do whatever you feel comfortable. I want this to be comfortable for the both of us. Then perhaps we can go for a walk"

"Touché." Cyrus really couldn't argue there. In his defense, it wasn't only guys he talked to. He liked girls, non-binary, and agender...the list could go on but we'd be here all day. Cyrus was a flirt whether or not his sexuality involved. He couldn't help it. He shifted his weight as Santiago gave his reason for rejecting his original position. He didn't like how the answer sounded. It sounded, he didn't know, rehearsed or something like he was reading off of a script. Then again, Cyrus wasn't an expert on Santiago. Well, he kind of was but not when it came to expecting a certain type of answer, and also Santiago didn't need to know exactly how much of an expert the son of Tlaloc was of him. That's another story for another day. "It's just like you to think of the new bloods. True Leader material."

Cyrus tilted his head slightly, his dangerous look unwavering from Santiago's eyes. Slowly, his smile returned. "That's better. After all, all I want is for you to be comfortable. Me? I'm down for anything."

He rolled his eyes playfully, unfolding his arms and stuffing his hands into his back pockets. Santiago hated himself for lying to Cyrus, but felt like it needed to be done in order to save their date and possibly their future relationship. Although he knew that the truth would come out sometime, however today was not going to be that day. "What can I say; I look after my cubs." He chuckled to himself at his little pun before staring back at the son of Tlaloc.

"The cocoa fields it is." He grinned and stepped closer to Cyrus. "There we can be unprofessional as much as we want." Santiago teased, studying his fit figure. "So, it's date. Perfecto. Want me to walk you back to your dorm?" The son of Tepeyollotl asked, more so for him to spend a little bit more time with Cyrus.

"Ha ha. Very funny." Cyrus rolled his eyes this time at Santiago's pun. Honestly, he thought it was indeed very funny. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked his fellow Leader over in a rather obvious way. He didn't see anything wrong with it: he always did, and he caught Santiago more than a couple of times doing it too. In his mind, it was like a little game they played. "Santiago, I honestly didn't think unprofessional was a term in your vocabulary. You're so serious all the time."

"And, no," Cyrus said to his request to walk him back to his dorm. He uncrossed his arms and stuck his hands in his front pockets, the close space between them making him grin like crazy. "I want you to walk with me back to my dorm. Quietly. Mis guerreros are very nosy."

Santiago smirked, biting his lip lightly. "You would be surprised what words are in my vocabulary, hombre." He noticed that Cyrus was looking up an down at him which he didn't mind. In fact, his stood taller and puffed his chest out more when he noticed that he was. "The other words, however, would have to wait till later."

When Cyrus said "no", his heart dropped, trying to figure out why until the son of Tlaloc stepped closer to him. Thankfully he had cleared up that he wanted them to walk together instead of Santiago escorting to his luxurious dorm. That was one thing that he wished he had said yes to, the room that the senior leader had. "I would love to walk with you." He slowly reached out for Cyrus' hand. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm just use to being the dominate one in the relationship.

"Oh?" Cyrus raised both of his eyebrows, trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that. He met his his eyes again, mostly because he couldn't stop staring in them for too long. Half of him wanted to see if he would show some more emotion the longer he stared. The other half wanted to see if he would go full jaguar and rip his throat out, which would suck but would be really cool to watch.

"Santiago, you're in for a very rude awakening in that case." Cyrus smiled some and grabbed the hand that was extended towards him. See, Cyrus was always the one in charge of the relationship without questions being asked. It was just natural, he guessed. But with this specific son of Tepeyollotl, he felt like he was entering a whole new challenge. "You're excused. For now."

Santiago was taken by Cyrus' words. He didn't know that his fellow tribe leader was dominate. He just assumed that if someone was bigger than he was, the son of Tlaloc would submit. Of course he was wrong.

"Oh, okay..." He knitted his eyes together before he started to walk toward the chico's hall. "I guess I would have to...rethink then. At least I'll have a match when it comes to power" Santiago leans over and takes a big whiff of Cyrus'. "Gods you smell good."