<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">Cyrus choked on a laugh as Victoria threatened to shove to jam her heel down the Jaymus' throat. Clearly she wasn't the least bit amused with the other's fashion choice for her. And while his feelings concerning the other man were complicated he begrudgingly agreed that Victoria looked stunning. "Well if it's any consolation those heels look fucking stunning on you," he complimented, quickly grabbing up two more meat pies before Victoria was pulling him towards Preston and Jaymus. He almost protested that he wasn't thirsty as he was suddenly wanting to be anywhere else but there. <br/>
<br/>
As they reached the two men Cy gave them both a nod of acknowledgement, rolling his eyes at Preston's slight bow. Any other time he would have told the man to cut it out but given where they were and what the celebration was for he let it pass.<br/>
<br/>
The mousy squeak of Saoirse congratulating them drew Cyrus' attention once again to the timid redhead. Her discomfort like a thick cloud around her and he had the random thought that she'd topple over if he much as said 'Boo' in her direction. But instead of attempting to mess with the girl he simply offered her a smile, "Congratulations are in order all around. I heard you made Head Cook, you deserve it." <br/>
<br/>
Jaymus' verbal acknowledgement of him had Cy ignoring the satisfied way his wolf puffed up the other man's actions. For all the constant lessons and expected behaviors from him, Cy had never been one caught up in the stiff formality of a pack hierarchical structure. And yet with Jaymus anything less than a show of absolute submission from the other man caused him to bristle, his wolf clawing for blood. He hated it. Hated that he let Jaymus get to him. Even after all these years and he still hadn't gotten over his intense--hate was too strong a word--dislike of the man. <br/>
<br/>
"Jaymus," his response terse. Cyrus made a point of never being in the presence of the other man for any lengthy period of time. Too many times the other male stirred up the sort of questions Cyrus didn't have the answers too. Or at least not answers that were in any way shape or form acceptable to him. Too often he'd catch sight of Jaymus and try to figure what was so special about him that his father--the previous Alpha-- devoted the majority of his free time to the younger male. What was it that Jaymus had that Cyrus didn't? Nothing he did was ever good enough for his old man. But Jaymus could just walk into a room and he'd accomplished some great feat worthy of praise. <br/>
<br/>
But as much as Cyrus personally couldn't stand the man, he could set aside his feelings enough to respect his abilities on a purely professional level. The man was in charge of keeping Cy's mate safe after all, and he didn't doubt that Jaymus was a force to be reckoned with. But that was about as far as his positive view of the other went before it came to a screeching halt.<br/>
<br/>
"Hope we weren't interrupting anything," Cy teased his Beta as Jaymus stepped away with Saoirse. </span>