swingsets and dance routines ; tyrus

chapter #3: the antique shop

There were a lot things about Buffy's announcement that made Cyrus nervous, but it was the fact that she'd be competing against TJ in particular that was worrying him the most at that moment.

As he watched the girl in the auditorium the following day, he could already tell that she was going to put her absolute all into this routine, and judging by what he had seen from TJ, he'd be doing the same. Buffy was known for going slightly overboard with competitive spirit sometimes, and the very last thing he needed was a reason for her to get mad at him.

Cyrus was almost certain that they'd both be the best of their teams, and they seemed like personalities that could very easily clash under the given circumstances.

"Whatcha thinking 'bout, babe?"

He blinked out of his daze at that, shifting his gaze towards Iris. He gave her a questioning look, before glancing quickly over at the small group of boys playing basketball right by them.

"Nothing," he smiled automatically, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Buffy stopped her routine for a split second to give both of them withering looks, her eyes narrowed sceptically. Cyrus just raised both of his eyebrows, almost challenging her to say something about it, but she just lifted her arms again with a sigh and continued on her routine.

Cyrus wished there was an easy way of explaining how he had ended up in this predicament. He and Iris had been faking their relationship since the eighth grade, which was around the time they had both come out to one another.

At first they had done it to combat a few rumours that were going around about Cyrus at the time, but it eventually just became something like a habit for both of them. It meant that neither of them could be outed until they were fully ready, and he was honestly comfortable with the set-up they had. It wasn't doing anyone harm, so they never felt the need to break it off.

Buffy, being the straight-forward person that she was, thought the whole idea had been terrible from the get-go.

The doors to the auditorium opened with a light bang then, and Natalie walked inside.

"Oops," she winced as she made her way over to Buffy.

Buffy immediately smiled, pulling the girl into a quick hug. "I'm so glad you're here, I have no idea what to do with this part-"

Cyrus pointedly cleared his throat, giving Iris a playful nudge as she pretended to be very engrossed with her phone.

"Your favourite frisbee thrower is joining the dance team," he teased, narrowly dodging the girl's swat at him.

"You seriously need to get a crush already," she huffed.

At Cyrus' silence, she looked back over at him with a startled grin. "Wait - do you have one?"

"What - no!" he exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly because it had both Buffy and Natalie sending him confused looks.

"That sounded pretty defensive, Cyrus," Iris teased, "overcompensating, perhaps?"

"Nope," he responded with a laugh, lowering his voice again. "Boys are all annoying anyway."

"You know there's an easy fix to that, right? Become a lesbian."

Cyrus rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes. Because that's something I can just magically do."

"That's the spirit!" She smiled.

Natalie's eyes swept over both of them as he sipped her water, an eyebrow raised in question. She turned back to Buffy after a moment, but that look alone was telling enough if you asked Cyrus.