All in One Place

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel left the bookstore, her backpack weighed down with a few new titles. Some on growing plants indoor, and some fictional novels, things she planned on reading for pleasure. However, now she was feeling just a bit peckish, and so she took her new aquisitions to the nearby coffee shop for a pastry and a drink.

After placing and receiving her order, a scone and a coffee with some cream and a sugar, she made her way to an empty table. The only one available left her near the front of the store, but it didn't bother Ráhel. She set down her bag and pulled out one of the books she'd gotten - The Templar Legacy.

[Antione Hoefflin]

Ant had been in town, sending packages to his family, and now he decided he was in need of something to eat and something strong to drink. While he'd been training, he had remained away from anything with caffeine, but now that he was a coach, he loved his coffee. He made his way to Cormoor Coffee.

After getting his ordered coffee and spiced fruit bread, he held the tray and looked around with arched eyebrows. "Would it be of any inconvenience if I join you?" He asked as he approached the table by the door, offering Ráhel a warm smile that he hoped conveyed that he wouldn't be bothered either way.

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel looked up from the second page on her novel and smiled as she spotted the gymnastics coach, "Not at all, please sit." She picked up a nearby napkin and tucked it into the book as a bookmark. After setting aside the book, she smiled at the man, "Antione, isn't it?"

[Antione Hoefflin]

Ant gave the woman a smile as he slid into the seat opposite her, at least his body would now protect her from anyone coming through the door. He nodded when she said his name. "Though Ant is more than fine." He'd never liked the name Tony, the whole The Sopranos thing. "And you're Ráhel."

He took a sip of his coffee, closing his eyes as the liquid burned it's way down his throat. He grinned as he opened his eyes again. "How are your classes going?"

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel nodded at the nickname, "Very well, Ant it is." An unusual nickname, but who was she to comment? As he said her name, she nodded, "Indeed." He'd even pronounced it quite decently, she couldn't ask for more, "No nickname, sorry."

She considered her classes, "As well as can be expected, I think. The kids are alright." She chuckled, "Although apparently some of them have decided my last name is too difficult. I have to say, Ms. Shark is a little bit more intimidating than I was going for." She smiled briefly, then shrugged, "Anyway. How are your gymnasts doing? I haven't really had the time to follow your competitions." Meets? Whatever.

[Antione Hoefflin]

He shrugged. "The nickname stops people from calling me Anthony." He replied.

He rolled his eyes at the thought of her surname being too difficult for the students. "I guess that happens when parents decide that it's best to wrap their kids in cotton wool, rather than them actually facing life." He replied with shake of his head. "Mine, if they can't get their tongues around Hoefflin, they just call me Coach. The team is doing well, things should look up now that I am allowed to include Kitchi on the team again, some events anyway. Though it seems a waste that Oliver decided to throw her gymnastics career away." Part of him knew that he could call the girls by their first names, but when he spent all his time yelling out their surnames, it just stuck even outside the gym. "I can see a couple of them making at least the Olympic Camp, if not the actual team."

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel shrugged, "That's makes sense. Sometimes people are ridiculous."

She listened as he discussed the way his gymnasts addressed him, nodding, and then listened as he discussed his students, "Due in no small part to their coaching, I'm sure." She tried to match the last names to students - but she didn't have the two named as students. She knew Libby was a gymnast, though - And that girl she definitely had in class. "I don't know much about gymnastics, is the Olympic Camp what the name implies? Training for the hopefuls that might actually have a shot?"

[Antione Hoefflin]

He nodded as he sipped his drink. Yes, he would have to agree with her there.

He grinned as pulled apart the bread and popped a bit in his mouth. "Olympic Camp is exactly what it sounds like. It's where the hopefuls here go to train by the Olympic coaches to hopefully be picked for the teams. It also gives the new athletes an idea of what real competition and real dedication to their sport is all about." He knew that Camp here was probably nothing like it had been in Rome back when he was one of the hopefuls, but no matter the country, they had the same end goal.

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel listened as the gymnastics coach talked about the Olympic Camp. It sounded familiar to what Szemere had tried to convince her to go for, although she'd never taken him seriously. Show jumping was the only way to get into the Olympics as a jumper, and she had never been one who loved the arena. She took another sip of her own drink, "Well, I wish your pupils the best of luck in getting there." That would reflect well on their coach and the entire school, in a way, so she had no reason to resent these youngsters their successes.

"So how's it going outside of gymnastics? Do you participate in the horse side of things or no?"

[Antione Hoefflin]

He nodded and gave a small smile at her words of luck. "If they deserve it, and work hard enough, they will get there. And it will have nothing to do with my name either." Being their coach now, his name would get them into a good college division, but after that, it would be up to them.

He shook his head at the mention of horses. "After damaging my spine in Sydney, I decided to keep my feet on the ground." Equine therapy had been suggested to him as a form of rehabilitation, but he had declined as falling from the rings had been bad enough, falling from something that had a brain of it's own, that was unthinkable. "Do you ride?"

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel smiled at his way of thinking, "That's very true." She liked the coach's attitude - Some seemed downright offended when their students didn't make it places, but their students usually didn't work hard enough to actually be considered.

As she heard Ant's reason for not riding, she had to nod, "That's reasonable." She couldn't blame him for being cautious, "Yes, I do. Mainly endurance, although I did compete in cross country and show jumping more. Not really a big circuit for endurance riding, so I did the rest too." She loved the long days with her horse. "And endurance is a good conditioning for the other two anyway, or at least, that was always my excuse to my trainers."

[Antione Hoefflin]

Ant knew that his opinion of his gymnasts was probably a little more laid-back than most people would expect from an elite coach,
and he'd possibly be ten times harder on his athletes if he were in a gymnastics school, rather than coaching a high school team,
but he had been pressured into things enough during his own youth, that he knew what it was like to be forced into something where you showed the skill but didn't quite have the heart... ok, he loved the sport, but he had been pressured into doing well so that his father wasn't completely disappointed in his choice of career.

He nodded as she spoke, as endurance was great for conditioning human athletes too. "If it works for you, you shouldn't need to make excuses." He said with a smile. After finishing his drink and loaf, he placed the saucer on his plate and dusted his fingers over the mug. "Thank you for the wonderful company, I need to head back to campus."

[Ráhel Sárközi]

Ráhel smiled at the man's logic, then inclined her head as he gathered his dishes, "The pleasure was all mine. Good luck to you and your gymnasts in your upcoming meets." She took another sip of her coffee as she watched him walk off, then turned back to her book, finding the place that she'd left off.