cruzzramirez

[cruzzramirez]

@bullseye-stoddard

Cruz nodded, thinking she was going to do the same! She didn't really follow other sports as closely as she did the Magick Grand Prix, but she liked to check in on how stuff was going. It also sparked inspiration! Seeing how other athletes competed, it helped with the ones she was training. Because what the Magick Grand Prix was, it meant there was a bunch of types of athletes coming in to compete and they required different things– and seeing how other sports operated was beneficial.

She had no doubts that looking at rodeo competitions would probably aid her in finding something new to implement into her training methods. And if not, well, then she would just be watching something cool, right?

"Believe me, I completely understand," she said. "That's why I like being a trainer. Get to be involved with everything, front row seats to the competitions, and yet no one will ever notice me. It's perfect! ...guess that's why you like teaching people at the stables, huh?"

Supply Run || Bullz

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

Cruz leaned forward, elbow resting on the counter and her cheek pressed against her close fist, squishing her face. Her eyes watched his hands as he placed the final touches on her milkshake, excitement and anticipation building now that the idea she'd had was coming to fruition right before her eyes.

"I don't know about that. We're apart of a school, which is the main draw since we can accept more people, but the companies and trainers that coach athletes privately have got a lot of money in comparison. And the connections to boot," she sighed. Then shrugged the shoulder that wasn't attached to the hand she was leaning on. Oh well, she was proud of what had been accomplished, and what would be possible moving forward.

She perked up upon hearing his future prospects– seeing as they were far brighter than her own.

"Yeah! For sure," she nodded, encouraging. "It's like my grandmother says, you eat life like you'd eat an elephant, one bite at a time." She paused, eyes squinting a little as she thought about that one now that she was the one saying it. "Anyway! As far as I'm concerned, it's your duty to get out there in the world, Jeremy Johnson. It'd be too cruel to keep you a Swynlake Trade Secret for much longer."

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

She hummed her agreement– even if she felt like it was a gross understatement. But it was entirely accurate, too. What a funny old time it was, indeed. It felt far heavier than the summer did after graduating from Secondary. At least then there was still a well traveled path to follow along. More school. University had offered more freedom, sure, but there had still been the familiar structure of academics and clubs and peers and course work.

Out side of it, in the world that was a whole new structure she'd yet to experience, was a very scary thing to be staring down the barrel of. No matter how much PrideU and Swynlake as a whole may have prepared her, it never would be enough.

Cruz snorted at his questions, though. "Uh– yeah, no. I'm just trainer. That's all I'll ever be. So, yes, full time at PrideU! Kinda. I'm still technically just an assistant trainer but it's not like the guy they've stuck with us actually does anything but sign what I tell him to and ride on the bus with us to competition."

She smiled, nodding toward him. "What about you? What've you got cooking?"

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

Cruz gave a few deep nods, brows arching, to communicate that yeah, she knew exactly what he was talking about. For all three years of university, she'd felt like she was going to spiral into a tail spin and crash down somewhere.

There always felt like there was so much to do! Busy schedule full of lectures, revisions, group projects to plan, social hang outs, clubs, and then all the stuff she was doing for the Magick Grand Prix program– and now, suddenly she had more free time than she knew what to do with since most of that got cleared up thanks to a little thing called graduation.

"About the same. Minus the job applications, thank goodness," she smiled. "Moving back in with my mum and grandma. It's strange it's like...so much has changed, yet nothing has changed either."

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

"Why thank you. High praise coming from the milkshake master himself," she said, going back to using the menu as her own personal fan only at a normal Mundus speed this time.

"And no," Cruz continued, answering his earlier question. "In the words of Cady Heron, The limit does not exist. No such thing!"

With a sigh she turned to look around the diner, eyeing the windows and the darkened street just outside of them. On the other side of the street sat the campus, of which she no longer attended. A very weird feeling, since it had been the center of her life for the past three years.

"How've you been, Johnson?" she asked him when she turned around, planting her elbows on the counter.

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

it's so funny when any one channel or steaming platform claims to be "the home of sport". none of you are the home of sport. you know what really is the home of sport? seedy piracy websites that have every stream you could ever imagine

[cruzzramirez]

@bullseye-stoddard

Huh! How neat! It sounded almost like a mini Olympics or something, what with a bunch of events all happening at the same place. Or more like a track meet, she supposed, since it was all contained to a certain type of event– it also seemed fun! As both a competitor and just someone going to watch everything, getting to sit there and watch one cool event after the other take place.

Cruz didn't really read into him saying he had been away from the sport for a while. He had said it was something he used to do– and since he was here, in Swynlake, that meant it was impossible for him to compete in one anyway. It seemed perfectly reasonable to her.

If not a bit sad. It always was to let things that had once been a large part of one's life go.

Just look at McQueen.

"I don't know. I think that's another beauty to sports. You've got new people constantly coming in and trying to do something the sport has never seen before," she smiled. "Do you miss it? Competing?"

Supply Run || Bullz

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

"I could do that, yes," she nodded, moving the glass away from her face and taking a quick sip– which for Cruz was a blink and you'd miss it motion. One second there was a full glass and the next there was only ice cubes left sitting inside.

"But it's good to get out on the trails. The treadmill can only do you so much, running on uneven ground and various inclines helps with more than you'd think," she explained. Unknown to her, Jeremy's initial unsaid thoughts were closer to the truth than he'd realized. "Besides, how can I claim to be a good trainer if I'm not out there putting in the work I put my racers through to prove it works?"

She smiled, sitting up a little and opening up the menu to eye the desert portion. "Do you still have that cinnamon one? And if so, can I add a little bit more than you're supposed to of that brown sugar syrup?"

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

Cruz picked up the menu and used it as a fan, even going as far to use her magic to help by making the motion a blur. The man-made breeze was effective, ruffling the skirt of a woman sitting in a booth and picking up a loose napkin to flutter off the surface of a table. She sighed against the brief reprieve only to open her eyes and find the glass of water waiting for you.

"Ah, you're a life saver!" she said, setting down the menu to pick it up and press the cool class against her cheek. "What am I supposed to do, hmm? Sit around and wait for it to not be hot? I'd be waiting for months. Why do that when I know you'll be here with ice cream to keep me from overheating?"

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@jere-me--oh-my

It wasn't raining outside, no, but Cruz's skin was glistening like she'd just come in from a downpour. Her shirt was also heavy with moisture– but it was with sweat rather than water. She tried to wipe off her forehead, leaning down to meet the fabric at her shoulder, but it was useless since everything was saturated. Even the air was thick and soupy.

She stepped inside, smiling at Jeremy and then letting out a happy sigh at the mention of milkshake.

"It's like you read my mind," she said, tapping a hand to her temple before hopping up into one of the bar seats. It spun a little at her effort and she swiveled back and forth a few times. "Here I thought I would be safe by going for a run after the sun had set. How're you faring? I think I've lost all my water weight through my pores."

Shake Shake Shake - Open

[cruzzramirez]

@bullseye-stoddard

That was an interesting insight to her, as she had never had to form a relationship like that with an animal. But it made sense once he had said it. A very oh, duh moment for her. (She had many of those!) Of course, just like in any sport, if you wanted to excel at it, you needed to figure out how to play the game. If a part of that game was learning how to interact with an animal, you were going to try to become an expert in it. And even if you weren't, you were still going to learn just in the doing.

She smiled, laughing a little too when he did and at the thought of a horse getting annoyed at having to lift more than it wanted to because yeah. She felt the same way when her mum would send her for groceries without the car and she had to run home with all the bags on her arms.

"And a rodeo is like...a whole day thing?" she asked, tilting her head. "Like, it isn't just one event happening, right? It's a bunch of events all happening at one place? Or how does it work? Are you on a team, like gymnastics? Or individually competing?"

Supply Run || Bullz

[cruzzramirez]

@dragon-not-a-lizard

As the music joined in, everyone started to get a bit more pep into their steps. Cruz was always of the mind that there was nothing better than a good warm up tune. And it was apart of the routine, which she had found to sometimes be more important than the actual stretching itself. It was the familiar introduction for everyone to flip the switch in their brains into training mode. They could leave behind the woes of course work or social drama or thinking about having to go to work for a few hours out here.

She got them through their dynamic stretches, from Good Mornings to leg swings, to warm up their muscles, and then it was time to start getting their brains to wake up, too. Once everyone had seemed to be finished with the last of the neck rolls, she waved them in to gather around.

"Let's split off! We've got nine of you here, so we'll do three groups of three. Choose however you so wish, I'll be right back," she said and using her own magic, went to go set up the drill while they made their little groups.

"I say Mushu gets to assign us," Jae said, raising their hand.

"If he wants to, sure," Brit nodded. "No pressure, though."

Everyone turned to look at him.

New Recruit || Crushu

[cruzzramirez]

@dragon-not-a-lizard

Cruz pulled her phone from its pocket in her sweat shirt, opening it up to Spotify and holding it out for Mushu to put on whichever of those artists, or anyone else who popped into his mind, that he so desired. She zipped over to the speaker that Jae had carried out with them, turned it on, her phone's Bluetooth syncing up.

Everyone else spread out, varying in their states of readiness. Marsh and Brittany, who were the more Serious™ students and were actually trying to make it to the big leagues after uni, were jumping in place or rolling their head from side to side. While people like Jae and Tanner, who had joined for the course credit and just ended up enjoying themselves, were busy joking around with one another as Tanner tapped Jae's shoulder but moved away when Jae looked that way expectantly. Jae started to run after Tanner, hand raised.

"Come on, guys, best behavior," Nadine tsked at them, making Jae stop dead. "We want Mushu here to stay, not run him off on the first day."

"Right, sorry," Jae said, looking Mushu's way with a smile and a wave.

"Okay!" Cruz called, oblivious to the antics as she got the speaker going, the music flowing out over the pitch. The group turned their attention her way. "Let's get going! Starting with arm circles, keeping them tight at first and gradually getting bigger."

She participated, of course, demonstrating what she was saying with her own arms and body.

New Recruit || Crushu

[cruzzramirez]

@dragon-not-a-lizard

There was the call and response of, "Hi, Mushu!" after he'd said his name, done so with a more notable excitement buzzing underneath. It was always a good day when they got someone new aboard the team. And then they started rapid firing around the circle to introduce themselves within the same format, starting with the girl standing to the left of Mushu.

"Hi, I'm Ava. She, her, and I can make things disappear. Still working on figuring out where they go."

"Name's Jae. They, them. I glow in the dark."

"I'm Brit! She, her. I'm a sorceress and I've been working on telekinesis as my specialty. And am sooo excited to meet you, Mushu, welcome to the squad!"

"Er– Tanner. He, him, and I...well...I can eat pretty much anything."

"Hey, I'm Josh. He, him. Garden talent fairy."

"Afternoon everyone. I'm Marshall, he, him, and I can manipulate water."

Jae cut in here, "Which is why we call 'im Marsh."

"I'm Nadine, she, her, they, them, subject to change. My magic is having heightened senses."

"And I'm Gavin! He, him! I'm also a sorcerer but I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to be specializing in since– well it's a long story. Anyway."

Cruz smiled at Gavin and turned back to the group, "Lovely! Alright, well let's get to our warm ups. Mushu, since you're the newbie, we usually do our stretches to music. Have you got any recommendations?"

New Recruit || Crushu

[cruzzramirez]

@bullseye-stoddard

She winced just thinking about it, falling off a horse sounded painful as it was, but then having to worry about not getting shoveled under a hoof or something? That was craaazy! No wonder it was so big, people loved a good thriller– just look at the Romans.

Cruz was making a mental note to herself to look this stuff up online. The, like, actual competitions for this sort of thing rather than relying on it being depicted in movies or television shows. (Why yes, Cruz was a secret viewer of the older American show Wildfire after stumbling across clips of it online, thank you for not asking.)

"Yes, that's exactly what it is! Both physically and magically. But then also mentally, and emotionally and– well you get it. Only difference is you're going up against other people and the environment rather than dealing with a hundred kilo animal that you've no insight into," she said, nodding toward him. "But then if I had your arms and shoulders, maybe I wouldn't be as scared as I feel thinking about doing such a thing."

Supply Run || Bullz

[cruzzramirez]

@dragon-not-a-lizard

And now it was Cruz's turn to admit that she had absolutely no clue what that meant! But she was excited to find out! Another reason why she loved the Magick Grand Prix with all of her heart was because it put a spot light on so many different types of Magicks. She'd always been fascinates by racer stats, and now that she was a trainer here for the uni program, getting to research her own racers and scoping out the competition was actually pretty fun and didn't feel like work at all.

"Okay! Perfect, that's good to know," she said, mentally taking note. Everyone was different, some people had a better handle on their magic than they did their own bodies. "Yeah, come on, let me introduce you to everyone."

Cruz led him outside onto one of the university's grass fields where the group of students were all going about their various warm-ups– stretching, a light lap around the pitch, or just blathering to one another. She pulled the whistle from where it hung around her neck up to her lips and blew. Everyone's attention snapped toward her before they came jogging over, forming into a circle with Cruz and Mushu.

"Afternoon everyone! How are we doing?"

There was indistinct murmurs, but over all it was with positive intonation and nodding of heads.

"Good to hear it. Well, I won't beat around the bush, you all know what's going on– we have a new recruit out today!" Everyone clapped and someone (Jae) whistled loudly, the noise high pitched. "Let's all go around the circle and say our names, pronouns, and your magic. I'll start! Hi, I'm Cruz."

Everyone sing-songed, "Hi, Cruz."

"She, her, and I have super speed." She swept her hand toward Mushu.

New Recruit || Crushu

[cruzzramirez]

@dragon-not-a-lizard

"Everything!" she smiled. "We get you prepared to take on whatever the track architects could possibly think to throw at you! So we get you physically fit and in the tippiest, toppiest shape because this sport is way more fun when you're fit enough to do it. Plus, if you don't have to worry about sucking air, you'll be able to use your brain better out on the track– and this sport requires you to be able to think on your feet as you go.

"And we also have a heavy focus on your individual magic skills. Get you comfortable in your abilities and how to make it work for you and with you. Making your strengths stronger and getting your weaknesses or blind spots attention, too. Then you can have your own tool box to pull from when on the track," Cruz explained. "I also train in the basic skill sets that everyone needs– running, climbing, swimming, grip strength, jump height, so on and so forth!

"Once you get more of a footing here, and we've become more familiar, we can work together on a training plan for you," she said. "Sound good?"

New Recruit || Crushu