Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Tales series characters. However, the locations (Atlas, Blessenwood, Ouin, etc.) are inspired from the Ad Libitum RP on Livejournal. They don't belong to me either.

Author's Note: This is a series of drabbles, which can feature any Tales characters at any time. (Mostly they'll be Symphonia/Legendia/Abyss characters.) So each chapter can be a totally different short story featuring totally different characters.

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Drabble 01: "Balls"

Characters: Lloyd Irving, Genis Sage, Jade Curtiss, Anise Tatlin

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"I don't know, Lloyd...I've never played baseball before," Genis said.

"Don't worry, it's easy," Lloyd said. "I'll just throw the ball, and you hit it with the bat."

Genis held the baseball bat as he and Lloyd stood in the center of Blessenwood. "That's it?"

"Well, for now, at least. There's also running around the field and touching the bases, but we'll work on that later. Let's just focus on hitting the ball for now."

"Okay..."

Lloyd took a few steps back. "Okay, here we go. Here, batter, batter, batter!"

He threw the ball towards Genis. But the young half-elf stood with the bat ready, but letting the ball pass by him.

"Hey, you didn't hit the ball!" Lloyd cried.

Genis let the end of the bat drop to the ground. "I'm sorry, Lloyd! You know I have slow reflexes!"

Lloyd let out a sigh. "Al right, let's try it again."

He walked over to where the ball had stopped and picked it up, and then returned to his previous position. He held up the ball again.

"Swing it now, Genis!" he called, still holding the ball. "Swing it!"

Now Lloyd threw the ball; Genis responded to Lloyd's calls with his slow reflexes, successfully hitting the ball as it came toward him. The ball flew high into the air.

"Whoo, nice shot, Genis!" Lloyd called.

But then the ball crashed through the window on the upper level of a building. Both Lloyd and Genis gulped.

"Uh-oh..."

"Damn!" a voice roared from within the building.

"That's Jade's office," Genis said. "And he sounds pretty mad."

"You're right; let's get out of here!" Lloyd agreed.

The pair quickly ran from the square, leaving sight just in time to avoid Jade's field of vision as the colonel tore from the front door of the building, holding the ball.

"Damn! Look what you've done to my damn research machine!" Jade cried as he threw the ball as hard as he could, but it only traveled a few inches before hitting the ground. "This is most inappropriate behavior on your part! I've a mind to kick your little a—"

"Colonel!" a young girl's voice sharply cut him off. "What's going on? You sound like Dist!"

Jade stopped as he turned to face the girl, smiling sweetly. "Oh, good morning, Anise. So I'm to be grouped with Dist, am I? That is so depressing...."

Anise raised an eye, puzzled by the colonel's sudden mood change. She then looked down at the baseball on the ground.

"Did you throw that ball? You sure didn't throw it very far..."

"Yes, but I'm not a nimble-handed youngster anymore," Jade told her. "My joints ache like you would not believe, and I simply lack the strength to throw a ball any considerable distance."

"Hmph..." Anise put her hands on her hips. "You sure don't have any trouble throwing your spears."

"Well, you see, spears are much lighter than balls." Jade continued to smile.

"Right..." Anise wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. "You don't even have any balls at all, do you?"

Jade pulled his hands out of his pockets and shrugged. "Well, perhaps if I were ten years younger..." Now it was his turn to put Anise in the spotlight. "How about you, Anise? Since when have you been interested in balls? I thought you were only interested in money."

"Well, of course I am!" Anise flashed her cutest smile. "But every guy's gotta have balls. Otherwise, they wouldn't be...guys."

"Oh...I see." Jade let out a light chuckle as he turned to look at the ball on the ground again.

"By the way, what happened?" Anise asked out of nowhere. "Did they break your machine?"

"No, not at all. I just wanted to scare off the children so that I could conduct my research in peace. So other than the broken window, no harm was done."

"Ohhh, so you really weren't angry..." Anise cooed with her innocent smile.

"No, of course not." Jade leaned forward toward her, the light reflecting from his lenses, hiding his crimson eyes. "However, I can become angry at any moment..."

"Uhh...no, that's okay..." Anise shrank back. "I guess you want to get back to your research now, huh? Okay, I'll see you later. Byyyyeee...."

She quickly turned and darted from the square. Jade picked up the baseball and repeated the process of tossing it into the air and catching it in his hands.

"Really, children these days..." he muttered to himself as he strolled back into the building.