Training with a Buddy Sure is Great [Anzellous]

Wei watched the ball with excitement. The baseball team had those pitching machines that he'd always wanted to try using, but they always packed them up at night so he couldn't. He'd tried to watch a lot of baseball games and copy the timing he saw on the screen. But in real life... he'd never had the chance to try hitting a pitch thrown by a real life person.

He watched as she started to wind up her body as he bunched his shoulders in preparation. He couldn't swing too early or too late or he'd hit the ball weird and it'd go flying, and that would be a problem.

So he counted the seconds, and when the ball got close enough he rotated his body, first his hips then his torso, bringing out his arms and his hands that gripped the bat so tightly--maybe too tightly--and...

He hear a satisfying "CLANG" as he made contact with the ball.

It hadn't been a clean hit--the ball bounced straight down to the ground back towards Adelene.

Damn.

"Aw, a ground ball. That sucks. The swing felt so good too...."

Wei nodded enthusiastically. He wanted to try hitting the ball again. After all, just being able to hit a ball onto the ground wouldn't be enough to impress the people on the baseball team. He needed to be able to hit the ball and make it fly away, to get points for the team.

Yes, he wanted to get points and win!

"By the way, what made you want to join the team? You must really love baseball."

"Yeah, I like it, but my big brother likes it more." Wei gave the bat a few small shakes, as if he was trying to get rid of the imprint of his ground ball. The only thought in the monkey boy's mind was the image of his new bat swinging and making full contact, sending the bat soaring over both of their heads and potentially losing the ball forever.

Maybe there were some benefits to ground balls.

"We used to listen to it on the radio together when our neighbors would invite us over."

"Yeah, it was really nice." Just talking about it took him back to those hot summer afternoons where his neighbor would have the windows thrown open wide and their fans running, the radio plugged up to the wall as him, his brother, and three other neighborhood monkey kids crowded around it eating ice lollies that melted faster than they could eat them and got their hands and faces so sticky they needed to wash off before they could go home for dinner.

Such an idyllic life he seemed to lead back then. How far away it now seems.

At her call, he stretched and reset his stance, his eye on the ball. The last pitch she'd thrown he'd hit with the right timing, his angle had just been a little bit incorrect. He'd just have to correct for that in his next swing.

He used the same timing, starting his swing at the same time as before, once again hearing that satisfying clang that trailed up his arms.

Wei had hit the ball in such a way that it popped almost straight up in the air.

"Oops."

"Meh," Wei responded at her assertion that he'd hit the ball better that time. "In baseball that probably would have been an out..."

He wasn't actually sure if she knew what that meant, but the important part was that the way that he'd just hit the ball really wasn't better. Even if he'd managed to get the ball in the air, he would like it a lot better if he could make it go far. That was what was really important in baseball, and Wei wasn't sure that he had the build to make the ball going flying like the people in the Majors did.

He'd just have to make up for his shortcomings by being awesome in other ways.

As they continued to practice, Wei could feel his eye for hitting the body of the ball get better. He still wasn't quite able the send the ball flying out rather than flying up, but a little bit of progress was better than no progress at all.

When they finally stopped, The little monkey was breathing heavily, sweat glistening on his face and making his fur stick to him uncomfortably. Baseball was no joke.

"Snacks?" He asked, perking up immediately and following her to her bag. "You've got snacks? I like snacks!"

"That's okay! I love bread and sweets!"

Wei watched expectantly as Adelene looked through her bag, wondering what magical things the sack was hiding, and what tasty treats she would reveal to him. Maybe she would have a banana, or a banana cream pie, or maybe a few slices of banana bread! The possibilities were almost literally endless. How exciting~!

What came out of the bag was two bun things, two chocolate bars (yay), and bottled fruit juice. No bananas, but buns and chocolate were just as good.

He watched her eat and copied, opening his bun thing and biting in. The cream surprised him into pausing for a moment before he continued eating. It was like no other bun he'd ever had before. It wasn't quite like a sweet bun, but... it wasn't really a food bun like the ones his mom would make when they had extra funds. Like, a special treat for being less expensive than usual.

It was... weird. But it wasn't too bad. He put the last of the bun into his mouth, opening the chocolate and biting into the bar.