�Hmm?� she said, looking up from her newspaper.
Agent_Standish stood up and walked over to her desk. Seating himself on the edge, he leaned closer to her and whispered, �Max, are you alright?�
The shoyru shrugged. �I guess so,� she replied unconvincingly.
Distracted from his work by the quiet conversation, Agent_Webb looked over at the pair and frowned. �You don�t seem alright,� he argued. �You seem downright miserable.�
Agent_London sighed deeply and nodded. �I don�t know why,� she mumbled. �I went to Coltzan�s shrine and he made me stronger, I got a winning ticket from the Tiki Tack Tombola and I got to eat jelly this morning instead of omelette.�
�Maybe you�re bored,� Clay suggested gently. �I mean, Ezra goes off and plays pyramids or solitaire. I play with Sarah, but you�you really don�t do anything all day except work, work, work.�
�You think that�s it?� the shoyru asked softly. Not really expecting the answer to be that simple.
Ezra nodded. �Makes sense to me,� he offered. �Why don�t you see if the Agency can allocate the funds for some sort of amusement?�
�Okay,� Max said, nodding. �I�ll go see if I can find some inexpensive toys.�
**
A short while later, a much happier Agent_London returned from one of the privately owned shops. �Look what I got!� she said excitedly.
�A colored bouncy ball!� Agent_Standish exclaimed. Both his ear and his antennae came forward in anticipation. �Can I play too?�
�Sure!� Max replied, tossing the ball to her partner.
Ezra easily caught the large rubber ball and passed it to Agent_Webb, saying, �Clayton! Catch!�
The ixi easily caught the ball and then tossed it back to Agent_Standish. �Ezra,� he grumbled. �I�m busy. Besides, those are so boring!�
�Well what kind of toy do you like?� the aisha replied, tossing the ball to Max.
�I don�t know,� Clay replied. Turning to Max, he asked, �What else did you get?�
Max grinned and reached into her backpack. �I have a pull along gelert and a bouncy spiky ball,� she answered, removing the objects from her pack.
Clayton�s eyes widened and he grinned. �That looks neat!� he said, pointing at the pink and yellow ball. �Pass it here?�
�Sure,� the shoyru replied. Grinning, she tossed the spike ball to her partner, who leapt into the air and caught it.
Agent_Webb chuckled. �This is such the coolest toy!� he exclaimed. �Way better than that silly colored ball.�
Soon the three young agents were tossing the ball around the office and having a generally good time playing together. The Director peered in to see what all the laughter was about and smiled to herself. She knew that she could finally stop worrying about the trio, since they played so well together. She knew the trust they built playing games would be a great benefit when they were sent off on missions later on. Still grinning, the Director turned and headed back to her own office. She had lots of work to do that day and she wasn�t getting any of it done watching her agents play catch.
The End