Valentine's Day! I don't want to spoil the plot of which ships are in here but let me just say there are A LOT. It's all very kid-friendly, though, as well as (I'd like to think) kid-accurate. Anyway, enjoy!
"Alright, everyone!" Ms. O shouted from the top of the stairs. Everyone quieted and turned to look. "Today is Valentine's Day, so I want three messengers to give out Valentines. Go to Agent Orchid for poems, Agent Otto for songs, and Agent Octavia for harmonica."
Even as she walked back to her office, four kids approached Otto's desk and started requesting songs.
"This is awesome," he exclaimed to Olive after he'd written down the list of Valentines. "I get to sing all day instead of doing work!"
"You'll still have to do it tomorrow," Olive pointed out.
"Not if you do it for me." When she didn't look impressed, he tried to pull a puppy face. "Please? It's Valentine's Day."
"If I have time, maybe," she said grudgingly.
Otto beamed. "Thanks, partner! I should probably get started on this now," he said, tapping his list and standing up. "See you later!"
"Make sure you bring the mashed potatoes at 11:29 exactly, so he can have them for lunch," Oren instructed, "and don't let them get cold."
Octavia nodded earnestly, her pigtails bouncing. "And when should I play the song?"
Oren thought it over. "At the same time," he decided. "Play the harmonica while you carry the bowl."
"Okay!" She smiled, straightened her hands-free harmonica rig, and held out her hands for the punchbowl-sized dish of mashed potatoes. Oren passed it to her and then perched the note on top: 'For my best friend and one-and-only partner. From, Oren'.
"And keep that cat ambassador away from it!" he yelled hurriedly as she walked away.
"Otto, wait up!"
Otto stopped and turned. Orchid was jogging towards him down the hallway. "What is it?"
"I have a poem to give to you." She cleared her throat and recited, "Roses are red, violets are blue, you didn't tip me when I made five tacos for you. Love, Oksana." Then she kicked him in the shin, hard.
"Ow!" Otto dropped to the ground, clutching his leg. "What was that for?"
Orchid smiled innocently. "Oksana said I could do it if I wanted to. Bye!" She skipped away, leaving Otto sitting there on the floor, wincing.
"Well, well," came a drawling voice, "if it isn't Tomato-Tomotto."
Otto scoffed and looked up, already knowing who he'd see. "It's –" He paused, and then started to nod in approval. "That was actually a really good one."
"What are you on the floor for?" Oren asked mockingly. "Cupid lose his wings?"
"No, I just hurt my leg," Otto said, rolling his eyes and standing up.
"Well, then, aren't you going to sing me a song, Cupid?" Oren tried again, in the same tone.
"You already used the Cupid joke," Otto pointed out, dusting his pants off. Then he thought about it. "And yeah, sure."
"What?" Oren seemed surprised for a moment before he shook it off and returned to his usual snooty demeanor. "Thanks, but the last thing I need is to hear you singing, again."
Otto shrugged. "Okay. Happy Valentine's Day anyway. And…" he conveniently noticed how fascinating the door of the picnic room was and studied it as he continued in a carefully casual voice, "your glasses are cute."
"Oh, yeah?" sneered Oren. "Well, your face is cute."
Otto blinked. "Wait, really?"
Oren made the same realization a second too late. "Wait, really? I mean, no. I mean, yes. I mean, I have important things to do."
"Like what?" Otto challenged, raising his eyebrows with a smirk.
"Like… top secret things that only the best agent in Odd Squad can know about!" Oren became visibly more flustered with every word. "So… go back to your dumb, cute singing stuff!" He stalked away, leaving Otto standing there in the hallway, grinning.
Someone tapped on Octavia's shoulder, and she nearly dropped the potatoes. But then she heard the all-too familiar, sing-song, "Guess who," and had to smile.
"Oz, it's always you," she said fondly, shifting the bowl upright again.
"Is that heavy? Let me carry it for you." Invisible hands hefted the dish of mashed potatoes into the air.
"Aw, thanks, Oz!"
"Anything for you, partner. So, where are we taking this?"
"Agent Olaf's desk. And if you stick around until I'm done delivering it, I can play a song for you, too."
Even though she couldn't see, Octavia knew Oz was smiling.
Oscar was fixing the flower-inator, which had been a little overexerted, when it happened.
"Oscar –"
He started to reply, "Yep?", but his visitor hadn't been finished.
"– whenever I'm feeling empty, I know I can just think of you, and that's a real plus."
Even before Oscar turned he knew it was Otto with a singing Valentine. He sang and danced through the whole song, even adding the obligatory "Sou-oundche-e-e-ck!" at the end.
Oscar barely had a chance to gape at Otto before he'd sauntered out of the lab. He scrambled to catch up, slipping on the floor a bit before he got his bearings and dashed for the doorway, popping his head out into the hallway. "Otto, who was that from?" he called.
Otto spread out his arms and shrugged, his face incredulous. "Me, duh."
And suddenly, Oscar was smiling, and didn't even care that he was holding five screwdrivers instead of one.
"Package for you, Agent Olive."
Olive looked up from her work and took a box from the invisible mail worker. "Thanks." She examined the box. There was no return address, and suddenly Olive realized what it was. She groaned. "Every year," she said to no one in particular. "Why does he have to do this every year?"
Inside, as always, was a heart shaped Valentine and a calculator.
'Hey, Scribbles!' the Valentine read. 'Still at Yawn Squad, huh? Well, I guess it probably isn't boring, as long as you don't care at all about excelling. Here's another safety crutch. Have fun never maturing! Happy V-Day! Love, Jose Pierre'.
Olive sighed. Todd always signed off with a different whimsical name, and always said almost the exact same thing. For someone who loved randomness so much, he sure was consistent. And so was Olive herself. As always, she threw away the calculator (safety crutch, her foot) and kept the note. Despiteeerything that had happened, sometimes it was nice to know that he still thought about her, too.
"Um, Olive? Why is there a slice of Swiss cheese on my desk?" Otto held up the cheese in question by two fingers, brow crinkling in confusion.
"Obfusco brought them by," Olive answered, putting her papers back into their folder. "Everyone got one."
Otto shrugged and folded the cheese into his mouth. It'd been a great day, and he'd delivered dozens of Valentines all over headquarters. Too bad he had a folder full of work to do tomorrow… Wait. Where was his folder? He checked his drawers again.
"Looking for this?"
Otto looked over at Olive, who was holding up his folder and smirking. She'd cut a red sticky note into a heart shape and stuck it to the front. Otto's face lit up. "You actually did it?"
She handed him the folder. "Happy Valentine's Day, partner."
"Wow, could this day get any better? Singing, free cheese, the best partner in the entire world," (Olive smiled humbly), "and now no paperwork!" He was still marveling at that last stroke of luck when Orchid appeared.
"There you are, Otto," she said. "I wanted to catch you before you left."
"Are you going to kick me again?" he asked warily, taking a step back.
She scoffed. "No, I'm here to give moral support to a big, old chicken." She turned in the direction of the balcony, cupped her hands around her mouth, and yelled, "Oscar! Get down here, you big, old chicken!"
Oscar came rushing down from the lab, all elbows as usual. When he reached their desks he gripped the lapels of his lab coat and laughed nervously. "Hey, guys!"
"So, what is it?" Olive asked.
"What is, uh, what?"
Otto tilted his head and frowned. "The reason you came down here?"
"Oh! That! Right, that, heh. I just wanted to… uh… Show you this pencil!" He produced a pencil from his pocket. "It's a really great pencil Maybe, you could even say, my favorite pencil. I've only had it for a day, but it's kind of got a nice, um, eraser, doesn't it?"
"Oscar," Orchid said warningly.
Oscar dropped the charade, and the pencil. "O-okay, that's not why I'm here." He looked more nervous than ever. "Otto. I kind of wrote something, and… I wanted to tell it to you in person, but then I changed my mind and asked Agent Orchid to do it, but then she made me change my mind again, but I actually changed my mind again just now, and Orchid knows it, so she can just tell you, bye!" He made to bolt off, but Orchid caught him by the arm.
"Just do it, Oscar!"
"Okay, okay!" Oscar started twisting his hands together. "Agents wear red, scientists wear green," he paused for a long time, glancing between Otto and the floor, "you're a great agent," there was an even longer pause, and when he finished his voice was close to inaudible, "and I like when you sing."
"That's actually really clever," Olive commented.
Orchid nodded. "Oscar spent all afternoon on it."
"I'm not much of a rhymer, heh," he professed, his ears bright pink.
"Well, thanks!" Otto said, grinning.
"So, nothing for me?" Olive asked Oscar, raising her eyebrows expectantly.
Oscar was wearing the same face he'd worn when he'd forgotten the cake and present at Ms. O's birthday party. "Oh – I –"
Olive smiled. "Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. And as long as you're down here…" She quickly cut another heart-shaped sticky note, came around to Otto's side of the desks, and plastered it onto Oscar's shirt. "There. Happy Valentine's Day."
Oscar looked down at it in delight. "Happy Valentine's Day! Oh, and I just thought of something for you!" He pulled the flower-inator from behind his back with a ding! and zapped a bouquet of flowers into Olive's arms.
"Wow, thank you, Oscar!" Olive exclaimed.
Otto pulled the sticky note off his folder and stuck it on his own shirt. "Look, we match!"
They all stood there beaming at each other for a moment, until Orchid said to no one in particular, "Eleven-year-olds are weird," and left, upon which they remembered themselves and went back to shuffling their feet bashfully.
After an awkward silence, Oscar said, "I should, uh, probably get back to the lab, heh."
"Guess what," Otto said as Oscar walked away.
"What?" Olive responded.
"This day could get even better."
So, what'd you think? I know this is a lot sillier than my last fic, but how'd I do with all the fickle crushes? I think it was pretty good, because when I was eleven we changed feelings like we changed socks (and I know they aren't all eleven but they're all eleven-ish). ALSO, another reason I didn't put any of the ships in the summary is because, as you saw, a lot of them were very ambiguous might-be-romance-might-just-be-friendship. As a general rule of thumb, interpret it as you like and assume that I ship them about to the limited extent shown here. Anyway, let me know what you thought!
