(or, The Rival, part 2)

A/N Fun fact, originally there was supposed to be a chapter before this one called "The Counterparts", exploring Olive and Otto in a sibling-style relationship and why, in this fanfic, they didn't work together as a couple. But as I wrote it, it just seemed to fit less and less with my story's canon, so I opted not to include it. Maybe I'll work it into a future fanfic instead, idk.

Orchid liked to make everyone think she was a borderline psychopath.

Then again, perhaps she really was. Not every seven-year-old had an affinity for Trigonometry and Calculus, after all. Except for this one kid she knew named Andrew Wiggin, but the International Fleet had put a claim on him since the boy's birth, before he could even be considered for Odd Squad. So that just left Orchid. And if everyone called Andrew a psychopath, then maybe she was, too.

Eh. Not like she cared. It kept other people out of her way, for the most part.

Except Obfusco. He'd never stay out of her way even if she wanted him to. Since the day she'd started at the Academy, the two of them had argued so much that they eventually became best friends. That way they could argue more conveniently.

Also except Owen. At least, initially. He hadn't really wanted to be her partner, either, but with no other openings and a three-year Investigation requirement to fulfill, the two of them had no choice. The partnership failed epically, of course. When he wasn't ticking her off with absolutely everything else he did, Owen had this bad habit of running and hiding at the first sign of confrontation in every case they had to solve, then lying about it later. Wasting her time dealing with a deadweight partner left no chance for Orchid to work on building her Dinosaur Room, but they both knew that neither could stay out of each other's way until the three years were up. Luckily, when Owen was finally promoted to Head of Security, he never had to get in her way ever again.

Finally except Otto. That one pretty much explained itself.

But otherwise, everyone else left her alone with her dinosaurs. And that's just how Orchid liked it.

And then she met Ori.

* * * * *

Brushing her hands together, Orchid stood up to admire her handiwork. Just as with her first day on the squad, the boxes and cart that had dared to block her path and stare her down with those figure-eight eyes now lay defeated and in ruins. I win again, she thought triumphantly, turning away to continue skipping down the hall.

Then her sharp ears picked up the click and squeak of the Basketball Door opening, followed by a thud and a young boy's voice. "Phew! Three more boxes filled, two more boxes to go." A gasp. "Hey! What happened to my other boxes?" And a groan. "Ugh, this is the worst first day ever!"

The worst first day ever? Ha! Your boxes had to remind me of my worst first day, so I think I've got a better claim than you, you little upstart. Indignant, Orchid whirled back around and stepped forward to face a brand new agent over the box ruins. "No it isn't," she declared, satisfied by the flinch he made. "Lemme tell you about my worst first day..."

When she finished her tale, the look of utter bewilderment she got back showed he didn't understand a bit of it. "How is that your worst first day? It obviously just happened."

Orchid wanted to tsk at him so much. She wanted to point out that events can repeat themselves, and that the same thing had indeed happened years ago as it had today. She really wanted to tell him how stupid and single-minded he was for not even considering other possibilities. She wanted to label him as just another Sherman. She wanted to drop the mic and walk away without any explanation at all. But for some reason, none of that wanted to come out. It was as if everything inside her that she did normally had shut down. "Three choices," she finally said, trying to pull herself back on track. "I can say sorry, or I can help you, or we can go to a movie!"

Immediately she realized her mistake. Wait wait, hold up...did I just accidentally invite him out on a date night? Shocked at herself and even more upset at the boy's overeager reaction, Orchid fumbled for a quick cover-up. "But I'm only doing one of those, so choose wisely."

She watched his face fall, and suddenly felt a little sad for the boy. Sad? Why am I feeling sad? I've done this kind of thing with plenty of other kids before. Why feel sad now?

Perhaps wisely the boy shrugged and said, "I'll take the help."

As the two of them headed downstairs to Odenbacker's workshop, Orchid breathed an internal sigh of relief. That was a close one, she thought. If he'd picked movie, I dunno what I would've done…

His voice interrupted her thoughts again. "By the way, I'm Ori," he said cheerily, stopping to hold out his hand. "I'm new here. Who're you?"

Orchid stopped and eyed his hand. She tried again to find the urge to dismiss him as a Sherman, but it still refused to come. Confused, all she could bring herself to do was—cooperate? "Orchid," she told him stiffly, taking his hand to shake it. "My name is Agent Orchid."

"Cool! Nice to meet you, Orchid!" Introductions done, Ori continued on his way again, and Orchid followed him.

I don't like not being able to tell him what I want to tell him.

I better find out more about this Ori kid.

Down in Odenbacker's workshop, Orchid came up with a plan to test Ori. When the mechanic warned them that he only had five-space boxes left, she pretended to overreact to the news, rattling off things like a Centigurp takeover, quitting their jobs, and becoming a hairdresser (a secret ambition of hers for if she ever left the squad and grew up, something she hadn't told anyone and later wondered why she decided to tell Ori of all agents). But to his credit, Ori didn't immediately start panicking along with her. Instead he interrupted her spiel and calmly explained that no, the Centigurps weren't going to take over, because all he needed to do to make the boxes work was figure out how many five-boxes would replace the two eight-boxes she'd smashed. Even more impressive, he went on to ask Odenbacker for sixteen jacks and to organize them in three rows of five.

Of course, Orchid immediately noticed that there was a remainder of 1 (a math skill she didn't particularly care for because it was arithmetic too basic for her calculus-wired brain), so she tested Ori again by confidently counting out three five-boxes that he would need, to see whether he would forget about the remainder or notice it and pragmatically opt to carry the last Centigurp in hand instead. But again, he surprised her by taking the mathematical approach and trying to figure out how he could fit all sixteen Centigurps into five-boxes. Impressed with his reasoning skills, Orchid forgot all about testing Ori or about her loathing of basic arithmetic and pointed out how the boxes could also hold less than the maximum amount of five, so he could use four five-boxes to hold them all. As a bonus she even threw in an extra bit of help by letting him know that Ms. O had brought matzah ball soup for her lunch that day, giving him more time to rush off and somehow try to catch the remaining Centigurps before Ms. O found him out.

But once Ori had grabbed the boxes and beelined out of the warehouse, her cooperative good mood instantly disappeared. Irked at losing control of her normal self, Orchid whirled on Odenbacker and insisted he return the favor for all the time she'd taken out of her work schedule to assist a rookie agent. Satisfied her old self was back, she upgraded her demand to two favors when Odenbacker refused.

* * * * *

"Hmm...it appears to me that your Venus is waxing into gibbous and on toward full."

"Shut up, Obfusco," Orchid moaned, putting her head in her hands. She knew all too well what his confusing words meant this time. "You're not helping anything a bit!"

"On the contrary, my precious fire ant," he said, giving her a knowing moustachioed smile. "You helped me with my struggles, now I am obligated to return the favor." Standing up from his desk, he began to pace back and forth in the tiny office. "Let us go over what we know. The first time you encountered this Agent Ori, you could not seem to summon any of your trademark reactions. You were never snarky or surly to him, instinctively could not bring yourself to call him Sherman, ended up helping him on his first case, and even made an offer to ask him out on a date—"

"For the last time, I didn't ask him on a date!" Orchid exclaimed angrily.

Unfazed, Obfusco persisted. "Every single other time the two of you have encountered one another, these symptoms you find so confusing return. But though they are confusing to you, I find them clear as a flamingo-infested golf course." He stopped pacing and turned to face her. "Which is why I have come to the only possible conclusion as to why. And it is that you like him."

That I what?! "Obfusco, that can't be—"

"Oh, but it is," he cut her off smoothly. "Agent Ori is the only person that you have placed on your level. Even I, your trusted camarada y confidante, do not possess that unique privilege."

He had a point. Though her best friend and confidant, Orchid had never really seen Obfusco as an equal. In many aspects he was superior to her, and in others she was, so they could never be on par with each other. Ori, on the other hand...regardless of whether he was actually her equal or not, her instincts had put him on that level.

Which meant…

"Well, if you'll excuse me, Señor Saberlo Todo, I need to go think about this," Orchid huffed. With that she hopped out of the visitor's chair and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind her.

Obfusco sat back down, laughing softly. She'd come to terms with the truth sooner or later. His work here was done.

* * * * *

"Hey! Where'd you get that?"

Ori froze. He was pretty sure his heart skipped a beat.

"Yes, Ori, I'm talking to you!"

He swiveled around to find himself looking down at none other than Orchid. And she did not look happy. "Um, hi, Orchid. W-what're you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes. "Duh, that adorable puppy you're holding! Now who gave it to you?"

Uh-oh. Off went the mental warning bells. Ori had heard through the grapevine about Otto's promise to her from over a year ago. (During the great wild goose chase he'd led through headquarters once, Ori had met a large sentient grapevine in the Creature Room who somehow knew every detail imaginable about the goings-on at Odd Squad, and often went back to visit for advice or a pleasant chat.) "Umm..." Ori scratched the ears of his new puppy, who he'd named Gorga, trying to avoid Orchid's penetrating stare. "...Otto gave him to me…?"

He watched as the girl set her jaw. "So Oren was right," she muttered. Turning back to Ori she said, "Well, aren't you going to say you're sorry?"

"For what?" he managed with a gulp, clutching Gorga tighter.

"That you have a puppy and not me?"

Ori started to protest, then stopped himself. He remembered all too well what the grapevine had told him about Odenbacker's last tangle with Orchid. But as he tried to think of a comeback, he suddenly found himself once again thinking how cute she looked when she was angry. The way her sienna eyes sparked, how her long chestnut hair framed her jutting chin, the bared pearly whites of her teeth…

This is it, Ori realized. The chance I've been waiting for. I can't pass this up now.

And then, he got an idea.

"You see, I would, but..." A broad Ori-esque gaptooth grin spread across his beaming face. "That's only the first of your three choices."

Orchid's anger faded into bewilderment. "My what?"

"I could say sorry, or I could do your laundry for a month, or we can go to a movie." Ori raised an eyebrow and added meaningfully, "But I'm only doing one of those, so choose wisely."

For a moment Ori couldn't make out the look on Orchid's face as she thought over what he said. There was indignance and astonishment for sure, some anger, maybe resignation, and a whole lot of odd-knows-what-else. He already knew the second choice was out for sure because just the other day Oren had lost a bet against her and had gotten stuck with doing her laundry, which left just the apology or the movie date. As the seconds ticked by and still no answer, Ori swore he could feel a cold sweat break out somewhere in his slicked-back hairline. Had he played his cards right? Would the gamble pay off?

Without warning, Orchid started laughing. "Obfusco actually was right," he heard her mutter. Then to him: "Duh. Obviously the movie."