Ships Ahoy!

The Tagalong

"SCRIBBLES!"

Olive gasped and almost dropped her containment unit. "Todd, please stop that!" she snapped, whirling around and jerking a thumb at the red door behind her. "I have to get this into storage for Ms. O, okay?"

"Really?" Todd folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "Looked to me like you were about to open that thing."

"No, I wasn't!" she retorted, clutching the unit tighter.

Todd raised an eyebrow.

Olive huffed. "Okay, fine. It sounded like there was something in there, so I was just going to take a quick peek."

"But didn't Ms. O tell you not to open it?" At Olive's guilty glance, Todd laughed. "Of course she did." Stepping forward and taking the containment unit, he began to explain. "See, inside this thing is a creature called a Centigurp. If you had taken your quick peek and exposed it to the light, that one little guy would've bounced out and become one hundred little guys!"

"Really?" she asked, eyes wide. "Ms. O would've never forgiven me!"

"Exactly." Smug with himself, Todd handed the unit back to her. "They would've all disappeared and you would've had to find them all. Which means I saved your career and Ms. O's trust in you."

With an acknowledging sigh and a grateful smile, Olive turned back to the door and opened it, poking her head inside. "Um, is this the right room? It's empty," he heard her echoing voice say.

Todd rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's the Storage Room. Just set it on the table and it'll store itself when you leave."

"Are you sure?"

"For odd's sake, Scribbles, yes I'm sure! You should trust me by now, you know. It's 2005, we've been on the squad for four years, and we're almost nine."

"Okay." A moment later, Olive stepped out and shut the door. "Thanks, Todd."

"That's what I'm here for," he smirked with a mock bow. "And now for the real reason I came looking for you. I have an offer to make."

"An offer?" she asked skeptically.

"That's right, an offer. See, a little bird told me that Oscar doesn't always have the time to be your own partner anymore. Am I right?"

Olive's ears turned pink and she looked away. "I dunno," she mumbled. "Maybe, I guess."

Todd smirked again, but mentally he had already taken pity on her. "Well, here's what I was thinking. I don't have a partner, right? So, what if whenever Oscar gets 'busy', you come and solve cases with me instead? That way you're not alone!"

"But we're not real partners," Olive objected.

"So?"

"So, only real partners can solve cases together-"

"But that's just it!" Todd interrupted, getting excited. "We don't have to be real partners. I read it in the Odd Squad Rulebook, all we have to do is get Ms. O's permission. Come on, let's go ask her now!" With that he eagerly grabbed her wrist and began dragging her toward the office.

"Wait!" Olive yanked her arm back. "I still don't think it's a good idea. I mean...what would Oscar think?"

This was making Todd exasperated. Why wasn't she getting it? "Look, Scribbles, do you want to have someone to solve cases with you or not? The fact is Oscar's too busy for you now. I even heard a rumor that Ms. O assigned him a long term case that'll take years to work through. Something about the Great Worm War and Agent Obfusco. Anyhow, he won't have time to go out in the field with you anymore-Scribbles, where are you going? Olive! Wait!"