"Olive?"
Three more knocks on the door brought no response. If Olive was sick, clearly she wasn't in a right physical state to trudge down the flight of stairs and open the door. Trying the doorknob, however, showed that she had at least left her door unlocked, and so he trudged in.
The life-size plush toppled onto the ground, in what had become the fourth time.
He liked being a pegasus. Really. Stupefying Olive by making origami crafts with dexterous movements of his primaries was a talent he was surprised he hadn't gotten a cutie mark for. And of course, there was the flying, the freedom to soar the open skies as he so pleased. But he didn't exactly have a horn to perform tele...uh...jeez, what had Olive called it? Tele-something. Ah, it probably wasn't important. What was important was getting this toy off of the ground before it got dirty.
As he resorted to taking flight and carrying the plush in his hooves -- seriously, why hadn't he done that from the get-go? -- he heard a cough coming from one of the bedrooms. Quickly, he rushed down the hall and knocked frantically on Olive's door.
"W-w-who is it?!"
"Olive, it's me! Otto! I heard you were sick, and, uh..." He adjusted the plush in his hooves. "I brought you a get-well present!"
More coughing. "Come in."
A twist of the doorknob, a flinging-open of the door, and Otto was inside. His eyes laid on Olive, noting how pale she looked. Which, coming from a pony that had pale brown fur, was quite noticeable. At least with his own fur, the white would go well with the light gray against the dark brown.
He placed the plush down next to Olive. "Sorry I couldn't get anything more...you. But Pinkie Pie is my favorite Element of Harmony and I thought maybe having a toy of her here would..." Olive's eyes grew wide. Otto could have sworn they were actually sticking out of the sockets. "What's wrong?"
"Her name..." A cough that sounded more like the dying song of an organ. "Her name is Pinkie what?"
Otto's muzzle wrinkled slightly. "Pinkie Pie. You've never heard her last name?"
"No!" Olive frantically tried to push the plush off of her bed. "Otto, why would you bring me a plush of a pony with...that kind of last name? Are you insane?!"
Taking the hint, Otto grabbed the toy and moved it to the window. It wouldn't be completely out of Olive's sight, because the pink contrasted with most everything else in the room, but it was better than poking through closets and hidden dark areas. "I'm sorry! I thought it would cheer you u-" He blinked. "Wait, you're afraid of pie?"
Olive rubbed her forehead. "It's a long story."
"Are you afraid of Pinkie's family, or pie like the pastry?"
That earned Otto a glare.
"Never mind." he said, nervously chuckling. "Sorry. If I had known, I'd have bought you a plush of..."
An uncomfortable pause, broken only by the sound of a pony's corona grabbing a tissue followed by a pony furiously blowing their nose.
"Applejack. Or Rainbow Dash. Or...Twilight?" Olive gave a weak smile, dropping the tissue in the makeshift trash bin made out of a paper bag with a trash bag stuck inside it. "I can't decide."
Knowing that he only had so much money on him made Otto bite his lip, and so he refrained from lying to Olive by telling her he could buy her plushies of all three mares.
"Anyway, it's...it's fine. You didn't know." Olive's body shuddered. Otto couldn't tell whether it was bodily chills or fear. "And before you ask, I'll tell you when I'm good and ready."
"Drat."
The weak smile returned. "I really have nothing against Pinkie. She's a good pony, even if she is oddness with a physical form."
Otto playfully rolled his eyes in silent agreement.
"But...her last name..." Olive sighed. "Why did she have to have that last name?"
"Her whole family has that last name." Otto explained. "I guess it just travels across generations or something. It's unfortunate, but it's not like she's gonna get it changed."
Olive didn't respond, instead staring at the empty ceiling.
As friends, Otto could hold an entire conversation with her. Now, it didn't seem like she wanted to converse. Which was perfectly understandable, but it did make him rather lonely.
"You want me to get you anything?" he offered. "Soup? Tissues?"
"S-some..." Olive's muzzle wrinkled for a minute, as though preparing to sneeze. The sneeze, however, refused to present itself. "Some chicken noodle soup would be nice. Can's in the pantry next to the sink."
Otto nodded and zipped down to the kitchen. Navigating where everything was in Olive's house was pretty easy, mostly because he spent a lot of time in the kitchen whenever he came to visit. Opening a pull tab with his wing, however, proved to be far more painful than it looked, though it did move enough for him to yank it off with his hoof.
Preparing the meal, he soon began to relive the harsh lesson that no, not everything could be grabbed or operated with wings. Truly, he was a disgrace to the pegasus race.
About five minutes passed before he came back into Olive's room with the soup and a spoon on a small tray, gently setting it down on her lap.
"Thank you." she murmured, trying her best to pick up the spoon using her magic. It was only through sheer resolve that she got it to work at all, and she gratefully ate some. "Wow. Even though this came from a can, it's really good." She glanced at Otto. "You really do have the magic touch when it comes to cooking, huh?"
"Ha...yeah." Otto shook out his wing. "I really have to learn to stop opening cans with this thing, though. I'm surprised I haven't lost all my feathers."
Now it was Olive's turn to give the playful eye roll as she ate more of her soup.
Otto timed how long it took her to eat it. She cleared it in three minutes, which he had to guess was some kind of a personal record given how she usually ate.
"I really appreciate you coming here to visit me, Otto. No one else has stopped by. At least so far." Olive stared at the ceiling. "I guess Oscar and Ms. O are too busy with Odd Squad work to come here."
Otto's mouth turned upside down. "You want me to remind them? I'm on my break, but I could always tell them when I get back. And maybe I could give the Pinkie plush away, if you don't want it."
"No. It's fine. Maybe they'll stop by after work."
Otto made a mental note to tell his coworkers when he got back to Headquarters.
"As for the plush, I'll keep it. I think...I think it'll help me grow as a pony. Move on from Odd Todd and start becoming more independent."
Otto glanced at the plush, shooting it a small smile even though it couldn't really acknowledge him.
"And even if they don't come..." Olive's eyes were about a quarter of the way closed. "If there's anyone I'd want to come visit me on a sick day, it'd be you, partner."
A hoof flew to the chest. Otto could feel the warmth radiating within it.
Olive opened her mouth to say more. Or she opened her mouth to yawn. He couldn't tell. "Now that I have some food in me, maybe I should get some sleep." She snuggled deeper under the blankets, her eyes slowly closing. "Thanks again, Otto. You're the best."
It didn't take her a second before she started loudly snoring with her mouth open. Otto hadn't really expected that, though then again, he didn't really think too hard about his partner's sleep habits. As far as he was concerned, she was a quiet sleeper at sleepovers. That was enough knowledge for him to be content.
Making his way out the front door, Otto turned around and began hovering backwards. For a split-second, he contemplated rushing back in and grabbing the Pinkie plush, but sitting on Olive's words and realizing that she might have a point caused him to turn around and head for the tube entrance that sat near the base of the large maple tree sitting in her front yard.
He wouldn't deny that life would be a little lonely with Olive out of commission. But as long as he showed up to care for her, it would be a win-win. A win for him, because it was only natural to help your partner on the side of good, and a win for her, because if he knew Ms. O and Oscar, the former would need a reminder and the latter would forget no matter how many reminders he was given.
Later, as the trio all went to Olive's house to check up on her, Ms. O managed to catch something sitting on Olive's tray.
"Hey, Otto? Was that origami crane there originally?"
Otto blinked. He hadn't even remembered making it. Maybe it was on his way out?
Ah, who cared where it came from. The point was that he had made it.
...Maybe it was because he thought she really didn't like the Pinkie toy?
No. He couldn't analyze the how. She didn't ask for an origami crane, but...it was here. On her nightstand.
And when she woke up from her prolonged nap, she would see it and admire it as a symbol of beauty, grace, and friendship.
One that came from the best partner she would ever have. He would make sure of that.