#Now That's What I Call a Bear Trap | Molly Blyndeff (ic)

[toyboxfriends]

Rick found himself feeling quite a few emotions surrounding his new life; joy and excitment at the forefront, of course, but most perplexingly was fear. Why was he so scared? He was safe here, had food, water, shelter, even a job! But he found himself scared of everything, debilitating so at times, and it made living out this new life more than a little difficult.

It was after Molly and Giovanni had come over for dinner that things started to fall into place. He had invited them over, yes, but...failed to actually provide the promised dinner, seeing as he had no idea how to cook. Friends invited each other over for dinner, so that's what he did! He had actually become nervous when Giovanni had inquired about the actual food for dinner, something he had hoped would stupidly escape their notice. He had failed, hadn't he? The first time he invited over his new land friends, and he had failed. What would they think? What would they say! Would they stop being his friend?! Please, anything but that. Not again. Not ever again.

But...they weren't upset with him, not even a little bit. In fact, they had helped him supply the dinner he had promised them like it was no big deal! He...hadn't been much help, seeing as he had only learned about an oven upon moving into the appartment Naven had so kindly given him, but he was able to help prepare the food, something that perhaps he was a little too excited to do. It was in the midst of chopping onions (with him not shedding a single tear, weirdly enough) when he had let it slip out. "This is what friends do, isn't it?" He...had never really gotten to learn. Sure, he knew friends were suppoed to help eachother out, but this felt...different than what he had experienced. Warmer, lighter, cozy like he had found fireplaces to be.

Giovanni had, of course, started weeping the longer the conversation went on, it being blamed on the onions despite him not even being near them when the tears had begun. It wasn't long after that Rick decided he wanted that again, the comforting, safe feeling of having friends live with him, of not being alone, and scared every day for his and their safety. Being him, he had come right out and asked the very next day, it not occuring to him such an offer might be seen as a little odd to the outside eye. He just met these people, he had them over one time, and already he wanted them to live with him?

But they hadn't seen it that way, not out loud at least. Giovanni had already been looking for an appartment for him and Molly to live in, a place that was theirs, but with how much money he had, there wasn't much he coudl afford. So, this was perfect! It solved all their problems! Molly got to live away from her dad, Giovanni didn't have to scrounge around for an appartment anymore, and Rick didn't have to be alone!

And miraculously enough, it had stayed perfect, even weeks later now. They were so very patient with him as Rick learned how to navigate this new life, the only condition? He had to go by Odi when they were at home.

Home. Rick Odi liked the sound of that.

How to cook had been the first thing Odi had wanted to learn, to really learn, not siphon through his epithet. Knowing now it's limitations, there were a few skills he wanted to gain himself, just in case his friends ever went too far. So, they had tried to teach him!

This...has mixed results.

The sound of the toaster being thrown across the room clattered through the entire apartment, the popping of a bagel Odi had been trying to prepare startling him enough to lash out, which ended badly for everyone involved, especially the toaster.

Things had settled quickly, Odi left blinking as if in a haze, until speaking in a voice so very small like he was afraid of getting yelled at. "Ah...that was...incorrect! Tricky things, those...um...what was that device called again?"

@speckled-and-spattered

When Giovanni first took Molly, she didn't really know what to feel. She couldn't bring herself to think of it as a "kidnapping" considering he had asked her twice if she was okay with it and that she had been hoping for this exact scenario for so long. Despite what she told Lorelai, she didn't actually hate either of her family members; she just couldn't do it anymore. She was twelve years old; she shouldn't be cooking every meal, manning a toy store all by herself, or doing the family's taxes. She shouldn't have to care about what to make for dinner or if they could even afford to eat. She shouldn't have to care whether someone was looking after the store or whether her sister had done her chores. And most importantly, she shouldn't be the only one in her family that seemed to care. So, no matter how much love she still held for her family, she didn't plan to return to them anytime soon.

Plus, living with Giovanni was already so much fun. Not only did she not have to worry about work or money mostly because Boss wouldn't let her think about any of that, but she was getting to be more of a kid than she ever thought she would be again. Even while helping with chores, it always ended up in some kind of game to help keep their focus. She got to cook with people instead of for people which actually made all the difference. But it came with the problem of not having a reliable place to stay. After all, they had been staying in Crusher's tree house for longer than they should have. So when Rick offered for them to stay with him in the apartment Naven got for him, it was practically perfect.

And when Odi wanted to learn how to cook, Molly was more than happy to help teach him what she knew. It was… an interesting experience to say the least considering he didn't seem to know most types of cooking equipment. And he was very jumpy. So, coming into the kitchen to the toaster flying across the room wasn't too surprising, though still jarring. Once Molly recovered from the shock, she replied, "Yeah… but I think everyone gets scared of the toaster going off. At least occasionally."

Walking over to help pick up the broken toaster pieces, she continued, "Plus, now, we can make it together."

[toyboxfriends]

Dutiful as always, Giovanni was there to pick Molly up from school, as he was every day, a happy totally evil smile finding its way to his lips as he watched his little bear cub laugh with her friends where he stood off to the side with the other parents, skillfully ignoring how they stared at him with suspicion as he casually leaned against the tip of his bat. No doubt she was corrupting them just as he had her, gaining minions of her own for who knows what nefarious deeds! He was so proud, look at her go! She'll have the whole school under her thumb before long!

Giving a little wave to Feenie, and then blowing an affectionate a raspberry at Trixie in greeting before they departed, Gio let that smile slip into a shit eating grin once it was just him and Molly. Leaning off his bat, he swung it up to rest on his shoulder with a skillful flourish, his free hand pulling something from his pocket with an equally dramatic flare. "Heya Bear Trap! Got you a present." Grin only growing with anticipation, he handed her what looked to be a pretty little window that had perhaps come off a doll house or something similar, the intricate plastic design meant to replicate the stained glass of a church or a...fancy...castle...

"Didn't even have t' break either, just enter. Your dumbass dad must've left the door unlocked." He would never forget how that man had been more concerned over the wellbeing of a toy castle than that of his own daughter. "I also grabbed this for our little pee pee boy, since he likes his toys so much." Grin never leaving, Gio pulled a green yo-yo from his pocket and gave it a few drop-pulls, a cute little design of a sheep spinning with each motion until it was once again repocketed in a haste as he seemed to remember something. "Oh! And since your sister's epithet is just soooo great, I figured it wouldn't really matter if I helped myself to what was left in the cash register. Since she can make food and all, they should be juuuussst fine..." Behind that playful grin, there was disdain now as he pulled out a wad of bills from his hoodie pocket in place of the yo-yo it being yet another thing Gio would never forget.

"So! Dinner's on me tonight, my faithful minion! Where should we spend our ill gotten gains?"

@speckled-and-spattered

To absolutely no one's surprise, ever since Molly started living with Giovanni, she had been the most rested she had felt in the last two years, and her friends could absolutely tell. Even Feenie had to admit that living with him was doing wonders for her health, despite her initial reservation about "Molly's kidnapper". She had even started waving back when he came to pick the smaller girl. Waving goodbye to her friends, Molly hurried over to the loud, pink-haired teenager before any of the adults, parents or teachers, could become suspicious that the one that usually walked home alone was now being regularly picked up by someone not authorized to do so.

As the little bear cub approached her boss, she couldn't help glance around at the others. Did they know he wasn't suppose to be there? She tried to subtly signal to him that they should probably leave quickly, but Giovanni seemed to be focused on other matters. Instinctively thanking her self-proclaimed villainous boss for whatever he had given her, it took Molly a moment to realize why the tiny stained glass window was so familiar. What he was saying helped, too. "Boss…," she tried to get his attention, but he just kept going. And the dread doubled.

"Giovanni!" she yelled. Realizing that she was the one drawing unwanted attention now, she started trying to pull him away as she hissed, "You stole from my family's store? You know that we can't afford much already without people stealing from us!" Despite having not returned to the store since being "kidnapped", she still held some sentiment toward her family. Her feelings for them were complicated and conflicting, but she didn't want anything bad to happen them.

[toyboxfriends]

Finally! Once again fair season had rolled around, and once again Giovanni could prove his superiority in the ways of baseball villany by winning the most coveted of prizes at the ball toss! That's right, the top shelf prize for this year; a giant bear stuffed animal bigger than Bear Trap herself! This fact was shouted near at the top of Gio's lungs before he grabbed Molly's hand, the pair moving through the crowds filling up the fair grounds so quickly they lost each Banzai Blaster Boy along the way by the time the leader skid them to a stop in front of the game stand.

That...was over an hour ago, and several dollars of his allowance ago, but he was so close! Just one more victory, and that bear was his! Only...

"Bear Trap! This is your most important duty as my minion yet! I need you to...lend me a dollar...please."

@speckled-and-spattered

The last time Molly had been to the fair had been with her entire family. Their store had their own booth to sell and promote their store and toys. Her mom, Calliope Blyndeff, had almost spent the entire time manning the booth until her dad had said one of his carefree comments that somehow convinced the strict workaholic woman to relax. The two sisters had loudly acclaimed their disgust when their parents started being overly affectionate in front of them. She remembered laughing as Lorelai created little light shows just for them as they rode rides together and watched as her sister and father discuss all the ideas they had come with during the day. She never would have thought back then that these memories would become so bittersweet; she never thought they would hurt.

Luckily, she was pretty quickly distracted by Giovanni excitedly pointing out the giant teddy bear prize at one of the game stand and loudly declaring that he would win it. Letting herself be dragged through the crowd, she also gasped upon seeing the plush. It looked so soft, like it would feel so nice to fall asleep on. And it was big enough that she could do that.

Because of that, Molly spent the next hour cheering her boss on as he played round after round, trying to win the stuffed bear. And he was getting so close! So when he turned to her to ask for a dollar, she pulled out her little wallet shaped like a bear's head, just to heave a heavy sigh.

Showing the empty purse, she resigned, "Sorry, Boss." It's not like she had had any money to bring anyways.

[toyboxfriends]

@from-across-the-stars​

Behind the cash register of the little toy shop, Molly was trying to use the slow day at the store to catch up on school work she misses while working. She was falling behind farther than she’d or her teachers like and couldn’t afford any more late assignments. Needing to concentrate, she only raised her head from her work when she heard the front door open.

And she froze.

She knew she wasn’t suppose to judge a book by it’s cover, but he looked a lot like the kind of street thugs that would steal and vandalize from small shops. Just like this one. She knew their new store was in a shady area, but she had really hoped they wouldn’t have had to deal with this kind of thing. They really couldn’t afford to fix any windows or walls. She was the only one even in the building today as Lorelai was at school and her father had stepped out for “inspiration” which probably meant he was just going to buy more candy. But they also couldn’t afford to chase away a potential customer. She’d just keep a super close eye on him, just in case.

So, donning her customer service smile, she spoke up.

“Welcome to the Blyndeff Toy Emporium, sir. Let me know if you need help with anything or have any questions!”