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Giovanni was just about to sit down and play some video games when they got the call. Seeing it was Molly they answered immediately. Giovanni greeted her with their usual cheerfulness. “Hey Beartrap! What’s up?” Molly was sniffling on the other end, her voice was raspy as if she were about to cry. “Giovanni... can you come pick me up? Lorelei’s having a really loud party and... and there’s all these people and I really don’t wanna be here right now...” Giovanni was instantly in panic mode when they heard Molly crying. “Beartrap!? Are you okay!? You’re at your house right!? Stay there and I’ll be there as quick as I can!” Molly nodded despite the fact that Giovanni couldn’t see her and made a small “uh huh.” noise. Giovanni frantically ran back to their room and searched for their car keys. Despite quickly finding them on their nightstand it felt like it took forever. They ran down the stairs and shouted loudly to their mom. “MOM I’M GOING OUT I’LL BE BACK IN A FEW MINUTES!” They didn’t even wait for a response as they rushed out the door and hopped into their mustang. “Okay Beartrap, I’m gonna stay on the line with you, I’ll be there in a few minutes just try to stay calm!” Giovanni was also desperately trying and failing to follow their own advice as they started the car.
Their mustang roared through the quiet suburb and onto the freeway towards the arts district. It was almost ten agonizing minutes of breaking the speed limit before they stopped in front of the Blyndeff Toy Emporium. Molly was leaning against the front of the building, a faint green aura surrounded her, it would have been almost impossible to tell that she was using her epithet if Giovanni hadn’t been specifically looking for it. They reached over, opened the passenger door for her and motioned for her to climb inside. She gratefully obliged and got in, shutting the door behind her. “Thanks for picking me up, I know your probably busy and it was probably a big inconvenience and...” Giovanni frowned. “Beartrap you’re my minion and my friend, and even if it was an inconvenience, which it wasn’t! I’ll always be here to get you out of a sticky situation! I’m your boss after all! I have to protect my minions and that goes for you too!” Molly nodded, not having the energy to respond to their words but appreciating them nonetheless, even just being in the car with them in mostly quiet peace was comforting. Giovanni continued, taking the care to talk at a lower volume so as to not send Molly even further into her sensory overload. “If you want we could go back to my house, we could play video games or something and I’ll make sure to tell my mom to be quiet and everything.” Molly nodded slowly, and they began on their way back to the suburbs outside the city.
The ride back was much slower. Giovanni, trying their best to avoid contributing to Molly’s stress opted to drive along the beach rather than taking the freeway. Molly looked out the window for the majority of the ride trying to take in the calming scenes of the shore. She tried her best to steady her shaking hands and uneven, still somewhat panicked breathing. Molly appreciated all the care Giovanni was taking with this, like a protective older sibling, or at least more protective than her actual older sibling anyway. Giovanni was hesitant to speak up but did as they pulled into their driveway. “We’re here, if you want we can go in, or we could just chill out here for a bit, it’s your choice.” Molly shook her head and gathered the energy to speak. “Nah, I wanna go in, I think I’ll be okay to do that much at least.” The pair carefully made their way inside and Molly sat down on the couch in the sitting room while Giovanni went to discuss the situation with their mom.
“Hey mom, I had to go pick up Beartrap from her place because her sister’s having this loud party and she got really overwhelmed so I brought her over here to calm down, I hope that’s okay...” Their mom gave a sympathetic look and sighed. “Gio, if your friend is in that kind of situation I’m not gonna bug you about it, she’s welcome to spend some time here until everything clears up. Why don’t you go get a snack for the two of you to munch on in the mean time and I’ll go talk to her.” Giovanni nodded, relieved that their mom was so understanding of the situation. They headed for the walk in pantry hoping to find some cookies or something they hoped would cheer Molly up.
Molly fidgeted with her backpack as she looked around the room. Coming down from a sensory overload was always a long process for her, however even she had to admit it was a lot easier to calm down than it had been in a long time for her today. She noticed a short, slender woman with a graying pink ponytail in the doorway to the kitchen. “So you must be the ‘Beartrap’ girl Gio told me about, I’m Giovanni’s mom.” The woman walked over and sat down on the adjacent chair to the sofa. “Gio tells me things are hard for you at home right now.” Molly nodded, noting the hesitant but kind tone of the woman’s voice. “Well you’re welcome in this house for as long as you need to be, any friend of Gio’s is.” Molly nodded and quietly responded. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.” The woman looked at her with kind eyes. “It’s no trouble sweetheart, I’ll be in my office working on some things if you or Gio need me for anything.” She got up and headed towards the hallway as Giovanni walked back in from the kitchen holding a plate of cookies. She stopped for a moment to talk to them. “Don’t forget to get something to drink too, I just got some lemonade the other day, it’s on the second shelf, you can’t miss it.” Giovanni rolled their eyes but agreed. “Kay mom, I’ll get it in a few seconds.” Seemingly satisfied with that answer the woman continued on here way.
Giovanni set the plate down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch by Molly. “Sorry about my mom, she’s great but she can be a little bit overbearing like that sometimes.. and a little loud.” Molly mustered a small smile. “It’s okay actually, she kinda reminds me of my mom a little bit, different, but she has the same love in her eyes.” Giovanni gave a soft smile at the idea. “Yeah... I know what you mean.” A few more seconds passed before they remembered what they were about to do. “Oh right the lemonade! Hang on a sec Beartrap and I’ll grab it!” They ran back to the kitchen and Molly could hear them scrambling through the fridge looking for it. As she listened she felt a wave of exhaustion come over her and narrowly avoided yawning. She quietly mumbled to herself. “I guess sensory overloads are pretty exhausting... maybe if I just rest my head for a second...” By the time Giovanni returned with two glasses of lemonade Molly was out like a light, fast asleep. Giovanni set the glasses on the coffee table and grabbed their red and black coat which was hastily slung over the chair to drape over Molly. They quietly mumbled to themself. “Sweet dreams Beartrap, you could really use some.”