Each point of view has a reason... WHO: Thalia Grace and Presto WHAT: Presto goofed with presents and Thalia schools him, politely. WHEN: Recently WARNINGS: Mentions of npc deaths STATUS: Closed and Complete
Presto was at his favorite coffee shop, as usual, reading, enjoying the post-Christmas buzz. He had donated a lot to charity, and he had volunteered, and he had even gotten to kiss the girl. But he still felt like he was missing things, and missing chances to do good. So he hung out at the coffee shop, trying to distract himself with reading and enjoying of the book he hard. He was easy to spot in one corner.
***
When Thalia had gone around demanding presents from people on the network, she hadn't expected anyone who wasn't already a good friend to actually give her anything. She did get presents from strangers: people who read about her in tabloids seemed to think they knew her from what they read, and some “reporters” sent her presents hoping to get exclusive access. Those usually went straight into the garbage.
A car, however. That was way bigger than anything she'd gotten before, and it definitely wouldn't fit in the garbage. Thalia had never gotten a car before, not even from her mom. Definitely not from her dad. That was the kind of present Kanye would give to a Kardashian, complete with bling and big red bow. Thalia definitely hadn't bared enough of her skin to warrant that kind of a present, no matter what the tabloids claimed.
She'd meant to contact Presto about it, because the present was excessive and bordered on creepy, but her dreams had been even creepier and took up most of her attention these days.
Stopping by Starbucks one day, however, she caught sight of the young man who'd given her such an extravagant gift. Might as well talk to him now, then.
“So,” she said, dropping into the seat across from him, “a car.”
***
Presto jumped when she spoke and dropped into the seat, hand coming up defensively, glowing blue for a second before he recognized her and shook the spell away. “Agh!”
He blinked, then realized her tone was not happy and winced. “Erm… not a good present?” His expression was that of someone who expected a good swat, and was not quite sure why.
Had that been a bad present? Hell.
***
“Whoa!” Thalia jumped back in her seat when the blue glow appeared, her reflexes too quick to be human. “Dude, put that away.”
She waited for him to do so before settling back in her seat, frowning. “So...did you actually buy the car? Or did you do something…” She waved her hand vaguely. Hey, it's the OC. Anything could happen here.
***
“Sorry, new powers, and dreams really bouncing off my skull. Getting surprised is definitely not a good thing right now.” He shivered at what he had almost done. “Sorry.”
At her words, he blinked “Something? Oh! No, I just bought it. Did you like it?” He smiled to her, perking up.
***
Thalia stared at him. What did he - or his parents - do that gave him so much money? Thalia had a pretty sweet trust fund, but even she wouldn’t go around buying cars for near strangers.
“Dude, has no one told you about appropriate presents? Like...the fact that a car is something you don’t buy someone unless they’re related to you, or you want to sleep with them?”
***
Presto blinked at her, mouth open, then facepalmed. And headdesked, because wow, apparently he was skilled at this. He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I… no. No one ever told me that. My mother always told me that to be generous and plentiful in what you gave and how you helped was a good thing.”
He rubbed his face then and smiled faintly, apologetically. “I didn’t realize I had overstepped. I’m sorry, Thalia.”
***
“Well, you were really generous,” Thalia said dryly. She wasn’t offended, though. First she’d been creeped out, but now that she realized he was genuinely that clueless, she was more amused.
“But if you want to be plentiful and helpful and all that, how about giving the car to a family in need? I honestly don’t need one. Seriously, have you ever tried to find parking around here?”
***
“I did that with a few, but I can do that with that one, too. Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you.” He smiled softly, a little sadly. He felt silly.
“Yeah. I use an electric motorcycle, most of the time.” He liked it. Though, now, he had more options.
***
“Easier to park, yeah,” Thalia acknowledged. Not the car he’d given her.
She looked at him curiously after hearing his remark about having given away cars before. “So...what are you, a trust fund baby? A prince of a small island? A used car salesman? Where are you getting all these cars?”
***
“Ah, no. My dad and mom were killed last year. They left me a business, as well as two separate investment portfolios. I… am kind of stupidly wealthy. “ He looked down. He would trade all of it, and everything else he had, to have them back. He rubbed his face, and shook his head.
“So, yeah. Uhm. I’m sorry I went overboard.”
***
Thalia winced, realizing she’d just stepped in it. “Whoa, sorry about that. I was totally insensitive there.”
Just because her parents sucked didn’t mean other people’s did, and it was clear that Presto loved his late parents. Now she was the one who felt bad.
***
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Nobody knows who didn’t follow the rag sheets talking about it, and I’ve been lucky in that I shot up another few inches and changed a little, so the paparazzi never really notices me, these days. I’m old news.” He nodded.
“Listen, I can give you the name of the group I use to donate to charity, if you want to do it yourself? Or I can arrange it.”
He didn’t mean to make her feel bad.
***
“Yeah, I try not to read the rags,” Thalia said, shaking her head. She was on the cover of too many of them, and she’d discovered long ago that to keep her blood pressure down and prevent herself from doing stuff that would legitimately put her on the cover of Hello!, she just had to ignore everything.
“I’ll bring the car back do you,” she said. “You mind doing the donation? I’d rather keep my name out of things if I can help it.”
He might be old news, but she was not.
***
“Yeah. That’s never fun.” He smiled ruefully. “I’d rather never have a reason.”
He nodded. “I can do it. I have a group I go through to keep my name out of things, yeah. I’ve had t learn stealth the hard way this last year.” He knew she had been through worse, but yeah, he understood.
“Thanks for not… freaking out.”
***
“Oh, I freaked out,” Thalia told him. “Seriously. Appropriate gifts next time, kay?”
She smiled at him, though. “But thanks for the gesture. It was well meaning.”
And more than what her own parents had given her, which was a big fat nothing.
***
He hesitated, then spoke quietly. “What is an appropriate gift?” Presto really had no clue.
***
Oookay, then. Did this guy never have friends as a kid? Thalia twisted her lips in thought; this was going to be a bigger project than she’d expected.
“What do you know about me?” she finally asked.
***
“Very little. Just that you’re nice, you seem to be a kind person, and that we talked a few times. That you had something to do with the tabloids, and that you are very strong-willed.” He canted his head. “Not much more.”
***
“Right,” Thalia said with an approving nod. “Then you give a gift that reflects that. A gift certificate to Amazon or something, so I could choose what I want. Maybe about 20, 30 dollars because you probably talked to a lot of people a few times and I don't care how rich you are, you can't buy them all cars. And how do you know what kind of car I’d want anyway? Do you know if I drive stick? If I want a sports car or a monster car? Do I need a backup camera? How can you buy me a car if you don't know any of that?”
***
Presto nodded, facepalming. “Right. That makes sense. Sorry, Thalia.” He rubbed his face. “Sounds like I’ve got a lot to learn.” He felt like an idiot.
***
Thalia raised an eyebrow. “Were you raised in a cave or something?” she asked. “Because I had a weird childhood and I still know these things.”
***
“Ah, well, not exactly. My parents had me home schooled a lot, and only sent me to high school for ‘socialization’, as they called it, and only the last two years. I was never good at people, anyway. Most of the time, I spend with computers.” He looked down then shook his head.
“Now I’m attending UCI, and learning how to watch over a business and accounts, and meeting people, and dreaming…” He took a breath. “...and it’s kind of…” Presto flailed a hand. “A lot at once.”
He had considered a private set of educational tutors, since he could afford it, but he was trying to live outside that ‘cave’ now.
***
Homeschooling. That explained a lot. Thalia wondered if his parents were recluses who didn't do parties either. Poor kid, if that was the case. No wonder he was so clueless.
“Yeah, that's a lot,” she acknowledged. “But good for you for getting out there.”
***
Presto smiled. “Thanks. And sorry, about the car.” He nodded to her. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
***
“I mean, you can give me presents, don't get me wrong.” Thalia gave him a grin. “Just...you know, non creepy ones.”
***
Presto grinned. “Now I have to learn what you like, so I can give you presents that are non-creepy. “
He felt like he was suddenly a kid again, having to relearn everything. How did he know so little? Argh.
He paused, feeling odd even having to ask this. “So, like… is giving someone a lot of presents creepy, or is it more the amount spent or…?” He was blushing, feeling foolish.
***
“Wow, I am so not the person to really give you etiquette lessons,” Thalia said with a laugh.
“General rule of thumb: make it appropriate to how well you know them and how much you've interacted with them.”
***
Presto nodded, resisting the urge to take notes, then smiled a little. “Thanks, Thalia. I appreciate it. I promise your next present will be… hopefully, more appropriate.”
He nodded. Hopefully.
***
“You'll do okay,” Thalia told him encouragingly.
Now that she'd gotten her point across, she stood up. “I'll see you around, Presto.”
***
“See you, Thalia. Be good to you.” He rose, and nodded to her, smiling warmly.