So. It was a regular day, no elaborate plans or important things to attend, and she had been on her way across town to swing over to her parent's mansion because her mother had a few bottles of expensive important wine to give her... but her driver was sick. She could have called for a different one, probably should have, but... Well, Leah liked to think she was capable of normal people things, too. She'd just drive herself! She did have a license after all.

She had headed down to the private garage under her flat, popped the keys into the ignition, pressed the button that opened her garage door and led to the access alley, and drove herself out.

She was pretty capable of driving short distances, as long as there was no traffic and she didn't have to drive in bad weather. Today seemed pretty tame so she was well on her way to her parent's home when the car made a weird dinging sound she'd never heard before. An orange light blinked on, and she stared at it with pinched brows.

Gas? Was that the gas light? Did the car need gas right now?

Well. Okay then! She could do that!

Her GPS directed her to a small gas station, she pulled up and got out with a credit card in hand. Paid for the gas, turned, and.... where... did... gas go?

She looked along the side, and then the other side, fully circling the whole car. It was a vintage, pristine condition 1956 Chevy Bel aire and... she had no clue where the gas went.

She started to panic a little because other people were around and she didn't want to look like an idiot. This was fine! Just peachy! She'd google it! Meanwhile, she grabbed the squeegee from the soap bucket and started washing her very clean windows, while searching through her phone with the other.

Gas cap, gas cap, where was the gas cap?!

It was a Tuesday. He had nothing at all to do; he was retired, after all. Still, it was a nice enough day to get out and start the old wagon up, let the engine run a while so the battery didn't lose its charge.

After a tense start up sequence, he got it running. Sighing in relief the old young man frowned as he noticed the orange yellow gas light kick on. Right, he'd meant to get gas the last time he'd done this. Great, out into the city he would go, then; there was a particular station that had always had the best prices.

He popped on his flat cap and headed out into the chilly, but sunny day. Moments later he was drinking a Spepsi, leaning against his car while it filled up, and just sort of... looking around.

That was when he saw her. A true beauty, descending from on high. Royalty descending to mingle with the commoners. Flawless in every way, effortless in her graceful movement. She was, of course, a 1956 Chevy Bel-Air with some young broad driving it. In spite of himself he let out a whistle as it drove past, and stopped at the pump a bit aways from his old station wagon.

He was staring. How could he not? This car had been around since he was a teenager! It was in perfect condition, too. Man, what he would have given to have a ride like this when he was young. And here he was, staring at some kid with it. She climbed out, and he immediately glanced back to his pump. Not exactly what he was expecting, to be honest! She had to be almost seven feet tall! Covered in tattoos.

Also... Looking around sort of funny. Wait a second, did she... He started to tune into her wavelength. No, the car wasn't stolen... She just had no clue where the gas tank was. He palmed his face for a second, and pulled the hose from his tank, capping it, closing the lid, turning toward her.

She was cleaning the window. The already clean window, while trying to figure out where the gas cap was for her car. Oh boy. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his old, worn brown leather coat, and walked on over, speaking as he stopped a good ten feet away to respect her space.

"Window looks pretty clean already, miss. Is there anything I can help with?"

A basic search of "where is my gas tank located" brought up nothing helpful. Everything was pointing her to the driver's side, just behind the back passenger door. There wasn't anything there! Google was useless!

She was growing frustrated and was pondering giving up and calling someone smarter than her to explain it, or to just come to save her, when-

Oh. Someone was offering help.

Leah blushed in shame and pulled the squeegee away from her very clean window, turning to drop it back in the bucket real quick. "Who me? Oh, no, I was just making sure there weren't any... bugs... on the windshield."

It was never driven far enough to collect bugs in the first place.

She hid her phone like he would find out what she had been looking up from it, and snuck a glance at the one offering help.

He was cute! Kinda in a... vintage sort of way. A lot like her car, actually.

Which reminded her that she still had no way of figuring out how to put gas in it. Leah sighed and gave up the act.

"Okay, so.... this is going to sound like a horrible dumb blonde joke come to life, but... I don't know where the gas tank on this thing is."

She tucked some loose blonde wisps of hair behind her ear and shifted her large glasses up from her nose onto the top of her head, where they would rest against her beautifully made lazy bun. "I... don't drive a lot, and I've never been in this one without a driver and the gas cap thingy is just gone! Gone I tell you!"

Exasperated, she settled her hands on the hips of her trendy mom jeans and frowned down at the man. She was a lot taller than him.

"I don't suppose you'd know?"

He was relaxed at this point. One glance into this woman's thought and he could tell that she was... completely harmless. He stood there with his hands tucked into his coat pockets, a pleasant smirk on his face as she tried to explain that she was taking off the nonexistent bugs on her windshield as she tucked away her phone.

His eyebrow lifted a little bit as she thought he was cute. Was his sort of look coming back into style or something? Her thoughts confirmed that she had no idea where the tank was.

From there, she sort of caved, and was brutally honest with him about her knowledge and ability. It was odd, he'd been sort of prepared to encounter the typical borguoise neurotically defensive repsonse when encountering the truth that she was completely clueless, but here she was, embracing it. Well, he wasn't going to gloat, then.

It was boring, but he was going to help the nice spoiled rich kid. He gave a short nod, and walked over to the pump, pulling it out, pressing the low octane option, and remarking casually. "If you plan to drive it far, you'll need a lead additive. I don't suppose you're leaving the city, though."

He walked over to the tail light, flipping it up, uncapping the tank, and sliding the nozzle in to start pumping gas. "This is a really nice car. Do you know about it? Far be it from me to mansplain something if you already know, but not knowing where the very well hidden fuel tank is makes me wonder." He stared at the car as he talked, clearly enamored with it.

"I'll need a what?" She was absolutely clueless and in a lot of ways. Leah watched in avid curiosity as the man worked, going about things like usual and then... approaching the tail light? Huh? She followed him around to the back and stared as he flipped the light up and exposed the fuel tank.

"NO WAY." She was absolutely shocked, and felt like she'd been tricked to a degree... but that was also SO COOL. Hidden gas cap! "I never would have looked there!"

She felt like hugging him but reigned her excitement in. Boundaries and all.

"You're a lifesaver, you know that? Thank you!"

He went ahead and started pumping gas for her too and even struck up a conversation. She didn't even know his name, but she liked him enough already.

"I know a little about it, but clearly not enough." Leah giggled and leaned gently against the side of her car, definitely noticing the fond look in his eye. Maybe he was a fan of the older styles too? He certainly looked like it.

"My family went to a vintage car show a few years ago and I just fell in love with a lot of the older styles. They're so cute, don't you think?" It brought to mind the four other models she owned that were vintage, but not Bel Aires.

"I would love to hear more about it if you'd to regale me with more info?" She absolutely was telling the truth, too. He could drop the most boring lecture about older cars right then and she'd listen to every word. She loved hearing things first hand from people with a passion.

"I'm Leah, by the way! It's nice to meet you!"

"I'm sure your driver knows. I wouldn't worry about it." Why had he even brought that up? Most people her age had no idea about leaded gasoline. He blinked a few times at her reaction to him flipping the tank open, and shrugged.

A short glance would reinforce her instinct not to hug him, carrying a subtext of, 'no, I'm fine thanks'. "You're welcome."

He did smile a bit at her earnest thoughts toward his fondness for the car, and her statement of it being cute. "I don't know if that's the word I would use, but it's certainly a classic." He did slow blink at the revelation that she had a collection of cars like this. This car, in this condition had to run about... 100k?

She asked for more info. He nodded. "It's a 56 Chevrolet Bel-Air. My friend's dad had one when I was growing up. His was cherry red. They are really rare nowadays... In this condition, at least. Must have spent a pretty penny on it. How many miles are on it?"

The tank was full. He gently released the pump and let the nozzle drain before removing it. "Simon. It's been interesting. Man, I hope you treat her well... She's a treasure."

He placed the pump in the receptacle, capping the tank and closing the light once more before stepping back and getting one last good look in before sighing. "Well, there you are. Right as rain." He turned to leave.

Oh good, She knew some of what he'd said. All she hadn't known was the year. She... didn't tend to pay much attention to things like that. It was blue and white and adorable, and that was all that mattered. Much like how many miles were on it. How... did she even go about checking that?

"uh." She scooted away real quick so that she could lean in and peer through the driver's window. So many gauges! Where were the miles? She gave up real quick with another guilty blush and a chuckle, "Probably not many? I don't take her out very often really. Probably only 40 to 50 thousand... maybe? My driver's the one who takes care of her all the time, but he's at home sick. I didn't want to bother him with my vehicle ignorance right now."

She watched Simon as he went about putting the nozzle away and an errant thought sprang to mind. Just based on his reaction to the car alone and how kind he was to stop and help a total stranger like herself, seemingly with no hidden agenda.

An impish look inched its way onto her face he talked and gave the car doe eyes one more time.

"Oh! Before you go." She paused to fish the keys out and clinked them together gently as she set about taking the few other keys not related to the car off.

"This might seem a bit crazy, but hear me out?" Once the keyring was free, with the re-finished original keyring that had come with the car to boot, she held them out to I'm with a genuine smile. "I like you, really. You seem like a pretty cool guy. Wanna trade cars? Oh! Or, you could even just drive me the rest of the way to my parent's house, and then she's all yours. Really! I'm not joking, I promise!"

She jangled the keys at him energetically, just short of shoving them into his hands with barely contained excitement. "I saw how you were looking at her, and I just love giving people things I know they will cherish and take care of. You very clearly are more of a deserving fan than I am. I can have my people get the transfer of ownership to you by tomorrow. I'll write off as a gift, even, and I can cover any fees if you're worried about that, okay?"

JangleJangle

Simon couldn't help but roll his eyes as the young woman leaned into the car looking for the odometer, but couldn't locate it. At least she was willing, once again, to admit it.

"Here, let me take a look." He leaned in after she pulled away, and squinted his eyes. "10,456... That's amazing. It must have been locked away until you started using it!" It probably still had all of its original parts. Good lord, this thing was likely one of a kind at this point.

He caught her errant thought. No way... He was staring at her blankly as she removed the nonessential keys from her keychain, and nodded as she asked him to hear her out. He already knew what she was going to say. This was insane. She was going to give this car to him? If he couldn't read minds, he wouldn't believe it.

He she was, though, making a snap second decision involving giving away something that would easily fetch 100 thousand dollars at auction. Maybe more.

"I... I know you aren't joking, but I have to admit, this is insanity." He spoke it as he reached out and grabbed the keys. "I will gladly accept, young lady. You've made me an offer I cannot refuse." Was he dreaming? He was a rather lucid dreamer; something to do with having a more developed mind than most. He pinched himself. Ow. Nope, not dreaming.

"Well then, what are we waiting for! Get in!" He hurried into the driver's seat, pausing to take a second to feel the handle, and run a hand on the dash. Wow. He turned to look at the young woman again, and just... stared for a moment. "You know... Most people who have as much money as you do, at your age... Are huge putz's... What happened to you?"

He buckled in, and turned the ignition, hearing it purr to life. Incredible. Simply incredible. "Where to?" He knew where she lived, she'd thought about it while mentioning her parent's house, but it would be strange if he didn't ask.

He accepted! Yessssss! Also, he was just as jazzed about getting the car as she had hoped he'd be! So much so that he totally forgot about his own car, which was still sitting at the pump completely forgotten. She didn't bother mentioning it, but fished her phone out and sent a text out for someone to come tow it for him before the real tow sharks spotted it and tried to suck hundred of dollars out of him to get it back.

Leah clambered into the passenger side seat, rolled the seat as far back as it would go, and wedged her long legs on in. He asked her about, well... her, and why she was the way she was, as she buckled herself in. She offered a wide grin, "I've been surrounded by huge putz's my whole life, so I had a lot of great examples of how not to be?"

He'd spy a few little snippets of memories of suck people as they flew through her mind. All glaring examples of her life growing up being wholly dissatisfied with other people who were supposed to be role models in her life.

After she was settled and he asked for directions, she geared her phone's GPS up again and plopped it into the little vent phone holder so he could see and hear it better as they drove. Once he started the car it purred to life as if it had just been picked up from the lot. There wasn't a scratch or a hint of wear and tear anywhere that he'd be able to see.

Once they were actually on the road, she angled a look his way and crossed her arms behind her head. It wasn't a horribly long drive, but enough for a chat at least. "So what's your story? You keep calling me 'young lady' and said that your friend's dad had had one of these when you were younger, so... I get the feeling you've got some interesting tales to tell. If you don't mind that is! Don't let me get away with prying if it makes you uncomfortable."

She was a naturally curious person, and he'd certainly caught her attention. He reminded her of all the old stuffy people she knew, but without all the stuffiness. Just some of the cute mannerisms.

Okay, Simon didn't like a lot of people. This little lady had everything counting against her. She was rich, frivolous, and seemed prone to making flash decisions without putting much thought into them. These were all things he disliked.

And yet, he couldn't help but like her.

He nodded as she mentioned growing up surrounded by the aforementioned putz's. "I've met my fair share as well. Good on you for not becomng one." It didn't change the fact that she was clearly spoiled, of course. Nice and spoiled was better than the alternative, though.

Once they got on the road, he couldn't help but stare at the use of the vent for a GPS perch. He would have to throw that thing in the trash first chance he got. She asked him about him, and was genuinely interested. She really was strange.

"Ah... Well, in spite of my appearance, I am over ninety years old. I hope you don't mind the term of endearment too much. I have seen many things in my time... It's nice to be reminded of a happier memory." There she was thinking he was cute again, though at least now it was old man cute and not vintage playboy cute.

He stopped at a light, and then turned left according to the directions. "You are rich blood, aren't you? Should you even be out here without someone watching over you? There are people who make their living holding people like you for ransom."

Ninety years old? Woah! That was pretty neat, or.. well, she hoped it was? She supposed I might not be super enthused about it depending on his personality. Leah decided not to comment on it and shifted to a different part of the conversation. "I don't mind! I love nicknames. A lot of people are afraid to call me anything cutesy when they figure out who I am."

She twirled a lock of hair around one finger, not really reacting to the whole ransom thing. Her parents were paranoid about it, yeah, but she tried not to think about it. Normal people didn't run around wondering when they were gonna be kidnapped, right?

"I mean, yeah, it's definitely a thing other people in my position worry about a lot, but... I don't know, I just don't think like that? I'd really hate to fall into a pattern of just being paranoid all the time. Constantly looking over my shoulder and all that. I have cousins who are like that and honestly, they just seem miserable all the time. Cooped up in their big houses and too afraid to actually live."

She shrugged and decided not to think about it anymore. "I'd rather go about doing what I do and meeting interesting people when I have a chance. Like you! If I hadn't decided to try and drive myself I never would have met you." She flapped a pampered hand in the air a moment later. "Besides, my parents almost always have someone tailing me just to make sure I don't get in trouble. There's a 70% chance we are being followed currently, and I'll get chewed out later for being "needlessly careless"."

"Huh, I really can't imagine anyone being afraid of you. You're a cinnamon roll if I ever saw one." He looked in the rearview, feeling that little nagging feeling one got when a car turned the same way behind them three times. Looking over as she started to talk to his words about ransom, it became quickly clear.

They were being followed... by her security. Well, it was a good thing he was only slightly thinking of squeezing her parents for money. He honestly didn't really need it right now anyway; he had a cool 4 mil being laundered as they spoke after finding a good buyer for those diamonds. She was also a tad too nice for him to be motivated to kidnap.

"What do you do to live, then? The way you talk you don't actually get out that much." He nodded a bit at her statement of their meeting being serendipidous for her. "Well, I suppose that's true. To be fair, you are being needlessly careless. I am a stranger, after all. Think about it, if you treat every guy you come across while... I dunno, at the zoo, or walking around the fair, you're bound to run into some bad seeds at some point."

He didn't know why it mattered to him, it was jsut the spirit of the thing. Also, he was feeling pretty charitable with his advice, considering she was giving him this car.

He brushed a little dust particle off the dash.

Cinnamon roll? Daw! Leah blushed cutely, fully embracing it. She was pretty sweet, with a little bit of spice, wasn't she?

"You're right, let me correct myself; People tend to get nervous around me when they figure out who my parents are. Nobody wants to accidentally insult the only daughter of the Williams'... so everybody just defaults to approaching me with kiddie gloves on. I much prefer 'Young lady' over 'Miss Williams' anyway."

She shuffled awkwardly in her seat to get a bit more comfortable and to try and keep her knees from pressing into the glovebox anymore.

"What do I do?" Leah blinked her long pretty lashes and very briefly pondered on pulling out the old 'I'm an accountant' card. He did say he was 90 and a lot of older folks tended to balk at her when she told them what she did for a living.

Buuuut... she hated lying and didn't feel like her chosen career was anything to be ashamed of. That always left her in an awkward position of trying to weigh someone else's comfort with her own... and she didn't often win that battle.

"I'm a dancer." She answered, already thinking about how it wasn't technically a lie. She loved dancing of all types and had a background steeped in it. Memories of all the competitions she'd been in when she was younger and a slew of social dances flew through her mind in a pleasant buzz of mental commotion, with only a hint here or there of poles and lights and thumping club music mixed between.

"I'm also a partial owner of a club and my parents regularly throw money at me all the time. This car was a birthday gift from my father after he heard that I liked how they looked. I own two others."

She smiled happily, amused at how silly her parents could be when they weren't being just the worst.

"I get out... enough, probably. When i'm not working. I just don't get out enough with actual people. Like.. people that aren't paid to be there."

Leah frowned a bit at what he was saying as Simon elaborated on her being 'careless'. He wasn't wrong necessarily, but... she didn't want to live like that.

"I see your point, and I'm not about to try and fault you for it.. but... that's just not who I am? I don't like going around assuming everyone is bad, or out to get me all the time. I know too many people like that and they always seem miserable, if I'm being honest." She shrugged a little and linked her fingers around her knees.

"People are just people. Some will end up disappointing me, yeah. I know that. But I'll deal with it when it happens and not before. I would hate to not help someone because I looked at them and came to some snap judgment about them without hearing their story first."

Her smile was back a flat second later as her thoughts shifted at lightning speed back to more positive things. "I really appreciate your concern about it though, So thank you."

Also, oh goodness look at how much he cared about his new baby! Daww! Leah was absolutely over the moon with his little shows of affection for the car.

Did she just take cinnamon roll as a complement? She did, she even blushed. What a... well, cinnamon roll thing to do. She explained more of what he already knew by the time she was formulating the thoughts to covey to him her meaning. That was a bit of the pain of his mutation. In conversations he often ended up a couple of steps ahead by default. "Then I won't stop calling you young lady." As if he would have in the first place.

He turned again, glancing over a bit as she struggled to get comfortable. Jesus, how had she driven this car in the first place? She had to be at least six and a half feet tall. This car was made for people his height max. She answered his question, and he blinked a few times as he listened to the thoughts leading to the answer.

Wow. She was an exotic dancer. I mean, it wasn't exactly an unheard of occupation, but she didn't HAVE to be one. She had filthy rich parents. That meant she LIKED her job. He had to shake his head a bit at that. No way. This woman... was every pathetic basement dwelling trollish manchild's wet dream.

"I see... Gonna be honest, up until this exact moment, I wasn't aware that people like you even existed. Not strippers, mind you. Just... people like you as a whole. Well meaning, doe eyed, ignorant, strong, rich, and beautiful all rolled into one. How has this city not ruined you yet?" He shook his head again as he turned onto a main road heading to the GPS location.

"I guess it has more to do with you having that divider between you and reality. It's probably safer for you to just stay up there in the clouds. The real city... real life, even... I worry what it would do to a nice young lady like you." He really did, too. I mean, how could he not mean well for this kid? She'd given him a car he never would have dreamed of owning, even with the four million dollars he'd gotten ahold of after laundering and giving cuts to middle men from the diamonds.

Sure, she had two other classics just sitting in a garage at home. Homes? Lord, she had homes. Boy, did he want to hate her; he couldn't bring himself to, but oh, goodness gracious, they didn't come more bourgie...

Ack! He'd gotten it right on the nose his very first try. Did she need to be more.. um... vague? No, wait, that was the opposite of what she needed.

She was tempted to stick her tongue out and shrug helplessly, but... he went on and the direction it took just made her sad. The idea that a city could ruin a person just from some of the people living in it? Depressing!

Leah pouted. Full-on pout with bottom lip poked out and all. Not only did that sound boring, what he was suggesting, it was also something she had heard a million times over.

"See... I hate that kinda thing though. I thuroughly dislike the idea of living in some bubble away from everyone else, where it's safe and nothing goes wrong. Because that's not real. There will always be things I don't like. Some mean comment, or someone who doesn't have good intentions. I just can't let it get to me."

She fixed her gaze on him and sighed. "If I had stayed in my own circle, as I have been told to do many times, I... wouldn't be me."

She thought of all of the people she had met after high school, who weren't as rich as her or were flat out poor, who she had gone on to have some of her very first actual friendships with. She thought of when she'd gotten her first tattoo done, and how she'd adamantly chosen to sneak out to get it done at a parlor in the city vs having some celebrity artist come do it. She'd like the real connection she'd felt like she'd made with that shop, and how the advice and talent hadn't seemed at all subpar to anything else... it was just in a shadier part of the city. She'd gone on to get all of her work done there. She thought about all of the different parts of the world she'd been too with various partners, and what life looked like in other places.

"... I know I'm naive when it comes to a lot of stuff because of the buffer my wealth has put up, but I'd like to work around it. I'd rather be down here; My parents can have their cloud castle. I like the cement and dirt."

She never would have set foot in Hexe's and hoe's if she hadn't broken out of that gilded cage. Some of her best friends worked there!

"Besides, I love seeing how absolutely flabbergasted my parents are whenever I tell them about some new thing I've done." She clapped her hands together. "Now I can tell them that I've both driven a car by myself, and put gas in it!"