10: How do your characters react to someone they like buying them a present they absolutely hate?
Well, that depends on the kind of like. If one of Kattar's friends bought him an ugly sweater, he would know it was completely intentional, and probably jokingly threaten to use the sweater to muzzle them before throwing them in his closet.
Now if it was Alicia, he would first question if she realized how ugly it was, if he was absolutely sure she didn't realize he would hate it he would be like "Lise, I don't know if heaven was out of eyes that could see color...and patterns, when they made you..." but if he was sure she did it on purpose he'd probably tell her he refused to wear it in public and would say that he'd only wear it at all if she wore it first, which she would totally do.
If Kattar bought Alicia a present she absolutely hated, there are only two ways that could really have gone.
He didn't realize what he bought her was a trigger.
He bought her something super pretty but extremely uncomfortable to wear.
He knows Alicia well, so it;s not generally a matter of taste that he would mess up on, but she has a lot of trauma and secrets he doesn't even know about, and sometimes these triggers appear in the most seemingly unrelated things.
If his present triggered her, she would probably quietly tolerate it, thank him, and pretend to like it while wishing the whole time to get it away from her as quickly as possible, probably planning out how long she'd have to leave it out somewhere he could see it when he was at her place before she could shove it in her closet, and he wouldn't question where it disappeared to. She would only tell him it upset her if he noticed and asked what was wrong, and even then, she really wouldn't want to tell him, both because she'd prefer not to talk about it, and also because she wouldn't want to worry, upset him, or make him defensive.
If it was just something pretty, but uncomfortable to wear, she would first tease him relentlessly for buying her a gift in self interest. Then she would agree to wear it, but argue that that was a present for him, so she should get something else in return (don't make him comb your hair for you Alicia, I know you hate doing it, but that's an unfair trade.)
And yes for sure this situation would happen if he ever wanted her to wear most kinds of strapless dresses or tops, a leather dress...(hmmm, how would Alicia leather dress?) or anything that showed the scars on her back.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to wear to the opening?”
“Not much,” I sigh, and by that, I mean ‘not at all.’ “I’m not usually that into clothes and makeup, and I don’t know much about fashion.”
“You looked pretty stylish in that little cocktail dress you wore to the award ceremony.”
“Well, that wasn’t my doing. My friend Kattar styled me for the award ceremony.”
Shannon raises one eyebrow with a skeptical look that embarrasses me more than ever.
“Well,” he says almost sarcastically, “he certainly showed his taste.”