The Things We Do For Charity (IC)

[Electra]

Miss A smiled broadly and scanned the crowd, assessing the bidders. "That's the way," she called encouragingly, locking eyes with all the bidders, then sweeping the rest of the crowd with her attention. "I'm great fun at parties, you know!" She leapt into the air and turned a dizzying series of flips that showed off both her athleticism and her amazingly toned body. She landed, giving another smile that suggested much and promised nothing. "And I'm terribly interesting one on one as well."

[KnightDisciple]

The crowd cheered as the bidding ramped up even further! Miss Americana was playing her natural talents to the hilt, and even Gabriel was impressed. Clearly, she'd come into this auction better-prepared than he.

After all, the bids were already at 1500!

The scholarly woman had dropped out, and the bland middle-aged man seemed almost reluctant to bid. But the soccer moms, married couple, and young lady were all still going strong.

Now they were up to 1700!

'I think the lass is going to beat me! Ah well, I doubt my favor to her will be too bad.'

[Electra]

For her part, Miss A was much less impressed by the performance of the crowd. Didn't they see what she looked like? Didn't they see what she could do? Sure, they were bidding, of course they were bidding, but not as many as she'd wanted, and certainly not as quickly. What was the matter with them? Her thoughts flashed back momentarily to the party at Slick's mansion, and how easy it had been for Doktor Archeville to ignore her. Maybe there was something wrong with this body, something that wasn't ringing true, or wasn't playing right to her intended audiences. Not everything could be planned out and simulated in advance. "Come on," she called to the crowd, her voice full of humor, "you're going to hurt my feelings. Who are you saving that money for, anyway? I'm the last one!"

[KnightDisciple]

Somehow, that bit of humor seemed to add just the right spark to set a fire. The bid nearly doubled in the space of a minute, climbing to 3100 as the crowd roared louder. Gabriel was perched on the edge of his seat, watching with great interest.

'I have a feeling I've been beaten, and it's all over but the singing.'

The rich-looking 20-something young man had dropped out, and the young woman and married couple looked slightly stressed. They didn't seem ready to give up, though. Oddly enough, the group of soccer moms seemed more at east than anyone.

"3700! Do I hear 38? 38, do I hear 39!"

The crowd rumbled as Miss Americana rapidly approached the price Gabriel had fetched. She was really going to do it!

[Electra]

Miss A studied the bidders, feeling out of her depth despite the fact that the bidding had picked up. She had expected most of the bidders to be middle aged men looking for someone to wear on their arm to a Christmas party, but not a single one had bid seriously. That was bizarre, and too bad too, since she knew how to handle them easily. She had no clue how to appeal to the group of oddballs who'd fixated on her today. Resolving to go home and consider a total revamp of image, Miss A nonetheless smiled big and did a few more aerial flips, which entertained the non-bidding crowd, if nothing else. "That's the way!" she called encouragingly. "And it's all tax-deductible!"

[KnightDisciple]

The bidding continued to climb, as the crowd quieted, anticipation over the final bid rising.

"That's 4100!"

With that statement, the young single woman dropped out. It was down to the soccer moms and the married couple. The two groups eyed each other as the auction master took a breath and a quick sip of water.

"Alright! On with the bidding! We have 4100, do I see 4200? 42, do I see 43?"

The representative of the group of women raised her hand.

"43! Do I see 44?"

The husband raised his hand.

"4400! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the price our last hero was auctioned for! Do I see 4500?"

Again, Soccer Mom raises her hand.

Gabriel just shakes his head with a chuckle.

'Odd bidding groups, but hey, glad to see we're getting so much money here. I just hope she doesn't ask anything embarrassing of me for my favor to her!'

"4500 dollars, ladies and gentlemen! We've just hit the highest bid of anyone at the auction! Does anyone want to-4600 dollars, ladies and gentlemen!"

The husband and wife hadn't quite glared at the soccer moms, but the message was clear. They were still in the fight. Of course, the group of women immediately upped the bid. From there, things moved quickly for about a minute.

"4700! 4800! 4900! Do I-"

The husband raised his hand into the air again. The crowd was awestruck.

"Five thousand dollars, ladies and gentlemen! 5000, do I see 5100?"

With a smirk, the bid was raised again.

"That's 5100! Do I see 52? 52?"

The husband and wife whispered for a moment...before shaking their heads. No one was challenging the bid!

"5200! Going once! Going twice! SOLD, to the lovely group of ladies in the audience, for five thousand, two hundred dollars!"

Gabriel walked onto the stage, clapping his hands and encouraging the audience to cheer. He walked over to Miss Americana and took a slight bow, before gesturing towards her as if she'd just won a pageant.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up once last time for MISS AMERICANA!"

He kept clapping, and whispered over the noise.

"Congratulations, you beat my bid rather soundly. Per my earlier statement, I owe you a favor. Do be gentle when you collect, my dear."

He gave Miss A a wink, then went on to helping work the crowd. Mainly to give the stage crew time to finish moving things, and the group of middle-aged women to go over to the officials' table and get the necessary paperwork taken care of.

[Electra]

"I'm sure it'll be something that's not too onerous," Miss A said with a smile, her equanimity completely restored now that the competition was over and the crown was won. "I'm more worried about what on earth all these women want with you and I." She chuckled, putting an arm through his companionably. "But like we told all of them, it's for a good cause. And who knows, if we're lucky, maybe we'll get a few good stories out of the fulfillment."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel just shook his head with a smile.

"Call it instinct, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. Maybe the ladies who won your auction want you to appear at a public event or something? If one of us should be worried, I daresay it should be me."

He cast a sidelong glance towards the group of young women. One or two of the ladies gave him looks that made him feel a touch uncomfortable. He shook it off though, waving a bit more at the crowd.

"Still. All for a good cause. What is it the English say? "Stiff upper lip" or some nonsense like that? I suppose we'll both need a bit of that soon enough..."

He laughed at her suggestion of stories.

"Yes, I daresay we'll need to catch each other up on the happenings of this little shindig soon enough."