Katrina stood triumphant on the stage (okay not really a stage, more like risers set up at one end of the school's library) and smiled at the crowd. It had been a long process to bring about this day, but it was finally here.

The idea had been born during one of their ultimate meetings, right after they had realized that they actually needed money for things like uniforms, entering tournaments, paying their coach, actually buying frisbees to practice with, and all manner of things like that.

“We could have a silent auction for valentine's day.”

Brilliant.

Then, they had to actually convince people to be auctioned off. Katrina had volunteered herself right away, to encourage people. Shortly thereafter she'd convinced Calley and Slate. She wasn't entirely convinced that Carrick actually knew what he had signed up for, but he was going to look so cute in a tux.

“You want us to do what?”

Next came advertising. The team had put up posters everywhere. The mansion, the sanctuary, the park, the coffee shops, the internet, all were liberally decorated with advertisements giving out all the essential details about the time and place of the auction (and a few essential details about those being auctioned, too.)

“What about stalkers, weirdos, and trench coat persons?”

“We'll only put up their pictures and hobbies, as a teaser.”

Finally, the day of the auction had arrived. Katrina had spent all morning running around making sure everyone looked their best. Bow ties were straight, curls were perfectly pinned, and a select few cat ears were in place.

“Wait. Twin cat boys?”

Everyone was ready. All they needed to do was file out and stand on the risers for a few minutes like good little eye candies, then they could go mingle with the customers and even bid on other bachelors or bachelorettes if they wanted. Mingling, especially, was encouraged. A real live person was always more enticing than a little photograph.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes!” She introduced them one at a time, extolling their virtues like a professional auctioneer, and finished with, “Let the auction begin!”

It was a silent auction. Pictures and descriptions in little silver frames lined the tops of the bookcases. Lined sheets of paper sat flat below them, with plenty of pens, ready and waiting to write down large dollar amounts.

Eligible Bachelors:

[/b]

Name: Slate Swartz
Gender: Male
Age:

Hobbies: Mathematics, private jet repair

I look forward to a respectful evening out with my purchaser.

---

Number 2:

Name: Calley Swartz
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Hobbies: Mehing at form fields.

The original catboy. Accept no substitutions.

---

Number 3:

Name: Aleksandr Grigory Mihailov
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Hobbies/Interests: Hunting, sunbathing, reading, taking long slithers on a sun drenched beach.

He's a cuddler, ladies.

---

Number 4:

Name: Michael Risuque Falling
Gender: Male
Age: 9
Hobbies: Puzzles and reading.

He's also quite the little artist.

---

Number 5:

Name: David Maxwell
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Hobbies: Reading, dancing, geography

I'm a Brit who's new to the country and looking for company

---

Number 6:

Name: Sam Johnson
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Hobbies: Teaching, Ice Skating, Flying, Swimming

We be Chilling!

---

Number 7:

Name: Carrick O’Connor
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Hobbies: Flying, dancing, cards, singing

Do what now?
[/ul]

Eligible Bachelorettes:

[/b]

Name: Katrina Dumonde
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Hobbies: Piloting, international travel, and humanitarianism.

Looking forward to a friendly evening.

---

Number 2:

Name: Celeste Manfrella
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Hobbies: Shopping, painting, horse riding.

Outstanding piano player that will enchant your heart, or tear it apart. It all depends on you

---

Number 3:

Name: Gina Marie Schuyler
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Hobbies: theater, dancing, music, going to movies, eating, going on adventures, and having fun!

I'm a one-of-a-kind girl, but don't be fooled by my looks-- I'm an absolute angel.

---

Number 4:

Name: Cailyn Lyndall
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Hobbies: puzzles and all things funny

Quack ![/ul]

OOC Rules:
Maximum number of posts is 2 per day per bidding character, so we don't leave people behind.
Bidding ends on Feb 12.
Money amounts should be realistic to what your character would be able to pay.
Plotting and scheming to end up with so-and-so is fine, so long as you work it out with everyone involved with a minimum of drama and without fighting.

Late entries: Still want to be an eligible bachelor or bachelorette? You can still PM me your info by the end of the day today (1-29) and I can add you!

Kaitlyn was feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Apparently, this place was more than just a private high school for mutants. It was the X-Men's base of operations. From her vantage point between the massive trunks of people who were significantly taller than her, she even recognized the eyepatch-wearing scoundrel who lead them. He was one of the guys being auctioned off.

Sam Johnson was his name. He liked Teaching, Hindering the Order, Ice Skating, Flying, Being a Terrible Person, Swimming, and extremely bad puns. Kaitlyn silently judged him. She couldn't remember much about the time she first met him, because she'd gotten a nasty head injury, which, in all probability, was somehow Sam's fault. Speaking of terrible people, Calley Swartz was there, too. He liked ignoring form fields, destroying Kaitlyn's spy stuff after she risked her life to put it in place, working towards the destruction of the entire world, and being a jerkface. Kaitlyn and he were not friends.

The little Orderling was, however, very interested in Calley's twin brother. Except for the color of his ears, Slate looked just like his hated twin, but his demeanor made it clear that he was a completely different person. There was a certain level of... something, that Kaitlyn detected in him, which Calley clearly lacked. Was it sophistication? Intelligence? He liked mathematics, as evidenced by his listed age, which made more than one person in the building chuckle. He also knew how to repair private jets. Could Calley repair private jets? Kaitlyn doubted this, because Calley was less intelligent, and she didn't like him.

Slate looked forward to a respectful evening out with his purchaser, said the blurb. Kaitlyn very much looked forward to being that purchaser, to the tune of

"...two hundred and fifty dollars?" A mutant high school girl mouthed the number with disbelief. Until now, she was hoping for a chance to get acquainted with Calley's brother, a catboy whom, she hoped, would actually be interested in girls. Alas! Two hundred and fifty dollars was entirely out of her range.

The small redhead responsible for shattering said hopes was now making her way through the crowd, looking for her intended date. It didn't take too long to find him; the black cat-ears made him stand out.

"...Slate?" Kaitlyn stood right in front of him, having to crane her neck back a little bit in order to see his face. The boy was over a foot taller than her. "Hi." If she was being honest with herself, she was a little nervous. "I'm Kaitlyn." Smile. She held her hand out for her probably-hopefully-future-date to grasp.

He wasn’t sure what he was signing up for when someone told him to write his name down on a sheet of paper, put a picture of himself with it, and then fill out the information on it. He only found out afterwards, and by then, it was a bit late.

He didn’t own any dress clothes, so he’d been taken shopping to get a tux. Now wasn’t that an ordeal. He wouldn’t take off his gloves, and nearly got emotional enough to blow up part of the shop.

In any case, Michael was here now, standing out in front of the group of people. The Tux was a bit uncomfortable, but Kat let him fix it so that it was better, even if she said he couldn’t have his puzzle until he was done standing on stage. Wearing a tie was not a choice, he refused it, and kids his age normally wore a bowtie anyways. Michael felt like it choked him, so the bowtie remained untied and artfully draped over his shirt, but beneath the collar. His white shirt had one button undone on the top for that very same reason.

It was really hard to stay still while she read off the names, and when she got to number 4, Michael jumped slightly as he heard his name, and his face turned a little red as he turned his feet inwards and gave a small nod to the people there. They were looking at him, so he slightly lifted his head and gave a very awkward smile, his gloves tonight, fancy in their white color, matching with his outfit perfectly. Though, quite obviously, he did not pick this out for himself.

Even Michael’s hair was groomed! One of the older guys in the mansion was tasked with making sure he was sparkly clean, so after classes ended, Michael was forced into the ordeal of extreme hygiene. An exploded sink, and a few towels later, he actually looked clean and healthy for once. His hair was casually brushed off to the side, and it played with a tiny bit of a wave tonight.

He stood very still, and he was very patient until they were finally allowed of the stage. He climbed down off of it, and wondered when Kat would give his puzzle back. He was sure he was almost done with it.

The idea of a mutant auction had both surprised and delighted Aleksandr. He hadn't expected to see such an activity in a mutant school, but at the same time it was a good way for both the kids and the young adults to spend an afternoon and have some fun. It was always nice to have a break from studying and mingle with friends. All the giggling some of the girls did over the prospect of winning a bid and taking one of the boys out on a date was rather amusing, too.

Of course, the snake man couldn't let such an activity pass by him without getting involved. He lived for the spotlight, and what better way was there to put himself in one than to volunteer as a bachelor for the auction? He hadn't wasted very much time in contacting a young miss by the name of Katrina who had been hustling all over the place in order to advertise and orchestrate the whole event.

Suits were out of the question. Not only would it look silly in the shirt and jacket without the matching bottom half, but the serpentine mutant had been without clothing for a couple of years by that point and wasn't about to start wearing them again. They weren't very comfortable, especially when the tails on his head began to get tangled in the collar. Besides, the whole point of the auction was to show off, and how could he do so properly if he was partially covered?

He opted for a simple bowtie to preserve some of the effort put into making the whole thing look classy and made a mental note to Google 'Chippendale' in his spare time. He'd never heard of it before, but apparently a few Mansion Residents thought the resemblance was uncanny.

Obediently he waited with the other contestants and proudly strutted his stuff when his assigned number had been called. Aleksandr was not a shy mutant. He lingered on the makeshift stage perhaps just a few seconds too long before gliding off to the ground level for some mingling.

 Gina was all dressed-up for the occasion in a semiformal dress. It was a rosy-pink dress, with a halter top, a open back and a deep V-neck. Above the waist, it was fitted, and there was a black belt at the waist, from which point the skirt flared into a loose skirt, making the waistline one of an empire persuasion.

At the time that Gina signed-up for the auction, joining sounded like a fun idea, but now the nerves were settling in Gina's stomach. What if no one bid on her? What if the guy who got her was really gross?

They started off easily enough, though. The eligible bachelors and bachelorettes stood upon the risers for inspection, were announced and then permitted to mingle with the crowd. The guys went first, and Gina was pleased to see a few familiar faces in amongst them-- Calley, the coat-thief, Aleksandr, the snake-man from the park, and the guy from Claire's, whose name was apparently David. Gina touched her ears lightly, from which a pair of familiar, feathered pink earrings dangled. These were only visible by virtue of the fact that Gina's mound of curly hair was pulled back into a stylishly sloppy bun.

Once the guys had been presented, then came the girls. And, when Gina was called, she stepped modestly forward, and endured her introductions with a sweet, subdued smile, as well as the occasional wave. Her quote earned a faint chuckle from those who knew her well enough, and once introductions were finished, Gina left the stage to mingle.

She began with going over to Aleksandr. Besides random-British-earring-guy, whose name was apparently David, Aleksandr was the only familiar face. And, of course, there was Calley, but Gina went to Aleksandr to begin with.

"Hey, Aleksandr," Gina greeted, when she was in his proximity. Hopefully he remembered her, "How's it going? Are you ready for this?"

The snake-man gave off the charisma of one who didn't need reassurances or wishes of good luck. Perhaps his confidence would rub-off on the petite gargoyle girl.

Somebody was going to pay. Not just financially for the date. There were worse ways to spend Valentine’s Day than a date with an attractive lady. Somebody had submitted his name and photo, and for that he was going to get revenge. Was it someone from the Sanctuary taking the piss on the new person or someone from his other job? Save the world by taking someone for a nice meal or some other rubbish like that. To be perfectly honest Sledge had a hard time conceiving how him going out could do effect the fate of the world.

Who wrote this rubbish? Sledge wondered as he read over the little profile that had been given for himself. New to the country he might be, and yes, he did enjoy some companionship that was more his age, but there was no shame in what was written. I sound like a saddo who can’t find a lady bird on his own. His brows knit together, staring at the brief lines of text, the picture he couldn’t remember having been taken. Judging by the large grin on his face in the photo he had either been trying to chat up a girl or was thoroughly sloshed. At least he looked good in the picture.

Not that he didn’t look good now. He had dressed in a nicely pressed white dress shirt with a narrow black tie. His dress jacket was well fitted and he wore it open. The dry cleaners had done a bril job pressing his black trousers, hemming the new pair to the perfect length as well. Rather than spiking his hair Sledge had smoothed it, slicking it back slightly, but with his desire for revenge there was a mischievous glint to his eyes. When his name was called Sledge put on a polite smile, nodding his head and giving a small wave of the hand. In his mind he was wishing death upon whoever put him up to this, and grateful that he’d been spared the indignity of his last name.

The gargoyle girl was present, and he noticed, sporting the same brilliant pink feather earrings that he had picked out for her. She was one of the four ladies up for auction. Four women and seven men. Seven males at least. Seeing the small boy called before him made Sledge feel old. Old and scruffy, he thought, scratching at the stubble on his cheek, Is this what it’s like to be Charlie?

A small bit of red bobbing its way through the crowd distracted him. Kaitlyn was here. Why was she here? Was it her that had entered him? The girl was focused on one of the other men up for auction, but he made a note to talk to her as soon as possible, just to make sure she remembered the line to give about how the two of them knew each other.

((ooc: Combining Calley and Slate posts into one, at least for now. Just like old times...))

Eligible Bachelors Numbers One and Two were called onto the stage together. Kat... was very into the 'matching set' thing.

She'd made them go through the closet in their somewhat dusty apartment, and pick out matching suit coats. She hadn't been satisfied by the level of matching in the shirts they'd brought home, and had taken them to the mall to play dress up in blue tones (to bring out their eyes). She'd done far worse than throw a fit when Calley told her he couldn't—not physically possible, ain't gonna happen—give them exactly the same cat ears. Two pairs of cat ears took two cats: basic math (Slate had added in this last tidbit, quite helpfully.) Oh no, there was no tantrum at all.

She'd just looked disappointed. Aggh.

Matching shoes had been a given, matching socks, matching box—out of the room! some of us are not dating you! When Slate had tried to respectably slick his hair back with gel, she'd made him go to the sink and supervised the washing-it-out process.

Now Slate had slightly damp hair, and smelled like cherry blossom shampoo.

And Calley's bid sheet was still empty, while the copy cat already had a bid for two hundred and fifty.

"Two hundred fifty" would be the appropriate manner of speaking. "Two hundred and fifty implies a decimal—

Yes, thank you Slate, that was helpful.

Calley leaned against the wall, discretely not caring about who was or wasn't walking past his biding sheet. He was just crowd watching. There was the coat girl, a giant naked snake, a show-off true griffon kid that could actually make an eagle-cat form fly, the kid who was not-quite-younger than Slate but trying hard, the old guy trying not to look as desperate as he clearly was—

Cafas had better bid for him. Cafas had better show up, period—Calley didn't see him yet. Then he'd better bid for him. He'd better bid two hundred and fifty-one—

...

Yes Slate. Thank you Slate. Tell Dr. Lewis 'hi' for me.[/i]

Slate, meanwhile, was mingling. Katrina had told him to do so, specifying that he must mingle in a location non-adjacent to her elbow for it to count. His black kitten ears swiveled to smart attention as he inclined his head down, down—

>> "...Slate? Hi. I'm Kaitlyn."

"Kaitlyn... Lewis? Good evening." The twin of e to the pi i et al years returned the tentative salutation.

He was like a little doll. Like a little dress-up doll; My Sized Kindergarten Ken. Well, maybe a little older than that, but the bow tie made him look younger. (The bowtie. The little, snug-to-his-collar bowtie!) And the suit, freshly rumpled by this-is-uncomfortable fidgeting. And the hair, with that absolutely precious mommy-brushed-it-flat-backstage look.

Let the men go to the other girls. Maxine Ralls put twenty five down on Michael with a flourish of pen, satisfied she'd spotted the true cutie on the bidding block.

...Would his feet even touch the ground, in a restaurant chair? Ha!

Really, though: auctioning men off for charity. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Katrina smiled, and smiled, and smiled, and looked around, and finally took a breath. Things seemed to be going well. Everyone looked good. Slate didn't hate her for auctioning him off for profit or making him wear cat ears. Everything was running smoothly.

Covertly she slipped Michael his puzzle and hinted that the red haired lady might be interested in seeing how he could solve it. ...Wait was that Maxine Ralls from Wolf news? It sure looked like her. Katrina wondered if their event would make it onto the airwaves. Suddenly she was extra glad that she'd fussed so much backstage with bow ties, cummerbunds, and anti-gelling measures.

Another red head she recognized, Kaitlyn, distracted Slate for her so she could slip away and put in a secret bid on him.

...Except there was no way she was going to outbid two hundred fifty dollars. Wow. Katrina was glad that someone wanted to give that much to the frisbee team (or wanted to steal her boyfriend that badly), but she was a little disappointed that she didn't even get to place her bid.

Instead, she slipped down the row to Bachelor Number 2's sheet. No one had bid on Calley yet. Proudly Katrina wrote down the sum total of everything she had managed to scrounge up from her wallet and the mansion's couch cushions.

$16.28.

There.

Now she could go back and mingle for a little while.

The auction was definitely full of people, which was kind of nerve-wracking, so he was grateful when kat gave him his little puzzle. It was travel-sized, so of course it was easy to tote around.

Michael was about to start to fiddle with it and tune out the world when Kat told him to go show his puzzle to a woman just across the room a little bit. He still didn’t really understand the “bidding” thing, though he was assured it was wonderful, so he had really no idea why it was relevant that she might want to bid on him.

There was more than one red-headed girl in the room, so he had to look at the other, and then he lifted his head slowly to look at the one he was now sure was the person Kat pointed to.

His eyes met the persons and he quickly looked away with a bright red face, and heart-pounding. That was a close one. He wasn’t very good at talking with people, and didn’t know really about proper eye-contact when talking, so he was extremely embarrassed to do it.

The boy bit his lip a little bit, and he fidgeted with his puzzle, then looked up again, just out of the corner of his eye, actually dropping the puzzle.

His face turned red again, and then he turned away and picked up his little metal item, holding it close with his white-gloved hands.

Kaitlyn stared at her probably-date the way a deer would stare at a pair of headlights. The car attached to those headlights had a vanity plate that said 'Lewis' and bumper stickers with phrases like 'I'm a telepath,' and 'I know all your secrets.' She scrambled to answer him.

"...Lewis? I'm... No, my last name is Faust. I don't even know a... I mean... have you met Dr. Lewis? She's stuck looking like me for a year, so I guess it's pretty easy to get us confused..." Nervous laugh.

Then, there was what, to the untrained eye, would appear to be an awkward silence. Those better acquainted with how telepathy works, however, might be able to tell that Kaitlyn was initiating a more secretive conversation at that very moment. Are you reading my mind? She thought at him, her stare intensifying for a moment as she did so. Obviously, this would work, and Slate would hear her, because he was a telepath. This tactic should work with all telepaths and mind-readers, all the time, without fail.

Umm... Right.

That must have seemed kind of silly. She blushed a little.

"So... are you really a telepath?"

Aedus had promised that he would behave, it and was a hard promise to keep except for the delicate woman riding with him on the motorcycle, He got a second helmet, it was pink and had hello kitty on it, he would feel bad if chase had to put the thing on, but it was a selling point for ladies. You get to wear an adorable helmet....you just have to hug me the whole time we travel anywhere. Motorcycles were genius! He had to explain that he was indeed Aedus when he went to pick her up, he explained about how his mutation worked, it was only fair, she had displayed hers and he figured it wouldn’t hurt to show that other mutants had it hard, maybe not as hard as her, but not easy either.

The road through the new York streets at reasonable speed and they made their way to the mansion. Upon pulling up, events were getting under way. So Aedus parked out of the way on the drive and left the bike there, he glanced around a bit for anyone who might object, but no one did.

Emily was surprised to see Aedus all human looking. To be honest, she kind of preferred the rock look. She was even more surprised when she got on the back of the motorcycle. This was insane. Who would invent such a dangerous yet thrilling vehicle?

Aedus had told the premise of the event before he invited her along. So it was an auction of people for a date? Just one date? Emily wondered if it was some sort of prostitution but Aedus explained it was just fun and games to raise money for a good cause. Well then, Emily would be glad to join Aedus.
Emily did not know there would be a motorcycle involved. After awhile she was enjoying herself however. But she made sure to cling tight to the man in front of her.

They soon arrived at the mansion. Aedus had explained what the building was. This excited Emily immensely. A school for mutants, amazing.

There were a good number of people inside. Emily made her way to the front to look at the bachelorette’s pictures. They were all quite lovely. The bachelors were all striking themselves, but Emily wasn’t here for herself. If she had her way, Aedus would have a date tonight.

Now, Emily wanted to pick someone around his age. The one named Katrina was the most beautiful to Emily, but she was too young. It looked like she would have to go with Cailyn. She was quite beautiful also, but the picture seemed a little too risqué for Emily. Who posed in pictures like that? Emily would wait until later to sneak in her bid. She didn’t want Aedus to know.

It was for the good of the kids. That was the only reason that Jorge had agreed to go to the auction. The Frisbee team was raising money so it was for a good cause but there was a twinge of fear. Though he was still getting to know Katrina, he knew she had a streak for getting people to do what she wanted. That was why when the subject of the auction came up, he did is best keep his answers vague about whether he was going or if he would have time to be one of those gentlemen auctioned off.

Thankfully he had managed to avoid that little imp and the arm twisting that would have ensued to make him one of the auctionees. But, that did not mean he didn’t want to support the team. The least he could do was throw a few bids around to raise the funds in their coffers a bit more.

Therefore, the detective, dressed simply in his brown leather jacket, a dark t-shirt, and navy blue jeans. This was Jorge everyday look, which was a far cry from how he dressed when he was on the clock. The job of the detective, unfortunately, required suits whenever he was on duty. Thankfully, though, he was not here on a police capacity. Only as a friend.

He had strolled through the mansion and made his way to the library just as the auctioning had begun. The eligible people were present, many of which were faces that he recognized from either speaking with them or simply passing by, but there were many people he didn’t know. Katrina certainly knew how to get the word out.

The whole time of the auction, Jorge clapped in-between keeping his arms crossed over his chest. It was quite the variety of people that she had managed to get to volunteer for thi—Sam? He narrowed his eyes when he saw Sam presented. How…unsurprising. He smirked as he shook his head and waited for the rest of the presentations to be done. Once they were, the good detective clapped and watched as the mingling began.

Stepping into the crowd, Jorge began to mingle as well and glance at the various stations that had the eligible people for auctioning off.

"Two-hundred fifty dollars?" he blinked at that large sum. Someone must have really wanted that date. Maybe they didn't need his donations after all.

He slipped away to the next and smirked as he turned away from the auctioning tables and continued to just wander. He was here only in the capacity as a friend and to make sure that nothing crazy happened. After all, every event needs some kind of supervision…