[FancyCyclops]

A Bid for Charity
12/24/343

Today, I went to a bid, and left with my faith in humanity damaged [strike](further)[/strike].
It all started when I went to the square. Out of the loop as usual, I asked what was going on. A swordsman(?) told me about the auction,
and I was off. Well, not that how I got there mattered.

I entered. I beheld. I lost hope.

The first thing I heard of note when I entered the bidding arena was something about a pants mobius strip.
The second is about fox girls. Third of note was the bid. I needed a drink. Serenity tried to soften the blow by saying it was time for money,
but I knew better than anything that it was not the case. What, with Gwen being Gwen in the background, with Atlas being Atlas on the foreground,
and what have you. The beginning is, even if I have noted it, was not noteworthy.

Suppose that there was at least one notable Auction.

An auction for what looked like, sounded like, acted like and I'm pretty sure was a child in a nurse outfit was on stage.
Serenity made her bid. Mercala bless her for that. Atlas made his, too. The bids began, Atlas raising as Serenity did.
They continued to trade blows, each bid growing exponentially larger! Eleven-thousand! Fifteen-thousand! Sixteen-thousand!
Twenty-thousand from a newcomer, then thirty thousand from Serenity once more! Forty-thousand, then the newcomer bid fifty-thousand!
As though reminding them of their place, Atlas made his bid of one-hundred thousand. Serenity one-upped them, going for one-hundred and fifty-thousand. She dared Atlas to keep going, leading the bid to two-hundred thousand. Going once, going twice, the money needed to be pooled. And so, Serenity bid three-hundred thousand. Atlas relented. The newcomer passed Serenity his share of the money needed for the bet.

All is good in the world.

The next auction was for a Nemesis. How they presented themselves was more of a mercenary than a date. For reasons unexplained, there were still bets made. Or, perhaps, it was Atlas. It was as though he was manipulating others into bidding. But I payed little attention after that.
The first bet was twenty-thousand. It ended at sixty-three thousand.
Notable bets were those of a Black Battler and Leigh. I was not in the mood to make comment. The Battler won, saving the Second Nemesis from Atlas.

Finally, the auctioneer was up.

But I just wasn't in the mood to care, nor pay much attention. Ly, closing off the night, was bid on.
Thousand from the Fisherman. Two-thousand from the newcomer. Five-thousand. Then, twenty-five thousand from Atlas.
Even if he apparently already won, he didn't relent. The fisherman bet thirty-thousand, Atlas one-upping with thirty-five.
Barely one-upping, the Fisherman went for thirty-six thousand, Atlas then going for forty-thousand. Forty-five...
...Then, Atlas finished with fifty-thousand. A person of silver bet fifty-five-thousand, truly finishing it off. (Not much attention, not no attention.)

Atlas and Gwen continued being themselves.

It was at this point that the little nurse spoke to me. Mostly about why I was frowning, and why I was down. I feel bad for worrying the lass.

It all calmed down after that. The pot was very heavy with murai, as it had around one-million and three-hundred thousand murai's worth of currency in there. After the auction, I went to make a normal donation. Three-hundred thousand more into the pot.
I headed off, back to the square, back to the stall.

Then, after talking to a rather happy Ard, I headed back home. How much did I value duty? I should reserve more time for the ones close to me.
Soon.