Written for this prompt from the Quinn/Artie Forum:
Quinn bids on and wins Artie in one of those "slave for a day" auction things (or vice versa but I would prefer if it were Quinn bidding on Artie)
"$50!" Quinn said, holding up one of the ping pong paddles they had been given to use for the auction.
"$55!"
She turned around, glaring at Tina.
"$60!" she said, holding up her paddle one more time.
"$65!"
She turned around again, glaring at Brittany this time.
"$120!" she said, turning around to glare at both of them, willing them to outbid her.
"Going once. Twice! Sold to Quinn Fabray for $120!" Mr. Schuester said, throwing up his hands. "I think that's a record for today!"
Quinn and Artie exchanged a small smile, as she went up to the podium to collect her "slave."
When someone had suggested holding a "slave for a day" auction as a fundraiser for glee club, everyone had been enthusiastic, but most people had been reluctant to volunteer themselves to be auctioned off.
In the end, Artie, Puck, Finn, Kurt, Santana, and Mike were the only ones who agreed.
When Quinn had questioned Artie about his decision to be auctioned off, all he had said was, "Someone else had to volunteer. I'm going to give you a list of people that I do NOT want to buy me. If they start bidding, outbid them. I don't care how high it goes. I'll pay for it myself."
She had grinned, and told him that she was pretty sure the point of the fundraiser wasn't that members of the glee club would buy each other.
"I don't care," he had said. "There are only a couple of people I can see wanting to buy me anyway, and it's them that you're going to have to outbid. Pretty sure no one else would want this," he said, gesturing to himself, "as their slave for a day. Especially not when they could have Puck or Finn."
She assured him that not everyone wanted a Puck or a Finn, that there were plenty of people that would rather have an Artie. She had planned to bid on him anyway, but she didn't tell him that. "I'll pay when I win," she had said, "as long as I actually get to have you as my slave."
He had nodded. "But of course."
"I can't believe we raised over $500 today," Artie said to her, as they made their way towards the parking lot. "Considering we only had six people to auction off, that's not bad!"
She nodded. "I know. And did you see the look on Santana's face when she sold for less than you?"
He laughed. "I was a little shocked by that. I mean...it's Santana. I half expected the guys to start tearing each other apart for her!"
"I'm pretty sure they would have, if anyone had had more than $90," she said, grinning.
"I'll pay the $120," he said, as they approached her car. "I don't expect you to pay that much for me."
She grinned. "I wanted to. I wasn't going to tell you this, but as soon as you said you'd be auctioned off, I knew that I was going to buy you, no matter how much you cost. I'm just glad Tina and Brittany don't have a lot of money."
He laughed. "Did you see the look on Tina's face? She looked like she wished daggers would start shooting out of her eyes."
She laughed too. "It was awesome. Do you want a ride home?"
"Sure," he said, rolling over to the passenger side of her car. "When do you want me to be your slave?" he asked, manoeuvring himself into the vehicle.
"How about tomorrow?" she said, getting in and starting the car. "Unless you have plans?"
"No plans," he said. "Sounds good. What time?"
"Well, I would like to start with you making me breakfast," she said, grinning.
"That can be arranged," he said, as they turned into his driveway. "Anything specific you want? Do you have food allergies?
She grinned. "No allergies. And surprise me!"
After he got out of the car, he turned to her. "Quinn...thanks for buying me today. If I have to be someone's slave...I'm glad I'm yours. And thanks for outbidding Tina and Brittany."
She grinned again. "That's what friends are for. I'll see you tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Tomorrow."
She got back in her car, and watched him enter his house as she started the engine. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
She was just finishing brushing her hair when she heard the doorbell. She rushed to answer it, and grinned when she saw Artie sitting there.
"Good morning, mademoiselle," he said, as she let him in. "I come bearing freshly baked muffins, with which you will be served bacon, eggs, and fresh fruit."
She smiled. "You baked muffins?" she asked, as they went into the kitchen.
He grinned. "Um...no, but my mom did. And that's almost the same thing, right?"
Laughing, she nodded. "They smell amazing!"
As he got to work, putting bacon in a frying pan and placing a carton of eggs on the counter, Quinn hovered behind him.
"Artie, you don't actually have to cook anything for me," she said, "I'm fine with muffins and fruit."
He turned. "Woman, I'm your slave for a day, and I'm cooking you breakfast!"
She grinned. "If you were really my slave for a day, you'd be doing what I tell you, not what you think you should be doing!"
He threw an oven mitt at her. "You said you wanted breakfast, and this is going to be a breakfast fit for a queen!"
"Can I help with something?" she asked, noticing that his sleeve was dangerously close to the burner as he reached up to turn the bacon.
He shook his head. "That kind of defeats the purpose. And don't worry...I won't set myself on fire."
She laughed. "Well, if you do, we have a fire extinguisher."
He grinned. "What's on my slave agenda after this?"
She thought for a moment. "I don't know. I never really made it past breakfast. We could go shopping...?"
He nodded. "Whatever you want. I'm yours for the day."
"Mine for the day, hmmm?" she asked. "So, does that mean that, if I want to take advantage of you, you have to let me?"
His face reddened. "Um...yes, I guess so. You don't actually want that, though...do you?"
She grinned. "What? Don't you want me to want that?"
He laughed. "This is going to start going around in circles. If you want that, then yes, you can take advantage of me to your heart's desire."
It was her turn to laugh. "You make it sound like maybe you think I don't want that. What makes you think that?"
"I don't know," he said. "It's just not something I associate with being thought about me."
She grinned. "Well, just so you know...I was serious."
His face reddened further. "Breakfast is served," he said, changing the subject and placing the plate down in front of her. "I hope you like your bacon...crispy."
She laughed. "I love it crispy. Aren't you having any?"
He shook his head. "I came here to cook for you, not for me. I've been up since 6...I already ate."
She grinned. "Well, have some of this. I don't think I can eat all of it."
After they had shared breakfast, and had cleaned up the dishes together (at Quinn's insistence), they headed into the living room.
"So, slavemeister, what's next?" he asked.
She laughed. "Did you just call me 'slavemeister?'"
He grinned. "I thought it was a fitting title."
"I need to pick up a couple of things at the mall," she said, "but that can wait until tomorrow."
He shook his head. "If that's what you want to do today, then we're doing it. I thought this might happen, so I brought the van just in case you decided to make any large purchases."
She burst out laughing. "I made a large purchase yesterday...today I just need to get socks, hair elastics, and some shampoo."
"Are you calling me large?" he asked, grinning.
"Yes," she said, grinning. "Just let me go grab a sweater. I'll be right back."
As he waited for her, he thought about the conversation they'd had about Quinn taking advantage of him. That wasn't actually going to happen, because, as much as he hoped for more, they were just friends...right? He really didn't expect her to see him as anything more than a good friend.
"Can I offer you a ride?" he asked, gesturing to his lap, as they entered the mall.
"Sure," she said, settling herself on his lap. "I'm not too heavy, am I? I don't want to hurt you."
He grinned. "It's fine, Quinn. Where to?"
She thought for a moment, before pointing towards a large department store. "That way. They should have everything on my list."
As they headed towards the store doors, she leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm not impeding your movement, am I?" she asked, sitting up slightly.
She could hear the grin on his face when he spoke. "Well, not anymore."
She sat up further. "You could have said something!"
He laughed. "Just kidding. It's fine. Believe me...if you were impeding my movement, you would have noticed."
She laughed too. "Here, let me get off you," she said, standing up. "I'm going to need you to act as my shopping cart in a second here."
He grinned. "At your service, my lady."
He watched as Quinn smelled various shampoos in the shampoo aisle.
"I always like to smell a bunch of different ones," she said, "even though I always end up getting the same one. I keep hoping that I'll find something that smells even better one day."
He grinned. "I always have to smell everything before I buy it."
"ME TOO!" she said, laughing. "Everyone thinks it's weird, but I HAVE to. I can't buy something without smelling it. That's just wrong!"
He nodded. "Yeah, my family thinks it's kind of weird too."
She grinned. "I think I'll go with this one. Now...hair elastics have to be around here somewhere, right?"
"I have no idea. I don't use them much," he said, grinning. "Can I take that for you?"
She handed him the shampoo, and they went off in search of hair elastics. Once she'd found what she was looking for, she tossed them into Artie's lap.
"Oh, that wasn't very nice. I guess I could have handed them to you," she said, blushing slightly.
He laughed. "It's cool. You brought me as your shopping cart, remember?"
She grinned. "I promise not to toss anything else at you. Now we just need socks."
As Quinn looked at the impressive amount of socks the store had in stock, Artie sat, trying to plan out what he wanted to say to her. He'd liked her for a while, and wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to say something that might put her off. There had already been the mini fiasco where she'd said she wanted to take advantage of him, and he wasn't sure if she was serious or kidding...he needed a game plan in case that or something similar came up again.
"I think I'll get these," she said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Do you need anything?"
He shook his head.
"Then I think we're done."
As they made their way to the checkout, he asked, "What's next?"
She thought for a second, as they waited in line.
"I don't know. Do you need anything else from the mall? We could go back to my house."
He shrugged. "You're the boss. I'm just your slave."
She grinned, and he blushed slightly.
"I've been wanting to organize my closet for a while...we could do that?" she said, after she had paid for her purchases.
He nodded. "Sounds like a good slave for a day task."
She laughed. "I thought we could do it together."
He grinned. "Good plan. If you leave me to it on my own, only the bottom half will be organized...if you could call it that. Have I mentioned closet organizing isn't a skill I possess?"
"Well, I need to get rid of some stuff, so I was thinking maybe I could model them for you and you could give me your opinion as to whether I should keep or get rid of them."
His eyes widened. "Um...ok," he said, unsure that he could say anything else that wouldn't make him sound like slightly creepy. "You're in charge."
She grinned, wondering if he was catching on to the little hints she'd been dropping all day, or if he was really as oblivious as he appeared to be.
As they pulled into Quinn's driveway, she noticed that her mother wasn't back from work yet, and was slightly relieved. As innocent as it was, she didn't want to explain to her mom why she was trying on outfits and showing them to Artie. That might be slightly awkward.
"Ok, slave, here's the deal," she said, once they were in the living room. "We're going to go into my room. I'm going to pick things from the closet, and pile them on the bed. Then, I'm going to try them on, and you get to say whether you think I should keep them or get rid of them."
He shifted, slightly uncomfortable. "Quinn, I really don't think I'm qualified for this," he said, his face turning a deep shade of red. "I mean...have you seen how I dress?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're more than qualified for this. And Artie? I love how you dress."
He smiled. "Well, you are the boss, so I guess I have to do whatever you tell me..."
She grinned. "That's the spirit! Let's get to it."
After half an hour, Quinn couldn't believe the size of the pile of clothes on her bed.
"I can't believe I have this many clothes," she said, "let alone this many that I barely even wear!"
He grinned. "I can't believe how much stuff fits in your closet. It doesn't look that big!"
She laughed. "Ok, now...I'm going to take some of this stuff into the bathroom to try it on, and then you have to tell me."
He nodded. While he waited for her, he glanced around the room. If anyone had ever told him that he'd find himself sitting in Quinn Fabray's bedroom one day, waiting for her to model an outfit for him, he would have laughed in their face. And yet...there he was.
"What do you think?" she said, emerging from the bathroom.
"Have you lost weight?" he asked, before realizing how that sounded. "I..I mean...it's a bit big. Not that I think you need to lose weight...I...I...it just looks like it's a bit big," he finished, wishing the ground would swallow him up.
She grinned. "Actually, I think it's supposed to fit like that. But I take that as a no?"
"I'm not qualified for this," he said, placing one of his hands over his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Hey," she said. "What happened to 'you're the boss?'"
He looked up. "I thought you'd make me do manual labour, or...something. I don't know. This just isn't something I should be...I don't know."
"Artie," she said, sitting down on the bed. "Do you know why I bid on you yesterday?"
"Because I begged you so Tina or Brittany wouldn't?" he said, wondering what she was going to say next. "Because that's what friends do? Because I would have done the same for you?"
"Well, that," she said, grinning. "But mostly I did it because...I like you, Artie."
He smiled. "I like you too, Quinn."
She blushed. "No, Artie...I LIKE you. A lot. That stuff I said about taking advantage of you? I wasn't just saying that to mess with you...I was kind of serious."
It was his turn to blush. "I...wow," he said. "I don't know what to say."
"I know we're just friends," she said, before he could say anything else. "And I don't know how you feel about this, but...I thought...maybe we could be more. What do you think?"
He stared at her. "I feel...like I said, I don't know what to say."
"Maybe this was a bad idea," she said, preparing to get up. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
His eyes widened. "No, Quinn! That's not what I meant! I just...I didn't want to say something that might now have sounded how I meant it! You know I have the eloquence of a potato!"
She burst out laughing. "A potato?"
He nodded. "That was all that came to mind. Do you see my point?"
She grinned. "So...was that a yes?"
"I...yes. That was a yes. Quinn, I like you too. I've liked you for a long, long time, and when we finally became friends, I didn't want to screw it up by trying to put the moves on you."
She laughed. "'Put the moves on me?'" she said, reaching out and taking his hand. "Well, as your slavemeister, I order you...put the moves on me, now."
"I...I..." he stuttered, shifting uncomfortably.
She cut him off. "You're taking too long. I'm going to kiss you now," she said, leaning in. "And I order you to like it!"
He grinned, leaning forward. "That's one thing I'm pretty sure you don't need to order me to do," he whispered, as their lips met.
It probably wasn't the "slave for a day" scenario that others might have imagined, but for Quinn and Artie...it was perfect.
A/N: I hope this didn't disappoint. It's probably not what some people would have wrote for this prompt, but it's what I wrote, so...I hope you enjoyed it.
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