PeaceMaker

Their friendly greeting was met with nothing but tension from the other ladies in the group and smiles from the men. 

Annabeth looked up, observing the group. There were a few more people in the group that she didn't recognize from before. 6 more females and 4 more males, both were staring at the girls intently, their gazes ever so different. 

Annabeth smiled, in an attempt to soften up the mood. It worked, only halfway though, as the men in the group immediately blushed while the ladies frowns lessened by very little or worsened by a lot more. There was an undeniable sense of tension in the air. She could see it in the eyes of the girls that peered at her. It was vicious, it was anger. 

Annabeth grinned. 'How exciting.'

Justin looked at his sisters and then turned back to the group. "They've been talking a lot about you guys in private," Justin chuckled to which Jena and Maria giggled. 

"It's an honor to finally get the chance to talk to you all," Maria smiled, making a little bow of her own. "It was hard trying to communicate earlier since we weren't supposed to speak yet. It feels a lot more reliving now that I get the chance to actually return the greetings verbally."

A blush appeared on a few of the men's faces. Two of the new ones and some on Walter and Dramio's face. 

"It's an honor to speak to you too, Lady Maria," Walter smiled, taking a slight bow before Maria. She reached for her hand and turning her palm down, kissed the back of her hand. 

There was a glint of excitement in Maria's eyes as she returned his smile. 

In the group, little 'ooos' and 'ahhs' could be heard. 

"Not wasting your time now, Marquess Walter," a new boy teased. 

"Of course not Geo, not in the presence of such beauties," Walter chuckled in return. His remark was met with more gasps and 'oos.'

Falls, having his eyes glued on Annabeth from the moment she neared the group, stepped forward. He reached for her hand, placing his in front of hers and looking up into her eyes as if he was asking for permission from her. 

Annabeth looked up at him, then looked away immediately as a glint of emotion passed through her eyes. She looked down at his hand and pretended to blush, her lips twitching ever so slightly. 

She placed her hand in Falls' palm and smiled when he kissed the back of her hand. 

She looked away, pretending to be shy and covering her face with her hand. Her eyes were glowing. She looked down at her hand as Falls looked up at her, spotting the slight dot of moisture on her hand. 

She locked eyes with Falls and smiled. Then took a bow after, her lips trembling once again. She was disgusted. The moisture on the back on her hand seemed to throb on her skin, a reminder of its presence, a reminder of a little action that did not please her in the slightest bit. Her lips quivered. She was disgusted. So disgusted.

From the group, a light round of applause was given to Falls. 

"Wow… it seems that we have some brave souls here," Justin smirked, his eyes twitching slightly. "To make a move on my sisters in my presence."

Annabeth chuckled lightly. "Please forgive them, brother, you can't be that protective over us for much longer," she teased. 

Justin exchanged glances with her, pouting a bit in return. "Hm… sure… for this event only."

Santigio burst into laughter, followed by the other men in the group. "How protective you are, Lord Justin," they teased, "just for one event? Are you going to keep them locked up in their rooms for the rest of their lives?"

Jena smiled subtly and Maria grinned. "You never know his intentions," Maria smiled.

Jena nodded her head in return. "He'd never let us see the light again if he had it his way."

From the group, there was a round of laughter, the women blushing from Jena's comment. Annabeth smiled, her eyes quietly watching the group and their reactions. From the blushes on the ladies' faces as they looked at Justin to the slightly agitated expressions of some lord's faces when they notice the blushes on the women's faces due to Justin to the simply amused men and the simply amused women. 

Everyone had some type of expression on their face, everyone had something to show with their smiles and Annabeth was going to pick up on all of them. That was until her social battery ran out and she'd have to excuse herself from the group to isolate herself in a little quiet corner of the room, crowd watching to build her energy. 

That was her plan for tonight. Her survival strategy, that was. There was no going over the strategy, no doing too much, no doing too little. Just the amount of interaction to make her feel light and happy and little enough to make her feel content and not overloaded and tired after the event. She was going to cruise her way through this event and nothing was going to get in the way of that. 

She looked up at the group, taking in their emotions once again, a smile forming on her face again. It was so amusing to watch them. 'As I thought…' she thought to herself, 'it's much better to watch from afar than be involved.'

Her shoulders relaxed a bit, her cheeks rising into a smile every time she would catch eyes on her. She had to keep them entertained, had to keep them feeling good and others on edge for her to feel entertained. It was a give and take situation. 

She shifted uncomfortably on her heels, feeling a little spike of pain travel up her legs. A flash of annoyance passed her eyes before being covered with smiles. She side-glanced at her heels for a moment before looking back up. 

She hated the fact that she had to look all glammed up. Not the fact that she was all glammed up but the fact that she had to be. Her legs hurt from the heels she was given to wear. She didn't like them, she rarely wore heels. She also rarely wore the heavy ornaments on her head and the makeup on her eyes but yet she was still forced to be in them, all for this event that only benefited her in one way. 

It made her question society again. Why women had to wear these uncomfortable heels while the men got to wear their bulky, super comfy shoes. Flats, unless super expensive or beautiful were seen as a second option to wear to events like these while heels were almost a must-do. 

So was the makeup and the way she had to put up her hair. Not to take her wrong, it wasn't like she hated wearing all of this. In fact, she always wanted to be dressed up once or twice when she wanted to. Only when she wanted to. She didn't want it to be mandatory, she didn't want the white powder that some of the ladies in the group had piled onto their faces to be mandatory. 

She shifted again in her stance, her smile straining a bit. She was starting to feel drained. Just a bit. 

"Those probably hurt, don't they?" said someone to her right. 

Annabeth flinched, her eyes widening a bit as she turned and looked a bit down at the lady beside her who was looking straight up at her. Their eyes locked on impact and the lady blushed. 

"A-ah… I m-mean," the lady blushed, stuttering as Annabeth locked eyes with her. She pointed down at Annabeth's legs. "Y-your heels," the lady muttered shyly, "your heels must hurt."

Annabeth looked at the lady blankly for a moment, her piercing eyes staring into the lady. The lady twisted shyly under Annabeth's gaze, her cheeks growing hotter. 

"A-ah… sorry," the lady apologized, "that might have been rude of me…" She gushed, bowing her head a bit. "I just noticed that you looked a bit uncomfortable in those shoes. They seemed to be hurting your feet as your stance was constantly changing," the lady muttered, her voice speeding up as she talked, "s-so I guess it just slipped out of my mouth.. Haha�� sorry…" she looked away shyly.

Annabeth continued to peer at her for a moment before a smile passed on her face. It was genuine. 

The lady turned to Annabeth, her gaze not being the only one that noticed Annabeth's smile. She blushed immediately, her heart racing when she stared into Annabeth's deep green eyes. 

"No, it's ok," Annabeth chuckled, "you're right, after all, these heels are a bit of a pester."

The lady grinned, beaming for a second before her cheeks puffed up. "I know right! I don't know why we have to be wearing such painful things on our feet. It's not like it does anything else than to just stay on our feet anyway so why do we have to wear them."

Annabeth stared at the lady for a few seconds, her eyes digging into the lady's.