PeaceMaker

Dean nodded his head. "But-"

"Don't overstep," Antonio snapped, his hand reaching down to where Dean held Annabeth's hand and pulled her hand away from his. "You're not motivated enough to even turn in the marriage proposal but you think you can take away the girl against her will?"

Dean flinched, taking a step back. 

"If you want to pursue her romantically, then look for her at a time that is beneficial to her and not you. You didn't seem to want to go with you, are you going to force her? Do you think that's going to help you in any way with getting her interest," Antonio pressed, his jaw clenching as his anger levels rose. "Be a gentleman. Everyone else here can wait to turn in the proposals but you'd rather jump the gun and force the lady against her will?"

Dean's lips quivered, being overwhelmed by the glare that Antonio gave him. He turned to look at Annabeth. "I'm sure she didn't feel that way… right Lady Annabeth?" 

Annabeth chuckled, her dark green eyes barely moving as she stared down at him. "I would have said so if I did." 

Dean shivered, slowly backing away from the two. They were terrifying. He shuddered, slowly stepping away from them. "Ah.. sorry... I didn't know about how you felt about my advances."

"Next time, be careful," Antonio growled. "We'd hate to have disruptions in the status rankings, now wouldn't we.?"

Dean flinched, immediately bowing his head and taking a few more steps back. He couldn't bear to be in front of them for much longer. The environment felt toxic. It was stifling him. "No… my lord," he bowed his head as he smiled nervously. "I apologize for my mistakes."

Antonio smiled. "You seem to be prone to make a lot of apologies. A result of many mistakes," his smile disappeared. "Be careful."

Dean immediately nodded his head and turned around to leave. He turned around one more time to look at Annabeth. Her eyes pierced right through his with no restraint. She was reducing him to nothing, just with her stare. He continued to walk away, hiding away in the crowd.

Annabeth stared at his back for a moment before looking up at Antonio, her eyes locking with his. They peered at each other in that moment, dark dimmed eyes meeting each other. There was a sense of recognition in their eyes as they stared into each other's eyes, calming down, the anger brimming in them slowly reducing to a pool of cold water. 

Annabeth bowed her head and looked back up at Antonio. "Thank you for your help," she smiled. 

Antonio immediately blushed, nodding his head. "Ah… it was nothing. I really hate it when I see people like that who don't seem to notice the discomfort in people's eyes."

Annabeth nodded her head, a genuine smile forming on her face. "I agree."

Antonio's blush flared, turning red. He looked away from her immediately, hiding his face. He nodded his head shyly.

Annabeth chuckled, amused by his reaction. There was a big change in his reaction. First, he was mad and then he reduced to this state, blushing and shyly avoiding her eyes. It was such a big jump from the moments before when he looked so enraged, every word he said seeming to take stabs at Dean, fiery words burning an insignificant pest.

Antonio shyly touched the back of his neck and the mood in the group slowly calmed down, tensions reducing to nervous laughter.

"Wow… some people really don't know when to stop," Addison huffed, her cheeks heavily red from anger. She looked up at Annabeth sadly. "I am so sorry I was unable to speak up to help you."

Annabeth smiled. "It's ok, not all can say something in a situation like that," she smiled. She looked up at Antonio, locking eyes with him. "I'm glad one person was able to though."

Addison grinned, a bright smile forming on her face. "That's good! All hope is not lost then," she chuckled, her fiance nodding his head along with her. 

Annabeth felt a little bit relieved after all of that but at the same time, she was drained. She let out a deep sigh and shivered a bit, anger falling off her. It was bad to hold such emotions in her for long. It was better to let go of pieces of it. She would never let go of the full anger but released it in little surges.

Antonio looked down at her, his eyes inspecting her. How lucky he was to get the chance to be standing next to her at this moment. He could literally cry out in happiness at this moment. He was happy, beyond happy that he got to stand beside her alone. From this position, he could look at her hair and the ornaments that moved back and forth on it, he got a better look from up at the way her eyes curved. Beautifully. 

He smiled, the blush on his face settling a bit more. He felt calmer, a lot more.. Grounded in this situation and he didn't even know why. He thought his heart would be racing out of his cages, which they were, but less violently than he thought they would. He felt comfortable with where he was at the moment. 

He felt comfortable beside her like he was meant to be there. 

"Attention everyone!" the announcer called out, his office trying his best to talk over the crowds of people. 

The first time, he got no reactions. 

"EXCUSE ME, EVERYONE!" He yelled, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room with his roar of attention. 

They all turned to face him as he cleared his throat for announcements. 

"The Eldest Prince, Theodore, and his fiance, Adria have finished their round around the room," the announcer smiled, "lucky you to those who got the chance to speak to them during this round."

Annabeth's mood immediately sunk, her slight smile returning to a thin line at the sound of that. She hadn't gotten to see the Prince and his fiance not even speak to them. She pouted. She wanted to speak to Adria again. She had promised to do so afterall. 

Antonio looked at her, his head cocking to the side. "A bit sad that you didn't get to speak to her highness and his royal highness?" 

Annabeth nodded her head absentmindedly. "Yea…" she replied. She flinched when she realized she had answered and looked up at Antonio. "How did you know?"

"Your expression," Antonin muttered in reply, "more specifically, your eyes and lips. Your smile reduced and her eyes dimmed. It usually means displeasure or sadness."

Annabeth stared at him for a moment, her eyes piercing into his blankly. They stared for a moment before she smiled. "You're right. I am."

Antonio chuckled nervously, touching the back of his neck. "Haha… yea.."

"You like to look at people's expressions?" Annabeth asked. "Read them, to be more specific."

Antonio flinched, noticing her slight tease. He smiled. "Yup, one of the only things to do at an event like this when everything seems so dull."

Annabeth smiled. "Same for me, to some the conversations seem to be interesting, but for me, the expressions made are much more interesting," she chuckled, "if you add both together, it adds more to the conversation than just words."

Antonio nodded his head in agreement, a bright smile showing on his face. 

"NOW EVERYONE!" The announcer called out again, grabbing the attention of those in the room to him again. "Since this conversation time is over, why don't we get to some ballroom dancing?" he smirked, "I'm sure you're sick of just standing around, why don't we have our talking in different ways…"

He did a flashy dance move. "Through dance," his hands shook back and forth to show jazz-hands. He grinned, looking up to the audience with bright eyes.

There was no applause in the room. Just silence.

The announcer cleared his throat and pushed away his flushed expression. He should have seen that coming. He looked up at the crowd again and began his announcements. "We'll be moving to the ballroom where we can dance to our hearts' content," he wicked, "there's also more food and refreshments so you can keep going!"

From the crowd were exclaims of excitement as people were excited to finally stop running their mouths and to move on to something other than talking. At least for Annabeth. She was sick of talking. But there was no way she was going to dance, probably going to sit out and stuff her face with food. 

She had a little smile on her face. Antonio noticed. He had been watching her the entire time since she walked into the group. He had stood outside of the circle a bit, watching her from afar, observing her like she was a piece of ultra-rare fine porcelain pot. Scared to approach in case of accidentally making a mistake and forced to stay back to admire her. 

Walter turned to the group, a big smile on his face, "On to the ballroom we go then!" he excitedly announced to which Maria playfully clapped her hand.

'On to my food!' Annabeth thought to herself.. She was beyond hungry.