The Celebration of a New Circle

"It would be my honor to be escorted by such a gentleman." She said with a small giggle as she bowed back. She couldn't help but blush at his acts. she was still not used to someone treating her the way he did.

Fox laughed softly at the couple. "Gosh, cute couples give me cavities."

Lavi laughed at that, hard, "That was fun...what were we talking about before?" He gave a look of honest confusion, he really couldn't remember. There was what Lasser was planning but he couldn't remember if there was something afterwards....

"Come on, just one little dance. I swear I don't...well no, that would be a lie...." Copper said, rubbing his chin as he mumbled the last part. He had been trying to get Fleur to dance with him for a good hour now and had yet to tire of it. Many times, young ladies would come and ask him but he would politely decline them, saying that he was saving the last dance for someone else.

"Me being the best man at a wedding." she told with a nod. before punching him in the arm. "that was for that last comment." she said, a slight blush on her cheeks.

Fleur glanced up at Copper with an obviously not amused look. "As i have been telling you for the past hour. I don't dance." she responded stubbornly. She didn't notice the large busted red haired woman walking up to the two until the female began talking. "Cop is that you? Wow you look really different without the metals." Fleur looked over at the star woman who was obviously beautiful and....more endowed than the demon girl. Fleur couldn't help but feel a bit self conscious about it.

Lavi flinched and rubbed his arm, "Hey, that hurt." He gave a mock look of hurt, "Hows about a bite to eat? I bet you must be hungry!"

Copper spun around to the busty redhead in the very...form fitting blue dress. His eyes looked over her, resting on her chest a little more longer than any other spot before a cheesy grin appeared on his face, "Well, if it ain't Evey!" He spread his arms open wide, "So glad you got the invite! And yes, I was told to take them off...I feel a little naked without them though. Weird...."

"sure, food is always good." Fox said with a small triumphant smirk.

Eve laughed and nodded. "I wouldn't miss a party for anything!" she exclaimed. "and keep your eyes up here, lover boy. Don't you have any shame." she joked, that's when she noticed Fleur who was attempting to not look annoyed with the situation. "And who is this? Damn Copper are you so rude that you don't introduce me to your girlfriend?" she teased smiling down at the shorter and now flushed girl. "I'm Eve, don't let Cop fool you, he's trouble." she told with a grin.

Fleur was quick to respond. "I'm not his girlfriend." Was her first words as she was introduced to the red head. "My name is Fleur."

"Oh you know." Copper said, rocking on the back of his heels. Him and Eve go way back, they were very good friend (not in that way, you perverts). When the girlfriend comment came up, his eyes flickered over to Fleur and before he could say anything, she said, "I am not his girlfriend." Copper knew that Eve had a habit of teasing anyone he was around (as Jack clearly remembers). He cleared his throat, "Fleur is from the Moon Realm, sorta knew to the whole "shiny little lights are up in the sky" thing."

"Well that's too bad." Eve responded to the girlfriend retort. She silently wondered how Copper felt about the rejection even though she could see in Fleur's eyes that she wouldn't mind that title.

Hearing about Fleur's background made Eve almost squeal with delight. "That is absolutely adorable! Did he show you the stars, he better have or i'll make sure he is good and punished for not showing such a cute girl something new to her." she teased, making Fleur flush slightly as she tried to remain aloof as usual. "Yes he did show me....they were different."

Eve rolled her eyes. "Then he obviously didn't 'show you'." she said emphasizing the words. Fleur flashed her a confused look making Eve laugh and flash Copper a small smirk. "You must be loosing you game Copper." she joked.

Copper scoffed at Eve and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, "I have not...this is just...under special circumstances." He wanted to pick his words carefully around these two. Fleur would punch him and Eve would...well, he didn't know but still! "Anywho, its perfectly normal for me to have just friends." He shoved his hands into his pockets, sticking out his tongue childishly, studded with a silver piercing, "Besides, I still get more than you can. I have a much wider selection."

Eve raised an eyebrow as she stared over at Copper. "Special circumstances? How so?" she questioned, obviously curious as to what the male was talking about. Hearing his next words made the female pout. "Well i'm perfectly fine not getting any because i don't like greasy pigs." she told with a nod. "and you having just friends? That only happens when the girl is married. Don't tell me this one was already taken from you. Damn you really are losing your game, before you know it every pretty girl is going to be hitched and you'll have no one." She said solemnly but it was more of a joke. Fleur didn't say anything but she paid close attention to Eve's words and stayed silent until Eve finished talking.

"I should go find my brothers. I need to make sure they haven't destroyed anything." She said, "It was nice meeting you Eve." she said before walking off, not sparing a glance back at the two, she figured they would rather be alone and she was just getting in the way and she didn't really like people talking about her like she wasn't there.

Copper had waited until Fleur left though his eyes never left her until they saw no more of her, they quickly went back to Eve. He relaxed his posture, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on a support pillar, playing with his piercing on his tongue before clicking it, "I have been asked to watch her...for her safety." He started simply, "By a commanding officer and his wife from the Moon Realm, more specifically, the Shadowland Kingdom. I rather not test his temperament by sleeping with his only daughter, causing him to break from the Three Alliance." He than raised a brow at his dear partner-in-crime, "Besides, its more fun to tease her and make her blush than it is to have a quick one and run." 

Copper glanced out to the window, the stars shined bright against the silky black skies, "There is a good reason I don't make friends, Eve...you should know why."

Nanika.....

For once Eve seemed serious as she listened to his words. ".......Cop, maybe it's time to....live a little. Stop holding yourself back just because you're scared." she told with a frown, she knew why he was afraid to let people close but she knew he needed to stop being scared of something bad. "I know it sounds dumb and rude of me to say such a thing but you can't just keep doing this."

"I don't know if you consider me a friend or not, but i consider you one and i for one want to help you get your stubborn ass into gear." she told, still serious about the situation. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that she might be going to far with her next statement but she said it anyway. "I may not have known her, but if she was your friend then she wouldn't want this."

"I know...." Copper mumbled numbly before casting his eyes down, "But I...can't yet...." His eyes seemed so lost, like he was looking for something long gone and couldn't find it. "Not now...not when he is still around...he always finds a way to cause me pain." Unconsciously, his right hand clenched hard, the one with more metal in it.

Eve's frown grew. "I know it's gonna take time man, i know." Eve had gone through her far share of losses over her long life span and they each hurt, but she forced herself to stay happy, for other people. "I know it hurts Copper and i know your scared that he will do something but.....isn't it better to have a small fraction of happiness for a while? Than to live in fear forever?" she questioned, putting and hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

Fleur watched the two from the other side of the dance floor, her lips pursed. She had no clue what was going on but she was starting to not like Eve, for whatever she was doing to make Copper seem so....hurt.

Copper slapped her hand away, a sudden look of anger washing over his usually goofy features. It was like a dark storm in his eyes though...they seemed so far away, like he wasn't really seeing what was actually in front of him, "Fear? I don't have fear...no...just sickness and pain. Everytime...its everytime...." He was holding onto her wrist, his strong fingers clenching tight, "That small fraction is what hurts the most, like to have your soul built only to have it crushed and burned right in front of you. I realize how lonely I am...Eve...I am so alone...but my sanity can't take to watch the people I care about dying away!" He roughly let go and stormed out of the room.

Eve couldn't help but be a bit frightened when he gripped her wrist. When he turned and stormed off she called after him. "You can't run forever Copper!" then she sighed. "Damn it, i really need to keep my mouth shut." When Eve turned to go somewhere else in the room, she was greeted by Fleur who was directly behind her a look of rage on her face. "oh shit!" Fleur's eyes were glowing with fire as she glared up at the female. "I don't know what you did to make him angry, but do it again and it will be the last thing you do." She threatened before hurrying to go find Copper.

He waited until he was outside, to an empty training ground, before letting out all his fury in one loud angry growl. He slammed his hands onto the ground, sending spikes of metal jutting through the ground  before letting them shatter. In fluid movements, the metal was formed and broken down, moved and stopped, he had to do something to keep his mind off of his thoughts.

Fleur wandered quietly as she searched for the male, when she heard a loud crash she knew where he was. She exited the building and saw him she wasn't worried about getting hurt by the metal even though she knew it was a possibility. She didn't say anything though, she just watched him. keeping quiet. She was worried about him but she knew that anything she would say wouldn't help him.

He was pushing all his energy into his movements, he could feel the metal inside him groan and ache. The metal in him were replacements for bones he had lost and he had to make sure they stayed in place. They could easily be repaired but it could cause internal damage if they broke while inside him. Especially if it was any of the ones near his heart.

His thumb and index finger on his right hand suddenly twitched and bits of metal moved out of sync. Anyone watching would know something was wrong...especially since Copper clutched his hand which now had pieces of metal jutting out of it.

When Fleur saw this she did the first thing she could think of, she ran over to him but didn't say anything. She gently grabbed his hand and examined what had happened to him with a frown. She knew there was nothing she could do to help since she didn't have metal. She didn't say anything though as she stared at his wound.

It surprised him to see Fleur running over to him and even more when she started to examine his wound. It didn't hurt, since there wasn't any nerve endings in the metal, it did sting though since it had cut through his muscle and skin. Blood dripped from his hand and onto her's, "Fleur?...." He muttered quietly.

Fleur's eyes snapped up to him, the fire was still there. "You moron." she muttered before glaring down at his wound. She was a bit pissed, one Eve for making him so angry, two at him for going into a fit of rage and hurting himself, and three at herself for leaving maybe if she hadn't left him alone with Eve then this wouldn't have happened.

Copper sighed, obviously having already cooled off. Carefully, he pulled free his hand and gingerly set his good hand on top of the other. The metal was still hot from over use and he knew he needed to replace it now that it had a fault, maybe he would change it to one that doesn't conduct heat very well, "Thats original..." He said though not smiling as he studied his hand.

"Well what do you want me to say?" she questioned as she watched him. "Good job, you hurt yourself?" Her voice stayed calm and quiet as she stared. She was silent for a moment, running her hand through her hair. "I should have just stayed inside..." she muttered to herself. "I'm sorry for interfering." She said turning on her heel to go back the way she came, there was a hint of hurt in her voice even though she tried to hide it.

Copper watched as Fleur left but said nothing, he felt as though he didn't need to say anything. He felt nothing too, no regret, no anger, no pain. What was he suppose to feel? He didn't care though, he wanted away from people. In truth, he guessed, he didn't like people because they were selfish and greedy. He and Fleur were no different, they were people too. No, it didn't matter, she would be mad at him anyways, no matter what he did.....

Fleur entered the building again "damn it." she muttered, she hated herself for not being able to help him. She still didn't know how to deal with people to well so....she didn't know what to do at this point. "Damn it, damn it, damn it." she slammed her fist into a wall in the hallway she had entered. Before she knew it she was turning around and going back outside to tell the moron what was on her mind. She stormed over to him, and once she was in front of him she forced him to look at her. "How dare you." she muttered, she didn't look angry though she looked sad. "you selfish, arrogant, asshole." she continued, making a fist connect with his chest. "How dare you make me care about you and then go and hurt yourself, you..... agh!" she couldn't even finish her sentence as frustrated tears filled her eyes. She was still mad at herself for seeming so selfish, and mad at him for making her feel like this.