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Unfortunately, Hayden had already noticed that something had changed within her...rather drastically at that. Cursing mentally, he realized he'd had something else to fear aside from a furious response. Giving up.



He'd come to live by that phrase, in fact. It was all that kept him going when he thought of all the lives he was at least partially responsible for ruining.

"Maybe, you could just leave the chorus be for now. Maybe something will come to you later on and you'll know how to deal with it then. A fresh outlook and some spontaneous inspiration from an unexpected source can do wonders. That's what I've found."

He hoped she wasn't too far gone to miss his hidden meaning.

Frowning, Hayden crossed his hands casually as he leaned forward onto his knees, still looking up at Koorie as she retreated. "Just because one piece isn't working how you'd like it to, that's no reason to scrap the whole song. Just step back and re-evaluate some things. There are parts you like and parts you don't like. Take the parts you like and work around the parts you don't. The song can still be saved."

For as badly as Koorie had treated him thus far, he couldn't watch someone with such potential give up so easily. If there was any hope for victory, or at least resistance against CRONUS, they'd need such people. He wasn't one of them, that was for sure. However, he couldn't watch another potential give up so easily.

Then, without knowing why, he added something else.

"Of course, if you decide to work on a new song, or even that one again, I'm always around. Feel free to bounce ideas off an old rock band guy. Not like I'm doing much else nowadays."

Mildly alarmed that she'd dropped the code talk they'd been exchanging, there was one thing that worried Hayden more.

He knew that look. The look of one that had given up completely, resigned to fate. He'd seen it in the mirror many times now, for more years than he could count. It was odd to see it on another.

"No one knows what the future holds, you know," he continued, unwilling to let her leave on such a sour note. Ha...bad choice of words.

"Sometimes an odd twist of fate can force you to change your whole perspective on life. So...just....don't give up completely just because today sucked," he finished lamely. So much for being inspirational. She was more likely to laugh at him for being an idiot.

Damn...another failure, courtesy of Hayden Rutherford. Wonderful.

Hopefully their earlier act had kept anyone from watching the end of their exchange.

Toshi...?

Who the hell is Toshi?

Hayden frowned, an odd expression on his face as he eyed Koorie with concern. For being so calm and collected before when he was nervous, now she was going to give them away if she wasn't more careful.

"Hopeless people?" he mused softly, seeming to think deeply on the matter. "It seems to me that the ones who refuse to give up their optimism are the only ones that still have hope. And if that's the only thing you can have, well...it's a heck of a thing to cling to. And better than nothing."

He leaned back against the couch, arms stretched out over the top as he propped his feet up on the table. Closing his eyes, he let his head drop forward, hiding his face as he finished speaking.

"Sometimes you have to fall from the cliff's edge to give your wings the lift they need to help you soar."

"Nothing?" he asked, face still hidden. "Everything has some weakness. Even the ice has to fear the fire. Not trying to be contradictory, of course. Just a friendly warning..."

Hayden sighed, shaking his head a bit. This exchange had proven to be much more exhausting than he'd anticipated. He was not up to keeping up a conversation of this nature on a daily basis...that was for sure.

Finally raising his head slightly, the guard cast his gaze over Koorie, a sad, appraising look. Had she really given up so easily? Shame...she could have been useful in the days to come.

Well, that was a depressingly cold thought. He frowned a bit, wondering if he'd really become so heartless...

The fact that he was worried though was a good sign, right? He hoped so...and he knew his reasons weren't altogether selfish. He was just having trouble coping with the multitude of confusing, conflicting issues...

He shot the retreating woman a final look, eyes gentle despite their history, yet still serious.

"But who knows? Sometimes, even the trapped Butterfree can still take the Ariados by surprise..."

Eyes narrowing, Hayden muttered, "...and sometimes the Ariados swiftly rips the Butterfree's wings off instead..." Sighing and shaking his head again at her final words, the guard wondered how such a person could switch so quickly from determined and dangerous to passive and compliant. Shame.

He felt like such a hypocrite though. Preaching all this about hope and inspiration and optimism, while he himself felt none. Talk about irony.

The door was slow to close behind Koorie and by some trick of the hallway's accoustics, most of her whispered lines made their way into the lounge and over to the guard's ears. Hayden was silent; he wouldn't dare follow her...not that he had anything left to say to her for now. Who was she directing that towards, however? And who was this 'Toshi?' That name sounded slightly familiar, but he couldn't place it definitely. Maybe it was just a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, but he had a sickening sensation that he knew who it was on some level, even if he wasn't happy with the answer...

He wasn't sure he liked the comparison being drawn with himself either.

After a while longer and many more depressing thoughts, Hayden rose from the couch and crossed the room to the refridgerator. Pulling a couple of bottles of beer from the back of the shelf, he muttered bitterly to himself, "Forget anything else going on around here. If this keeps up, this place is going to drive me to alcohol poisoning first..."