Most of the meal was consumed in a rather out of place silence. It was as if a bubble surrounded their booth amidst all the hustle and bustle of the restaurant. Fox did his best not to let this, or his cruising thoughts, ruin an otherwise very tasty place of pasta and meatballs. It wasn't as if he was really the most talkative individual himself, but he enjoyed mealtime chatter. Hell, most meals conducted on the Great Fox were far from quiet - particularly when Falco was present. His fiery wingmate was calm and cool, but if anyone could rile Lombardi into a heated debate it was Fox...and almost always these occured over food - of all things.

Boys were never too old for a food fight...

Samus, he'd noticed had taken on a rather hearty meal herself. A full plate of steak, mashed potatoes and corn. At least it was safe to say she had a healthy appetite. At least she wasn't a salad and kruton's with bottled water kind of woman. He didn't quite understand those. You ate to enjoy eating or because you were hungry - not to project some image to anybody that you were eating healthy, or cared what you saw them eating. No, he was pretty sure Samus would quite happily devour a cow and simply give onlookers a grimace that said "Yeah, I'm eating an animal, got something to say about it?"

As the time passed their plates gradually became cleared and Fox mused at how Samus cleaned herself up. Her tongue swept over her lips once, to catch any remaining food parsels or sauces before the crumpled napkin followed, wiping each finger somewhat carelessly. No dainty dabs of a handkerchief here. But who was he to talk? His tongue had covered his maw about five times now, intent on not letting a bit of his meal go to waste. Again they found themselves sitting in a silent moment, with no food to use an excuse now. One of Fox's ears twitched and he glanced at the mini specials menu at the end of their table near the wall. It featured various specialized desserts.

"Well, before we bear down and crack our knuckles, how about some cheeseca---," he began, before he looked over to find his companion's seat empty. His ears perked curiously and his green eyes darted about the restaurant just to glimpse her figure disappearing out of the restaurant door after hitting the payment counter. Well, at least she wasn't leaving him with her bill. Scooting out from the booth he made a quick stop to pay for his food before he headed out in an attempt to catch up with her. What was her hurry? She was always in a hurry. He trotted down the hallway after making a right or left decision upon leaving the restaurant. It didn't help she had longer legs than he did and could have been a ways off and he wouldn't know where to even look. He didn't exactly want to scour the entire station either. To his surprised luck she hadn't gone that far. He was striding past a line of doors to his left that consisted of various social spaces he passed one that contained an atrium. It full of various lush plantlife accented with rocky, half broken pillars and seats made to look like ancient ruins.

It was dark inside except for a few dim lights. Overhead there were skylights that gave way to the starry atmosphere. When Fox backpeddeled he was surprised he'd noticed her there at all. She was a lone figure in the dimness, her back to him as she sat on one of the 'fallen' pillars. The only thing that caught his eye was the shimmer of her blonde locks reflected by the light and stars. He stood a moment in the doorway before softly padding into the dark room, tail swaying. As he drew closer he could see she was sitting in front of a mini pond and waterfall, her gaze concentrated on something.

"Hey...Blondie...?" he spoke as quiet as he could without having his tone fade into a complete whisper. Samus lifted her head, but not in a jerky manner of surprise. As it lifted it was plain to see she was watching a butterfly flutter away from her open palms, startled by the approach of the stranger. Her gaze remained on it until it had flittered out of sight entirely. Fox watched it go as well, his mouth open slightly before he looked back to her. "Sorry about that. I didn't know you had a friend with you," he said in a softly friendly tone.

"It's fine," she replied, brushing her palms together as if to dust away the feeling of the butterfly's tiny feet. Inwardly she scolded herself for getting so lost in her own reverie. With the tiny butterfly in her hands, so dainty, small, and beautiful she'd drifted back into worse times again. "On the planet where I grew up...," she spoke after a moment's silence, not allowing him to speak first, "when I was younger I found the most beautiful field of flowers I'd ever seen... And in that field there was a flock of ...Iono Faria.." She opted to use the term her grandfather Chozo had taught her, rather than merely calling them butterflies as she had then. For a moment she recalled how she used to get so mad at him for making everything that was simple so scientific and complex.

Isn't saying just 'pretty' enough?

She remembered he'd just smiled that bird-like smile and silenced his intellectual mannerisms. "But then they discovered that the flowers were dangerous... That they were foreign and poisonous... So the next day, they torched the entire field...and the Faria with them." Fox tilted his head and listened to her. Samus touched her palms together again lightly. "They said it was a threat to our ecosystem... So they destroyed it. No questions... no qualms..." She tilted her head away from him and upward as if looking towards the vines crawling up the walls. "Survival... Everyone's out to survive...claw their way up to the top. No second thoughts... Just blow it up... let it burn... that's all there is to it..."

"Yeah, but...," Fox finally slipped into the one sided conversation as he slipped over and seated himself on the pillar. He was faced the opposite way from her, his tail draped over in the direction she was facing. "Fear rules a lot of people...that's what sets a lot of the world aflame..." Samus turned her head forward again and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't aware that he was regarding her in the same indirect fashion. No tears like he had suspected, he noted... Her voice hadn't been quivering, so he hadn't been sure. "Heck...blasting the crap out of things is how most of us live today. I know I do... and I'm pretty sure from watching you, you've had your moments of rolling in the line of fire. ...But, really, If it's one thing I've learned it's that the world is always going to be on fire...in some way or another. All you can do is take the time to let yourself cool down... or you'll be engulfed by it... ya know? Can't let it blind you so you're acting like a wild thing."

He turned his head to look at her directly now, his hands resting beside his legs where he sat, fingers tapping the stone. "And it's the job for people who can keep it cool like that...to cool down the knuckleheads like Scales who are running around with their heads on fire." Samus turned her head just slightly to look back at him. His lips curved into a playful smirk. "But we can have a short weenie roast before we put them out. Or S'mores... Do you like s'mores?"

Samus' brows and lips curved into an expression that said she found his rambling odd yet somewhat helpful and inwardly amusing. She shook her head and he chuckled softly. Lifting his hand he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced upward.

"I guess what I'm sayin', Blondie..., is that bad things do happen...and a lot of the times they aren't going to make sense. They aren't going to be fair. They are going to be cruel. The only way to counter that is to do the opposite yourself and remedy what you can." He looked back over to her and lowered his hand. "You're still human inside...you have to make yourself stay that way...or you're no better than them." Samus listened to Fox and watched him, her eyes locked intently onto his in the dark before turning her head again, letting her hair sway over her shoulders.

"I suppose that makes sense...," she said quietly. Fox watched her quietly, suddenly wanting to touch her hair that looked so soft in the dim light. He restrained himself, of course. He was trying to be helpful and he didn't need to get in trouble. Despite the fact he was on his own fast pace and hated explaining things to anyone, Fox had always kept his own inward softness alive. He had plenty to be angry about, plenty to fuel a rampage on...and yet he still couldn't help trying to cheer up anybody who was getting dragged down. He felt particularly compelled when it was a pretty girl. It was sad that someone like Samus seemed to be so buried in conflict and strangled by shadows of her past. Both she and himself were still fairly young...and had already been through enough for many lifetimes. "Thank you," she murmured quietly. If his ears hadn't been so keen he may have missed it. Resting his hands in his lap he nodded lightly.

"Don't mention it..."