Susanne sighed contentedly. It was times like these when the years just seemed to fall away. She knew she was supposed to be an adult, but there was a definite reluctance to grow up. At least she and Meredith could still joke together. It was nice not to worry.

"Hey, we ought to see if we can catch a movie or something," Meredith said.

"I like it! What's playing?"

"How should I know?"

Susanne shrugged. "Good point," she said with a grin. "I think I've got some papers over in the corner there," she pointed.

Meredith got up and went over to where Susanne indicated and started paging through.

"Kashmir" came on the radio and Susanne turned it up a notch. "Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face..." she sang, slightly off pitch, but she consoled herself with the thought that no one could sing like Robert Plant, anyway.

Susanne looked up as she heard a footstep outside her door and a sharp knocking. Before she could say anything, Roger swung the door open.

"Look, I'm getting sick of this," he said angrily. "You spend more time yelling at me or somehow belittling me than anything else, and I've just about had it up to here. All I ask for is the respect due a Guardian. Maybe it's easy for you to see things so coldly, but I--" he caught a motion out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, hello, Meredith," he said, a faint blush barely appearing on his face.

She nodded to him silently, still trying to digest what had just happened. In fact, as he looked between the tall blonde and the little brunette, he realized that their faces held the exact same expression.

Susanne hadn't moved.

Roger cleared his throat. "Well, I, ah..." he glanced at the two girls again. He waved quickly, and left the room.

Susanne and Meredith turned to look at each other.

"What just happened?" They both said, then broke into another fit of giggles.