"Nuriko!" she said suddenly.
"Doko? Doko doko doko?" Orpheus said quickly, looking around.
"Huh?" Meredith and Kristsi said.
"Nuriko! Lavendar! Your aura... I think Nuriko is your Bishounen!"
Meredith and Kristsi looked at each other. "Are you sure?" Kristsi said.
Susanne shrugged. "I'm never sure. But I think that's it."
"And maybe Orpheus could help you look for him," Anaera said, grinning at the mouse on her shoulder.
Orpheus tried too look sternly at her (not an easy feat for a rodent).
Susanne thought she saw movement out in the hallway and quietly stood up and walked out of the room. Roger was leaning against the wall next to the door.
"Looks like you have a nice little party in there," he said quietly.
"Roger, are there more?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I know Guardians, but not all of them have charges. I don't know who does and who doesn't. Dionysus is an exception. His was a rather... high profile case." He sighed. "And anyway, my concern isn't the other Otaku. It's you."
Susanne found that she couldn't meet his eyes for some reason. It felt almost like he was looking through her... or right into her. She was uncomfortable. "Oh, I'm sorry I blew up at you like that this morning."
Roger nodded. "It's okay, you're under a lot of stress. And, though it pains me to say it, I probably deserved it. You wanted to be alone." He sighed, and pointed toward the room in which the others still were. "But if that girl tried to drag me around like that again, I swear I'll eat her alive."
"Mm-hm," Susanne said, trying to keep a straight face. The memory of a drenched Roger was too fresh in her mind. And then he had turned into a human... she tried not to blush as she stopped that line of thinking, and ended up giggling.
She expected Roger to sigh in exasperation, but when she looked at his expression, he looked slightly amused. She'd thought he'd been serious about not liking being dragged around and thrown in the water-- no! He knew what she was thinking!
"Baka!" She said. "I say enough of my thoughts out loud! Leave my unspoken ones to me!"Roger chuckled and walked down the hall.
It was Susanne's turn to sigh in exasperation as she reentered the room with the other Otaku.