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Susan waited until she heard it. The soft, whooshing noise that meant her grandfather had shut himself away in the laboratory under their house for the next few hours to jab at wires and mix up chemicals until he'd calm down. Then she stood and, quickly, as she'd done too many times to be comfortable, hurried out the door. She knew she'd be in trouble if she were ever caught, but she was far too worried to honestly care.

The good news was that Koschei was never very hard to trace. He only lived a short distance away, and the area was fairly empty compared to the rest of Gallifrey. The bad news was that he seldom actually went home. He'd wander around absently, staring intently at the ground, shoulders slumped, seeming to be weighed down by his own shadow. The times he did go to his own home weren't any better; most of the time he left the door wide open behind him, not even turning on the lights inside and stumbling around in the dark. She would close the door behind him, the least she could do to try and help, worrying all the way back home. Sometimes his moods were so bad she wondered if he'd even noticed.

This time, however, was different. She found him leaning heavily against a wall, eyes clenched as he held a hand to his head, frowning. Susan hesitated only a few seconds before moving toward him. He glanced up at her approach, looking almost lost, and he offered a weak smile. "Hello Susan."

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly, standing beside him.

He nodded. "Just a headache, they never last very long." He paused, a slightly pained expression flickered across his face. "You shouldn't be here."

Susan frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Stop it. You aren't any worse an influence than the rest of them, probably better actually. No matter what Grandfather says."

Koschei gave her an almost thankful look. "Well, since you've come all this way already, I suppose we should continue." He offered her his arm, eyes slightly brighter than before. "You should know the way by now."

She couldn't help but grin slightly. So he had noticed. "Someone has to keep an eye on you."

He chuckled slightly, silent the rest of the way. The two suns were hovering close to the horizon line, turning the sky a sort of burnt orange.

They stopped on his doorstep, and he smiled at her. "Thank you." He didn't mean just walking him home.

Susan nodded, waiting until he'd gone inside and closed the door behind him before turning around to make her way back home.

Her worry was set aside, if only for the moment.