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Anatoly had thought it had been terrible enough when Lex had left him before but it was absolutely nothing compared to what he was feeling now. At least before, Lex had done it because he had believed it was the best way he could protect him. Now, thanks to the island's inveterate sense of cruelty, Lex did not remember him or the life they had built together and so he had hurried away as soon as he could. As far as Anatoly was concerned in his eyes, he was just another one night stand.

There was the possibility that this amnesia was only temporary and Lex would soon have his memories back but Anatoly did not want to spend his days hoping for something that might never happen. The best thing to do was to go on, as he had done so many times before and feel grateful that he did not have to do this alone. He had adopted children, he had dear friends who he loved and trusted and they would all be willing to help and support him if he asked. It was more than he ever had in Moscow, he had to keep reminding himself. All things considered, he was lucky.

Even so, going about his day was an effort and he found that keeping in constant motion was the best thing he could for his state of mind. This generally meant a lot of walking all around the island. Today, he found himself along the path to Sookie's hut. Hoping that she would be in, he knocked on her door and waited.

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Truth be told, Sookie probably wasn't paying nearly enough attention to the other people in her life. Not as much as she would have liked to in a given month, at least, especially one filled with as much turmoil as July was turning out to be. But with all the time she spent trying to answer questions that probably weren't answerable in the first place, and as much time as she spent supervising Mitchell under the assumption that she'd stumble across said answers sooner or later, the rest of her social life had taken a nosedive.

In August, she supposed she'd probably go around apologizing for that.

But in the meantime, she found occasional pockets of time to spend around her hut, much needed hours to nap or just to sit and read, some time taken for herself to help rejuvenate herself for the next day. When she heard a knock at her door, she considered ignoring it for all of half a second before she pushed off of her chair and crossed the common room to open the door, eyes widening.

"Toly!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly for a second before the look faded. "Oh no. Who was it?"

"Lex," Anatoly answered wearily, wondering if it was funny or sad that Sookie could tell from a single glance what had happened. Mostly, he was just grateful she remembered him. More than likely, it was simply that someone dear to her was suffering from amnesia as well. It seemed the island wanted to make sure everyone suffered equally.

"Who was it for you?"

"Oh, honey," Sookie breathed, reaching out to hug Anatoly tightly around the shoulders, rubbing his back as well as she could to try and comfort him. Most people she'd heard of losing their memories seemed to forget people, seemed to forget the island, rather than a certain event, and Sookie couldn't help thinking that one certainly hurt more than the other. With Mitchell's loss, all she felt was concern. With what she suspected Lex lost, Anatoly must have been feeling lost, without a tether, and Sookie held him close. "I'm so sorry."

Leaning back slightly, she shook her head. "Mitchell's lost a fair bit of his memories, but he still remembers me, so I guess... I guess I got off lucky in that way."

Anatoly clung to Sookie tightly. He had tried so hard to keep his emotions in check for fear of what would happen if he gave in to his grief but in doing so, he had cut himself off from being close to other people. Feeling her arms around him reminded him of how comforting touch was and how much he had needed it.

"I am glad he remembers you," Anatoly said quietly. "That is something, at least. I tried to explain this place to Lex and I am sure he thought I was lying or drugged."

For as long as Anatoly wanted, Sookie would keep her arms wrapped around him, her palm flat against his back and brushing up and down with large, circular motions. The type that her gran used to use if Sookie ever felt herself falling victim to a panic attack— which was, for a girl who could read thoughts without intending, a rather common occurrence. She hooked her chin over his shoulders, only hoping that it could help.

"Yeah, I've been... lucky this time," Sookie admitted, thinking of Mitchell. It was him she worried about more than anyone else. But for most people and most situations, it was those who had loved ones who ended up hurting the most. Hers was hardly an inconvenience when stacked against all of that. "If more people talk to Lex though, he'll quickly come to realize what's going on. Maybe if you get him to a familiar face? That's that guy, Kon-El, right? I mean, not that I find it hard to believe in the existence of this place, but were I brought anew again, it'd be... easier to take me to Sam Merlotte or something."

The idea to bring Lex to a familiar face was a very good one and Anatoly felt ashamed that this had never even occurred to him. He had tried to remind Lex of everything and when that had failed miserably, he had simply let him go. It was true that he could still try... but he was not sure he wanted to face this Lex anytime soon.

"That is an idea," he said, "But I think the timing would be wrong. Even when Lex had his memories, Kon was not even an idea. I understand that for him, there was no Superman either. It might confuse him more than it would help."

"Mmm," Sookie considered, brows pinching together briefly. "Well... then I guess, I guess I'm kind of stumped. So far, with Mitchell I just try to act as much to his expectations as I can, you know? Because I know I'm not gonna be able to just cram those memories back in his mind, so I just want to make sure that I don't scare him to where I won't be able to watch over him."

She reached out for Anatoly's hands, squeezing them tightly in her own. "We'll figure it out though. I promise you. I just don't know what you want more right now— we can plan? Or we can just focus on giving you a distraction for a few hours. Could take you to the kitchen and cook you something."

Anatoly could have wept at her kindness and indeed, he had to take a few moments to compose himself before answering. She had Mitchell to look after and here she was offering her help. Truly he was lucky that in the middle of all of this chaos, he could find a safe haven with Sookie.

"Distraction would be lovely," he answered. His stomach rumbled loudly at that moment and he ducked his head ruefully. "I admit that I would love something to eat if you are certain that it would not be too much trouble."

"Not at all," Sookie replied, tone placating as she laughed lightly at the rumble of his stomach. It wasn't too surprising— one of the first things that happened in moments of crisis, as far as Sookie had observed, was that the person in the center of it would stop taking care of him or herself. Particularly those who weren't inclined to be selfish to begin with, such as Anatoly himself.

"Actually, I find that cooking in the midst of stress is quite satisfying," Sookie went on to say. "Cleaning, too. We could probably work together in the kitchen, keep your hands busy. I've lived close to it since arriving for a reason. 3 AM pies have definitely happened before."

"I would like that very much," Anatoly said. Cooking and working in the kitchen were not his strong suits at all but that was probably for the best in this particular case. He would be forced to pay attention to what he was doing and so he wouldn't have time to worry and brood as he was doing now. "This might even be, what is that phrase? The silver lining to all of this. I can perhaps learn how to cook something more than a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Oh, but a good grilled cheese sandwich is nothing to sneeze at," Sookie said in turn, grinning as she reached for Anatoly's hand and tried to tug him along to the door, a pleased flare rising at the accent that his words still took, making the mundane sound a touch foreign and exotic. "If you can get, like, truffle oil to fry that in? It's incredibly addictive. 'Course, there are some people who'd get on my case about using truffles for something like that, and I don't think we've got any manner of truffle oil on the island, but... even the simplest of foods can taste as though they've been prepared by a master chef."