Who Needs a Dream? Who Needs Ambition?

The trip back to the hut he and Lex shared seemed like an eternity to Anatoly. He had known that it was a possibility that Florence could appear, especially after Freddie's arrival but he had began to believe that it would never happen. Now here she was, taken from the worst moment and to top it all off, she was not his Florence. She was no less beautiful with her dark, curly hair and deep eyes but she was the Florence from Freddie's universe and somehow that hurt even more.

He paused before entering the hut, gathering his courage. He was afraid of what would happen when he told Lex, that their relationship would be altered beyond repair and he did not think he could take the loss a second time. It wasn't just anyone who was here, it was Florence - Florence who loved him and whose heart he had now broken twice over and when all was said and done, he had been in love with her for a year. She was not some stranger passing through for a night or two in his bed.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the hut and made his way to the table where Lex was sitting, preparing for his classes. "Florence is here," he said bluntly, running a hand through his hair. There was a more graceful way he could have put it, certainly, but he could feel himself heading near collapse and he didn't have the mental strength to word it any more delicately.

As Anatoly very carefully made his way through the well-worn path, he thought that Cassie would be rather proud if she knew he was actually out of his hut. She might be less pleased if she knew he was a shade drunk, but that was neither here or there. The important thing was that he was out, actively seeking company from a real person and not the vodka.

He paused in front of Roger's door, suddenly feeling a little anxious. What if he wasn't there? What if he was? The truth was that social situations left him uneasy, something that he hadn't properly realized until now. At home, Molokov had controlled every situation and often given him talking points. Here, he'd allowed Lex to do much the same. Now he had neither and he was realizing this had to change if he wanted to have friends at all.

Screwing his courage to the sticking place, he raised his fist and knocked. "Roger?"

Of all the things Anatoly had expected to find outside of the changed compound, a hot tub was not one of them. He glanced at it curiously, running his hands along the side. All seemed in order, as far as he could tell, and the water was pleasantly hot to the touch.

The contrast between the cold air and the warm water would be an extremely pleasant one, and it was the closest he could get to a proper Russian banya here. He hesitated, all the same. Should he go in? What if someone minded or wanted it for purposes of their own?