Anya looked up from the shoulder of the handsome, young-looking man who, when he wasn't a 12 foot giant, was of average height, and saw a great many familiar men watching her being carried away from them. Her eyes met and held Yakov's and her gut twisted painfully up inside. Meeting his gaze was immeasurably difficult. She couldn't even try to catch a glimpse of Sergei. And she could see Cynric shifting from hoof to hoof, stressed at seeing her again and having to watch her leave. She felt tugged towards them all in a way she couldn't understand, and only felt better, if even just a twinge better, when they stepped through the large metal door and disappeared into the staircase that would lead them downstairs.
She felt tears fill her eyes and let her head fall down to the crook of his neck again. He seemed to sense her distress and moved his jaw against the back of her head as they quickly went down the staircase. Once they were in her room, Anya asked Deandra to fill a bath for her, and she asked Samir to stay. She wasn't ready to face anyone else, and he seemed intent on allowing her the space she needed right now.
A long, hot shower helped calm her nerves and Anya scrubbed herself repeatedly, until she felt like she had gotten off the entire experience of the night before. It wasn't that she had had a bad time with the gargoyles, she remembered being very very aroused and more than happy to take them on. She'd had no idea how voracious the beasts would be, however, and even after she'd passed out, she'd known that they would have kept going. It made her feel weird, and she wasn't happy until she felt like she'd washed every last drop of them off of her body.
After she was out of the shower, Deandra helped lotion her up with the coconut scented oil and then she brushed through Anya's long, wavy hair as it fell close to her waist. When the servant used the goo on Anya, she sighed happily, she was sore after last night and was more than happy for her body to be soothed by the thick liquid. Finally feeling close to normal, Anya walked out of the bathroom and saw that Samir was still standing somewhat in the closed doorway of her bedroom. His dark blue eyes looked over at her as she walked in and he smiled wide.
Samir looked like the guy you'd see running out with a surfboard into the ocean on some advertisement for Hawaii. He did not look like he would turn into a giant of a man with a strength she couldn't quite believe. He was incredibly approachable and he looked at her with genuine concern in his eyes as he slowly made his way over to her.
"Mr. Hughes came down to check on you, but I told him that you were fine, that you didn't want to be disturbed. Is that all right?" He asked, running a hand over her left cheek as he looked at her.
Anya nodded, "Thank you."
"Would you like me to leave?" His question made her frown.
She shook her head and felt herself move into his arms as they wrapped around her tightly. "No, I'd like you to stay."
"Then I will stay." He said softly to her as he kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you." Anya knew she was thanking him for more than just being here for comfort, he had gotten her free.
"I was supposed to be your appointment today." He told her and felt her stiffen in his arms, "I do not intend to remain so."
Anya felt her breath leave in a sigh and wrapped her arms around the man who held her, she knew Deandra had walked out of the bathroom after tidying up after herself and had stood near them to see if she was needed any longer.
"Anya, can I get you anything else? Some food?" Deandra's soft voice asked and Anya turned towards the woman.
Smiling gently, she nodded, "I'm very hungry, thank you. But other than food, I don't need anything else."
Deandra nodded and opened the door. Anya looked into the hallway and saw that Mr. Hughes was standing just outside, and he turned to look inside when Deandra stepped into the hallway. His light blue eyes were searching. Worry, curiosity, fear, it was all written in his gaze and Anya frowned.
Without saying anything, she walked over to the dresser in her room and took the key off the top of it that she hadn't used since she had arrived at Vorhees. Slipping her hand into that of the blond man who had remained where he was when she had approached him, Anya led him with her into the small room in the back of her bedroom, stepped inside with him, and then closed and locked the door behind her.
Inside the room was a desk with a wooden chair, and a couch in the corner of the room. Anya pointed to the man she was with and then at the couch. She watched as he smiled, amused at her, and then went to sit down as she dug into the purse that she'd tossed onto the desk at some point. Pulling out her cell phone, she walked over to him and sat down against his side.
Tapping a few times on the phone, she eventually heard the phone ring and after a little while, it was picked up.
"Anya, jeez, Mom has been wondering when you would call." Her cousin, Lindie, said and Anya felt tears fill her eyes as she tucked herself closer to Samir's side, welcoming the way his arm wrapped around her.
"I'm sorry. I've been bad about calling. It's been very...relaxing here and I mean to call at night and then one thing happens, then another."
"Oh, gosh, no, Anya. I told Mom that if I were you, I wouldn't call until you came home. But she said you wouldn't be able to make it all week without talking to the kids." Lindie laughed, Anya could hear her youngest babbling in the background, it made her heart ache.
"How is everyone?" Anya asked, trying hard to make her voice not sound shaky.
During her conversation with her cousin and a few of her children, Samir sat quietly by her side, allowing her to cuddle close to him as she spent much needed time reconnecting with her normal life outside of Vorhees. When there was a knock on the door, he was the one to get up and open it, taking a tray filled with food and several shakes and some juice and milk from Mr. Hughes and Deandra, and he moved them into the room before stepping out for just a moment to speak with the man who seemed insistent on an audience with him. Finally, Anya watched Samir come back into the room, and he relocked the door and sat down beside her again, reaching to her and pulling her into his lap as he waited for her to finish her call.
"Would you like a shake first?" Samir asked when she finally tapped the phone at the end of her call.
"Yes, please." Anya said and watched him stand and fetch one from the tray before handing it to her and watching her drink it greedily.
"Your children miss you." He said sadly, watching her nod as her eyes looked into the distance wistfully.
"I miss them. I've-I've enjoyed my time here, though, Samir. At least, most of it. I wasn't very happy to wake up this morning the way I was, but I have enjoyed it. It's been very...good...for me to be here. I've learned a lot about myself. But...I will be ready to go home, I think." She said, sipping from the shake as she spoke.
"Your time here was never going to be permanent. I can understand wanting to be home." He nodded, bringing the whole tray closer by moving the chair over and putting the tray on it.
"Where is your home, Samir?" She asked, he frowned and looked towards the window of the room.
"I have lived a great many places, Anya. Now I live here." She figured he wouldn't say more, figured Mr. Hughes had forbidden such a thing, but he continued after a moment, "But for a while, I lived in northwestern Turkey and Syria. They are beautiful countries. But lately, with the way the human world is, it hasn't been safe for me there. I came here for my own piece of sanctuary, just as many of the others have."
