Forest smiled in return. The idea of relaxing and drinking until he couldn't see straight appealed to him. Giving up his careful control for a time because he had help now and a brother at his back. He wasn't alone. Mason said they were good people being around people renewed Forest of his weariness more than he could have imagined. They'd been sent to revive him and weather this dark storm together.<br/><br/>“Mason may as well be family,” he said, knowing it would have likely been different if Wallis and Lex would have come up to him without a familiar face. He wasn't as generous as he was being made out to be but he let it pass, listening to the playful tone the tall man took. He wasn't sure what he'd meant but some of his phrases were lost on him. He'd assumed he was just being friendly and didn't respond directly, simply took them back upstairs. He and Mason sat at the kitchen table for a while, leaned in towards one another and talking in low tones. Discussing the less savory parts of the end of the world. Forest told him about his family. How his mother was the first to go, then his sister, and finally his father. Mason told him about how it was with the rest of the world; the quarantine, how they'd been turned away, and the experiments conducted both inside and out. They would have taken Lex in but when presented with his options chose to stay with the two he'd known. They watched out for each other and now they'd help Forest keep his farm.<br/><br/>It was getting late and Forest was clearly tired. He told them to make themselves comfortable and to eat again if they were still hungry. He asked that Mason take the downstairs bedroom as it would be most helpful to listen out. That left the other two to find their own spaces upstairs.<br/><br/>It was towards the middle of the night when Mason went to find where Lex had set up. He expected he might come to him but he hadn't. He closed the door quietly behind him, getting into the bed Lex was in that was really not very accommodating for two individuals.<br/><br/>“Forest doesn't need to know about this,” Mason said, hand coming along Lex's body to his throat where he tipped his head back. “He's not really the sort. So I would be careful the way you talk to him.” He'd known things about Forest he wasn't letting on and he hadn't wanted to share Lex anymore than he already was. That, and he truly didn't know how Forest would react to the situation. It was better to keep all of it hidden including the arrangement he and Lex had with one another. He was getting comfortable when he heard footsteps down the hall, then someone taking two stairs at a time. Mason froze, not wanting to get caught in bed with Lex when he'd just advised him against it. He got out of the bed and quietly left the bedroom before whoever it was had the chance to come back up.<br/><br/>Forest was a light sleeper. Circumstances made him that way. Sometimes he imagined things but it was always better to check, even if it made getting a full nights sleep that much more difficult. He'd taken his gun with him and opened the front door, staring out. Bruce was quiet and when he turned Mason was coming down the stairs.<br/><br/>“Everything all right?” he asked.<br/><br/>Forest looked behind him to Lex. He'd made enough noise to rouse the two of them.<br/><br/>“Yeah, thought I'd heard somethin'.”<br/><br/>Forest walked out to lean against the porch, both scanning the surroundings and listening for anything that seemed off.<br/><br/>“Did I wake you two up?” Forest asked, starting to realize it was probably just him imagining things. He was surprised Mason had come from upstairs being that he'd asked him to take the downstairs bedroom but hadn't thought too much of it. Probably restless, unable to sleep in a new place.