Lex awoke the next morning with beams of sunlight streaming through his bedroom window. His naked skin soaked up the light, indulging in the warm, toasted feeling that prickled along his body. He sighed contentedly as he sat up and smiled. The ache in his backside had disappeared while he slept (though the pain in his side still remained), and Mason hadn't sneaked into his room again to try to sate his carnal needs.<i>Maybe he's calmed down</i>, Lex thought hopefully, collecting his discarded clothing. He dressed before heading downstairs, only realizing the strangeness of the situation halfway through his descent. Hadn't Forest said something about them working today? Lex had gone to bed expecting to be shaken awake at the crack of dawn, and yet he'd been allowed to sleep as long as his body wanted. Forest seemed like a sweet boy, maybe he'd decided to give the newcomers an extra day to adjust. If that was the case, Lex wasn't going to complain.<br/><br/>Wallis was already awake, motioning for Lex to keep quiet as he entered the living room. “He's not?” Lex whispered cheekily, thinking Wallis meant Mason was spread out on the couch. “What a lazy wanker, being the last of us to shuffle from dreamland. What's the bloke doing out here, anyway? He's got a whole bedroom to himself and he wants to rest out on the sofa like some kind of transient?”<br/><br/>He slipped around the front of the couch, intending to playfully pull Mason from unconsciousness with a flirty touch and kiss. Mason always seemed to like it when Lex showered attention onto him, and with the kerfuffle from yesterday left unsettled, the model thought perhaps it best to start off the day on a sweet note.<br/><br/>“Get up, Mason, you—” he begun, hushing himself when he realized it was Forest passed out on the couch instead of his cranky companion. Lex paused, looking over Forest's face and frowning. “He look right to you, Wallis?” Lex asked, waving his big friend toward him. He leaned down gently pressed his fingers against Forest's pale forehead, balking at the dampness of the farmboy's skin.<br/><br/>“Mate, lad's all hot and clammy. I think he's got a fever. Go get me a damp cloth and see if there's any leftover ibuprofen hidden somewhere. I doubt it with his family gone there's much left but doesn't hurt to scan the place.” He knelt down beside Forest, petting the young man's hair. Fevers were a sign of the virus entering its second stage. They came fast and usually didn't last long, but from what Lex had heard the fevers left victims feeling weak, light-headed and sometimes delirious. It was possible Forest had just come down with a common cold, but with the bruising peppered along his sunkissed skin, Lex didn't think that likely.<br/><br/>He took the cloth from Wallis' hands when the big man returned, wiping at the sweat on Forest's face. “You find anything else?” he asked softly, keeping his eyes locked onto sleeping man on the couch. “If not, may need to give him a sponge bath. The evaporating water will help cool him down, but I'm worried about moving him.”