Mason wasn’t sure what he was expecting. It was one of those times where he probably wasn’t thinking, the whiskey turning him meaner than he usually was. And he was frustrated, which turned rank especially when he imagined Lex stuffed up in the room all day with Forest. What he wanted now was for the two of them to have a good time and a few drinks together. It was obvious he wasn’t ready to settle for later, the idea just making his ire rise.<br/><br/>Lex’s mood shifted, his tolerance apparently reached. These words had gone unspoken between them up until now and Mason could only guess what the change had been. Forest had to be putting ideas into that pretty little head of his. Lex scrambled away from under Mason, hitting the ground. Mason had sat up, seething over the glass of whiskey he’d picked back up, not reacting beyond that.<br/><br/>Lex went back upstairs with the promised water to tend to Forest, leaving Mason downstairs to drown himself in his cups.<br/><br/>Forest was still sitting in his chair, brows raised when Lex came back inside.<br/><br/>“You drop somethin’ downstairs?” he asked, thinking he’d heard a noise. “Needin’ to remind myself it’s natural on account of the house no longer bein empty. Takes some getting used to again when I was accustomed to investigating every creak in this old house.” Forest tried to keep himself upright and awake, talking with Lex about which vegetables could be harvested tomorrow from the garden. It wasn’t that Lex was poor company, and he apologized, not wanting the young man who had been nothing but gracious to him to think he was rude or ungrateful.<br/><br/>“Thinkin’ I might need to get back in that bed,” he decided, hoping that he’d be well again in the morning if he slept enough.<br/><br/><br/>–<br/><br/><br/>It was some hours later before Mason went upstairs. He wanted to know where Lex had chosen to spend his evening. He wouldn’t be pleased to find him in bed with Forest for a number of reasons, most of which he was not ready to confront. It put him in a better mood to find that Lex was in his own chosen bed, alone. Even Wallis paying Lex a visit that night would have irritated him.<br/><br/>He was still a little drunk but he’d gotten through much of his anger. His words hadn’t worked for Lex and so he needed to tone it back just a bit. Things had been going well before he’d hit a sore spot, the young man being flirtatious and accommodating. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand down Lex’s hip, to rouse him if he’d not already woken up.<br/><br/>“Lex,” he started, “What I said earlier..” He sounded regretful. Why had he said it at all? Was he actually remorseful or just sorry that it hadn’t worked in cowing his pretty English boy? He couldn’t decide because Mason liked when things worked for him.<br/><br/>“That isn’t..” Mason was fighting to find words. “I guess what I’m trying to do is apologize. I got to drinking alone and that was probably a bad idea to begin with.”