Forest was friendly enough, answering Lex's questions with a casual ease though the brief pause made the former model wonder if perhaps he had picked at a too-fresh wound by asking if Forest was all alone. Of course, Forest couldn't have been alone all this time. The farm was too big for one man to handle all by himself. Certainly a family used to live here, work together, live eat breathe together. Now, it was just Forest, and a dog more interested in sheep than its master.<br/><br/>“I'm afraid not, mate. Mason isn't too keen on imparting his useful knowledge onto the likes of me,” Lex chided, smiling though he could feel Mason's hot glare against the side of his neck. “Says I only get in his way. I suppose he prefers to sequester me to the sidelines so I may cheer for him and offer the most sincere encouragement. Gets his muscles all ripply, you know.” There it was again, that feeling that Mason was watching him. Perhaps Lex had let his mouth get the better of him; he was relieved when the boys changed topic, Mason taking over and answering Forest's questions before Lex could say too much. The Englishman was surprised when Mason tossed the conversation back over to him, however, encouraging him to speak up.<br/><br/>“Yeah, yes, of course I'll do what I can,” Lex mumbled, nodding his head though he wasn't too enthusiastic about the offer. Though there was a common misconception that modeling wasn't physically demanding—it certainly could be, depending on the shoot—never before had Lex been required to farm or do any strenuous heavy lifting. Even the apocalypse hadn't roughed Lex up enough for him to be all that fond of the idea of hard work, mostly because Mason seemed to have put all his efforts into making sure Lex never learned<i>too</i>much.<br/><br/>Surprise bloomed on Lex's face as Mason brought up his lack of symptoms; clearly, Mason trusted Forest far more than he trusted the average passerby. The virus left the infected easily susceptible to heavy bruising, and it was assumed that just about everyone had contracted the deadly disease by now. Mason was always sure to be rough with Lex during sex to leave some dark marks on his skin, because anyone who was caught without bruising tended to disappear. Wallis was nicer, though far less passionate. The big man was reluctant to mark Lex up in any way, simply preferring to use the model to sate a need, nothing more. It was probably for the better. If both men took to beating Lex up while fucking, chances were high he'd hardly be able to move without feeling pain.<br/><br/>“I'm no virologist, mate.” Lex shrugged, unsure of what kind of answer he should give. He had zero idea why he hadn't started bruising of his own accord yet, or why he never felt any kind of fatigue beyond the weariness he felt from the constant traveling to which the three men had been forced to succumb. Mason and Wallis showed the same symptoms as anyone else, and between the three of them fluids of all kinds had been regularly exchanged. There was no reason why Lex should appear so normal, but he did.<br/><br/>“All I know is I haven't been hit with the same problems as the rest of the planet. I'd imagine it's something genetic, like how some people are just naturally more resistant to some illnesses than others, you know? I really don't know, though, and I'm not too excited about the prospect of being picked up by a bunch of shady characters in lab coats so they can prod me with needles all night and day, or whatever sorry experiments people are subjected to.”<br/><br/>Lex cleared his throat, once again eager to switch topics. “How long you expect that stew to take? Can't remember the last time the boys and I had a full meal.” As if to punctuate his sentence, Lex's stomach rumbled, apparently not satisfied by the carrot he had consumed in Forest's kitchen.