The Age of The Masrui

(( It's alright haha! Feel better soon! ))

Reid rolled his eyes, getting to his feet and heading to the back garden. Leaning against the doorway and watching the horizon.

Astrid followed him out, choosing to lean against him rather than the opposite side of the doorway.

He instinctual slipped an arm around her waist, changing the subject with a quiet; "Every sunset all of the birds come home to nest in those trees just over there, I swear there is like hundreds of them. The sky turns black, it used to terrify me because it reminded me of a scene in a scary movie just before the apocalypse came."

“We’ll have to camp out round here at some point when things are less stressful, grounds round here look perfect for it.”

"There a glamping yurt set up just in the crook of the trees, with a fire pit outside." Reid hummed. All of the escape without the mud and stress of tents."

“That’ll do for now but I’ll get you in a tent, properly camping one day.”

Reid wrinkled his nose up in disgust at that. "No thanks, I'm not really into things that dirty."

“It’s only dirty if you don’t pick your ground right, which I am fantastic at so no need to worry.” Astrid laughed softly.

"You can be set up a muddy tent and I will be in the nice cozy yurt."

“As long as we can meet in the middle for the drinking and the fire I’m fine with that.”

"Deal." Reid hummed, a smile pulling at his lips as he confirmed with a gentle; "Next time you are in the area we will do that. Tonight we will stay in the house though, as the fire is already going."

---

"Is that the woman my grandfathers device completely messed up?" Dorian questioned, sat on one of the armchairs in Caliban's apartment as they watched the trailer to a movie due to come out soon, throwing popcorn into his mouth. Having needed some company so simply made himself at home. "Yeah, yeah it must be - I recognise the name. I never knew she was an actor. Black haired actor - controversial."

“You say it like Karsi isn’t the figurehead and poster child of Levi’s whilst we maintain that we’re a totally legit and legal company.” Caliban shrugged with a laugh. “Pretences... besides. Acting is professional lying - fits in with the stereotype to go with the hair, no?”

---

“It’s a plan.” Astrid confirmed with a smile. “Tonight we get drunk by the fire and pass out and see which one of us wakes up screaming first.” She added lightly, no stranger to using humour to tiptoe around their shared trauma.

"I think it is going to be you this time, I'd bet two hundred on it." Reid hummed with a smirk. "Though, your expression was a picture a week and a half ago when we fell asleep with face time going and it was me first. I am glad it recorded it, I went back and got screenshots of your reaction."

---

"I suppose so. I am surprised into isn't you, Maddox or Altair as the public image of it all though." Dorian hummed. "You met her, right - the television girl? Is she that pretty or is it movie magic?"

“Maddox is clueless, Altair gives off, and I quote my sister bad vibes and I don’t really want to be here, let alone heading it.” Maddox shrugged. “She definitely looks better after the surgeon sorted her, the damage the device did was horrific… and your grandfather wasn’t even phased.”

---

“Why on earth would you do that?” Astrid groaned, though was laughing soon after. “I’m not used to being woken up okay? It’s usually me that wakes everyone up.”

"He isn't phased by anything, if he can give his wife a drug and use her as a test subject then it speaks for itself for his level of humanity - I needn't even get in to how he abandoned Marley and I."

---

Reid laughed quietly, pulling his phone from his pocket and opening up the gallery to show her the screenshots. "See; hilarious. Perfect blackmail material right there."

“I’ve got videos of you eating your dinner through a straw with your jaw wired shut, Langstead. Don’t start with the blackmail material.” Astrid laughed then, pushing the phone away in faux horror.

---

“Yeah.... reaching Levi levels of fucked up with that one.”

"And her level of blindness; he claims he adored my mother - that she was the light of his life but he had no issues with telling her that her own mother was dead so." Dorian hummed. "I hate them all, him and his colleagues. This whole new world order stuff they have going on, it is just racism in another form."

---

"Oh god, don't remind me of that time. I tried to blend spaghetti bolognaise."

“Ah the days of eating essentially baby food.” Astrid grinned.

---

“Whatever it is... it makes money.”

Reid shook his head in the negative. "It closed to killed me not getting to speak for that long. I don't know how everyone else coped with not hearing my voice."

---

"It wouldn't take much to overthrow them all," Dorian hummed in a relaxed tone. "I know every weakness the building they reside in has, gained access to all of their codes."

“The world managed, even though it was very very hard.” Astrid teased with a grin.

---

“Best off keeping that information to yourself or you’ll end up dead next.”

"I did feel sorry for them, but then I often feel sorry for myself; your voice sounds different to everyone else than it does when you hear yourself speak. you know? So, I often feel sorry for myself for not being able to enjoy it as much as everyone else gets to." He smirked.

---

"No one is interested in killing me, I'm not that important in the grand scheme of things." Dorian chuckled. "Soon though; expanding next month, I am signing off a contract with a landowner just out of country - new fishing spot, it already comes with a lodge. I might convert that to a B&B. Make a whole retreat kind of thing."

“God you’re starting to sound like Ronan.” Astrid laughed then, playfully elbowing him.

---

“Never got yours and your sisters obsession with fishing.” Caliban wrinkled his nose.

"It is a business like any other kind of business. Only with our business you get to eat what you catch... sometimes, so long as you don't catch anything, y'know... endangered." Dorian hummed. "You even have all of the underhand stuff your family deals with on the daily, certain kinds of hooks or deep sea methods that are illegal because they ruin everything they touch, but you end up catching more with them - it is very dramatic. Obviously I avoid all of that. What is your obsession? Everyone has one, and you aren't that into your families business."

---

"Hey!" Reid laughed when he was elbowed, going to tickle her in response.

“Jack of all trades, master of none.” Caliban shrugged as he grabbed his drink. “My life is like ninety five percent Levi’s, four percent looking after everyone’s kids that aren’t mine and one percent free time.”

---

“No!” Astrid screeched, instantly shifting to cover herself.

"Sounds miserable," Dorian mused, "You should get out - join a community club or something. Bingo? I can see you being a bingo person."

---

Reid laughed, continuing his efforts only now aiming more to wrestle her to floor in a play fight like manner.