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Sage hummed with a sort of shrug when Jora reased him about ripping him in half. "Well, once she's a bit older and can hold her own, you might," he noted with a grin. He was fairly confident neither of them would actually ever hurt him, but he knew he'd get caught in an argument sooner or later. That was fairly unavoidable, in his opinion. Though, he wrinkled his nose when she said he deserved it, crossing his arms with a huff. "I do not," he complained, sticking his lower lip out in a sort of playful pout. At her next comment his face broke into a grin again, just cocking his head at her. "Well, it's funny," he noted with a chuckle. "And fairly cute, might I add," he mused, tossing her another wink for good measure. It was teasing, of course, but he did like her temper, and he did find her playful whacks rather adorable and fun to mess around with. If he really wanted to dodge her, he could. Though, at her next few comments, he groaned with a nod and a sigh. "I know," he grumbled. "Sometimes I wish my body would let me just sit around all day," he added with a sort of scowl. He ran himself ragged sometimes, he knew that....but Jora could tell when he was having a bad day and was going to do that, and knew how to help him calm down. He was grateful for it. For her. More than he could ever express. He glanced back at her when he felt her hand on his arm, humming softly at her comment, moving his arm to take her hand gently with a sigh. "Maybe," he noted softly. "I don't remember much of it," he pointed out. But he did remember the lady there, and some of the things she'd done to him. It wasn't right. He knew that. But he still figured he'd instigated something fairly often. It would make sense. |
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Jora snorted, amused despite herself at his grin. “Oh, trust me, once she’s older and has the claws to back me up, you’ll be outnumbered,” she teased, the corner of her mouth quirking. He wasn’t wrong—he’d end up caught in an argument sooner or later, and she wasn’t about to spare him when that day came. His pout, though, pulled another laugh from her. “Stars above, look at you,” she said, shaking her head at the way his lip stuck out. “You’re lucky I don’t find that pathetic, because I should.” Her eyes softened, though, betraying her fondness. The wink caught her off guard, heat creeping across her cheeks before she scoffed to cover it. “Cute, huh? You’re insufferable,” she muttered, giving his shoulder a shove that had far less force than it pretended to. But when his tone shifted, when the sigh left him, she let her own expression ease, tilting her head at him. She always knew when he was running himself thin, when his energy was less habit and more desperation. Her hand lingered against his arm, steady. “You don’t have to,” she murmured quietly. “Not with me here. You don’t have to force yourself to keep moving just to prove something.” Her grip tightened gently when he admitted what little he remembered, her heart tugging at the weight in his voice. “Maybe you don’t remember all of it,” she said, her voice firmer now, protective, “but that doesn’t change what was done to you. It wasn’t right, Sage. Not then, not ever. And nothing you did could’ve made it deserved.” She caught his eyes, her own steady. “You were just a boy. You were never the problem.” |
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Sunny
