The night hours dragged on and on, and Sage found himself cleaning furiously as he tried to block out the thoughts about Anya. He really needed to get a grip...stop worrying about how she was faring....if she was sleeping, or eating, or if she was entertaining herself well enough. He sighed, bored, even though he was working nonstop. He was thankful he'd gotten some rest before he'd came back to the tavern though, as he figured he wouldn't get any sleep while he was here. He was also pretty thankful that he wasn't in a room the very same night he'd left Anya...that would have felt...well, horrible to put it simply. By the time morning came, the tavern was spotless and customers were coming in and out. While he worked, he felt like he was dreaming...like he was carrying out the motions of working but his mind was elsewhere. And it was, it was on Anya still...which he didn't know if that was good or bad. By the time the day was done, he went to get a broom, then heard the tavern owner talking to a young woman...about the rebellion no less. Sage let out a deep breath...she was staying the night, and while he felt guilty about sleeping in a room with this stranger....it would be a good opportunity to get more information. She looked and sounded like she knew a lot about the whole rebellion thing. He took a deep breath, knowing he'd hate this more than pretty much anything else, and emerged from the back of the kitchen he usually hid in. If he could do this, and act real about it...flirt with her and respond in the way she wanted him too in the room...chances were he could get a lot of information from her. When she'd dragged him into the room and they'd gotten...well, frisky...he realized that he'd gotten more than he'd bargained for. She thought she could tell this crazy tavern boy anything, and he was too caught up in her..whatever...to tell anyone. Heck, the boy would probably join the rebellion, since he was acting like a lovesick puppy. At least, that's what it seemed like, since she had no issue telling Sage everything after he'd done his job and satisfied her in a flirty manner that he'd definitely never done before.

Anya found herself kind of rocking back and forth... trying to get her mind off Sage as she sat there, her eyes closed as she tried to relax. God, had she always been so... empty without him? Like a little bit of her was missing? Surely she wasn't that in need of him, right? It had only been about a year, but she couldn't remember what it was like, well, before him. But that was mainly because she had forgotten a huge amount of memory during her time in the cell. She rocked back and forth for a little while, letting the cool breeze of the evening wash over her. A small knock at the door caught her attention after a little while, and as soon as she hummed an okay Luther wandered in, juggling with two hot chocolates. Anya couldn't help a small chuckle that crossed her face as she watched him trying not to spill anything. "You drop those in my room, just know I'll hurt you," she joked, rolling her eyes as she took one of the steaming mugs. "Considering you've been grumpy all day, I didn't assume anything less," Luther replied as he took a seat next to her, quietly sipping his drink. "What? I've not been grumpy," Anya noted with a small chuckle as she tilted her head so that she was kind of leaning against his shoulder, still looking out, watching as the lights slowly started flickering out again, leaving just the tavern lights on... she kind of knew Sage would be there. Luther chuckled slightly, rolling his eyes. "Then why've you had a face like thunder ever since this morning? I've never seen you so... dim." It was true - Anya could maintain a pretty dark expression without even realizing it. Maybe she was a little more upset than she knew... well, not upset, just... low, she assumed. Man, did Sage have such a big impact on her? Surely not. Hours passed before Luther finally picked up and left, leaving Anya to get showered and changed, ready to kind of sit in bed, just until she finally let herself fall asleep... which had probably taken a hell of a lot longer than she was used to.

Sage let out a sigh of relief once the woman fell asleep...he knew he should get some rest too, while he had the chance, but he couldn't seem to be able to. He'd gotten the information he wanted...more than he though he'd get, actually...but he still wished he didn't have to do this...he felt pretty bad about it now that he and Anya were...what. not a couple. That would never happen. Secret lovers? That was about as close as it would get. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, not able to sleep or even rest. He looked out the window, staring at the castle in the distance, Wondering if Anya was having a better time than he was. She had to be...he was doing exactly what he hated to do...at least she was home and wrapped up safe in the walls of there castle. He didn't realize how long he stared at the tops of the castle roof until he noticed that the sun was coming up, streaming into the room. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, then almost jumped when the woman next to him stirred. He put his flirty mask back on as she opened her eyes, just in case he could get anything out of her. Well, in the small moments he had where she wasn't kissing him...she got bored eventually though and got ready to leave in a somewhat timely manner. Sage couldn't help but be impatient for her to leave....that night he could go back to the castle, back to Anya. It hadn't been long, three days by then, but gosh it had seemed like forever to him. And he still had to wait all day, until it got dark out....how was he supposed to wait? He went through the day hurriedly, busier than ever as he tried to make the time go by as fast as possible. It took forever, though, for the customers to leave. His hands practically shook, so much so he gave up on sweeping pretty quickly and all but sprinted back to the castle. He slipped inside the tunnel and paused long enough to catch his breath (at least most of the way) before climbing in through the window to find Anya. He wanted to surprise her, though he just wanted to see her by then, more than ever.

Anya went through the next day much like she had before... though, she made much, much more of an effort to seem happier. It wasn't normal for friends to be so down about not seeing each other, so she had to mask up. She knew she and Sage weren't exactly friends... but they weren't a couple either.... friends with benefits, maybe? No... it was more than that, she actually loved him. And she hated that... hated that she loved him so much, and that he could make her so... happy. She hated that he loved her back, too... because it meant she had no reason to focus her attention on someone else. It was all the worse knowing that there were plenty of women down in the village, women who needed him a lot more than she did. These were people he didn't have to pretend to be friends with, who he could love with all his heart and not have to wait to be alone with them. He'd never get that with Anya... even if she wasn't promised to Luther, they wouldn't be possible. Their social classes were far too different. That was probably the worst of it all. She shouldn't even love him if things were different, and yet here she was, her heart aching with worry for the boy. He had lived nearly eighteen years out there, surely he could last a few more, especially considering he was so much healthier now. She wasn't sure when he would be back... maybe late that night or early the next morning. She wasn't sure. It could even be weeks from know if he had really taken to being out there again. She wasn't sure. But the day had been slow, and she was just so... tired. She knew she looked that way too, from the maids talking about her as she walked around. She had forgotten how completely and utterly boring life was in the castle... so as soon as she had readied herself for bed again, and her head hit the pillow, she found herself flat out asleep... dreamless but peaceful.

Sage was quiet as he crept into the castle...there was no need to alarm anyone, or wake anyone up. He let the guards watching the castle know he was back, so they wouldn't get in trouble, and neither would he...they knew he'd be back so it wasn't a surprise to them for him to pop up out of nowhere and waltz into the castle like he owned the place...they'd mostly gotten used to his somewhat cocky attitude by then. He noticed no one was up, except for the maids that cleaned up after everyone else was asleep. They chatted quietly as they cleaned, happily going about their business. Sage wished his own cleaning was like that...chatting happily with a friend or two as he cleaned. But he didn't get that luxury, of having friends down in the slums. He continued on his way, hesitating outside Anya's room. Would she rather him just say hello in the morning? Did she want him in there? But no, he'd been in there before, and she'd come into his room at night...she wouldn't mind. She'd be happy to see him...this would be best. He slipped into the room and closed the door, locking it behind him. The click of the lock was soft, so hopefully it didn't wake the girl...though if it did wake her she wouldn't be upset, he was sure. He quietly walked over to the bed and slid in beside Anya as quietly as possible, trying not to bounce the bed too much...she needed the sleep. He was suddenly exhausted too...he hadn't slept the three days he was out. As soon as he lay down by the girl, he was out...dead asleep.

Anya slept peacefully... well, she did, other than a few moments where she shifted a little. It was no surprise when she woke up stupidly early though... she had been tired the day before, or maybe she was just an tiny bit... well bored. She'd probably slept too much over the last few days if she was being completely honest. The sun had started to rise.... so it was wayy early. She grunted to herself before starting to stretch a little, when her hand hit skin. She looked a little surprised for a little while before slowly opening her eyes, although she wasn't overly ready for it. A huge grin came over her face when she spotted the thing she'd hit... the thing being Sage. He was back... she wondered for a breif moment when he got back, but soon enough let it slide and just kid of slif towards him and wrapped herself around him lovingly. Her breathing slowed a little before gaining the will to talk quietly. "Hey," she whispered softly, though her tone was so, so exited. She almost sounded like she didn't want to wake him. She wanted to talk to him, of course, to find out what he'd been up to and if everything had gone alright. She was just exited for him to be back... like an excitable puppy dog when its owner came home.

When Anya spoke, Sage was half asleep so he just kind of hummed sleepily and pressed himself closer to Anya, who was now curled around him. He felt a smile spread across his face too, glad to be back with her, even though they hadn't been separated for very long...three days only...though it had seemed like forever. It was early though, and while his brain wasn't fully awake quite yet, especially since he hadn't slept the past three nights, and not well even before that, he was glad to be back, and made an effort to respond. If anything, his sleepy little murmur would make Anya ridiculously happy rather than upset he wasn't there to really talk to. Well, really she could talk to him all she wanted, he just might not take everything in since he was still exhausted even with a few hours of decent sleep.

Anya smiled when she got a reply and just kind of nestled into him further. she knew he was sleepy... she wouldn't imagine he managed to get much sleep out there, so simply held onto him, arms around his chest and legs around his side as she is kind if limpited to him... they could catch up, later on, she was sure. All she wanted was to hear his voice and be told he was alright. She wasn't sure when he had gotten back, but he must have slipped in so quietly that she didn't even notice all that much. She sighed slightly and closed her eyes again, just happy to be with the boy again... she didn't even really need to talk... the last time she'd spoken while he was barely awake was in the carriage on the way back to the castle, and it had backfired awfully. Well, that and he was tired too... and she wasn't going to be the one to wake him up when he was peaceful. She had assumed those couple of days in the slums were rather taxing, to say the least. She tried to lull herself back into sleep to the sound of his heartbeat, but it wasn't working all too great. She just wanted to be closer to him... which wasn't very possible, considering she was already wrapped around the poor boy.

Sage smiled slightly and nestled closer to the girl as she wrapped herself around him, letting out a kind of soft, tired sigh before letting himself drift back off to sleep. Which, to be honest, happened pretty quickly, especially now that he was back in his....we'll, his happy place. Which, really, was just with Anya. It didn't matter when or where, as long as he was with her he was happy ....which he'd quite honestly never think he'd say. At least he thought he was happy ..it felt like it, but then again his brain could just feel similar and he was only fooling himself, but he didn't think so. His feelings for Anya were genuine...and he couldn't believe anything else.

Anya smiled softly as he nestled in slightly. She knew he was tired, so didn't try and talk too much. They had all the time in the world to talk... for now, she just wanted to enjoy having him back again. It was only a few days, but she didn't think she'd be so exited to see anyone. Let alone some tavern boy... someone she shouldn't even know. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. She wouldn't sleep... but she could rest for a while before getting up. It was still early in the morning, so early, and the castle was quiet... so she could just enjoy having him back for a little while. His scent and warmth... something she had oddly found herself missing over the last few days. She had gotten used to him being there for her to cuddle up to - so when he was gone, she found sleep a little... rough.