Sage snorted in amusement when the girl poked him. "Not as pretty as you," he chuckled. "And I'm not exactly one to walk around with flowers in my hair," he noted with amusement. When the girl asked about Luther, he hummed thoughtfully. It would be nice to know Luther would be there if he went crazy ...but by now he was less worried about hurting Anya, and more about hurting himself. "He's been busy, and I really don't want to bother him," he admitted. It was true, he wasn't making any excuses. Though, somewhere in the back of his mind he was wondering that if this all went well, they might be able to visit the tavern. Let go a bit more than they could in the castle. But that would be up to the girl...they'd had some fun last night, so he didn't know if she'd want to do anything this soon again, especially after what they were going to do. And he was nervous enough already...getting more and more tense and on edge the more they walked. He wasn't sure if he'd be fine enough to have that kind of fun, though he kind of hoped it would all work out.

Anya gave a slight nod at the boys answer. It was kind of what she'd expected anyway, but she had thought it would be at least good to ask. She wanted Sage to loosen up a little, maybe get him laughing while they walked. He'd just start thinking too much about what was going to happen, or, at least, she would if she was in his position. He might go mad and hurt himself, or someone else, and the prospect of that itself was scary. Not only that, but they were going to have to pass through the village, which, admittedly, was already freaking Anya out a little bit. So maybe a bit of joking would get her mind off everything too. "Yes, I am very pretty," she hummed, though her voice was littered with tease. "But I have to say, flowers bring a certain burst of new colour to your dark, sad, boring pallet," she chuckled lightly, emphasising the description to let him know it was just a coo.

Sage chuckled at the girl joke, glad she was trying to lighten things up a little bit. "Fine, I'll take it back then," he teased, reaching over in a joking attempt to snatch the flower from behind her ear. "Maybe I'll have to invest in flowers to spoil myself and I won't give any to you," he joked lightly. He was relaxing a bit, now, which was enjoyable. "Though this dark pallet seems to be pretty so maybe I won't," he pretended to muse, bumping the girls shoulder with his own.

Anya jumped away when he tried to snatch the flower from her ear before covering it up with a hand. "It's mine!" She yelped, wrinkling her nose at him in a tease. "Actually, that reminds me..." she hummed handing him the over shirt. "Put this on and keep warm," she ordered before shrugging. This was likely to be hard enough without having him freezing, so she just wanted him to be comfortable. "You've never given me flowers," she reminded with a chuckle. She didn't care, she didn't need any, but it was an amusing thought anyway, considering he was threatening to get himself some. "I'd bet you'd look like a princess with flowers everywhere, though," she noted in amusement.

Sage took the shirt from the girl with a chuckle, then snorted in amusement when she told him he'd look like a princess. "I've given you plenty of things! Ones better than flowers! And I think I'd make a good princess, with my nice silky hair and fancy, bossy ego," he giggled, teasing the girl slightly. He definitely didn't look like a princess and did not have hair like he'd described for sure, and it was a bit of a tease about the girl being bossy sometimes. Ok, a lot of the time. But he liked it, he really did. He trusted the girl, and loved her, so he was fine with taking the backseat and letting her boss him around. In fact, he quite enjoyed it at times.

Anya gave a slight laugh at his teasing, really finding it amusing. The boy was, really, the opposite of a princess. Rather a someone who'd been locked up in a dungeon for who knows how long. "I think my favorite thing you've given me so far is that little tavern you made... it's still adorable," she hummed with a chuckle. That, along with his little book of drawings he'd made were definitely better than a flower that'd probably die in a week. "Oh yeah, you'd be the belle of the ball with with that mop," she teased, gently tugging on his long fringe. They made their way through the castle and out the little tunnel into the woods, but Anya did stick close to Sage once they were out of the castle walls. They were pretty much shoulder to shoulder, and she'd taken a hold of his hand too... it was more than safe to say she was nervous about being out here, given that her last experience out the walls had been... less than stellar. But, she supposed, she did have Sage with her, and she did trust that he'd keep the both of them out of harms way.

Sage chuckled slightly at the rest of the girl's teasing, though he let it go once they got outside of the castle and the girl took his hand. He was glad she'd made that move..not because it showed she needed him, but because it definitely calmed him down and comforted him a bit too, and he hadn't wanted to grab the girl's hand himself...she'd be calmer if he seemed calmer, and he wanted it to stay that way. Though, the farther they went, the jumpier he got, and once they got into the woods near the lake he was finding it difficult to keep his breathing steady. He realized he'd started to tighten his hold on the girl's hand, and forced himself to loosen it so he didn't hurt her. It took quite a bit of effort, more than he liked, but he was, admittedly, getting really nervous. They were only a few minutes away from the lake, away from Lizzie...he should be happy to visit her, but all he could think about was how goddam awful he felt about letting the girl die.

Anya could sense the boy getting a little... skittish next to her, and in truth, it was scaring her, just a bit. And soon enough his hand was pretty much crushing hers, though, the girl didn't have the heart to ask him to let go. It was admittedly a bit of a relief when he loosened off a little. "You're alright," she murmured to the boy, trying a small smile. The girl sighed before stopping and gently tugging him around to look at her. "You don't have to do anything, you know. We can just go sit by her and talk if you'd like. This doesn't have to be scary," she noted softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, trying to calm the boy a little. She knew he felt guilty about Lizzie's death, but it really wasn't his fault... she just wasn't sure she'd be able to get that through to him.

Sage blinked at the girl and then once his brain registered what all she'd said, he nodded and let out a kind of sigh. "I know," he admitted. He turned to look over his shoulder at the trees surrounding the lake. He could see the glint of water already, and the shoreline...which meant they'd be at Lizzie's grave soon. "Let's just get there before I lose my nerve," he whispered hoarsely. Once he was there and was able to calm down, he assumed he'd be fine...it was just the getting there that he had to worry about right now. Anything else would explode his brain. He found himself pressing against the girl already, and his stomach was churning in a way he hadn't really felt any time before. He'd almost expected to just..go numb again, but this was somehow worse. He was just glad Anya was here...he'd need a safe place to stay once he came back out here. Well, safe-ish. And this had been it...but of he couldn't get over this he'd have to go somewhere else. It was that or sleep with a customer every night just to avoid his father as best he could. And he was willing to do it, too.

Anya gave a short nod before continuing on wards... hopefully, once he'd gotten there, the boy would be able to calm down again. They could have some food and talk, and that was all he had to do. She wasn't sure if he'd had something he wanted to leave at the girl's grave, like a note or some old toy of hers, but if he did then he could too. Anya was a little nervous, but for no other reason than she just wasn't sure how the boy would react once they got there. She could feel him leaning against her, so she let go of his hand and wrapped an arm around his shoulder and tried another smile. It was barely there, and it was obviously forced, but it was a smile none the less. Soon enough, they got into eye shot of Lizzie's grave, and Anya quietly broke away from the boy to go and set up their little picnic not too far away. He might be a little nervy, she supposed, but she just didn't want to be so close by encase he did snap.