Anya looked at him quietly for a few moments once he'd finished talking, her gentle blue gaze looking to his own much harsher eyes. "Yeah, well, she's not coming back," she finally grumbled before standing up. This wasn't where she thought the conversation would go, but in truth, she wasn't sure what else she had to say to him. "I tried for ages to get you to be at least happy, Sage. We all did, for ages, and I'm not sure we can do it again," she huffed out before folding her arms, almost as though she was a bit nervous about saying... well, any of this. But it was true... and that was how she felt. She wondered if that night in the cave was just to give him something a little bit... better, something to make him happier after Lizzies death. She found herself thinking back, wondering if any of it was really... real, or if it was just her subconsciously trying to give Sage a reason to keep on fighting. It obviously didn't work, because she couldn't even make him stay, never mind rethink the whole dying thing. She wondered if he was using her for the same thing... trying to find that reason to live. To be happy. But she clearly couldn't be apart of that. "If you want to leave and get yourself killed, go ahead. It'll make you happy, right? I've got a fiancé and a son to look after, people that I need, and what I don't need is for you come into my home saying you hate everything. There's too much going on for this." Hell, was she getting angry? She didn't want to say any of that. She wanted to be comforting, and kind, but why on earth couldn't she do that? She'd done it before.

Sage blinked in shock at the girl's response. She was right, and he knew that, but...that wasn't exactly the way to go about that. He waited until she'd finished talking, his face hardening. "Well, I got my answer as to whether you ever cared or not," he snorted. "Go on then, kick me out," he practically spat at the girl. "Throw me out on the streets, kick some gravel my way, and spit at me while you do it, why don't you?" Maybe he was overreacting, but that was the last straw, and he couldn't handle it any more. He'd quite literally given everything he had to the girl...he'd only had himself, so that's what he'd given her. And he'd given her more of himself than he'd given anyone else. Well, look where that had gotten him. "Did you ever really care? Or did you just act like it because I was the one person who you weren't supposed to be with?" He shook his head slightly, eyes begining to blaze with a sort of fire that he used to always own. He hadn't wanted to yell...hed wanted Anya to have some word of comfort and he'd wanted to get to know the girl again. But she was obviously gone. "You're so busy? Then leave, go on, forget about me. You did it once, and you don't particularly care now so it'll be easy, right?" He turned away from the girl then, looking out the window and willing himself not to break down in front of the girl.

Anya's once soft gaze hardened at the boy at he spoke, finding that she had to swallow a slight lump in her throat. She hadn't wanted to say any of that... she wanted to sit and be comforting but her words didn't match what her head was thinking. "God, Sage," she groaned, rolling her eyes as she clenched her jaw. "You know what? I cared about you. I cared about you so fucking much it hurt. I gave you everything I could, everything Sage! You know how difficult it was for me to get my mother to let you stay? Or for the doctor to treat you? And that was all after you came up into the castle." The girl couldn't look at him anymore. She was getting herself more and more worked up the more she went on... she should just leave him alone, but she couldn't. She could never just leave him the hell alone. "I've risked my life just to be with you, so that I could love you, in hopes that you might love me back at some point. But did that work? Well, I don't know. You tell me, Sage? Did you love me? Or was I just so infatuated with you that I actually thought I could help you. Make you happy. Hell, all I wanted to do was make you fucking happy! And not once did I see it. Other than in the cave, and maybe in the tavern. Was that all you wanted?" She was pretty much growling out her words now, on the verge of breaking down, but she wasn't going to do that. Not in front of Sage. She closed her eyes for a moment before taking in a shallow breath. God, she sounded like her mother... she hated that. She was just yelling at him for being unhappy. What kind of person would do that, especially when he was already upset. But, she was was telling the truth... and that was how she felt. The girl shook her head before taking a slight step towards him, looking over at him before looking out at the window... where Att and Luther were still playing happily. "No, you're gonna stay this time. No matter how much you hate it, you're gonna get better, because that's what Luther wants, then I don't care what the fuck you do with yourself." She grumbled before putting a cold hand on his shoulder and glancing down at him, but really it looked like she was about to cry. She wouldn't not in front of him. "Get some rest, Sage," she huffed before turning off and out the door, then making her way out to the lawn, where Att and Luther were playing.

(not sure where you are but it's just gone midnight with me so merry Christmas!)

(Merry Christmas!)

Sage hadn't meant to snap at the girl...he really hadnt. But that's how it had come out, and now he had to admit he was a bit afraid of the girl. He flinched when she put a hand on his shoulder and then blushed, hating himself for not being able to just get his act together. "I loved you," he murmured. "I still love you...but I love the girl I first met and fell for....not this version of her where she's just a miniature version of her mother." He wasn't sure if she heard him or not, but by then he'd let out a choked sob and hurled the sword he'd made for Att across the room, along with whatever else he could reach. The plate made a pretty loud crash when it hit the wall, which sent the doctor into the room, and gave sage a look. But it didn't make him feel better, really it just made things worse, so he turned away with a huff, furiously wiping away the tears that refused to stop. He felt the older man sit down next to him, and after a moment he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Sage flinched at that too, but after a moment just let the man hug him. He didn't say anything, probably because there was nothing to say, but after about fifteen minutes the doctor pulled away and handed him a rag and glass of water before offering him a sympathetic look and walking away. The man would talk to Anya later...he hadn't heard the entire conversation but it was clear the two teens would need some help in order to talk about this in a somewhat civilized manner.

Anya tried to collect herself a little bit as she wandered down to the gardens, but she was still just... upset. She'd meant everything she'd said, so why did she still feel like crying? She'd heard his little comment about her being a minie version of her mother, and that just hurt more. Maybe it was because she knew it was true. Still, she wanted to be happy for Att, and for Luther. So she took a moment just to stand in the halls before walking out the door with a smile... but it just hurt her cheeks so it soon dropped. She could see Att messing around the guards, and Luther was sat on the grass cheering him on. That was something that made her smile, even if her eyes were still glazed over. Luther glanced behind him with a grin and patted the ground for her to come and sit next to him when he saw the girl. "Att is showing them all up with his imaginary sword," he informed her with a chuckle. Anya nodded slightly before sitting down next to him and flopping onto him so that she was leaning on him. "What's up?" The boy asked. Anya just shook her head and buried her face into his shoulder. Luther sighed and wrapped his arms around her in a kind of comforting way before looking back out to watch Att. Anya could sit with him for as long as she wanted... and he'd be happy to sit with her until

she was bored of it.

Sage pretty much just sat around after that, not really wanting to do anything. Sure, he could draw something, but why bother? He'd already scattered everything around the room, and the subjects of most of his drawings were, to say the least, not giving him great memories right about then. He looked out the window at Att and sighed. Well, there probably went any time he'd have with the boy...Anya would probably keep him away from him, and stay away herself, too. He saw the girl collapse into Luther, which felt like a dagger in his chest. No, worse than that...it was a different kind of pain. At least a dagger would kill him. He turned away from the window, eyes filling with water again and he buried his face in his pillow. It used to be him Anya could lean against, and now he was the reason she was collapsing against Luther. Ugh, why couldn't he ever say something right for once? He was trying to trust Anya, to open himself up to her again...and what had he gotten for it? Hurt. He gotten hurt. Again. Why was he even trying to stay friends? Why did he want someone like that so much when all love and even friendship had done was hurt him?

Anya sat there for what had to be be about ten minutes, kind of just holding onto Luther until she was sure she was alright. Until any runaway tears had dried, and she was sure that she wasn't going to take any of that anger out on Att and Luther. Well... she didn't know if it was anger or just... sadness. Whatever it was, she didn't want Att or Luther to get the backhand of it. "Thanks," she whispered after a moment, really just grateful to be able to almost hide. Luther gave her a small smile and a nod before letting the girl go and cheering little Att on, who had by now caught the attention of the knights. They were all giggling too, but in a more supportive than mocking way. It was nice to see, for sure. She wondered if Sage would want to see the boy after that. She supposed he wouldn't want her there. Which was fine... she didn't want to be there very much either. But Att would want to see Sage, and while she didn't want the boy around him too much, but who was she to stop the child from seeing the boy who'd literally saved him?

Sage lay around for a while, thoughts running through his head a mile a minute. Eventually, though, he'd exhausted himself, and he closed his eyes, falling asleep. It was a sort of fitful sleep, but deep enough he didn't realize when the doctor slipped in the draw the curtain over the window and pull the blankets over him again. He sort of picked up some of the things he'd thrown about, too, and set the pile of papers on the desk so sage could do what he wanted with them.

(Bit short lol)

Anya sat and watched Att for a little while, until the boy had spotted her being there. He grinned at her before bolting up to the girl and barrelling into her. "Hey," Anya chuckled as she patted the boys back. "Having fun?" The child grinned at Anya and gave a nod before jumping up and pretending to slash around again, as if showing off some of the moves he'd copied. Luther hummed at the boy before shaking his head. "Very good," he hummed before standing up and lifting Atts head up a bit, then gently pushing his front leg further forward. "That's better, though!" Luther grinned before quickly running to grab a sword and giving the boy a handle. Att looked so happy with himself... though, after a couple of moments, the sword caught him off balance and dragged him to the ground. Anya yelped as she watched the boy, nervous that he'd end up hurting himself, but after a moment of silence, Att erupted with laughter, clearly amused by his little antics.

Sage slept for a while, and when he looked up and groggily saw the pile of papers set back up on the table and the broken plate mostly cleaned up, he chuckled slightly and let his head rest back down on the pillow with a sigh. He supposed he could draw something...he was bored...but he wasn't really sure what to draw, and he didn't feel like doing anything. So, he kind of just closed his eyes again and let there for a while, until he heard the doctor come in with another plate full of food. "No breaking this one or the cooks might kill you before I do," he grumbled, though Sage caught the amused undertone in the man's voice. He chuckled sheepishly and nodded with a yawn, watching the man as he set the food down and wander away. He wasn't hungry, not at all...really the thought of food made his stomach turn over, but he supposed he'd have to eat eventually.