Sage shrugged and felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a dry smile. "Hurt him more than me," he hummed. Then he shrugged again and shook his head. "Hit 'em right and it doesn't hurt. Besides, noses are squishy...the bones deep inside." He cocked his head slightly at the girl as he talked, still a bit curious as to how often the girl had seen something like that happen. She obviously didn't like the thought of it or seeing it, but she was familiar enough to make sure he'd killed the man. Well, that was a story for another time, if she felt comfortable enough to talk about her past. He wasn't going to press her. Besides, he could see the little house by then, so they should really go get started on dinner.

Mari pursed her lips slightly before shaking her head. Death wasn't one of the things that amused her, surprisingly enough. Mari had to reach to her nose and ran a finger along the bridge of it before looking to Sage, her head cocked again. "I couldn't do that," she hummed lightly as she looked towards her little house. In truth, she hated the idea of what he'd just done... not the killing, but the way of doing it. The idea of pushing someone's nose back into their brain was just... well, it was unsettling. They got to the house soon enough, and Anthony was sitting playing cards with Xander, and her mother was busy cleaning the table up so it was ready for dinner. She seemed happy, though, in a reminiscing kind of way... so the girl tooSage'sthat the woman had found Sage's painting. Well, she was glad it'd made her feel a bit better. The girl smiled at her mother and went to place the groceries on the table, and the woman murmured a hello to the two of them before scurrying off to give them space to cook. "How was the bakery?" She called into the living room as she shoved the basket back into the cupboard under the sink. Anthony kind of groaned and shook his head. "Someone broke in and stole three dozen pies," he huffed, "and the cash in the back," the man told her before going back to his little game of cards. Really, it wasn't too much of an issue for them because the store wasn't theirs... but her mother worked there, and the woman couldn't afford to lose her job... or a months pay, for that matter. She was too old to get another one now. So Anthony was probably helpful with cleaning the place up, even if it wasn't his job to do so.

Sage could tell the girl didn't exactly like the idea of smashing someone's face in, and he didn't blame her for not wanting to do it either. He wasn't a fan of killing people either, but it sometimes needed to happen, so he did what he had to. He had worse things to think about than which method of killing someone was the least disturbing. He noticed that their mother was notably happier when they arrived inside the home, which meant she'd most likely found the painting. Good, he was glad that it seemed to be helping the woman. He figured it was rather obvious he'd painted it, since he was the only one in the house that could have, but he still wasn't going to mention it to anyone. He raised an eyebrow when Anthony mentioned someone stealing the pies and snorted. "Three dozen? What the heck are they going to do with three dozen pies," he half chuckled. He was going to make a joke about how it would be funny to watch them try to carry three dozen pies out of the bakery but figured he probably shouldn't do that.

The boy snorted in response to the boy. "Probably eat them... though, they'd probably go off before they managed to shove them down their gob," the boy snarled as he thought about it... they'd taken about thirty-six pies. They might sell them off in the market to make a bit of money, or even just keep them to feed their families... but their mother had made them, and she'd spent so much time on them... they were where her salary came from, which helped to keep the house and little Xander going. It was annoying, but he'd just have to help the woman re-make a bunch of them the next day. They normally sold pretty quickly, but it was still a bit of a loss for the little shop. Still, a slight smile tugged at his lips as he thought about it... even he could admit it was a little bit funny that they chose pies of all things. Mari quickly started making up her chicken pie... minus the pastry, so it wasn't really a pie, more like the filling of one with an assortment of veggies and potatoes... and really she didn't like it without the pasty, it would have to do. Soon enough, the girl filled up five plates with food and took them over to everyone, deciding that if they were comfier in the lounge then so be it.

Sage grunted in agreement with Anothy's complaint. He understood the boy's frustration...loosing that much took a toll, especially when the family didn't have much to begin with. They'd have to remake them, which took time and ingredients. three dozen pies was a lot, and quite a few of them would probably go to waste...they would probably try to eat them all themselves or their families, not sell them since people out there just needed food...but even if they needed food, he didn't particularly care. This family needed the money. He helped Mari get the food ready and helped her bring the food out to the lounge, since that seemed to be where everyone was gathering.

The girl have a bit of a thankful look at the boy when he helped out with the dinner. He didn't have to, and like she kept on saying he was a guest, but she wasn't going to refuse the help... and, well, he didn't think refusing with this particular boy would do very much good. He didn't seem to take no for an answer... he was pretty determined to do chores, which she had to find a little bit... odd, but she wasn't going to complain when he was good company. They all sat down to a pretty quiet dinner... or it would have been quiet if it weren't for Xander babbling about his time at the lake. He seemed to have loosened up around Sage... which she was of course thankful for... the boy was quite shy around new people, so she was happy he'd chosen Sage a bit of a chance. They soon enough got themselves done and she went to wash the plates up, tiny yawns escaping her once they were all done. It wasn't late, really... it was about eight, but her mother had put Xander to bed considering he'd pretty much been falling asleep once he'd eaten, and then the woman made her way to bed herself. Anthony shortly followed, and Mari kind of just found herself leaning against the kitchen counter once she'd finished all the washing up, trying to motivate her to keep on going just a little bit longer. She looked back to Sage after a moment and tried a small, weary smile. "I've gone ahead and left some comfy clothes on the bed for you... they're Anthony's, but they should fit, and they'll be more comfortable than what you have on," she reassured the boy lightly.

Dinner was the same as usual in this household as far as he could tell...rather quiet, with Xander being excited about something and babbling on about it for the length of the meal. It was nice to see him so excited about something though...he supposed the sense of childhood innocence was what made being with the younger kids so nice. Everyone pretty much cleared out to sleep after that. He supposed it was late enough...they'd had dinner pretty late that night. He did stay to help Mari do the dishes. He was tired, but so was the girl, and he did want to help, so that's what he did. He leaned against the counter next to Mari and nodded with a yawn when she mentioned borrowing Anthony's clothes for the night. He hummed a tired thanks and wandered in the direction of the bedroom, but not before patting the girl on the shoulder in a fond manner and murmuring "go to bed," quietly. He had a feeling she'd try to get something else done, but she was tired and should sleep. The clothes were, as Mari had said, quite comfertable. They were definitely softer than anything he'd worn before. He crawled into the bed and curled up, smiling when the cat curled up against his chest and tugging the animal closer happily before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The girl gave a light smile to the boy when he told her to get to bed, but she still had a couple of things to get in order before she left the next day. It wouldn't take long, but by the time she'd done it was about twelve... to be honest, she hadn't realised the time, but she pretty much just collapsed on the couch when she was finished. She slept pretty quickly and curled up under the blankets, really just welcoming the warmth it gave her. She did wake up once or twice throughout the night, mainly from one or two not-so-amazing bad dreams, but they didn't last too long and she was soon asleep once again.

Sage slept well...well, as well as he could anyway. He did find that he slept better when he was curled up with something...though that something usually happened to be an animal. The cat, or the horses when he fell asleep in the barn that one night. And he had slept better curled up with Mari ir Anya. Maybe just because he felt safer that way? He wasn't sure, but he did know sneaking Mystery into his bedroom was sounding better and better the more he thought about it. Snowball might be harder to sneak in, but he'd be fine with both of them in there. Either way, he woke up early enough to be the first one up, so he snuck out to the back to chop up some firewood like he'd planned on doing so before. Mari had still been in a deepish sleep as far as he could tell, and everyone else was still silent. The cat came out with him and curled up in the sun, which was over the horizon by then. He took his shirt off after a moment of debating...it was comfortable, and it was Anthony's, so he didn't quite want to get it sweaty. He knew if someone came out, he may have to answer some questions about all the scars, but he could probably just chalk it up to living on the streets if he wanted to. But for now, he just wanted to chop some wood. Help out, exercise a bit, and keep his mind off other things...it all worked out.

The girl slept until early the next morning... really she was still exhausted, but she was used to getting up early and going to sleep early with her work so it didn't make too much of a difference to her. As far as she could tell no one was up yet, so she quickly made up some toast for herself until she saw Sage out the front... she didn't think he would have had anything to eat, so made some up for him too before waddling out the door towards the little wood cutting station that was kind of attached to the back of the house. She kind of smiled at the boy before he turned around, though she was still kind of waking up. "It's a bit early to be flexing our muscles, don't you think?" She asked the boy in a teasing manner as she offered him the little plate.