Sage felt the girl tighten her hold on his hands, and he did too, almost as if he was clutching onto the girl. Though he drew back enough to look at the girl when she said she didn't want to make his life any harder, shaking his head. "Mari, you're the reason I have a life," he murmured. "You and Silas....that's what's keeping me here," he told her softly. "So don't ever think you're making things any harder for me....because you're not. I enjoy taking care of you two," he murmured. "Reminds me of caring for Lizzie. It brings back the only good thing about my childhood," he hummed. "It's my job to look after you," he pointed out, pressing another kiss to her forehead. "And it's one I quite like." He didn't want her feeling like a burden...because if he didn't have her and Silas, he really wouldn't have a life, even if he had decided to keep fighting everything.

Mari felt herself tense when he pulled back, not sure what she was expecting to say. He was always good to her... so why what she always worried that she was going to drive him away? Or that he was angry with her, or upset or... something. She loved him so much, and he'd given her no reason to think like that... but she supposed that was just her. She wanted to feel more comfortable with everything he was doing for her, but she just couldn't without feeling like such a burden... he could tell her all he wanted that he liked looking after her, but she just didn't believe it. He didn't need to know that, though. "I just..." she didn't know what. But she didn't know how to say it either. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt, though. She wasn't sure if she'd ever feel comfortable with all this... but she didn't need to let him know, not if it made him feel better.

Sage pursed his lips slightly and shook his head. "You care for me too," he hummed. "That's how it's supposed to be...we care for each other. But you're hurt...so you just can't take care of me for a little while," he mused, talking to himself as much as Mari. He knew she was used to being independent...and used to thinking she was a bit of a burden to her mother when she was at home and the woman had been quiet and rather unhappy. But she wasn't a burden, not to him...she was his whole world, and he did wish she could understand that. Sometimes, letting yourself be weak, and letting the other person be strong was just what needed to happen. He had to do that, and while he'd only freaked out super badly only a few times with Mari, he hated being the weak one. No doubt she did too...but sometimes it had to happen. He'd done it, trusting her...and he did wish that she could let herself stop feeling bad about everything and just focus on healing. He pressed another light kiss to her head, and then pecked her lips softly. "Go back to sleep," he whispered. "Rest. Heal. And when I need you, you'll be there," he promised.

Mari listened to him for a little while... though, despite how wonderful he'd been, and was being, it was just a bit... difficult to understand why he was so adamant to care for her. She'd never really had anyone like that. Her mother and the rest of her family were wonderful, but they really were everyone for themselves. If she'd been injured, it was her problem and she needed to sort herself out. She loved her family, but this was a bit... different. It'd certainly take some getting used to. All she wanted to do was look after Sage and Silas, but she couldn't do that right now. She wanted to... but she couldn't if she tried. She closed her eyes a little bit when he pecked her head, and gave a nod, going quiet. She couldn't really say anything back to that... she was just happy to have him next to her. She seemed to get herself into a bit of a state when she was like this... the same happened when she was pregnant, and Sage had just been wonderful explaining that he wouldn't give up on her... and she just seemed to be heading in that direction whenever she had to depend on someone. She'd have to get used to it, she supposed. All she could do was lean on him, holding her breath in fear that she'd start to sob. She didn't want to do that, it'd hurt... and worry Sage, so once she'd managed to get control of herself, she sighed and rested back, using his arms to lower herself gently onto her pillow.

Sage helped the girl lay down, and fussed over her for a moment before just perching on the edge of the bed and letting her drift off. He stayed there until he was absolutely certain she'd fallen asleep before rearranging all the blankets around her and pressing a light kiss to her temple before collapsing back on his chair and closing his eyes wearily. He still had a hold of Mari's hand, but as he himself drifted off, it tightened slightly, as if he didn't trust himself to keep a hold of her while he was out.

(what if sage wakes up from a nightmare & starts freaking out while the queen is there feeding silas? It would be nice for her to like sage too, as she gets to know him, but she needs to know he's flighty and has a temper for a reason lol. SHe kinda just thinks he's a brat rn haha. lmk what you think)

(Yeah, I like that! I think we were planning on doing something like that but I got side tracked aha. Can do that in a bit.)

Mari finally let the boy fuss over her a little bit. She didn't like it at all, but to be honest, having someone to relax with for a little bit, to be able to trust while she was asleep... it was wonderful, really. She felt his hand tighten before she started to drift off to sleep... and hers tightened in his the best she could. She was still just so... weak. She hated feeling like this, she really did, but all the same she was tired... so she eventually drifted off to sleep, letting the blankets around her keep her warm and the comfort of her fiancés hand around hers keep her comfortable.

(lol alright. I wasn't sure what we were doing with that xD)

Sage drifted off eventually, letting himself drift off into a dreamless sleep. It still wasn't really a restful sleep, per se, but it was sleep all the same. He supposed it helped to have his hand entwined with Mari's. He woke up after a bit to Silas cooing hungrily in his crib, and went to feed the baby and hold him for a few minutes before rocking him to sleep again and setting him back in his crib. He went back to Mari then, and took her hand gently before slipping off to sleep again with a heavy sigh. He was so, so tired...he never felt like he ever got any real rest.

(If you have Sage start to have a bad dream then I'll have her come in just before it blows up if you'd like)

Mari slept most of the way through the night... well, it wasn't peaceful. She never really got bad dreams, or dreams in general, but this... wasn't nice. She never thought Sage would leave her if things got difficult... they'd had a rough time during her pregnancy, and now wasn't easy, but he was still here. But in her dreams, he wasn't in any of them. Silas had grown up, and in not a single second of the dream was Sage there... and it just made her heart race in the most unpleasant way... in the next frame of her dream, she was looking down on Sage and Silas... she wasn't there. She couldn't have been there, she was looking down on her little family. She was stable, she wouldn't die now... but it wasn't nice. She couldn't talk to them, and when she tried they wouldn't hear her. When she felt Sages hand slip from hers, she jerked awake, but when he came back she sighed and curled into him... when she finally got back to sleep, it was just dark... which was nice.

(That works for me)

Sage slept through most of the night as well. He didn't dream much, since his sleep stayed ligh, for quite a few hours. It was probably around dawn when his body forced him into a deeper sleep, which was when he started to dream. They started off like usual, which made him think he could handle it, like usual. There wasn't much different there. Though, soon enough they started to get worse, and his brow creased as his father danced around in his head. Other things too, some things that made no sense. His brow furrowed, and he shifted around slightly, definitely uncomfortable already.

Mari slept the rest of the way through the night, really quite comfortable... dreams were meant to be things that you were thinking subconsciously... did she really think he'd leave? She remembered saying he would a while back, but she never thought it'd actually happen. But it was just a dream... that was it. He wouldn't do that to her... or, well, she didn't think he would. She hoped he wouldn't.

-

It was about five in the morning wen the queen had started her day... she'd made quite the habit of coming down to see to the child, Silas, right before she started her duties. He was cooing quietly, so she padded over to give him a bottle... she'd seen the doctor first, and he'd nodded happily to her to say she could feed the child. She'd tried to spend some time with Att, but her daughter was a bit too protective of him to let her see him too much.