Sage chuckled lightly at Maris comment, though he and the doctor shared a slightly amused look when she chided the doctor. "Either that or he'd have to put up with all three of you until Silas ran him into his grave," he noted with fond amusement. The doctor chuckled along and then shrugged in response to Maris comment. "Mostly just minor injuries from training accidents, as usual,* he mused in response. "Though I'm sure as winter comes up on us people will start getting sick again," he snorted. He very rarely got sick....but then again he was exposed to plenty of things every day. But whatever. That didn't matter.

Mari smiled happily to Sage and gently bumped his side. "We need you alive," she mused lightly before cocking her head at the doctor. "These guards need to stop being such wimps. They prick their finger and they come in here," she mused softly to the doctor. But it was true... people were going to start getting ill. "If you need a hand with anything I'm always free. The kids are old enough to stay with my mother during the day," she chirped to him.

Sage chuckled lightly and nodded with a slight hum. "Didn't we just have thia conversation this morning? About how I don't want to be buried in freezing cold ground," he asked with amusement, and even the doctor snorted at his comment. He nodded happily in response to her suggestion about helping. "Anthony and I can handle the kids too," he added with a shrug. "Between the two of us we can take care of them and the horses too," he mused. Once he was better able to work with the horses he wanted to start having Silas help out a bit here and there too ..just to spend some time with the boy.

Mari nodded in agreement to the boy. "And I agreed we'd bury you in warm ground, don't worry yourself," she chuckled softly to him. She smiled when Sage agreed to her helping the doctor out. It would be nice to make some of her own money too. So she could buy them all Christmas presents... without spending all of Sages money on something that was for him anyway. "You'd do that?" She asked him happily. She knew he was busy, but she supposed it would be good for him to spend a bit of time with the kids... Liz was learning to talk now and waddling about, so it would be nice.

Sage chuckled lightly and nodded with a happy but also still rather amused hum. '"good," he chuckled lightly. At her next comment though he sort of rolled his eyes. "Wow, imagine me wanting to spend time with my own children," he gasped in a rather dramatic manner in response to her comment. "You know I don't mind helping out," he hummed lightly. "I can't do much else anyway," he huffed, a brief look of annoyance crossing his face. Besides, he knew Mari wanted to work some too, and it might be nice for her to get out of the house to do that for a bit.

(Would it be completely awful for something to happen where sage thinks Mari got killed but he still has to somehow take care of the kids and horses and then she finds her way back on Christmas or something? Or around then? Might be fun lol. And dramatic)

(Lol. No, not at all! I could just have her go away for a few weeks to work and stay in the castle (possibly give them a rocky patch before that which prompts the little leave? Just for more drama) and maybe Sage has a nightmare or something the night she leaves and sorta believes the nightmare he had was real? Meaning that he forgot she was leaving? Or whatever you decide lol. We can do a skip after this)

Mari rolled her eyes at him and looked to the doctor with an amused grin before then looking back to Sage, "I know, crazy right? Spending a bit of time with your kids rather than the horses?" She teased softly. "Sages horses are going pretty well, too! He just had a foal last week. He's pretty cute," she added with a grin.

(that could work. Maybe they have that rocky bit and she leaves to go work at the castle or whatever, and something happens while she's there? And it seems like she's been killed? Maybe someone found her hurt and brought her to their place or something without anyone knowing?)

Sage chuckled lightly and shrugged. "Chaos and Silas both exhaust me sometimes," he mused lightly. Though he nodded eagerly when she mentioned the new foal. "He's a grey.... probably will turn out to be something of a steel grey," he chirped happily. "I was thinking Typhoon might be a good name," he added, looking over at Mari. "Thought of it on the way here," he chuckled

(Yeah, I like that! Could have her maybe shot or something in a small rebellion attack while running away, and maybe the doctor sees which is why they assume death? Feel free to skip and we can get that going lol)

Mari smiled at him... Silas was a lot. It wasn't a bad thing, though. He had energy and wanted to work hard. He did remind her of herself, a little... just always bouncing around, though he had more of Sages drive to do things. She certainly loved the little boy. She then grinned at the name. "That'll suit him pretty perfectly," she chirped happily,

(That works for me, yeah! Sounds good lol)

Sage grinned over at Mari, quite happy with it all. He had a name for the foal, and would possibly get some time with his kids and the horses all at the same time. It really was perfect sounding. It was actually perfect too, as time went on. As it neared December, the ward had picked up, so Mari had been called on by the doctor, who was admittedly shorthanded since all of the helpers he had at the castle seemed to have fallen ill alongside the patients. Some kind of sickness was going around, and apparently Mari had already had it so she couldn't get sick. Or something like that. But he and the kids could, so they'd decided she wsould stay at the castle for a while until the rest of his helpers got better. She'd be leaving the next morning...no doubt he'd miss her, but he supposed it was for the best that she was staying away if she could bring this home. He wandered back into the kitchen after looking after the horses for a while. He was defenitely still slow and achy sometimes, especially with the cold, but he had much mored energy than a fews weeks agao, and could at least take care of the horses by himself and do some odd house tasks here and there too. Having one eye he was still getting used to, but it was easier with time, he supposed.

Mari did seem more than thrilled that the doctor had called on her... she loved the kids, and the house, and Sage of course, but she also liked having something to do that wasn't just spending all her time with the kids. So when she got some paid work, she did seem pretty excited. And Sage had started looking for them a bit more now, so all was pretty well. She'd leave early the next morning, so made sure to kiss the kids goodnight and say goodbye to them then, since she didn't think they'd be up in time to see her go the next morning, then went to make sure they had enough food to last them long enough without Sage having to go shopping, enough blankets and the likes... just enough to keep them going. She gave the house a quick clean and packed her bags before finally getting showered and flopping in bed with a heavy sigh.