Sage had caught Joras worried glances, though he hadn't had the energy to say anything for quite a while. He was just glad to have caught his breath...and in all reality he was a bit worried he'd lose it again once he started talking. Not being able to breathe was pretty much the worst thing imaginable. It was somewhat ironic, he supposed, tat someone who was part sea nymph could drown. Well, he could, and just as easily as any other human. He could hold his breath for a few extra minutes, but that didn't do much all the time. But even so, having a rough time breathing like that ... it was scary.

Eventually though, he gathered the strength to respond to Joras questioning glances, offering her a small smile. "I'm ok," he noted quietly, throat dry and scratchy but voice strengthening. "The tavern air was terrible...the smoke must have just been too much for a bit," he added with a small shake of his head. He did wonder if it would be that way forever....what if his lungs were always messed up now? That would make certain things, like hunting and working on the house and fighting, all difficult. And he still had to make a crib and things like that for Lyra. He couldn't afford to be sick, or unable to work. And while Jora was good at a lot of things, woodworking and making a crib and stuff like that wasn't one of her strengths. She couldn't do everything.

Sage let out a sort of breath when she pointed out that even if he'd been in bad air, he shouldn't have reacted like that to smoke. She was probably right....but then again the smoke had been really heavy, and he just wasn't healthy. That may have been a big part of it. He'd never had an issue with smoke before. "It's never happened like this before. Hopefully it'll go back to normal," he sighed after a moment.

He sort of moved to use his sleeve to wipe the sweat and soot off his face, wrinkling his nose slightly. "I can sit down and carve a crib. It's hunting and fighting I'm more worried about," he grumbled. Hell, even just keeping up with the house and such would take effort. The gardens, the unfinished dock ...all of that was essential to their survival. "You and Selene will help, I know that, but I can't just sit around all the time, especially while you two wear yourselves thin doing all my work," he grumbled. He wasn't upset with her or Selene...he was frustrated with his own abilities. He hoped she understood that. He didn't want to snap at her or anything, or make her think that was what he was doing. But he was frustrated, and honestly was a bit worried. There was no doctor with them. What if he got too sick to do anything? What if he died? It would wreck Jora, and Lyra would grow up without him. That hurt worse than anything else.

Sage let out a soft breath in resposne to her comment, offering her a small smile in return. There was a lot of work that still needed to happen with the house, and they had been gone for almost a year now. Plus, they needed to set up an area for Selene and all that. He supposed they'd just let her take the baby's room, since nothing had been done to it yet, and put the crib in their room. He could expand the house more later, if he could manage to get better. Breathing was sort of important.

He curled his fingers around her hand when she moved his hair, the gesture bringing a sense of comfort, just knowing she wouldn't think of him as any less when he was sick or hurt or couldn't do much. He pressed a light kiss to her hand, sort of just trying to calm himself down about all this. After a moment though, he just glanced out and up, attempting to figure out where they were at. "We'll probably make it back home by tonight," he murmured softly. "It's been so long," he added with a small shake of his head. So much could have happened whiel they were away....but it was certainly nice to be heading back home.

Sage had grunted when Jora glanced back at the little girl Selene was feeding, nodding along and squeezing her hand gently. "I could hear the fire from a couple miles away," he noted softly. "I had a cloth over her face before the smoke got here," he added. She'd be alright...hadn't inhaled any of the smoke he had, hadn't hardly even woken up to see what was going on around her.

"She won't ever have to grow up without us, Jora," he murmured softly, wishing he could stand up and hug her or kiss or or do something mroe than just squeeze her hand to comfort her, but he didn't quite trust his legs yet. Running from the town to the dock had taken more out of him than he'd like to admit. He'd always been healthy though, and he had more reason nwo than ever to get back to tip top shape. And he was bound and determined to to that, for his family. Selene would be part of that now too....and while he still didn't necissarily like or trust her one hundred percent, he did hope that would come with time. Jora and he could do a lot...but neither of them had any clue about babies or being parents. Selene would be helpful, even if she only stayed for a little while.

Sage nodded along in response to Joras comment, sort of just wondering how they'd do it all. It seemed slightly more manageable with Selene there, but over all it was still a pretty daunting task. Being a parent that was. And being a good one. That was the kicker, he supposed. Being a good one. He wasn't sure what parents were supposed to be like. The small amount he remembered of his father was nothing but drunken rages, and while the lady from the orphanage wasn't really his parent, she wasn't much better.

He let out a soft breath though, and nodded. "As long as we're together, we'll figure all this out," he murmured softly, trying to convince himself of that just as much as he was trying to give her hope. But he needed something too....he just didn't believe himself. Hope was a dangerous thing ..he knew that fact well. Probably better than most. But for Jora, for Lyra...he'd give everything he had to make their family good. Their life good. It wouldn't be perfect...but it would be good. They just had to work hard for that to happen. "We can give Selene the other bedroom," he noted after a moment, mind moving to the home situation since they were almost to the island. "Lyra can sleep with us, and we can out here crib in the corner area, move the desk around a bit. We should be fine," he added.