Sage hummed lightly with a sort of nod and shrug, chuckling when she teased him about the meal. He threw her a grin as he moved to pull his clothes on, admittedly amused by her playful jabs. "Well, I wouldn't say doubt," he noted, voice laced with amusement. "Curious, maybe. Wondering how anything could be better than the rest of the food you've made," he noted, attempting to comb through his now very matted hair with his fingers for a few moments before tossing it up into a bun. Of course, at her last comment, he just gave her a grin. "Nope, you said yes, which means you're stuck with me forever," he chirped lightly.

Sage just gave the girl a mischievous looking grin on response to her first comment. "Well, is say it gets me where I want to be," he chirped lightly. It normally did...she could try to hide it, but he saw the way his words made her eyes light up. The way the softest smile caused her lips to twitch upwards. As long as he made her happy, he'd keep doing it.

Though, at her tornado comment, he sort of wrinkled his nose at her. "Comparing you to a tornado is pretty accurate," he chuckled after a moment. Though, he rolled his eyes at her next comment, settling down on the couch but leaving the bedroom door cracked so he could hear Lyra when she woke. "Yeah, but you're the one who decided to keep this stray," he chirped lightly.

Sage chuckled softly, a self satisfied grin forming on his lips as she muttered back at him. He knew full well his flirting and small comments, as cheesy as some of them may be, worked as well as he wanted them to. They definitely got under her skin....though not in a bad way, of course.

He hummed lightly when she mentioned a tornado, and nodded along in agreement, plopping down on a kitchen chair and resting his arms on the table there, then his head on his arms. "I suppose I can deal with that," he noted lightly. He settled down a bit then, just watching her move around the kitchen happily. He wasn't sure where Selene was...but that was ok.

Jora rolled her eyes at his self-satisfied grin, but the smirk tugging at her lips made it clear she wasn’t actually annoyed. “You’re way too pleased with yourself,” she muttered, shaking her head as she drained the pasta. “One of these days, your ego’s gonna be too big to fit through the damn door.”

She glanced over at him as he plopped down at the table, looking far too comfortable. His casual acceptance of her chaos made something warm settle in her chest, though she wasn’t about to dwell on it too much.

“Good,” she replied simply, setting the pot back on the stove. “Would be a shame if I had to throw you out after all this time.” There was a teasing lilt to her voice, but the truth lingered underneath. She couldn’t imagine not having him here.

As she moved around the kitchen, she caught him just… watching her. Settled, content. It was rare for Sage to be this quiet, but for once, she didn’t call him out on it. Instead, she just slid a bowl in front of him with a smirk.

“There. The life-changing mac and cheese I promised,” she announced. “If it doesn’t blow your mind, I take no responsibility.”

Jora couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at his comment about his ego. "Best and worst, huh? Guess you’ve got some competition in there,” she teased, raising an eyebrow as she stirred the sauce. "You're lucky you're charming, otherwise that’d be a problem." She didn't push further into the truth of what he said; she knew well enough what he meant, and in a way, it made her appreciate him even more—his self-awareness, his ability to laugh it off, despite how complicated things really were underneath.

His next words made her shake her head, though a grin tugged at her lips. "Oh, believe me, I could kick you out, but you’d probably just swim back,” she shot back, leaning against the counter. She knew he'd find a way back, even if he did try to make her regret it.

Then, when she placed the bowl in front of him, she watched him closely, waiting for his reaction. She wasn’t expecting a full-on compliment, but a little bit of recognition was always appreciated. The way his eyes lit up when he tasted the food? That was enough.

She leaned against the counter, arms crossed but with a slight smirk. “So?” she prompted, raising a brow as she waited for his judgment. “Is it worthy of the hype?”