Sage chuckled lightly when the boy grinned over at him, plopping down on a hay bale next to the two of them, letting the colt sniff him and such as he patted him a hello. "Anyas currently passed out in her bedroom," he noted with a sort of amused tone. It would be funny too, if it wasn't such a serious topic. But he did try to stay lighthearted for the boy....he'd need someone to be that for him. "it would probably be good for her to get out and about though," he noted with a shrug. Maybe they could do that later, or another time. "for now, why don't I show you how to lunge him, yeah," he suggested, getting up when att seemed happy with the idea and rummaging around in the back room for a longer lead rope and a small stick with a flag on the end before wandering back out to find a spot they could do this at. He'd lunged the foal plenty of times, so he'd be a good one to learn on anyway, even if the goal was still pretty green himself.

The boy wrinkled his nose at him after a moment or two, knowing well enough that the woman was like. "She does that," he snorted in amusement before looking back at the colt with a grin. He nodded in agreement before going to grab the colt a cavesson. "Sounds good!" He chirped happily before slipping it over the young horses head. He he still didn't know much about the horse, and who better to teach him than the dude who raised him?

(short, I'm out)

(no worries lol)

Sage nodded in response to the boys comment about Anyas new habits. "Never drink," he huffed to the boy. "It's never worth it," he added before hooking the line to the cavesson att had clipped to the foal. It was a bit concerning that the boy seemed so used to Anya passing out like that....how long had she been like this? She wasn't drunk the last time he'd stopped in. "Right, we can use this paddock to do it," he mused, pointing to a nice, shaded paddock where exercise wouldn't be in the sun or anything. He went about showing att what to do, and then handed the line over to him, helping work out the kinks and such. Luckily, Luther was more than willing to please the boy, and while a little stupid, did his best to follow commands as instructed.

The child gave a little giggle before nodding in agreement. Though, he did raise a brow at him in curiosity. Really, the woman had only started drinking over the last month or so... it wasn't super regular, but there'd been a few times he'd tried to find her and she was just passed out. He didnt understand it, but equally she hadn't really spoken to him much at all over the past few months. He grinned when the boy lead him out the the paddock, and watched curiously, taking in what he was saying before nodding and having a go himself... the colt was very honest, considering that he was completely messing up and the colt just kept going. And the smile on his face said pretty much everything.

Sage chuckled lightly when he noted the boys curiosity/confusion at his comment about the alcohol, shaking his head in amusement. "And between us, it just tastes nasty," he added with a sort of laugh. Soon enough though, he'd stepped back and let att work with the horse, watching and occasionally giving him tips or advice, or correcting something here and there. The biggest grin was in his face too, more than happy to spend time with the boy and teach him. He wasn't his father, he knew that....but he did feel that sort of instincts towards him. And he was quite fond of him.

Atticus grinned on response to him. "It smells like acid, I'm not surprised," he mused lightly. He worked with the foal for a good fifteen minutes, trying to take as much in from Sage as he could... it was nice to have someone spend a bit of time with him, he supposed. He had Anya, but she wasn't doing to well, and he used to have Luther but he wasn't here now... but Sage was, and horse Luther was too. It got lonely, and he had to admit it was nice to just have someone spend time with him. Put a bit of effort in, he supposed. After a little while, he slowed the colt down and then called him in, giving him a big pat before looking over at Sage happily. "Thanks," he grinned. "Will you come and help me with him a bit more? I want to do everything right by him," he chirped happily.

Sage couldn't help but laughed when the boy noted the drink smells terrible, and he'd nodded along. "Tastes about how it smells," he'd noted with amusement, moving along soon enough and then patting the horse once the boy called him in. It was important not to train too hard while he was still young and his legs were growing....that was asking for leg troubles down the line, and that was no good. He nodded in response to the boys comments, grinning down at him. "I'll be by pretty often for a while," he mused, patting the colt when he tried to play with his hair. "For now, why don't we cool this guy off and then hide him down since he's all sweaty," he hummed in suggestion. He'd head back to Mari after that.

The teen chuckled in response to his comment, though ran his hand through what little mane he had. It was so odd to think that one day he'd get to ride him. One day he'd be a war horse... that was even weirder. He'd be a big strong animal that would carry him. It was a weird thought, but one that brought a big goofy grin to his face. He looked over at Sage as they started to walk back towards the stables. "That'd be cool," he chirped happily. It was definitely nice to have someone who knew what they were doing with the horses as well as Sage did. And, he did think Sage was very cool, too, so it would be nice to spend time with him. He nodded in agreement when he said to get him washed down, and took him to the wash bay happily and gave him a good scrub down, making sure to get all the sweat off him before scraping him down and popping him back in the stable... he'd get to go out in a few days, which he was definitely excited to see.

Sage simply grinned back over at the teen with a nod. In all honesty, he was probably as excited to spend time with Att as the boy was with him. It was an amusing thought for sure, but he really did like the boy, and he was glad to spand time with him now. Make memories with him. He helped Att scrub the horse down for a while, and while the foal was eyeballing the wash rack at first since he'd just hosed the horses off in the yard at home, he really didn't take much encouragement to follow him & Att up and onto the concrete area. He kept a hold on his face, not hooking him up to the cross ties in case he spooked or something, but he relaxed pretty quickly, wiggling his lips in enjoyment as the boy scrubbed at his whithers. Once the foal was put away, he'd left the boy in the stable with the horse, wandering back to Anya for now.

The boy settled the horse happily, and thanked him for helping him... and again for giving him the colt at all. It really was a nice thing to do.... it probably meant more to the child than Sage probably realised. Once he was all settled, he waved a happy goodbye to the man before trotting back inside to get changed.
Mari was sort of wandering around the kitchen, getting dinner all ready... it was a bit later than she thought, and wondered if Sage would be back any time soon. She had the kids all fed and everything, and got them to bed fairly quickly. It was about eight by then, though, and she was a little bit antsy. Either way, she got some dinner on the table ready for when Sage got back, sort of humming a out of tune song as she went.