The girl grinned brightly at him, giving a light chuckle when he bumped her side. "We might not need to lock the door if we're up against it," she purred teasingly. She was already thinking of something nice she could get for the boy... something meaningful, that he could keep for a while. She didn't think he would want something expensive, but she would do what she could to find something he'd like. Maybe she could get him a few little trinkets, that would be useful along the streets, and then she could get him something nicer. They could probably go visit Lizzies grave and leave something for her too... she'd never see it, but it'd be good for Sage. It would all be good for him.

double sorry aha)

Sage blushed at her sly comment, though his face was a bit red from the cold already, so it couldn't show too much, could it? He grinned back at her with a raised eyebrow. "So you're planning on pinning me against things, is that what I'm hearing coming out of your mouth," he teased. She's already pinned him against the cave floor, technically...and he couldn't say he wasn't excited to hear that they might be able to do this again, possibly at the castle, in an actual bed and not having to worry about anything but getting caught. He knew what he wanted to do for Anya now...and he should have the time to do it. They had a few weeks, and it wasn't like he had much to do. It'd be a good way to pass his time anyway.

(If you want to skip ahead we can ..maybe the queen sees them together at Christmas and that's when she starts to soften up to him? Sage could stay at the castle for new years too)

The girl gave a small chuckle. "I suppose you could put it that way." She cackled out brightly, "you seemed to like it in the cave, so why not now?" So many reasons why not, actually. The main one being that the chances of Luther showing up were incredibly high, and Anya wasn't overly sure what he would think of Sage... if he was sneaking around, then the man was bound to get suspicious. She gave Sage a teasing look, "if you're happy to meet Luther and not get in a fist-to-fist with him, then maybe you could do the pinning," she teased lightly. Maybe for one of Sage's gifts, she could have a dagger set made for him... nice ones. She could have his name put on them too. She didn't know how long he was planning on staying, but they would come in handy either way.
(yeah, I was just gonna ask that lol. Maybe that'd be when a rebellion like you said flairs up a little? Then with the queen getting to know Sage, she trusts his word a little more, and that's when she lets him help out with the training.)

(yeah, I like that! I can skip ahead lol, we can have the rebellion flair up the day after Christmas.)

Sage rolled his eyes at Anya playfully. "That entirely depends on whether Luther gets on my nerves or not," he half joked. It was meant as a joke...though, it was also pretty true. He was willing to make peace with the guy, but if he annoyed him, good manners were being thrown out the window. "I might be good just for you," he giggled, knowing that whatever happened, whoever was doing the pinning, it'd be fine. He'd never been in the dominant position before, he had to admit that, but it would only be Anya's second time, so it wasn't like he could fail too horribly.

The grade walk went by quickly, as did the next few weeks. They walked around, joked, and Sage tried to stay as far away from anyone else as possible. When Christmas rolled around, though, he knew he'd have to deal with at least some people. He'd finished Anya's gift, and he was pretty proud of it. He'd carved a tiny little building that looked like the tavern they'd first met in. And with it he'd sketches out Anya...sitting at the table where he first saw her, a thoughtful, dreamy look on her slender face as she observed everything happening. When he woke up that morning, there were new clothes on the table next to him. He yawned and supposed he'd better shower and put them on, since the clothes he was wearing were still the same old rags he'd been wearing for years. Someone had taken their time in getting them to him. He forced himself out of bed and grabbed the clothes, going into the bathroom. He figured out the shower, and was pleasantly surprised when the water could be warm. He scrubbed himself clean, only slightly surprised at the amount of dirt that came off if his body in rivers. Once he was clean, he got out and dried off before throwing on the new clothes. They fit well, since he'd filled out since he'd been here. The weeks of eating well and building his strength up had left him off well...he had to admit he definitely looked better when he wasn't starving. The clothes were just a simple tunic and trousers, similar to his old ones, except for the fact that the v neck on this one went lower, halfway down his chest. Whatever. It seemed fancier than what he should be wearing, though he did look good in it. His copper skin and jet black, which was usually covered with dirt, almost surprised him at their vibrancy. Anya thought he was hit still covered in dirt...she'd never seen him like this. He couldn't help but grin to himself and slid out of the bathroom, putting Anya's wrapped gift on the table.

Anya woke up a little earlier on Christmas morning, feeling a little more on the upbeat side... she had always loved the holidays. Since she was a child, she would wake up, and wake the rest of the castle up with her for an early start. Much to everyone's relief, her excitement had dimmed down over the years. Today, though, she had almost gone back to that state, just without the whole waking everyone up thing. This was Sage's first time celebrating, and she wanted things to be perfect. She had a few little gifts for him, especially considering it wasn't likely that anyone else would get him anything. Though she was pretty excited about one gift in particular... it was a small pocket knife, though, it wouldn't be very good for much. Made by one of the best designers she could find. Perfectly balanced. It had a dark wooden handle, which was engraved with his name, along with with a little message from her. She had done the carvings out herself, so they weren't amazing, though she had someone go in and clean it up a little. It was a cute little trinket, at least. She wanted everyone to get along... her parents, her cousins, and the rest of her family... Luther, too actually. She didn't need everything going tails up because they wouldn't be respectful to Sage. She got herself dressed and wandered out towards the banquet hall, where she dropped off the little pile they'd be brought through when everyone was up and ready, which would probably be mid-day when Luther and his family arrived. They wanted to come and make sure she was alright... or else it would just be Luther coming. She looked physically a lot better than she had a few weeks... filled back out again to where she was just healthy, and she could eat now... she saw that as a bit of a win.

Sage decided to wait for Anya....he wanted her to have some time with her family if she wanted to this morning. Besides, the less social interaction he had with everyone else the better....none of them really liked him, and he didn't want to mess something up before Anya was even awake. Besides, he was honestly still half asleep ..he'd gotten up and gotten ready, but he still took a while to get going in the morning. Anyway, he was content to just sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard, and read a book he'd found in the room. It was pretty interesting, but was taking him a long time to read since he hadn't exactly been taught much. He could read well enough, but it took a lot of work so he could only so so fast and read for so long.

The girl wandered around the castle for a short while... checking in on the kitchen staff, who were already working hard on the evening meals. Eventually, she was shooed out, being told that she would get to try a little something later on in the day before they started any of the festivities. She wanted to make sure Sage was ready, too... it was early on in the day, but she wanted him to be prepared for a few hours with everyone. So, she wandered over to his room, a tiny little box still being clutched in her hand. It was just a little charm of sorts, a little Christmas star on a small chain, a tiny little trinket, but it would be a good start to the day to give it to him before the rest. She gently knocked an upbeat rhythm on his door before slipping in with a huge grin and hopping on the bed next to him, "Merry Christmas," she purred in a whisper tone before holding out the tiny little box to him.

Sage smiled over at her and set the book down in the table next to the bed. "Merry Christmas," he said with a slight giggle...he found it almost odd to say it...he'd never really said it before. He took the small box and handed Anya the tiny tavern he'd carved...he could give her the other gift later. He thought it looked pretty good....he was better at sketching than carving, but the small wooden tavern looked exactly like the real one. He thought she'd like the small trinket...it was where they'd first met, after all, and had spent a lot of time there together. He could tell Anya was excited about the day, so he promised himself he'd behave as best he could, so she could have the best day possible.

The girl gave a bright grin when he handed her something back... she didn't want nor expect anything from the boy. She was just happy that he had agreed to stay. She wanted to spoil him for the day, to make everything perfect. Though, that didn't mean she wasn't ecstatic when he handed her the little gift. She gave him a sceptical look before carefully unwrapping it. She inspected the tiny little building for a moment with the biggest grin. It was so lifelike... so thoughtful... it kind of put her little star to shame. She turned to Sage, bright eyed. "It's perfect!" She chirped brightly, gently leaning in the side and pressing a light peck to his cheek, "I love it." She did. She truly loved it. It most likely had something to do with the fact some thought and effort was put into it... he hadn't just gone out and grabbed whatever he could find, which would have been a lot of what was going on today. She took a proper look at the boy for the first time that day before giving a smile as he cheeks gained some colour. "You look great," she told him a soft chuckle.