Jackson smiled.

"Yeah I honestly don't doubt it. Would not be surprised if you just grabbed me and broke my wrist-"

He said, half-jokingly but also not. Considering he really did feel like Sage could just snap him in two.

"Well, I'm glad you aren't dead."

He said, smiling slightly. His eyes were tired and honestly, he was going to keep this conversation away from him.

Jackson winced. He sighed as he felt another bout of nausea building in his stomach. He was so done with this...

(it's all good lol)

Sage chuckled softly in response to Jackson's comment, humming in amusement. "I think I'll leave you intact. Least for now, in case this cave decides it doesn't like us or some shit like that," he noted. He would never purposely hurt him, of course, but he could tease. There was nothing wrong with that.

He nodded when Jackson mentioned he was glad he was alive, murmuring a small "yeah," debating if that was true or not. He wasn't so sure he was glad he was alive....it just meant he had to deal with all the shit that came with it. "How'd you figure out I was down there anyway," he asked curiously after a moment, cocking his head in curiosity. There was one thing that hadn't changed about him...he always cocked his head slightly when he was curious about something.

Sage wrinkled his nose slightly when he mentioned watching the news. "Fair," he mused lightly. "I guess that makes sense," he added. "I suppose I haven't been caught up with the news lately," he admitted with a sort of chuckle. "I only came back a little over a week ago," he added with a shrug.

After a few moments of thoughts he grunted. "Just don't tell anyone," he asked with a sort of sigh, looking at the rest of the group. "People tend to treat me different. I don't want that," he explained softly, shifting his backpack slightly since it was only one one shoulder, thanks to his one arm still healing.

"What have you gotten up to," he asked with a cocked head. Enough about him...he wanted to know what all he'd missed the past three years.

Sage hummed in response to his comment about not telling anyone, and he nodded thankfully. He listed to Jackson with a cocked head as he spoke, nodding with a sigh when he mentioned his parents finally divorcing. It had been coming for a while. "my dad remarried," he mused with a shrug. "she's a bitch," he added with a grumbled, kicking a rock as they wandered down the trail.

"Hey, sometimes a boring life is better than a crazy one," he mused with a huff of air. "I'm pretty confident I'd rather have a boring life than get shipped off again," he admitted. He didn't regret joining the army....it was better than home. But he also didn't want to go back to deal with any of it again. Unfortunately, his mind decided tot ake him back there....often. Which sucked.

Sage sort of hummed with a small nod in response to his comment before flushing slightly and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Actually...I live on campus. In a dorm," he admitted quietly. It was dumb really....Jackson would think he was rich, and technically he supposed he was, but he'd just been dropped off here by the army, and he didn't want to go home. He ran off to the army to get away from his stepmother and sort of his father too. But he wasn't about to just tell people what was going on at his home...so he'd just leave it at the fact that he lives on campus for now.

He was quiet for a moment, mind running. They would be almost to the caves by now....what would it be like? Would it be dark? How big was the cave? Had he made a mistake? Well, he didn't have much of a choice. He had to get involved with something...and with injuries like he had he couldn't join any sports teams or anything, so he was stuck here. He didn't have a choice in the matter. "How big do you think the caves will be," he asked after a moment, trying not to sound nervous

Sage thought about Jackson's comment, drawing his lower lip into his mouth and playing with the lip ring in an attempt to not chew on the lip itself. "true," he mused, hoping that was, in fact, true. He was definitely worried about it. If they went through tunnels or anything....he wasn't sure how he'd react. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself, but even more so he didn't want to hurt anyone. He should be used to it by now....he'd killed plenty of people in the battlefield. He didn't feel anything doing it ...and maybe that's what scared him most. He knew without a doubt he could kill everyone here in a matter of minutes. And he didn't want to. He didn't want to be a monster. But....here he was, knowing that if he did freak out he could seriously hurt someone. More than one someone. Ugh, why must his mind hate him so much?

He grunted in agreement to Jackson's comment, letting out a small sigh. "Part of the agreement of being here was I had to get involved with something. This was the only damn option that was....feasible....and I'm not entirely happy about it," he grumbled. He could see the hills though, and as they moved up a small slope they came across a large entrance. He was probably the only one not out of breath by then, so the chaperone told everyone to rest for a few minutes. He sort of shifted awkwardly as everyone around them sat down, complaining about the long hike. Losers. They had no idea what hard work was. What it was like to be so physically exhausted you literally couldn't move. No idea how absolutely fucking stupid they all sounded.