Sage giggled again when the girl poked him, and watched her walk away and rummage through the bag. He was used to being cold, so he only dragged himself out of the water when he realized what the girl was thinking. Once he was out, he realized just how chilly it had gotten. He sort of just shook like a dog or some other form of animal to dry himself of, as per the usual...and if it splashed them a bit, then it would be even more funny.

Mari watched with a slightly cocked head as the boy shook his head about like a dog. It really was amusing, to say the least, but she had to shield herself from the water he flung at her in the process. To be honest, she didn't really care much... she was still soaked anyway, but she just needed to get the other two sorted first... well, Sage was an adult, so he could care for himself, but she did need to get Xander sorted before they could go. She giggled slightly at the rather shaggy looking Sage, and grabbed another towel and chucked it over his head, a slight chuckle escaping her as she did so. "Dry your hair off properly then wrap up. If I take you back to the castle with so much as a sniffle I'm going to loose my head," she mused lightly. She knew his hair would dry quicker than hers because it was shorter, but she wasn't really willing to take any chances. Once the two were done she wrapped a towel around her shoulders to stay semi warm on the walk back, and looked back to Xander who'd once again started writing in the sand. "Ready to go?" She asked Sage with a cocked head.

Sage chuckled at Mari's comments and squeaked when she threw the towel at his head, though he toweled off quickly and left it wrapped around his shoulders. He nodded and gave the girl a thumbs up in response to her question afterwards, as well as a wide grin. "Ready," he announced with a giggle. He looked over at the boy and grinned slightly before speaking up. "Time to go, bud. We can come back another time," he hummed to the boy, reaching his hand out for the child to grasp. The boy grabbed one of Anyas hands too, and they sort of walked back in a line together. Along the way, an derly woman of about medium rank walked up to them. "Oh, look at the happy young couple," she cooed. "Nice to see the world will repopulate when I'm gone," she chuckled, eyeing Xander. Sage went beet red and shook his head. "No, we're not, I mean I'm not...I didn't.." he glanced over at Mari and made a face as if to say 'help me out here'.

The girl walked along next to the two boys, one hand holding Xanders and the other carrying unnecessarily large bag it towels... to be honest, she didn't even know they had that many in the house. But they were useful, because they'd used half of them just then. When the older woman came up to the there'd of them, she readied a friendly smile to her, but couldn't help the slight blush that painted the apples of her cheeks when she made her comments... her friendly smile kind of turned into an upside down kind of expression, though it was still amused when Sage started talking... or, well, tried to start talking. She caught his look and gave an amused breath before shaking her head to the old woman. "Oh, he's my brother, is all," she hummed as she patted the younger boys head before gesturing between herself and Sage. "And we haven't known each other very long... we certainly aren't a couple," she told her with a more gentle smile. "Thank you, though," she hummed and gave a bit of a wave before taking Xanders hand, who by now was giggling away to himself. The girl looked back to Sage, a bit of a scoff escaping her. "You do realise you made it worse, right? You could have just smiled and kept on walking," she told him with a bit of a laugh.

Sage felt his shoulders relax when the girl took care of things for him. He found himself nodding along, the red blush still painting his face. "I know, he groaned. I panicked." Then he wrinkled his nose slightly. "Did you know her? I take that's a no," he hummed, looking over his shoulder at the old lady, who had by then kept walking away.

The girl shook her head at him. "No, I've never formally met the woman... I've said a word or two to her and she seems nice, though," she hummed thoughtfully before looking back at the boy with a small chuckle. "Why did you panic? I take it you don't talk to people very much," she teased lightly before rolling her eyes playfully. Xander looked between them for a moment or two before grinning like the child he was. "You'd be a happy couple," he chirped in an almost exited tone. The girl just kind of stared at the child, her blush thickening slightly before averting her gaze to the ground with a small sticker of sorts.

Sage hummed in thought and nodded, before scrunching his nose up and shaking his head. "I've never been very good with them," he admitted. "Never had anyone to trust, besides Liz, but she was only so old," he pointed out with a shrug. "Besides, I tried the whole love thing before, and I don't know if I can ever manage to let myself do that again," he admitted, rather sheepishly. Guys were supposed to go out there, 'get the girl' as one might say...but not him. He'd probably be better off in a barn with only the horses and maybe cats than trying to get a girlfriend. He cocked his head at the boy when he spoke up, though his blush definitely deepend quite a bit.

Mari nodded in a type of understanding to the boy... she knew he'd had a rough time. She also knew what it was like to be loved by someone, though... she that was almost a feeling she craved. To have someone completely and utterly over heels for you, and for that person to be the same one you can talk to endlessly about anything, and to go out and just, well, be with that person... she really did want that. But maybe that was just because she wasn't used to anyone more than her family thinking much of her. But she could see why Sage would be more reluctant about the idea of it, though. She didn't expect his time with the princess up in the castle was amazing. She pouted slightly when he said he was never very good with people. "Well, you're talking me to me just fine." The girl looked back to the path ahead of them and gave a slightly playful smirk. "Does that mean you trust me?" She purred lightly with s but of a jokey giggle. Soon enough, they'd gotten back little shack of a house, and she'd told Xander to go get cleaned up for dinner... really, it was a bit awkward now because they couldn't exactly just smile and wave at the boy if he was right there, but oh well.

Sage gave the girl a rather amused look at her first comment, a somewhat teasing smile forming on his face. "I don't have much of a choice but to talk to you," he hummed in a way the girl would be sure to know the answer to her other question was yes, he did trust her, and yes, he enjoyed her company. Once they'd gotten back to the house and Xander had scurried off, sage flopped down on a chair with a weary huff of air, thoroughly exhausted from their afternoon. Happy, and more calm than he'd been in a while, but exhausted. He closed his eyes too, though when he felt a cold nose sniff his hand he scooped the cat up for the ginger to curl up against his chest, without ever opening his eyes. "What are you planning on making for dinner," he hummed. "And when do you suppose Anthony and your mother will be back?" He knew they'd only gone to check in the bakery or whatever, do maybe they'd be back for dinner. Really, he was just curious about how it all worked. The mother was quiet, hurting he assumed, but he also assumed talking to her children more would help. It had helped him, and Att wasn't even technically his.

The girl gave him a bit of a smile when he when he said that he had to talk to her. In truth, if he didn't want to then the boy would probably just ignore her... she was definitely glad he didn't do that. She really did like talking to him about, well anything... she just liked his company, and she was glad he'd given her a chance to get to know him a bit more. They'd grown pretty close pretty fast, and she did like that about him... he was easy to get along with, for the most part. She shrugged when he asked what she made for dinner. "I'm not sure yet... if there's anything you'd like to try let me know and we can go grab some thing from town. We could make a chicken pie or something," she hummed, wrinkling her nose as she thought about whatever affordable ingredients she could... and a chicken pie was quick and easy if you done it right. "They'll be back in a few hours... we'll, probably. They're not meant to be working today so I'm not sure what's taking them so long," she told him with a bit of a huff before shaking her head as she flopped back on the couch next to him.