Sage sort of just let the girl be a comforting presence for a moment before speaking up again. He nodded in response to her question with a him. "She was everything to me," he hummed quietly. He furrowed his brows slightly at her next question and just sort of shrugged lamely, reaching out to the cat, who'd seem to notice something was up and had crawled back up into his lap and was nuzzling his ear and chin, as if trying to figure out what was wrong and how to help. She brought a slight smile to his face, though it was, admittedly, a bit of a sad one, given the current conversation. "I don't know," he admitted. "It changes...some days I want nothing more than to be done with all of this. But then when I get stabbed or something and I realize I'll be leaving something...like Anya or Att, or you, now...then I feel bad and decide I want to live." He chuckled dryly. "I normally regret it later."

Mari just kind of sat with the boy for a little while, not really sure what to say. She couldn't help him feeling the way he did... she didn't have anything she could say to make him feel any better, nothing to compare it to. It just sounded like he wanted to die until he was actually, well, dying. She leaned into him a little bit more and gave him a bit of a squeeze, just kind of letting the sun run over her. "Well... do you feel like that right now?" She asked quietly before resting her chin on his head with a soft sight. She didn't really know how to approach him about this... she didn't want him to feel like that, not at all, it she cared about him. She still wanted him to feel alright, but she also knew that wasn't exactly possible... not after what he'd been through.

Sage felt himself relaxing a bit as they just sort of sat around. He looked down at the girl's question, shrugging slightly as he focused on stroking the cat for a moment. "I try not to think about it," he admitted. "I try to keep myself busy enough I don't have time to think. It's when I get lost in my head that's the worst part of it." He shifted slightly, to get into a more comfortable position, wondering why he was so incredibly comfortable with a girl he'd met barely two weeks ago. Well, it may have been a bit longer than that. But either way, it had taken him months to get to know Anya as well as he knew this girl. He wondered why he'd grown so attached so quickly...but he certainly didn't regret it. But...if he'd opened up this much already, maybe this girl could be someone he could open his heart up to completely. That might be nice. She was too nice to say something that would hurt him, right? She'd go about anything in a polite way, unless something was really, really wrong, but it wouldn't be his fault, because he refused to ever hurt the girl. And...well, she was trying to help. She let him talk about it, and didn't just say to get happier or do things to try and make him happy like Anya did...she just understood it more. He'd been happy with Anya, he had, but this girl just seemed to get it more than Anya had. He did wonder ..if he and Mari ever got together, what would Anya think? Would she get mad or jealous? Or would she be glad for it?

Mari let the boy get comfortable with her for a little while before wrapping her arm around his back again, her fingers kind of trailed along his back, and she could feel her heart ache for him as they went over every tiny bump of skin that the scars had formed... she felt horrible for him, but if just talking to her about it gave him some sort of... release, then she was happy to sit and listen to him for as long as he needed. To be honest, she found that she was more comfortable with him than she had been with people she'd known her whole life... she hadn't told him everything that had happened to her over the years, but she felt like if she did spill on him, then he wouldn't think any different of her. He wouldn't think she was any less than what he already thought she was. He was smart, though, for trying to keep his mind off it... that way he could focus on what he needed to focus on, and nothing more. "That's smart," was all that she could whisper to him after a little while, clearly lost as to what to say to him.

Sage hummed in response to the girl once she spoke up again, though the conversation had pretty much ended, and he didn't really have much more to say about it all. He suspected the girl didn't either, but that was alright. He felt better just from their tiny little conversation. Well, he felt better just sitting here in the warm sun with her and Ginger, even if they hadn't talked about anything. The exercise from chopping the wood for a bit plus this had helped, and he was content to just focus on that and rest here with them for a while. It was nice out, sunny and warm, and the grass was soft too. And the tiny movement of the girls hand was nice too, though he couldn't help but notice that he was still bare chested, and that did bring a blush to his face as he wondered what the girl thought of it. She didn't seem to mind the scars, but...he wasn't as muscular as he had been, though working in the barn had brought most of it back...but did the girl like it? Then he wrinkled his nose slightly and chided himself for thinking that. The girl was a good friend...she wouldn't be having those thoughts, it was probably just him hoping he'd be able to keep the girl close to him. Right?

Mari was more than content to sit with Sage for a little while. It was nice... still early in the morning, so not many people were out yet, but the sun was still spilling over them and onto the grass next to the little wood station. It was warm, and the quiet was so... calming. Holding Sage in her arms was calming. Given he was kind of sweaty, though she didn't seem to care... well, she'd seen people covered in much, much worse. She actually had to take a moment to realise he was still shirtless, and couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks and the almost shy beat of chuckle that escaped her. It was stupid - she sounded like a nervous little kid, in a kind of way, and the little beat had only made the light blush even worse. She wasn't sure if he'd noticed, but if he had she wasn't sure he'd let it go, which amused her even more.

Sage felt his eyes slide over to the girl at the sound of her chuckle, and at the sight of her blush he felt a grin creep over his face. "Mari, you're blushing," he sang, though his words were interrupted with laughter as he said it. "normally I'm the one that looks like a tomato. Gotta say, it looks better on me, don't you think," he teased the girl, pulling pack to bat his eyelashes at the girl and put his hands under his chin in a rather teasing way. He was pretty much just messing around at this point, and he was enjoying teasing the girl a bit. The cat was less pleased that he'd stopped petting her, and at her nudge of insistance, he leaned back down to wrap his arms around the animal. Mari would have to bring her to the ward for a visit, he'd miss the little ball of fluff. Maybe he should get a barn cat. Yeah, he should definitely get a barn cat. The cat could come in the ward along with mystery and snowball if he could sneak the bigger horse in.

Mari giggled at the boy's silly little antics before rolling her eyes at the man, though his pointing out her blush just seemed to make it heavier across her face, almost burning her cheeks in a way. "Yeah, I've noticed," she huffed as she reached out to poke his cheek playfully. "But I don't point it out when you blush!" She pointed out with a bit of a giggle before gesturing to his whole upper half, then reached out to poke his torso playfully. "I'm going to be a bit pink if I have a sweaty, shirtless man leaning on me!" She pointed out in a more teasing tone with a bit of a playful grin. She didn't care... not really, but it was a bit amusing to her. She did note the cat begging the boy for his attention... the thing was definitely going to be a bit upset when he left. She wondered if she should talk to the doctor about getting the boy a kitten to care for... it might be nice for the boy to have a companion like that.

Sage grinned wider when the girl's face got even more red, and he giggled at her reaction to his teasing. He giggled again when she poked his cheek, though he felt himself reddening slightly, for some unknown reason. "What, like you like having a sweaty shirtless man on you," he hummed in amusement. "I wouldn't imagine that's very comfortable," he giggled. He looked down at the cat with a grin. "What do you think ginger? Do you think Mari just looooves me?" He was teasing, he knew the girl wasn't in love with him at the moment, but he could tease all the same.

(Bit short)

(No worries - I'm so busy atm so I'm not giving you much to work with lol)
Mari sat back and watched as the boy's face started to brighten red right in front of her eyes. It was amusing to see, that was for certain. She then shook her head at him with a bright smile across her face. "Oh, for sure. I live for shirtless, sweaty men all over me," she huffed, kind of cringing a little bit. "Gross," she eventually finished, cackling at the boy. "But I'm too polite to ask him to get off me," she complained with a bit of a laugh before shaking her head once more. She then wrinkled her nose at him and at the cat, almost as if the animal had replied to the boy. She then picked the cat up, hooking her hands under her arms and held her up to the boy. "Noo, I think you're just too full of yourself," she murmured in a silly voice, as though she were pretending to be the cat. Though, the animal meowed a complaint so she placed the animal back in Sage's lap, not before giving her ear a little bit of a scratch.