(We can totally do that! Would make things interesting lol)
The girl offered a very slight smile to the boy, her brows slightly furrowed... they could actually talk about this when they were safe. Well, somewhere where they were comfortable, like the ward or somewhere like that. Here wasn't the place... they could just go and enjoy some food first. She still did feel bad for the boy... the fact he had gone through that day after day... it was horrifying, it really was. She was just glad that the doctor had been taking care of him... that Sage was somewhere safe now. She nodded slightly and took his hand in hers with a small smile, though it was barely visible... and it wasn't really a happy one. "I suppose... at least you don't have to deal with any it now... we can get something to eat and then head back..." She did want to talk to him about this properly... but it could wait a little bit.

Sage hummed and nodded, happy to hold onto the girls hand. It did help him calm down a little bit, which was definitely a good thing. He wanted to enjoy their meal, not freak out over this and make them leave or have a bad time. "Let's try and have a good time, alright," he hummed, giving the girls hand a squeeze. He did want to enjoy their time, and sort of pushed the thoughts that they'd have to go back on the way back to the castle, and pass the tavern again back into his mind, not willing to think about it right then. He had a feeling Mari would want to know more later, but he was glad she wasn't drilling him now.

Mari gave a bit of a smile and nodded to the boy before leaning up to press a playful kiss to his nose. "Alright," she repeated with a bit of a hum before smiling at his hand squeeze. They'd be alright... they would. And while she was a little bit concerned about the whole thing, about his past and what it had done to him, but they could have a nice time for now. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable with her in any way... she wanted him to trust her, and bombarding him with questions wouldn't help him with that, not one bit. She took his hand and lead him into the little diner then grabbed a seat in the corner, away from the windows. "What are you wanting?" She asked lightly. They could really have anything... there was some money left over, which the doctor said she could have, so they did have a bit extra.

Sage felt himself relax even more when the girl leaned up to kiss his nose, a dumb grin forming on his face as a result of the action. It still surprised him how a simple touch or sight of the girl could make him feel so happy, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Once they'd gotten inside, they were seated quickly and he hummed in thought before shrugging and tapping the sandwich he thought might be good. "I guess I'll have that," he mused. They got their food pretty quickly, and it was pretty good...he supposed the doctor was going to spoil the two of them a bit, since he quite obviously adored Mari too. "You ready to go," he hummed once they'd eaten their full, and when the girl nodded he got up and reached for her hand to help her up, keeping a hold of it lightly as they walked out the door. His hold tightened slightly when he remembered they'd have to go past the tavern again, and pressed closer to Mari as they got up to behind it. Having her definitely helped though...she did keep him calm. Well, much calmer than he'd be without her.

The girl nodded before deciding what she was wanting to order. Their food came surprisingly fast, and it was pretty good, too. Definitely better that the garbage the current cook in the castle made. She ate quickly before taking the boys hand with a grin and wandering out next to him. She felt him getting a little bit nervous next to her... her tightening his hold on her hand gave that away, but she just gave a small smile and closed her fingers around his hand a little bit more. She then looped her other hand through his arm to get a bit more comfortable and gave a quiet nod. "You'll be alright," she hummed quietly... she hoped it was true. She hoped that they wouldn't say too much more to unsettle the boy if she was there. Though, they hadn't seemed to care last time.

Sage threw a thankful look at the girl when she looped her arm around his, sort of leaning into her just a bit more. By the time they got to the tavern, he was about as tense as he could get. There were only a few drunks still laying around, so he relaxed slightly, though tensed up again when they all staggered to their feet towards them. They were making crude comments again, but he could deal with it. Admittedly, he did resort back to his old habits of just looking down and being docile - what was clearly expected of someone of his rank. He reeled back, though, no longer so docile when he felt one of the drinks wrap their arms around him in an attempt to gain a kiss or.... something. More of them reached out then, and they all sort of fell, sage letting out a surprised yelp as he fell. He was kind of in the bottom of the pile....and they were drunk, so after a moment he was able to roll to the side and scramble to his feet, eyes wide and demeanor clearly shaken. He had a few cuts and bruises from the women, though the worst was on his neck...and even that wasn't bad. At least, he didn't notice ...but that could have been from shock too. He sort of just stood there trembling, not really sure of what to do. His shirt had kind of fallen to the side, down his shoulder a bit too ...and he didn't even make a move that showed he realized it.

Mari looked to the boy when she felt him tense, then all of a sudden he just seemed to shrink. His head down, and eyes on the ground... he almost looked like a scolded child. She didn't think she'd ever seen him like that... and it wasn't nice seeing someone you loved seeming so... feeble. She supposed it was okay. She'd keep her head up for him if he couldn't do it. But that just meant she could see a little better when these people came towards the boy. Her heart started to pound then... scared for what they were going to do. They were drunk, so they couldn't have been fast.. but they were. She squeaked a little bit when she saw the boy fall to the ground, and started trying to push the people off him, eventually resorting to kicking anyone of them in the ribs, desperately trying to get the boy out of the hoard of drunks. When she saw him scramble his way out, she darted to his side to check him over, and gently tugged on his shirt so that it wasn't sliding off his arm. The poor boy looked terrified... and she wanted to help, so bad, but she wasn't sure how. She'd told him he'd be okay... but it hadn't been, and now he was pretty much frozen other than his slight trembling. She wanted to get him somewhere quiet and safe... but she didn't know where that would be, not other than the castle, but she wasn't sure if he would make it in this state. A couple of minutes to just breath would be good, but here was not the place to do anything like that.

Sage barely noticed when the girl came over to him, though when she tugged his shirt up it sort of made it click and he turned his gaze to the girl, blinking for the first time in quite a long moment. "Can we go," he sort of wheezed out. Maybe he wasn't all about his mind right then, but staying here wouldn't do either of them any favors, that was for certain. Besides, now he just wanted to go curl up in bed, preferably with both Mari and Amber, and stay there for a while. Calm down a bit. Hopefully not have too many nightmares about it all.

The girl looked up to the bot as he gasped out his request, and glanced back at the pile of very drunk women... there were a few men in there too. They were starting to get up, and she didn't particularly want to stick around if they were planning on doing the same thing again to the boy. "Of course, we can," she whispered and looked around, trying to find the quickest way possible back to the castle. She wanted the doctor to check on him too since he seemed to have a bit of an injury on his neck, and he would have probably been hurt some other way too. But that would have to be after a bit of rest, once he'd calmed down again. She took a gentle hold of both of his hands and carefully walked backwards for a few steps before turning around. Hopefully, they'd get back without too much of an issue... but she couldn't be too sure. Eventually, though, she did get back... Sage still seemed to be in a bit of a state, so she took him up to the ward and sat him on the bed, murmured some words of which she hoped to be of comfort to the boy before grabbing little Amber and placing her on the boys lap. She quickly went to tell the doctor what had happened before getting a glass of water for the boy and placing it on the side table. She sighed and gently placed a hand on his back. "I'm sorry," she whispered... she wasn't sure what she was sorry for, but it kind of just felt right. She felt bad for everything he'd been through... and the fact that she couldn't have done more for him right then. She didn't know how to comfort him, or how to protect him from the drunks at the tavern when he couldn't even do that for himself... she wanted to help him in every way she could, but she was proving to be rather useless at this.

Sage sort of just followed the girl back to the castle numbly. He reached for Amber when the girl handed the cat to him, and held her up to his chest, still quite obviously shocked. When the girl came back, he sort of just curled up into a ball on the bed, resting his head on the girls lap. He really just wanted to be as close to her and Amber as possible ...he wanted to feel as safe as possible. "You didn't do anything wrong," he stuttered out in response to the girls murmur. The doctor hummed in agreement, having just walked in the room. He sat down next to Sage and checked him over quickly and gently, sighing once he finished. "There's some wounds to clean up, but you won't really need stitches," he hummed. "you'll be quite sore for a while though, once the adrenaline wears off," he mused patting the boys back slightly and handing the girl some damp pads covered in something that smelled suspiciously like alcohol. "Dab some of this on his cuts... anything that could potentially get infected. I don't want his immune system compromised at all " the boy was healthy now, but he'd seen what even a small cold could do to sage before, and he wasn't keen on almost losing him again. Mari would like to help, he assumed though, and he had notes to write down about all this.