Really, she wasn't sure what she was expecting from the boy... she was just messing about a little bit, but she had to admit the serious reply was something else... not what she was expecting, but not bad in any way. "I know that, Sage," she hummed gently. She knew that he was suffering before Anya and Luther had picked him up... but she wasn't sure why that should've changed the way she thought about him. She'd love him if he was a house elf, and her ranking wasn't much higher than hers anyway. She felt her cheeks flush though... he didn't have to tell her any of those things... but it was nice to hear. She moved to sit with her legs around him once more. "I'm sure someone would have come along," she murmured gently. "I just think we're lucky we were forced to befriend one another before anyone else had gotten to us," she mused gently before pecking his lips once mor.

Sage hummed lightly in response to the girl's first comment. "I know," he hummed. He knew she was aware of what had happened, probably more than most. He'd told her more than he'd told most. The only other person who may know more than her was Anya, and that was because she'd seen him living down there for years. He hummed rather doubtfully at her comment, but she'd moved on before he could respond that he probably wouldn't have lived long enough for that if it was even possible. "Well, I count myself very lucky," he chirped lightly after she'd kissed him.

Mari hummed softly to him after a little while... she still hated with all her heart that Sage had gone through so much. She still hated that he'd never be able to forget any of it. But she should be grateful, she supposed. After everything, he still managed to love her... even though she might end up hurting him. She would never do that on purpose, but there was always that chance. She always thought he was amazing for that, and she always would. She smiled down at him, her face still resting just next to his. "I'm luckier," she hummed teasingly as she let out a relaxed sigh.

Sage chuckled lightly at the girl's comment and hummed lightly. "I don't know about that," he musrmured. Really, in comparison, Mari had done so much more for him than he could ever do for her. He'd done some good things for the girl, yes, but she'd done so, so much for him. But if she was counting herself lucky to have him....wekk, he wasn't going to argue or complain about it at all. After a moment of silence where he was really just looking over at the girl and pondering over how amazing she was, he caught her eye and really couldn't help but whisper, "I love you." Gah, why was he getting emotional? He should be used to all this. But no, here he was with a knot building in his chest when he thought about how much he loved her. It was amazing how so much emotion could fit into three little words. But he did hope it was all conveyed to the girl. Except maybe the part where he now sorta felt like crying over it....that part could go away.

Mark smiled gently at his comment, a bit of a chuckle escaping her. "I absolutely am," she chirped as she patted his chest, a bit of a laugh escaping her as she pecked his lips. She was busy tracing the scars on his chest when she caught his eyes on her, and was unable to help her grin. There'd be times where she'd look over at her and he was just... staring at her, and she couldn't say that she minded it. It was never awkward, or ever uncomfortable. She had to admit, she did the same towards him from time to time. She didn't know what was going on in his head, or what he was thinking when he did it... but she didn't really care. She was a little bit surprised when he told her he loved her... her smile only growing as she leaned in to press a slightly longer kiss to his lips. "I love you too," she whispered gently to him before pecking his forehead softly. She didn't know where that came from... but she wasn't exactly complaining.

Sage noted the girn the girl got on her face in response to his comment. Good, he was glad that made her happy. He felt his normal smile spread over his face in response to her kiss, and then the peck on his forehead. He hummed softly, happily, and leaned into the kiss quite willingly, even though it was just a small peck to the head. It just made him feel nice all the same. "I know," he hummed lightly. He really was just so happy to have the girl...and while he had no idea where this sudden burst of emotion came from, he wasn't exactly wanting to shut it off either.

Mari smiled softly at his comment, going back to tracing the larger scars on his chest. She still hated that he had them... that they were a constant reminder of how hard his life had been in the past. Well... she didn't really care. They were a part of him, and she truely did love all of him, like she'd just said. "Where did that come from," she whispered quietly. She could see the strain between his collar and jaw, and he just seemed a bit... vulnerable as of then. She didn't care, though... it was just the two of them... they could afford to just relax for a bit.

Sage hummed in response to the girl's question, cocking his head slightly in thought. "knife," he said after a moment. "That one wasn't dad," he added on. "I think it was just me getting myself into trouble," he half chuckled. He did sort of wish he didn't know where each and every scar came from...but the other half of him was glad to know. They served as reminders of what not to be and how to not act, and probably quite a few other things. But, he supposed getting distracted from his own thoughts right then would help him relax a bit, so he was more than alright to tell the girl where scars came from, if that's what she wanted to do. After all, she didn't know where a lot of them came from...she knew his father was bad, but really in terms of the scars, she didn't know much. Not because he wouldn't tell her, but becasue it had just never really come up in conversation.

Mari nodded quietly to him. She took it nearly all of them came from his father... she knew most of the ones on his back were his dad. She ran her thumb along it quietly. She would have asked this kind of thing ages ago... but in truth, he'd never seemed stable enough. But they were comfortable as of then... just the two of them, in a steaming bath and quiet... he'd seemed like he was about to cry a few moments ago... and she wouldn't have minded, she would have comforted him all he needed. But she was curious about all of this now. Her fingers trailed towards a rather... gnarly looking bullet wound. Obviously, he'd been shot at some point, but she was curious about the story behind it. "And... what happened here?" She asked softly resting on his lap quietly.

Sage hummed in response to the girl's nod, then chuckled when her fingers moved to the scar on his shoulder. "Ah, that one's worth a story," he mused in a rather amused tone of voice. "That happened when Anya was still sneaking out at night and I'd show her around," he started. "Few days before Lizzie passed, actually," he added on, shifting slightly to get comfortable as he cocked his head, thinking back all those years. "We were walking around in the woods, and I heard people following us, so I jumped them." He shrugged and chuckled. "Killed a few, but one had a gun I didn't know about." A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Though I'd probably have jumped into the fight if I'd known anyway," he admitted. "We slipped away though, and I yanked the bullet out and stitched it up best I could." Then he wrinkled his nose slightly. "Then a few days later, Anya was back down there and we got jumped again." He paused, collecting his thoughts a bit so the story would make sense. "It was the night after Lizzie passed, actually," he informed Mari. "We were walking around, Anya was trying to get me out of my head, that sort of thing. Long story short, we both ended up getting kidnapped since I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and they caught us unawares." He huffed out a slight breath of amusement. "I got annoyed and kicked the guy in the shin, so he hit me and opened that back up, then we got tossed in a closet for like a week." He shrugged slightly. "My hands were bound, and it was a small space so I was shaking like a leaf, which didn't help anything," he mused. He wasn't sure of he'd ever told mari he was so claustraphobic, actually. That would probably be good for her to know. "Anya tried to keep pressure on the wound, but she had a broken arm, so it didn't get treatment until we got found and Anya insisted on dragging me back to the castle." He shrugged slightly. "Still hurts from time to time if I move it a certain way," he admitted. He wasn't so sure it would ever be able to heal properly, but his arm still worked fine, so he'd manage alright.