Mari did end up falling asleep after a while... she was so tired... so exhausted, and somehow still in pain. Her head was banging, and everything just seemed to ache in the most uncomfortable of ways. She woke up slowly when she heard Sage creeping into the room, and sat up a bit when the food was placed on the side. She was about to lean on him, though by then he'd decided not to stick around. She groaned quietly, but ate the food before climbing out of bed and taking the plate with her. She placed the plate on the side, then waddled up behind Sage and wrapped her arms gently around his waist. "I'm sorry," she whispered after a moment or two. "You didn't... didn't deserve to be spoken to that way," she murmured to him, gently resting her head on his back with a soft sigh.

Sage had eventually crept back downstairs to work at cleaning the dishes from lunch off while Mari did... whatever she was doing. Hopefully eating. He half jumped when he felt her come up behind him and wrap her arms around him, though he felt pretty stupid about it after a moment. He hummed softly in response to her comment, shaking his head slightly. "No...it's pretty pathetic in here right now," he sighed, setting the dishes down to rub his eyes slightly. "Besides, you don't feel great," he added. He wasn't mad at her...not at all ..his brain had just taken everything way to far, he supposed. Not that that was abnormal. He did feel better though, having heard her apology. And she was hugging him, so she couldn't be too mad about it all.

Mari tucked her head into his shoulder after a moment, just feeling really, really awful... she hated that she'd made him feel bad, or that she'd even raised her voice at him. He didn't deserve it, and she'd done exactly what she promised she wouldn't do from the start. She promised that she'd never hurt him in any way, and she sort of felt like she'd done that. "You should have said something," she whispered to him. "It was just a bit... a bit of a surprise is all," she murmured softly. She should have known things here weren't going so well... Sage was sick, even if he was denying it, and he'd lost weight... she should have asked more questions when she'd first gotten back.

Sage let out a sort of sigh when she spoke up again, reaching over to put the now clean plates away before sort of shuffling around so he could face her. And also so he could move to sit on the counter so he didn't collapse on top of her. That really wouldn't help things. "I know," he murmured softly. "I sort of forgot about the water though," he admitted with a rather sheepish grin. "But if you want me to answer questions, can we go sit down somewhere," he pleaded tiredly. It was exhausting, going back and forth and doing everything...even if he wasn't at the tavern right then. And how was he supposed to tell her he'd gone back there? He wasn't working nights, but things had still happened from old customers being drunk, and him being sick....she'd worry, and he knew she was probably right to worry about him....but there was just so much he didn't know how to tell her. What to say. He was trying his best though, and he hoped she could see that.

Mari leaned away when he moved to face her, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips with a bit of a hum. "It's not about the water, babe," she mused to him gently before taking his hands and going to sit on the couch, opening her arms for him to curl in. He still looked exhausted... she knew he'd been doing a lot, but it shouldn't have been any more that what she'd do in a day, not normally anyway. She drew in a deep breath before sighing. "Tell me... what exactly happened while I was gone. Is it... really that bad? So bad we have no food in the house," she asked in a little bit of a whisper.

Sage sort of shuffled along after Mari as she moved to the couch, curling up against her with a sigh in response to her comment. He did feel a bit better about everything...shes kissed him, which he couldn't be happier about...he'd certainly missed the touch. But she'd also told him she wasn't upset about the water...which was admittedly nice. He hummed in thought in response to her comment before sighing again. "Normally you looked after the kids while I worked with the horses and everything, so when all of a sudden you were gone, it sort of....shook everything up," he explained. "I couldn't watch the kids and work with the horses, so I did what I could but money runs out pretty quickly." He sort of shrugged then, resting his head on her shoulder, attempting to try and stay calm. Not blame himself about everything. "I sold what horses I could without ruining what we had started...turned off the warm water and stuff that wasn't essential to living, but I still ended up having to go get a job somewhere...." He trailed off again, thinking. "Anthony and your mom were a life saver....I'd get up, get the kids breakfast, and then they'd watch the kids and help with the horses while I worked. They'd put the kids to bed, I'd get in around one or two in the morning...then get up and start it all off again," he finished with a sigh. "I did what I could but....things were still....limited," he said lamely.

Mari let him curl in, sort of shifting herself to get comfortable in any way she could, then let him settle down so they could both relax a little. She could feel him getting tense, and equally trying to calm himself, so moved to run a few fingers up his side, and the others weaving him his hair in hopes that she could be a little bit of comfort to him. She listened silently, despite wanting to interrupt, but let him finish before letting out a heavy breath. "Okay... you did what you could, that's good," she whispered to him. "Where are you working, then? And who did you sell?" She asked softly to him, not wanting to sound accusatory at all.

Sage did feel himself relax a bit more when her hands started moving in the ways they always had...running up and down his sides and in his hair. His hair had grown out quite a bit while she was gone...it was past his shoulders now, though he normally held it up in a bun with a chopstick. He took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "Two of the mares that weren't pregnant," he told her. "And I...I went back to the tavern," he admitted quietly. "not rooms...I couldn't do that to you even if you were..." His voice sort of caught on the word 'dead', and he curled into her slightly more with a sort of shiver.

Mari nodded softly to him after a moment or two before letting out a heavy sigh. "Okay... okay that's fine," she breathed to him, sort of giving him a little squeeze. She was a bit sad that he'd gone back to the tavern... somewhere that had managed to hurt him so much. A place that gave him some of his worst memories to date. But he was trying to look after himself and the kids, and that was really all that mattered right now. They were still Alive, and that was really all that mattered to her. "You did a good job, then," she murmured quietly to the boy, giving him a small smile. "You looked after Silas and Liz, and that was all we needed," she then sighed. "But let's get things back on track, hm?" She asked softly to him.

Sage felt his body relax when she didn't seem upset about it all. He didn't have the heart to tell her about the awful things he'd gone back to...or how the snake from the place made his chest ache in the most awful manner. She was home and alright, and now they could get things back on track, like she'd said. He should probably focus on that...his mind was already broken enough, he didn't need or want to dwell on those thoughts. He just nodded with a sort of defeated sigh and nodded in response to her comment, curling in a bit more when she moved to hold him tighter. He found himself apologizing, though he wasn't sure if it was because she'd already had to console and care for him when it should be the way around, or because if the water or food, or just how pathetic he'd been in general. Or maybe it was apologetic for being sorry to begin with. There were a lot of things, he supposed.