"Why did you eat it?!"
"I didn't eat it!"
"Are you really going to argue with me over semantics?"
He watched as she rolled to her side with a groan, her pain bright eyes shooting daggers in his direction.
"It was an accident."
That made him roll his eyes even as he continued to work the pestle in his hand over the heap of herbs in the bottom of the mortar. "You are Dalish. Aren't you all supposed to be born knowing what different plants are? It's a requirement for living in the woods, yes?"
She closed her eyes and curled further into herself, her arms gripping over her middle before she replied to him. "It was dark."
He gave a humorless laugh as he watched her, assessing the way her fingers clinched on the air. "Maker protect us than if we are putting our futures into the hands of someone who can't tell the difference between elfroot and deathroot simply because it was dark."
He half listened to the spew of angry elvish she shot at him, venom dripping from her voice as she rolled again. After a few moments the tirade died down and she whimpered out a plea for him to simply leave her alone.
He ignored the request as he collected the crushed herbs and dropped them into a steaming kettle of water that had been brought to them from the fire by Leliana. He could hear the woman still milling around outside the tent, waiting to let the others know that their leader wasn't going to keel over on them.
"It is not my fault that you ate-," he cut off mid sentence as her eyes slitted open in a glare. "Fine, drank a plant used for poison. You're just lucky that it wasn't enough to kill you."
"Dead might be better." Her voice had lost its fight, the words curling up at the edges in pain that she couldn't quite hide.
It made him take pity on her, slightly, but he didn't think he would be getting over the anger that had grown from fear when she had dropped to the ground by the fire any time soon. His heart was still in his throat from those first few minutes when they didn't know what was wrong.
He reached over and smoothed the hair away from her face, his thumb lingering on her cheek a moment before dropping away. "Nonsense, cariño. If you were dead we would have to let Alistair lead. No one wants that, not even him."
She gave a weak smile before groaning again. "Can you make it better?"
"Of course, I am me after all."
He poured the almost black brew from the kettle into a waiting cup before shifting to lift her head against his arm. "I just need you to drink this decidedly not deathroot mixture."
He tilted the cup to her lips and watched as she sipped and then gagged before turning her face away. He made a sound of amusement and guided her head back. "It tastes foul, I know, but you must drink all of it."
He coaxed her into finishing the cup, pausing when she jerked in pain or looked as if she might get sick.
She was exhausted by the end.
He wasn't surprised when she almost immediately drifted into slumber, he had mixed a liberal amount of pain reducing plants into the tea and they were known for making the one taking them sleepy, and she was already worn out from the pain. It was easy enough to shift to a more comfortable position that allowed her head to be pillowed on his lap.
The tent flap opened after a few minutes of silence and Leliana's curious face peered in. "Did it work?"
"Yes. She just needs to rest now. She should be feeling better by morning."
Leliana nodded before disappearing to tell the others, leaving him to the silence of the tent.
He leaned over and blew out the lamp that sat near them before arranging her travel pack so that he could lean against it at least semi comfortably. He closed his eyes, exhausted himself, his fingers moving to trail through her hair idly.
After what seemed like hours, though was probably only minutes if the sounds outside were any indication, he felt the small elf move, her hands reaching up to tug at him. He opened his eyes and met her heavy lidded gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just want you down here." Her words were slurred with sleep, but he understood them well enough and moved them both around until he was laying on the bed roll with her tucked into his side.
"Thank you, Zevran."
He smiled into her hair and tangled their legs together. "Just remember that you owe me for this. I am going to think very hard about ways in which you can pay me back."
Her laugh was muffled against him as she drifted back into sleep.