A/N: I promised a fic to a friend of mine if she did homework, and this was the end result. People liked it, so I decided to post it here. Anyone who can decipher the origins of Ixxy's name will be greatly rewarded in fic and fanarts. Now enjoy ^^
It was a nice break for a change that the shriek ravaging the camp was a wail rather than belonging to the darkspawn variety. Still, it was enough to wake the Grey Warden from her slumber. She immediately sat up on her bedroll, taking stock of her surroundings.
The sun had not quite finished setting, and was casting the last dying rays of the day upon the gathering of travelers. She felt a slight shame in falling asleep so early, recalling her childhood wishes of staying up late. So she had not been asleep for long. What had happened? Was the camp under attack? Was that- laughter?
Her followers were clustering around the area that seemed to be the source of the shriek. They were still in their armor or robes, she must have been the only one tired so early. She tried to place together how long exactly she had been asleep when a flying ball of fur interrupted her thoughts.
It was Ixxy, the kitten that had taken to following the group. His full name was some grand thing bestowed upon him by Leliana that she said came from a bard character in Orlesian stories. No one else could remember any syllable of it besides "Ix," so the nickname stuck. Of course, once Leliana had granted him a name, no one was going to tell her she couldn't keep him. Fortunately, the dog seemed to tolerate him, and the rest of the party followed suite, although Alistair had been known to share cheese tidbits with the honey-colored tabby. Right now the frightened thing had run right into the Grey Warden, climbing upon her until his left paw slipped on her lip.
Deftly, she gathered up the quivering ball of fluff in her arms and stood up. She strode over to her party as several heads turned to meet her. She quickly identified Zevran laying on the ground in his usual battle skirt leather armor. His legs were crossed, his hands were clamped over his crotch, and he was moaning in pain. As the Grey Warden moved closer to him, his eyes met the bundle of fluff in her arms and he scowled.
"That, that thing is going to get assassinated one of these days, just you watch!"
"You would never!" Leliana gasped. "You would never hurt the great Ixymineis. I'm sure he didn't mean to harm you."
"Not mean to harm me!" The Warden noticed Zevran's voice was considerably higher pitched. "That little devil jumped up, got his claws latched onto my pride, my manhood, and just hung there." The Grey Warden winced in empathy. Even though she was female, she could not imagine that being pleasant in any way.
"Well, yes, but I'm sure he didn't mean it." Was Leliana's reply.
"Mayhaps you'll wear undergarments when walking around camp now. That would be advantageous for us all, I believe." Wynne suggested with her usual quiet dignity.
"I will, just get that beast out of my sight." Zevran uncrossed his legs and curled up. Wynne let out a sigh.
"I'll see what I can do for the injury. And wipe that grin off your face, you know that not all healing requires touch to work." The spectacle over, members of the small group slowly returned to tasks around the camp. Leliana walked over to the warden and held out her hands.
"Here, let me take him, he can spend the night in my tent. Poor thing is probably scared half to death after that yell Zevran let out." As the warden nodded and handed Ixxy over, Sten stepped over and leaned down to Leliana's ear.
"You see how he grabs things that dangle? And now Zevran will wear undergarments under that skirt. I told you I was training him for an important task."