Fraternization
„Come here little kitty!", Leliana cooed and crouched down to have a better look. Two golden eyes peered out at here from the dark shade under the wagon, unblinkingly fixated on her. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!", she tried again, holding out a piece of dried meat. She could see the eyes moving closer and the faint silhouette of the small cat became visible now. Its pawed etched forward slowly before it struck out at the piece in a snake-quick motion, ripping it from her fingers. Leliana could see its rosy tongue as it licked its mouth and etched a bit further towards her, looking at her hands intently.
"Vashedan", she heard Sten's voice from behind her as he stepped closer. "We have things to do, there is no time for this pointless antics of yours." He sounded gruff, as always, but the bard simply giggled. "Why, do I detect a hint of jealousy?", she asked and let her fingers dance over the ground, catching the cat's attention. The eyes followed her movements and she came even closer, finally jumping out from under the wagon to size the woman's fingers. Leliana moved too fast, however, causing the animal to sprint after her hand and double back whenever she would change direction. "Would you like to oversee her training, Sten?", she asked and giggled as he heaved an exasperated sigh, turning away abruptly to leave before she could say more. He was too slow, however. "Softie", she said and formed each syllable carefully and clearly. The quanari stopped for a moment, then he proceeded to walk away, obviously in no mood to try and argue with her.
Leliana turned her attention back to the cat – it looked a bit too thin, but was a beautiful little thing. The few patches of white were intermixed with red and black, giving her the look of a patchwork blanket as she moved back and forth, nearly stumbling over her own feet. With a smile the bard slowed her hand and let the feline finally catch her fingers. She winced a bit as it bit down hard at first, but eventually the cat started to lick the fingers instead, probably because they still tasted of meat. Quickly Leliana produced another piece from her pocket and gave it to the cat, who eagerly took it from her fingers and started gulping it down.
"My, you are hungry, aren't you? Poor little thing. Here, let me get that thistle out of your fur, hm?", she whispered softly and managed to actually pull the animal onto her lap. It struggled against her grip at first, but when she offered another piece of meat, it decided to eat it right then and there. Humming Leliana worked the knots out of its fur, finally removing the thistle. Despite the ragged looks of the kitten, its fur felt silken and soft under the bard's fingers and she giggled in delight, when the animal leaned into her touch for a short moment. No sooner was she done that the kitten jumped from her lap, darting behind the wagon again. With a sigh the bard stood up and turned around, stopping in her tracks as she realized Fang was sitting right behind her.
He panted, his tongue lolling out, but his tail was unmoving and he looked at her from under half-closed eyelids. Hadn't she known better, she would have guessed that was an expression of disapproval. He shifted his gaze from her to the wagon, from where a low hiss resounded, and then back to her. Leliana threw a glance over her shoulder quickly, then she looked back at him. His gaze still lingered on her, unblinking.
"Uhm…", the bard uttered in bewildered, "I just gave her some meat. She looked really hungry. She is such a tiny little thing, no?" The mabari averted his gaze from her and huffed, letting his eyes wander back over to the golden eyes glaring at him and then further to the rest of the group that was trying to haggle with a dwarven merchant. Leliana watched him and raised an eyebrow at his unusual behavior. "Do you want a piece of meat, boy?", she cooed then and pulled one from her pack to hold it in his direction. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, but did not react in any other way – well, except for the thin thread of drool that slowly slopped down from his muzzle while he tried to pretend he was as unfazed as a statue would be.
"Who's a good boy, hm? Look what I've got here for you", she tried again, this time crouching down to. She smiled at him and waved the meat a little bit in case he had not noticed it. A faint mewl reached her ears and she peered over her shoulder to see the cat etching a bit closer again, her eyes still wary and her movements slow and cautious.
It was at this moment that Fang got up, snorted – Leliana was absolutely sure he had snorted – and trotted off without sparing her another glance. He cut through the crowd of people, who had to make way for him as he forced his way through them, pushing legs aside rudely and making people trip helplessly over him. As he reached the others, he sat down next to his mistress, leaning heavily against her, and made her stumble a bit at the unexpected weight. She quickly adjusted her stance and put a hand on his head, rubbing him behind one ear. When he turned his head to look back at the bard, his nose twitched in something that could only be disgust, just to snuggle even closer to the Warden and turn his gaze away from the bard.
Leliana blinked and raised the other eyebrow as she stared at the dog. As the kitten darted out from under the wagon to snatch the meat from her, she heard Zevran clicking his tongue as he walked over to her, a grin plastered on his face. "Ah, my lovely lady…", he greeted her and chuckled, "I see you fraternized with the enemy. Such betrayal."