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Amavel watched curiously as Alistair scratched behind the mabari's ears, the dog panting and almost smiling as he spoke to it.
"Who's a good dog? Who's a good dog? You are!" he said in an odd voice, laughing a little bit. He glanced up, making eye contact with her.
He blushed a bit.
"Er," Alistair said. "What?"
"Nothing," Amavel said, shaking her head. "I've just never really been around dogs before. Especially not war dogs."
"What?" he exclaimed, apparently horrified. "But this is Ferelden! Dogs are everywhere!"
"Some Dalish have them. Not my clan," she said with a shrug. "Sometimes stray mutts would follow the camp for scraps. But never mabari."
"Oh. Well, they're great!" Alistair enthused. Morrigan was off somewhere, scouting in her wolf form. Or perhaps she was just sick of being around them, Amavel wasn't sure. "I grew up with a pack of mabari. I guess that explains my manners."
Amavel frowned. She'd only known Alistair a short time, but she had noticed that he often said insulting things about himself. Something that Morrigan was only too pleased to comment on.
She didn't like it, but didn't know enough about humans or Alistair himself to say anything.
"What do they do?" she asked, looking at the mabari. "Except fight?"
"They're great companions, even friends," he said, encouraging the dog to roll over so he could scratch its stomach. "More loyal than people, that's for sure."
Amavel contemplated this.
"And what should I feed him?"
"Scraps of meat from what we hunt will do," Alistair said with a shrug. "Maybe a bone once in a while."
"A bone?"
"They like to chew on them. It's good for their teeth, and gives them something to do."
"Oh."
Slowly, Amavel reached forward, stroking the mabari down his side. He whined, rolling on the ground, and she laughed.
"He's sweet. When he's not tearing out darkspawn throats, that is," she said, scratching his head.
"Are you going to give him a name?" Alistair asked.
"Me?"
"You're the one who saved his life. He came to find you," he pointed out. "He's your dog."
Amavel looked down at the dog, and he panted up at her.
"Falon," she said finally. Then, seeing Alistair's questioning look, she explained. "It means 'friend' in elvish."
Alistair grinned.
"Falon. It suits him."