Gabrielle stirred the concoction in the pot in front of her, roughly shoving aside the chest plate that once again pushed against her arms as she stretched them out above the fire. It was bad enough that she had to wear Joxer's armor but she also had to cook for all three of them. She removed the spoon from the pot, sat back down on the log near the cookfire, and glanced over to where Joxer was on the opposite side of the campsite but quickly looked away, her face reddening. The wannabe warrior was completely unaware of just how short the cloth he was forced to wear really was. Gabrielle snuck another glance and relaxed slightly as she saw Joxer sitting down on her bedroll.

When she and Joxer had lost the drinking game with Xena two days ago, Gabrielle had no idea what exactly Xena was going to make her and Joxer wear for a whole week's time. She thought maybe that she would have to wear a sack or something and that Joxer was going to wear anything but his horrible armor, maybe a fool's costume. There was no way she could have pictured Xena wanting her to wear Joxer's "handmade" armor and for him to wear what he was wearing so little of. So, when they had left the village they had been in and their respective hangovers had finally cleared up, Xena had ordered them to switch clothes. They were on the trail that led to Amphipolis because Xena had decided to visit her mother that morning and, wouldn't you know, the village was a week's journey away. Gabrielle finally found a way to put on Joxer's armor without constantly hitting herself with the pieces of metal in back and also discovered that the helmet wasn't really that heavy. She recalled her two companions' reactions when she finally emerged from the bushes she had changed behind.

"Don't say a word! Don't you dare laugh!" She said angrily, stomping out to the trail, picking up her staff, and packing her usual clothes into one of the saddlebags on Argo.

When she turned to finally look Xena and Joxer in the face, she found what she was expecting to see from Xena, who looked like she was valiantly winning against laughing out loud at the blonde's new "costume". But the look on Joxer's face, Gabrielle really couldn't figure out. He appeared to be stunned and she thought she heard him say something like "She even wore the helmet..." But she didn't ask him anything about it and turned back towards the trail ahead of them, pushing the headgear up when it drooped over her eyes.

Gabrielle then thought about what had happened when it was Joxer's turn to change clothes. Xena had handed him a somewhat small bag and told him to wear only what was in the bag.

"Come on, Xena! Do I have to wear this?" He whined after he was out of sight.

"Yes! You do! And the quicker you do it, the better! Don't forget to put on the sandals and don't make me come back there and give you a helping hand!" Xena yelled back.

"No! I'm changing! I'm changing!" Joxer said in a panicky tone of voice.

Gabrielle was about to ask Xena what exactly she had picked out for Joxer to wear when the subject of her curiousity stepped out from behind the bushes. He stopped in front of the two women and stood there, pulling the bottom of the toga down towards his knees, looking at his legs and not at the two women as they stood there looking at him. Gabrielle was speechless. The only thing running through her mind was the fact that Joxer had really great legs, arms, shoulders, everything. He wasn't built like Hercules but he wasn't as skinny as she thought he was and he filled out the white cloth very well.

"Xena, you got the wrong size! This thing's too small...and it itches in places!" Joxer said, turning around and trying to get a loose thread that was sticking up from his left shoulder.

As Joxer moved, Gabrielle eye's grew wider at the site that Joxer's backside presented to her. She quickly moved her eyes down to the ground and studied the now very interesting rocks that were imbedded in the well-used trail, Joxer's helmet sliding down.

"Trust me, Joxer, it's not too small and it only itches cause I bought it brand new. Now gather up your things and let's get going. I want to at least cover a few more miles before we set up camp for the night." Xena said as she walked over to Argo and put the bag that had held Joxer's new clothes away. "Gabrielle, you ready to go?" She asked.

Gabrielle looked up and, moving Joxer's helmet back up her head, was relieved to find that Joxer was totally clueless about how he looked and was standing to the other side of Argo, putting his pack on. She could feel Xena's eyes on her and when she looked at the warrior princess, saw that she was smirking back at her. She rolled her eyes and joined them.

The next day had started out okay. However, after the noonday meal, it started to rain. The three companions found an abandoned lean-to to wait the storm out underneath and Joxer and Xena went about shoring up the cracks in between the logs and Gabrielle made sure all their equipment was still dry and that Argo wasn't getting too wet. After a while, the storm let up and they started out on the trail again. Gabrielle spotted a spider web that was heavy with raindrops and stopped to get a good look at the wonder, then, realizing that she was being left behind, ran to catch up with the others. She had almost caught up when, overcompensating for the additional weight of the armor, she stumbled and slammed into Joxer, who, in turn, fell against Argo's side. Xena was able to calm the palomino down after she had tried to bolt.

"Sorry about that, Xena! I didn't mean to scare Argo! I-" Joxer began to apologize.

"It's really my fault! I was distracted by a spider's web and I-" Gabrielle also began to apologize.

"Guys! Guys! It's okay! Argo's fine, just see if anything managed to fall out of her saddlebags!" Xena said, petting her horse to keep her calm.

They looked but couldn't see anything that had fallen out, however, the ties on Joxer's pack had been loosened and when he bent over to check the ground near where Gabrielle had stumbled, the contents of his bag spilled out and landed in a puddle of mud on one side of the rain-soaked trail. He looked up forlornly at his friends and Gabrielle helped him fish out his belongings. Most of his stuff was okay, if just a little wet and muddy, but his bedroll, which had been in bad shape before the dunking, was completely ruined.

"Don't worry, Joxer, we'll sort out sleeping arrangements when we stop tonight." Xena said as she turned and started walking.

Gabrielle snorted when she thought of Xena's "solution" to the sleeping arrangements. Xena got to keep her bedroll, but she had had to share hers with Joxer. That first night was an embarassment of almost epic proportions. She and Joxer had mutually agreed to sleep on opposite sides of the bedroll, her on one side with her back to his and he on the other side with his back to her. Later that night, however, Gabrielle suddenly awoke to find that, somehow, she had ended up laying almost directly on top of Joxer, who was spread-eagle over almost the entire bedroll and was quietly snoring. Her head had been resting on the top of his arm, right next to his upper chest, and she had had one arm laid out flat on his stomach. She blushed a crimson red and moved off of him, but when she did so, Joxer had moved and rolled over onto his right side. He reached out in his sleep for something and Gabrielle managed to avoid his arm and stood up. She watched as Joxer finally stopped moving around, and turned back over onto his left side and apparently went into a deeper state of sleep. She then settled down on her side of the bedroll and finally went back to sleep. The next morning was even worse as she was a heavy sleeper and, after hearing someone calling her name, she became aware enough to know that someone was trying to wake her up. She groaned a negative and snuggled back into her large, warm pillow, hiding her face against the fabric, which itched a little. That itching stirred something in her mind, something that all of a sudden hit her with full force and she opened her eyes and jumped up, causing her pillow to let out a large grunt. She was then made aware that her pillow actually had been Joxer, like she feared it would be, and, in the process of jumping up, she had managed to knock the wind out of him. Xena, who had been placing things in Argo's saddlebags, calmly told them to get their stuff together, as they were to have a long hike today and that she didn't want any backtalk from either one of them about the fast pace the warrior princess was going to set.

"That's the last time I play a drinking game with Xena called 'Drown the Pirate'". Gabrielle mumbled as she shoved the armor aside and stirred the pot's contents once more.

Please take the time to write to Delkon at delkon98@yahoo.com, and let him know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 2006 by Delkon and is his sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.