Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Dragon Age, but this isn't even connected to my main SI.

Prompt - Day 1: A Meeting

Soft rumbles slowly faded into my consciousness, like I was hearing my sister walking around in our apartment. I could feel the rumbles on the side of my face. Was I sleeping on the floor? My brain felt swollen, like I hadn't gotten enough sleep after going to bed at three in the morning. I tried shifting into a more comfortable position, but my entire body felt like one big bruise. I let out a soft groan, and the footsteps stopped. I hoped Samantha would come over and explain everything to me, because I didn't remember how I got into such a state.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

My eyes shot open at the obviously male voice. Though I made to move away at first, his appearance and our surroundings froze me in place. He's clearly an elf, was my first thought. His elongated ears attested to that. The next thing I thought was, He's bald. It was hard to wrap my mind around those two facts, yet he stared me right in the face. His pale skin flickered with gold in the firelight, as though he'd lived his whole life in the crumbling ruin around us.

Since I couldn't find anything to say that wouldn't sound stupid or redundant, I glanced around at the stone ruins, always returning my eyes back to the bald elf to make sure he wasn't moving. I couldn't see well past the light of the fire, but I gathered a few clues. A crumbling statue lay nearby, the warrior it depicted unrecognizable to me. Lichen and tough vines grew on and around some of the crumbling stone, and I thought I saw a dim glow from a patch of mushrooms. Darkness engulfed any area beyond the flames reach.

The next time I looked back at the elf, he was frowning at me.

"Are you alright? I know this must be disorienting for you." I tried to shake off my shock to form at least one sentence.

"Why..." I had to breathe in to continue, my mind still spinning, "...Are you here-? Am I here?"

This time, his frown looked thoughtful, reflected by the wrinkling on his forehead. "I couldn't say. I was only dreaming here when I was alerted to your presence. I have never seen a physical being move through the Fade as you have."

His bald head did not distract me from his statement. "W-what? The fade?" My voice got higher as I sputtered a few nonsense words. The Fade? He saw me because he was dreaming, what does that-? Oh.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Of course I was dreaming, that was obvious. Man. That was about to become a really uncomfortable conversation.

"Okay. Cool." I breathed again and tried to sit up. I spat a few curse words as pain flared through my body. That, that was a lot more realistic than I usually let it get.

"Please remain still." Baldy was still infuriatingly calm, though I could see some confusion in his eyes now. "I don't know all the effects that sort of travel has had on you, but you are clearly exhausted. Imagine running for several hours straight."

I grunted and cursed again. "So, are you like, my dream partner, or what?"

"Dream partner? What, exactly, would that involve?" And, he was oblivious. Whatever, I could work with it.

"You know, we go on marvelous and incredibly odd adventures together? Explore?" My body throbbed and reminded me of my current inability to move. "Help me make this pain go away? You know, fun stuff." His eyebrows had risen at my dry tone.

"This is magical exhaustion," he explained, "I can help you recover, but no faster than your body itself allows."

"...I'm not laying here. The ground is awful. Why would you put me on stone."

I watched, fascinated as his eyebrows climbed higher. Distantly, I wondered if I could make them rise past his invisible hairline.

"This is where you fell. I apologize that the ruins no longer have human comforts. They have been abandoned for many hundreds of years."

"Don't you sass me. I have a headache like nobody's business and my body is not gonna get much better lying on ground made of this shit."

He hummed. "I do not believe the ground is made of-"

"I said don't sass me. You know exactly what I meant." The slight tilt of his mouth told me I was right.

"I must say," he continued, gaining a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "When I saw you fall through the veil, I did not expect such language from you."

"...Are you serious." My tone was flatter than Wiley E. Coyote after a falling anvil. "You're really gonna hop on my language? It's my dream, I can do what I want."

The tilt to Baldy's mouth was gone. "It appears I have not been clear enough about your situation. You are no longer in the Fade. You are not dreaming."

I attempted to roll my eyes, but stopped when dizziness hit me.

"I understand if you are confused. It is an unusual situation."

"The only thing unusual is your lack of hair," I said, still reeling. I couldn't see his reaction with my eyes closed, but from the stony silence I assumed it wasn't a humorous one.

Soon enough, I felt my consciousness begin to drift. 'Finally,' I thought, 'Next dream please...'

Waking up didn't solve anything. Ruins still surrounded me. My whole body ached, though less than before. And there was Baldy, stoking the fire.

"Awake again." Truly he was a master of observation. "Has your pain lessened?"

"...Yes." Closing and opening my eyes didn't change anything, except making my eyelids heavy again. "I'm still here."

"Did you expect something else?"

Managing to peek open my eyes, I glared. "Surprisingly, yes."

"There's no need for hostility. I am only attempting to help."

I let out a ragged puff of air and closed my eyes again. "My muscles still feel bruised. My head hurts. But I don't feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"That is progress." He moved closer and hovered a glowing hand over me, like an examination. "Do you feel you can sit up?"

"Maybe?" I carefully felt out my extremities. Since my muscles were still sore, I wasn't expecting movement to be pleasant. I stretch my hands and arms, following with my legs. Not bad. Once I tried to prop up my torso, my core was burning like I had done 5 million crunches.

"Allow me to assist you." Once I nodded, the elf placed an arm around my back and helped me sit up. I was wheezing by the end of it, though I managed to give him a sarcastic thumbs-up. "Some nourishment would do you well. It has been over a day since you arrived."

The fire had a small, covered pot over it. No smell reached me, but it might not have been done yet. What kind of dream was this? Was it a dream at all? I didn't feel any of the power that usually came with the control I had over my sleeping state, but I pushed that thought away.

"I... don't know you," I said. The words fell out of my mouth, but I recognized the truth of them. Dreams always gave you knowledge and context for the scenarios. But this man, I didn't know him at all.

"My apologies, I am Solas." He sat in front of me now, searching my face. When the firelight hit them right, I noticed a slight reflection in his cadmium green eyes, like a cat's. "I don't believe you ever said what I should call you."

I sucked my lips in and stared for a few moments, waiting for... I wasn't sure. Names were powerful, but he might as well have something to call me. Maybe just one name. He didn't move the whole time I was thinking, patiently waiting for my response.

"Sabrina."

"It's good to meet you."

"Yeah," I said with a shaky, but genuine smile, "You too."

A/N: Sooo, eveesolo gave me a list of DA prompts a while back, and... I never did them. After I watched her play through the beginning of DA:I, this popped into my head the next day. Fun stuff.

It's just a little one shot, but I thought I might as well post it, since I won't have another 2QiK chapter until after I move and get settled again. I'm hoping to do more little prompts, eventually. It keeps me from running myself into the ground with my other project.

So I hope you enjoyed it! Lemme know what you thought. This fic was saltier and drier than my other, but there you have it. Mixing Sabrina and Solas does not make a good main course. Haha.