A/N: Written for a prompt over at hobbit kink meme:
Ok guys, IDEK, I mean, I just need to see Oghren and Zevran joining the quest, even for a bit. Thorin is snarling at the "filthy elf" and Zevran is wiggling his eyebrows and telling him how filthy he can really be, and Oghren is "oh don't mind him, he's ALWAYS like that". Zevran of course shamelessly flirts with all Dwarves, Bilbo AND Gandalf and then mocks them all because that's what he does.
Oghren is glad that for once he's not the only Dwarf on the reviving end of Zevran's jokes/snark.
Could there be anything better, I wonder?
Diclaimer: I own nothing, just this fanfiction is all my fault.
Pleasure to Meet You
Bilbo wasn't sure what exactly happened – but one moment they are sitting by a fire, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and suddenly, there was a flash and lots of yelling. He decided to blame Gandalf.
He supposed he should be prepared for anything, after all, he joined a man suicidal quest to retake a mountain from a fire-breathing dragon, after all, but seeing rather ragtag group from another plane of existence had been quite a surprise even for Gandalf.
When the commotion calmed down a bit, the company found themselves facing group consisting of several humans, dwarf and an elf, much to the sneers from Thorin, who obviously didn't think much of them.
One of the humans, rather pretty young lady wearing a leather armour and having two swords strapped to her back, took a step forward, hands raised in the universal gesture of 'I mean no harm' and gave a small bow. "I'm Amélie Cousland, member of Fereldan Grey Wardens, and these are my companions. Could any of you tell us where we appeared?"
For a moment, everyone was quiet, before Gandalf stepped forward, returning the bow. "I'm Gandalf the Grey. You currently are in the Middle Earth, more precisely not far from Trollshaws."
For a moment, the strange group started whispering between themselves before their leader hissed at them. "Wynne?" she called to one of her companions, an older woman wearing a colourful robe, with a wooden stick strapped to her back. "Does this Middle Earth ring any bells?"
The woman in question furrowed her brows. "I'm afraid I have no knowledge of such a plane – it certainly doesn't look like any part of the Fade any mage had been able to access."
"Mage?" quipped Kili."Is that something like wizard?"
It certainly spiralled from there, Bilbo thought, but it certainly was funny to see how both groups interacted during the evening.
So, Amélie Cousland was definitely curious being – she certainly seemed willing to share details on what these Grey Wardens are, pointing to herself and another human, Alistair, man in scale mail, with sword and shield on his back, as he chatted away with Fili and Bofur, exchanging bad puns, as she explained the purpose of their order.
Dwalin over there was glaring at a huge man, who had his hair braided in tight braids, revealing slightly pointed ears – but his size alone defied thinking him an elf. Both warriors, one having twin axes, the other having a huge sword on his back were so still that one would think them statues, before Dwalin gruffly said something, and the other man, Sten, as Amélie explained, replied back. Both of them talked quite a lot, considering how little Dwalin usually said, and if Amélie was to be believed, this Sten was man of very few words as well.
Gandalf was in lively discussion with the older woman, both of them discussing what could the other group bring from Thedas to Middle Earth, both of them showing little magic tricks to each other as they spoke; Wynne, the female mage, was showing Gandalf how exactly her staff worked, while the wizard explained how magic worked for him.
Ori was blushing in bright crimson colour, as he spoke with a softly spoken woman of name Leliana, who explained their adventures so far in flowery speech, smiling at Dori and slapping Nori's hand away as he tried to pick her pocket, while Kili was eyeing her bow with very interested eyes. The woman was absolutely taken by all the braids the company wore, and was asking whether one of them could explain how they do them, when Bilbo's attention was brought elsewhere.
Thorin was currently snarling at the elf, who was wiggling his eyebrows at him, his voice dripping with honey as he completely disregarded all personal boundaries and was all but gluing himself to the reluctant dwarf – while the other dwarf, from the strange group, was laughing loudly, explaining to rather surprised looking Balin that this was how the elf operated, and asked him about beer and other alcoholic beverages of this world, with Bombur adding his opinions about food and drinks.
Gloin and Oin came to join Bilbo and Amélie, Bifur slowly coming to them as well, his hands whittling away at some new wooden toy. After a while, Amélie noticed what the toymaker was doing, and after excusing herself from the conversation with Gloin about finances she went to take a look at Bifur's work – a wooden dragon, inspired by what he heard of Smaug.
Bilbo wasn't sure what exactly the two were talking about, the human noble and dwarf who no longer was able to speak in Westron. But the young lady was obviously asking about something concerning the wooden figurine, with Bifur gesturing something what didn't seem to be making much sense to the woman, but they both kept on talking and gesturing until the point was finally making it across.
Zevran, meanwhile, had time of his life. He hadn't had so much fun ever since Alistair got used to his nearly constant innuendo and stopped blushing at every teasing remark. Even Oghren was 'a bro' now, and didn't squirm at his flirting. But this? Thirteen dwarves, one hobbit and one wizard to be flustered. Truly, a dream come true! The only thing that stopped him was softly spoken Antivan, telling him to at least tune it down a bit, otherwise instead of one elf they will have two half-elves, which was something Amélie would rather avoid. He sighed dramatically. "For you, my dear Warden," he replied with a wink her way, causing her to giggle a bit.
The unexpected reprieve for both groups came to its end quite (sadly, in Bilbo's opinion) shortly, as Gandalf and the old lady mage came to the conclusion of what made the other group land in Middle Earth. Still, setting all the conditions right for them to be able to return to Thedas took several days, and during that time, both groups came to actually like each other, for both of them had something very important to do, not enough time for it - and if they failed, something terrible would happen.
Not to mention, both groups would be facing a dragon at the end of their journeys.
Bilbo thought back of the time the other group was still with them. Amélie, their leader, told him that her family had been murdered, and how much she missed her home - her longing sounded so much like his own. "There is no shame in missing one's home," she told him, her eyes on the huge warrior, who had been training with Dwalin. "If anyone ever tells you otherwise, just smile and nod and think some very uncomplimentary things about them."
They left, leaving handful of tokens behind them. Ori had been holding on the secret braid Leliana braided into his hair. Fili and Bofur were "battling" with two figurines Alistair gifted them (small stone carvings of a dragon and a warrior). Kili had been hissing whenever he managed to press on the spot he had Zevran make him a small tattoo (nothing happened but the tattoo, but given the impression Zevran left on Thorin, Kili decided not to risk anything). Dwalin was gruffly going through the moves Sten taugh him. Gandalf made a small spark dance around him, before it made an illusion of blooming flower. Dori was thoughfully looking at the small bag of tea Wynne left him, while Nori couldn''t wait for first lock he could try the lockpics Leliana left him on. Bombur had been reading the recipe for Oghren's beer over and over, willing himself to memorize it, in case he lost the piece of parchment somewhere while Oin had been busy scribing the recipes for various salves down, courtesy of Wynne. Gloin had been eyeing one of the strange coins that elf, Zevran, left him - it was made out of gold, with delicate letters on it, as well as carving of a profile of a woman. Thorin was currently putting on the braces Amélie gave him as one leader to another - made from dragon hide, from what she told him, and he could feel the power in those scales. Bilbo was busy writing down the stories Amélie told him of her home - while she was not a story teller like Leliana, she still knew how to capture attention of her listeners, and wove the words into elaborate webs.
Only Bifur sat aside from the others, his hands holding a small locket Amélie gave him in exchange for the wooden dragon he was making earlier; the amulet looking plain, but when he looked at the silver backing of the amulet, he had a feeling he saw someone's reflection in there, leaving him feeling calm and content, like he usually felt when around small children.
And this Amélie, whom he will see never again.
A/N: In case someone is wondering, the amulet Amélie gave to Bifur is called "Reflection". You can read all about it on Dragon Age Wiki.