"Hey, Chuckles," Varric greeted the elf near Ava's shack, "I wouldn't get in there if I was you."
Solas furrowed his brows at him. "Why?"
"Strange noises are coming out of there. I don't know what it is, but I have enough decency not to intrude."
The irritation in Solas' face was imminent. Did he mean…? He walked closer and didn't even need to press his ear against the door to hear the loud rhythmic thumps. He even heard voices.
'Don't tell me she…,' he did not want to continue his thoughts further.
"Are you sure you want to get in there?" The dwarf asked when the mage reached for the knob.
"Yes," was the blunt response. He did not think she would do something like that. At least he hoped she didn't.
Entering discreetly he was enveloped by warmth and instantly felt calm.
He was not prepared for what he was experiencing, but somehow the calmness persisted, leaving no space for the surprise and shock that should have hit him.
Streams of violet light moved across the room, the walls shimmering in different hues of pink, causing the light in the shack to take on the same glimmer of color. Was that Ava's magic?
He felt the ground under his feet vibrating slightly to the rhythmic thumps.
"It must be difficult for you to resist," he heard someone sing. Was that Ava? He noticed a black box in the middle of the room where the music seemed to be coming from, the streams dancing to the rhythm of the music.
And then there was Ava on her bed, her eyes closed and her lips moving to the song.
"But you barely even scratched the surface..."
He was in awe. The music was so fascinating and calming and… different. And the box… where did it come from? He had never seen such a thing before.
Solas had to overcome these wondrous feelings, as he was concerned for the girl and wanted to know what had happened. Or how this happened.
Slowly approaching her bed he reached his hand out to her, finally brushing her arm after a moment of hesitation.
A gasp escaped her before her body shot up, her hand now resting on her heart as she hastily looked around with her startled gaze.
Her heavy breathing calmed when she saw Solas. "Ugh, Solas, who told you to sneak up on me like that?" She asked with a tone of slight anger, mixed with relief.
Then her face fell, her expression becoming shocked and surprised when she noticed her surroundings.
"What the hell?"
I'm taking it back. The talk about Devin being crazy? Nah, he was actually a really nice guy.
We had talked about our old lives with Thomas, no one revealing too much about themselves. We exchanged names, though.
Thomas had been an orphan named Raymond, probably around the age of twenty something. Or eighteen, nineteen? I don't know, he didn't tell me.
Devin was actually a Mexican immigrant from the US called Carlos. He didn't go further than that. I felt like I was the one doing the most talking about my old life. Was it because I was a female? I even told them lots of shit to avoid questions that could have brought me to tears. Why did I do that, though? It was not like me to tell unnecessary lies.
I mean, if I gotta cry, I gotta cry, so why did I have to avoid it then?
Anyways, during that 'feel talk' Devin, or rather Carlos, showed much sympathy to Ray and I when our emotions threatened to take over. He was actually the one asking the least questions about our old lives. Probably out of respect.
After that Carlos and I retreated from Ray's shack into our own little havens and I didn't know what was happening to me once I was alone.
I began to tremble, my hands shaking and my legs feeling weak as memories of my past flashed through my mind, tears gathering in my eyes.
I wanted to cry so badly, but I could not.
Unable to stand any longer, I laid down on my bed, closing my eyes in an attempt to calm down.
I was thinking of a song I loved back in Earth, playing it out in my head, pretending I was home listening to some music.
At some point all my worries were gone when I hummed some of the lyrics I could remember, losing myself in the music.
"I guess I'm falling, and pulled you with me oh na na…"
And the more I sang, the more I felt relaxed and the more the music seemed to become real.
"It must be difficult for you to resist,
But you barely even scratched the surface…."
I was so lost in my head that I just hadn't noticed anyone else with me in my shack, until I felt something brushing my arm.
I almost died of shock. I immediately jerked up and actually had to take a long moment to become aware of the real world again and was very relieved to find that I was out of danger as it was Solas who had tapped me on my arm. Probably to see if I was okay seeing as I might have been laying there like a dead frog.
But then I realized something was different. I noticed my magic having the time of its life, dancing to the song that should have been supposed to play in my head.
But no, there was a fricking music box in the middle of my shack, playing that song for everyone to hear in the real world.
So yeah, I very much understood the confused expression of Solas, because mine was not too different.
"What the hell?"
One would have thought that the box would vanish or the music would stop once I was fully at my senses, but nope, that wasn't the case.
The music was still there, the box was still there and the only thing that seemed to kind of ease off was the violet streams. My once ugly shack was still of a beautiful shimmering neon purple color, though. An easy way to renovate, actually. I had wanted to do that for a long time.
The only questions was: Just how did I do that?!
Author's Note: This one was inspired by RAYE's Welcome To The Winter. .