Time was an impossibility in the cave. There was no natural light, and Mimi's body's internal clock had lost when she normally went to sleep with how many times she was incapacitated. For a while she tried to follow when Chris slept, but that proved difficult as even when awake Chris would normally be laying down not speaking. Sometimes Sarge would come, and wake her up to go do something. When she returned she was wide awake.

"Don't get hung up on it. If you feel tired then go to sleep, and if not then stay awake until you're tired."

"But, you said you've been here for seven years. How do you know?" Mimi had waited until Chris got back from 'work' so she would be awake enough to answer.

"I ask," she sat down to do some stretches, "I see most new people in this section of the caves so I just ask what day, and year it is when they arrive." Giving a glace to Mimi she continued, "There were others who came in while you were still initially recovering so I got the date from them." Reasonable, I guess. "There are other ways of telling, too. Although they aren't really accurate." She tugged at some of her wispy hair, "Hair growth, finger & toe nails, how good a shape your clothes are in, how many teeth you've lost." Now that you mention it…

"You don't sound like you have any missing teeth." Mimi watched as Chris finished her stretches, and sat with her back to the wall.

"I have access to medical supplies, which includes tooth brushes. Besides," she sounded the slightest bit proud, "I managed to convince Sarge that I can't do my job without my teeth." Mimi raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh, they definitely see through it. Or, at least Scarred does, but he's not the one in charge of these caves." The centaurs, as Mimi learned, had a rudimentary caste system in place. Chief was at the top, and any that challenged his rule were quickly dealt with. Next were the 'Tenders' as Chris called them. Tenders were Grimm like Sarge who managed, and maintained sections of caves with people. If caves were empty then the tenders would get the gatherers to collect more people. Scarred fell into the gatherers group. Then, at the bottom, was the freshly spawned, and inexperienced Grimm; fodder. Gatherers took them when they went out, and tenders used them to replace burnt out torches, move dead bodies out of caves, beat when bored, and generally keep things going. However, there were really only two kinds of centaur Grimm. Those who grew smart enough to fall in line, and those who remained at their base instincts to follow those they viewed as their betters. Kind of like a pack of wolves, but some have an almost human intelligence. As Mimi pondered their 'meal' was delivered. As raiders who wanted to keep their captives alive they would feed everyone what food they managed to steal from caravans, or villages. Though, the centaurs truly showed their basic level of knowledge when feeding time came. Chris had seen where they prepared the food, and all the Grimm did was throw everything into a dug-out pit, and mash it with their hooves until it was a pasty substance. It was a mystery of what you would get as it was randomly scooped out of the pit. Normal people would have their food mush tossed on the floor for the occupant to eat off of, and was just enough to keep them alive. Since Chris was special, and Mimi was claimed, however, they received some special treatment: their food was put on some wooden debris the Grimm had laying around. While still demeaning it at least wasn't off the cave floor. Water was distributed by a tunnel-to-tunnel basis with every tunnel having a water canteen they shared from when Sarge would walk through with it. Refills of the canteen were seemingly random.

"So," Mimi said as she picked up her 'plate', "what do I do when by teeth eventually…you know…rot?" Over the past few…days?...weeks?...Mimi had been prying Chris out of her shell bit by bit. She desperately needed someone, anyone, to socialize with to keep sane. Even though she didn't show it often Mimi knew the person Chris used to be was still somewhere in there.

"Well," Chris replied after swallowing some mush, "You've got a rock wall, don't you?"

"You…can't be serious, right?"

Chris shrugged, "That's what most do. If you don't then you'll just have them rotting in your mouth. Would you rather a quick pain, or a drawn out one?" Mimi said nothing, and ate her mush.

"What are they paying you?" Mimi was quite curious as while Chris had still been going out for work she didn't have any new clothing on. The last thing she received was a white scarf which seemed like weeks ago.

"I don't get paid until they think I've earned it." Chris was fiddling with a rock she had laying around.

"But, you're fully clothed. What else is there to pay you with?"

"My life?" Oh…yeah… A silence fell between the two as Mimi realized her mistake. Chris gave a sigh, "Don't worry about it," and dozed off.

Although she hated to admit it; Mimi was grateful that Scarred had claimed her. This is messed up. Most people from the tunnel were taken on a seemingly regular basis. Mimi tried to track time this way for a while, but gave up when she couldn't get the pattern right. She wasn't exactly sure the specifics of a Grimm's metabolism, or lack thereof, but Scarred would only take her to the farm a few times every now, and again. It was…confusing.

"I'm not sure what he's playing at," Chris responded as they ate. "Even for a claimed you don't get used that much."

"Thanks? I think." Chris shrugged. Because of the rare visits Mimi had quite a lot of free time. She had found a rock that she sharpened, and used it to pick at her teeth. It wasn't enough, not by a long shot, but it was more than nothing. Another, flatter rock was used to file her nails down. The Grimm also didn't seem to mind that she had them. This would barely scrape them, if at all. Not to mention… Mimi had noticed a significant loss of muscle mass from her body since she arrived. How long has it been?

"Do you normally let your hair grow out?" Mimi was taken back as Chris was the one who started a conversation. Her eyes were still cold, but there was definitely something there, now.

"No. Not really." She was brushing her hair with her fingers when Chris asked. It was at least an inch passed her shoulders. "I was gonna cut it soo-"

"I like it." Mimi stopped brushing, and looked Chris in the eyes.

"I mean, I guess I could keep it long. It's not too much of a hassle to keep tidy." Mimi swore as she said this she saw the faintest smile on Chris' lips. There it is.

"Happy birthday, by the way." Mimi looked at her surprised, and confused. "You said you were fifteen, right? It's been a year since you arrived." Mimi was stunned. A year? She looked at her malnourished hands. It's already been that long?

"Huh…" They sat in silence for a few minutes as Chris allowed her to take that information in, and continued eating.

"Mimi?"

"Yeah?" Mimi looked up to see a pained expression on Chris' face.

"Thank you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not blind. You've been bugging me since you arrived breaking down the emotionless façade I built up for myself." She took off her gloves, and stared down at her own hands which had a pasty, gray coloring. "Or…Well…Not break it down, but at least put holes in it. Enough to make even someone like me smile for once."

"I…I'm glad." While Chris' words were kind, and endearing… Why are you telling me this?

"At least one more time…I feel the slightest bit alive…" Mimi could tell that Chris would probably be crying if she still had any tears left in her.

"Chris?" Before Mimi could continue Chris stood up. There were hooves coming down the tunnel. Instead of Sarge, Scarred appeared, and grunted at Chris. A sad, yet contempt smile was on Chris' face as Scarred led her away leaving Mimi confused. Normally her work would take a long time, so Mimi decided to ask her about her behavior at meal time when she would get back.

Sarge came through with the mush. Mimi got her helping. Sarge looked at Chris' empty cave for a second, before leaving without putting any mush down.

Mimi was asleep when she suddenly had the feeling someone was watching her. She opened her eyes, and saw Scarred standing at her cave entrance. He was holding his spear as well as some kind of pouch that was slightly bigger than a sports ball. When she sat up Scarred tossed the pouch at her feet. Mimi was confused, but Scarred made a mooing noise while motioning towards the pouch with his spear. Upon closer inspection she saw it wasn't a pouch at all; it was a dark red scarf that was wrapped around something. It was cold, and wet to the touch. Normally, survival instincts keep people away from danger, and out of too much trouble. But, when Mimi unwrapped the scarf she found her body moving on its own. Her hands grabbed the sharp rock, and her legs sprung to life, and charged Scarred. The rock didn't even pierce the Grimm's skin. Scarred slammed his fist into Mimi's stomach which shattered her aura. He turned around, and bucked Mimi back into her cave with his hind legs. Her back slammed against the wall, and she slumped to the ground. Scarred settled down, and drank in her newfound despair. It was delicious just as he'd hoped. Still clutching the rock she could only stare helplessly into Chris' eyes as she couldn't feel her legs.