There was a hidden excitement in her as she watched the two men move smoothly through the movements of a fight, with no obvious intentions of hurting each other. She wondered why the Soft Voice had brought her here, into this beautiful and huge room, to see this. He vibrated with anger, though now she wasn't so sure it was aimed at her. It didn't scare her as it had before.
She was led away from the structure where the men were fighting and for a moment she considered resisting, she wanted to stay and watch these mock-fighters a little longer. Biting her lip she followed the Soft Voice as quickly as she could, still stumbling a little as her body continued to object to the rough treatment. The Soft Voice looked back once or twice as her stride faltered, but didn't stop until they reached a circle of chairs. Seeing his gesture to sit she took a chair, starting as she seemed to sink into the soft material, and bringing her knees up to her chest.
"You don't understand anything I say." There was no intonation to suggest that a reply was expected so she remained silent and still. "I thought not. It's not your hearing, I did a thorough scan yesterday. I have to wonder when you lost the ability to understand us though. Was it in the fall? Is that why they couldn't get anything useful from you? You obviously didn't betray us, and I was so stupid not to change the codes. We all thought you dead, never even thought of the possibility that they could have you, and alive. We trust to technology too much. As soon as the computer said you were lost to us we gave up hope." Adam sighed as his heartfelt apology fell on deaf ears as Shalimar looked on blankly. "Let's do this simply." Taking a seat on the coffee table that was in the middle of the circle of comfy chairs, Adam took Shalimar's hands in his. "You are Shalimar." He enunciated. "I am Adam, and you are Shalimar." He added hand gestures. "Adam, Shalimar. Can you say that? Adam? Ah dam." He sighed as she watched his efforts blankly. "You're not making this easy for me. It's so much easier in the movies." He laughed out loud at the thought, and stopped himself as he saw the reaction it prompted in Shalimar. She had pulled back, flinching as though he would hit her, eyes tight shut. "Hey, I thought we were past this." He commented. A hand on her arm brought her head back up, though there was still a hint of fear hidden in her eyes. "Laughter is really a problem isn't it." He observed. "Oh well, one thing at a time. I know you can speak to me if you want to. I heard you when we first got you back to Sanctuary. But I couldn't work out what you were saying."
A thought struck Adam and he walked quickly into the kitchen area. He returned with a hand behind his back, but saw almost immediately that it was a bad idea as Shalimar cringed away from the suspected punishment. He brought a chocolate bar out from behind his back.
"This is a bad idea," He said, gesturing with the bar. "Because I know you haven't been fed enough for a while, and rich food won't be good for you straight away. But I can't think of anything that would be a better bribe."
She looked at the offering blankly for a moment before the scent of it reached her delicate nose. The scent of the chocolate - warmed by the Soft Voice's hands - was rich and thick as it escaped the wrappings and she rolled it around on the back of her tongue as she might a solid morsel. She watched breathlessly as he took the corner of the bar in his teeth and snapped off the corner of the brittle delicacy. How often had she undergone this same routine, forced to watch as her captors ate the food that they had brought for her, the only punishment that seemed to increase in agony every time she lived it. The Soft Voice wanted something from her, she could see it, but she didn't know what. Realising that she was no longer restrained and able to move as she liked, Shalimar closed her eyes tightly and put her hands to her face, fighting to find some way of covering her nose and both ears at the same time. Giving up, she stuck her nose between her knees as though she could hold it closed like that and tried to breath shallowly. "Nothing, Nothing, Nothing." She began, trying to clear her mind of everything but her own words. She tensed against the hand on her shoulder, but looked up.
"That'll do." He praised softly. "Is that your chant? What you used to block them out? I taught you that a long time ago, finding something to say to yourself to keep you grounded. You were flighty back then, a bit like you are now. But you remembered you remembered something of your past. Or maybe not," He chided himself. "Maybe you came up with it yourself." He held out the chocolate bar. "You earned this, but we're going to have to teach you to speak if we're going to be able to help you properly."
Taking the offered chocolate apprehensively, Shalimar pulled back, crouched on the balls of her feet, an uncomfortable position on the shifting cushion of the chair. Giving up on trying to keep her balance on the shifting surface, she took a step down onto the floor, hesitating as though considering running. A tense energy filled her and Adam took a step back, not wanting to crowd the feral - now so possessive of her prize.
Glancing around her as if she expected someone to jump out of the shadows to steal it, she hugged the food close to her chest and, leaping over the chair's back, disappeared down the corridor. Adam sighed lightly.