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Denice is in speech therapy. Today is pretty much like any other day. She repeats random syllables back to the therapist, as usual.
Denice gets et by a magic
They hadn't been sure if she'd left the screen on on purpose, but better to default to not overruling what Denice does, as much as they can.
(If they thought she couldn't use the remote, they'd be trying to figure out something else. But they're not going to try to cause her to touch it.)
She comes into the room.
"Good morning. Food in the dining room again, or should I bring it here? Follow me to the dining room if you'd like?"
Dining room!
"Would you mind if we eat with you? Absolutely alright if you'd rather not. Nod if that's ok?"
the light inside
She shrugs, then nods. (She's used to being monitored while she eats, and having other people around; eating alone was a little weird, last night.)
They don't want to force company, but isolation can be its own harm, and Denice clinging to her the night before is something for the direction of her maybe getting things out of company. And they are who they have, here.
Heria brings out food for Denice and for them; she and Shen sit down as well.
the light inside
She eats. Again, she doesn't pay any more attention to the food than is required to get it into her mouth without making a mess.
the light inside
She listens in, circumspectly and without commenting. It doesn't take long for her to finish her meal.
Such-and-such person Heria knows had a baby! The sister of such-and-such other person Heria knows is going on vacation to the moon! This polity they're in has politics! There's construction going on by where Shen usually works!
When she's done, Heria will clear away her plate, and then take out a clip like the one she's wearing.
"Here's the translator for you. This one will work if you wear it in the right place - you can wear it like I do, or in your hair, or I can get you a bracelet or a necklace or something like that for it."
the light inside
She takes it, carefully, and turns it over to examine the clip; she's fully expecting that it will be too small and fiddly for her to use, but it might not be.
darkshen
'Clip' is a bit of a misnomer- it doesn't actually have anything that looks clip-like by earth standards. Just the front-facing portion, and a differently textured back.
"If you put it to your collar and tap it, it'll grab on."
the light inside
Well, it's magic, she probably shouldn't be too surprised that it's more magic than she was expecting. She attaches it to her shirt, near her shoulder.
That'll be close enough.
"If you don't mind if we test it, Shen can try talking in our language and you can see if it works alright?"
darkshen
"I'm speaking Reynan right now, can you understand me?" say Shen.
And - if Denice wants to pay attention to it specifically she'll hear that, words she definitely doesn't know in an odd-to-her accent. But at the same time it'll feel the same as if Shen said it with her own translation on, English and understandable-to-her coming across easily.
the light inside
It's weird, and a little overwhelming; her face goes blank for a moment as she processes it, but then she nods.
"Alright. If you'd like to watch some programs with more words now, I can help you set those up. You're welcome to try any of the books in the living room - if you'd like something else I can see what else we have."
"You can go back to the living room, or stay here, if you'd like. Nod if you'd like me to stay around?"