"Less. Okay." She shrugs and puts the fruit back and leads the way back to the main cave.

"I no want kobold hungry. I am hungry. I eat less food, kobold eat more food." 

"I eat, I no hungry." She gestures demonstratively with the squash.

"Okay."

He heats his potatoes.

"If I sleep, then I wake up. If I wake up, then I am tired. Then I sleep, then I no tired. Then I wake up, then I am tired. Understand?"

She sets her squash up to roast and then starts preparing his rice with water from a large container near the wall while she puzzles over this.

"Tired then sleep then wake then eat then go then eat then tired then sleep?"

"Yes. If you hungry and you want food and I say food, you say yes food. If you no hungry and I say food you say no food." 

Nod. "Yes. I understand."

"If I want food and you say no food, I want no food. If I want food and you say yes food, I eat." 

"Scott eat. I say."

"Okay. If I eat now, then later I am no hungry. If I no sleep now, then later I am tired."

Nod. "Eat now, go Scott home later?"

"Yes. If Scott eat and sleep, Scott happy. If kobold eat and sleep, kobold happy. If Scott home, Scott happy. If kobold home, kobold happy." 

She wilts. "Kobold home kobold. I no home."

Oh no.

"Kobold need home?"

Quietly: "need, yes." Sigh. "Need eat, no food, word? Need drink, no water, word?"

"Need food is hungry. No food is more hungry, is starving. Need water is thirsty, no water is more thirsty, then is dehydrated. Need home and no home is homeless. Need and no have food and home is starving and homeless." 

"Mm. Starving or dehydrated, word?"

"Hungry or thirsty or tired is uncomfortable, is bad, is no happy. Starving or dehydrated or exhausted is painful, is more bad, is more no happy." 

He sticks his hand in the fire and pulls it out, making the appropriate face.

"Is painful."

She yelps, when he puts his hand in the fire, and teleports him across the cave. "No no no no no -" there's a sudden splash of water onto it, and then she runs to him.

"Okay, okay, look," he says, pointing at his eyes and then at his hands. 

Not only is the damage more contained than she was expecting, but it already seems to be healing.

She still makes a face at him. A face that says 'are you, in fact, an idiot?' "No okay. Bad."

"Bad, yes. Painful. Now you understand painful?"

The kobold is not amused. "Understand."

And then she rather pointedly closes her eyes for a moment. "Scott no go," she points to the fire. "Ilva Scott."

"If kobold say, and Scott want kobold happy, Scott promise to no go fire and painful. I promise no go fire."