Muvaki looks at Ember in confusion when she flinches. "wuh?" Is she ok? did something happen?

(She shrugs, when Ember says she was still hurting. It feels uncomfortable to agree with even if it's probably true.)

She looks down.

"...If you hurt yourself, that still doesn't mean it isn't really hurting. Even if you did it on purpose."

"And it - bothers you - if I slap myself to try and stop being weak?" Muvaki sounds... faint. "But that - it doesn't even hurt, really, it's not like -" 

Ember thinks it wouldn't bother her if Muvaki really wanted to hit herself, but that's the sort of thing it's hard to say without being hurtful.

"Sometimes in the winter I stop being able to feel my toes, but that doesn't mean the cold's gone away."

Muvaki looks confused. "...Do you need shoes? We should get you shoes, good shoes are so nice to have in the winter, the ground gets so cold up here, it's one of the only good parts of being in the army, they give us good gear," wait oh no she's babbling, someone's going to hit her about it,

(she stops talking and exhibits the now-familiar-to-Ember body language signs for "expecting-immediate-punishment")

Ember's feet are currently bare. She does not seem to be moving to hit Muvaki.

"I've had shoes before, but then I gave them away. It doesn't bother me very much not to have them." She pauses for a second, looking thoughtful. "...But maybe it's just that I've started to feel like it's normal not to have them, and really I'd be glad if I did?"

(maybe it's ok to babble around Ember?? that rule has been around for EVER it would be WEIRD if it was gone.)

"Shoes make a huge difference in the winter," she says firmly, because she knows this. "Sometimes they would take mine away, for punishment, and I hated it, even though winters in the south don't get very cold. You should really have some." 

She nods. "I think maybe... the way you feel about me not having shoes is a little like the way I feel about you hitting yourself?"

Oh. She.... she doesn't know how to feel about that. (she feels some kind of horrible knot twist deep inside of her.)

"W-why?"

(...Ember may be picking up that Muvaki seems to be struggling to hold onto the knowledge that Ember cares about what happens to her? She's accepted the premise a few times during this conversation now, but new instances of the phenomenon remain surprising and difficult for her.)

"I'm used to not having shoes, so it doesn't feel like a big deal to me, but to you it's strange for people around here not to have shoes, and so it bothers you to think of my feet hurting from the cold. And to you it might not feel like a big deal to hit yourself, but to me it's still strange, and I wish you weren't hurting like that."

Muvaki sits still as she rotates that around in her head, like it's a frustratingly complicated puzzle just outside of her skill level.

(...her lips are dry, and her voice has been getting a bit raspy.)

"Do you need water? I don't know how to make it, but there are kind people who do it for free."

She opens her mouth, has a bit of a coughing fit, and instead nods hesitantly. (She's still so confused.)

"Do you want to go get it together, or should I get some and bring it back to you?"

"I - I'll come."

She goes to stand up, and - fails, falling back down, her legs too wobbly when she puts weight on them. (She makes a small surprised noise.)

Can she walk if Ember holds out her arm and lets her lean against her?

She can if Ember, like, instructs her what the arm is for in simple words! (If Ember just holds it out she's going to give her a confused look.)

It takes her a second to realize she needs to explain, but then she says "You can lean on me!" in a bright tone.

...ohhhhhhh.

Muvaki attempts this! It's difficult to move her body the way she wants, but she's very smart, and eventually she can figure it out.

(the contact... feels nice...)

Ember leads her to a cistern a few blocks over. It's not attached to a temple, but there's a little altar next to it, with two little hand-carved wooden holy symbols of Sarenrae in different styles sitting on top of it. (Ember completely ignores the altar in favor of the water.)

Muvaki peers curiously at the symbols, but there's no recognition in her eyes. 

Then she drinks water!

...quite a lot of water!

....it might be good for her to slow down?

She doesn't really know how much water humans need!

Someone filling a pail looks over at her. "Careful, girl, you'll make yourself sick like that."

Muvaki flinches! 

Then she looks at Ember, who... doesn't seem concerned?

"Can people really get sick from drinking too much water?"