After a demure smile at Celeste's reply, she found herself completely surprised as she was pulled in closer. Were her skin not brown, it would have been a burning red. Instead, her cheeks glowed with a touch of her wild blush and she stopped breathing as she stared at the mage with wide eyes.<br/><br/>Eventually, she recovered enough to stammer, "Right. Like this? Wouldn't want to spook the uh, horses." then cleared her throat as she nervously shifted about to make herself more comfortable. Clueless as she was, after the comment about potentially falling off, she wound up moving closer than even Celeste intended and embraced her from behind in the saddle.<br/><br/>The feeling of the mage's body pressed against hers certainly didn't help things by sparking a mental war. She just wanted to close her eyes, smile and rest her head on Celeste's shoulder and she wasn't even sure why. Part of her mind told her it was because she was an idiot. Another because she was lonely. The mage just wanted to make sure she didn't fall but here Maia was, being selfish and taking advantage of it. But she was supposed to hold on! What was wrong with enjoying it? Ulduvai taught her to take joy wherever she could find it, for it was rare indeed.<br/><br/>All of that was thrown by the wayside when the horse started moving. She looked down as she was surprised yet again and giggled at the funny sensation of equine muscles working under her bottom and thighs. "This is new." She shook her head in embarrassment. "I mean..." She sighed, "I'm such a fool."<br/><br/>She blinked when Celeste's hair began blowing against her face and couldn't help a smile. "And thank you for this. For treating me with such kindness when your men would not." Even if it was a ploy, but surely it couldn't be. Right? She quickly pushed her inherent skepticism out of mind before it could taint the simple joy of this ride and of being close to the lovely woman.<br/><br/>What did snap her out of her trance was their arrival at the outpost. She became alert and she studied every detail she could take in with her eyes and pointed ears. She paused to murmur, "I hope they'll be able to help him." as they passed Malhar then realized she'd been gawking at everything and everyone she'd seen before shrinking against Celeste in embarrassment.<br/><br/>She distractedly looked up when Celeste said something about walking, "Huh?" then blushed when the meaning dawned on her moments later. "Oh! Um..." But she didn't want to move. She felt safer and warmer this way. She realized she loved the feeling of having another woman pressed against her and she wasn't ready to give that up so suddenly. But this journey wasn't about her. "Right."<br/><br/>Maia reluctantly slipped off the saddle and onto her feet before awkwardly wobbling at the weird sensation of being on her own feet again. After chuckling at that, she looked up at Celeste and a smile burst onto her lips before she could realize or stop it. She offered a hand even though she had no clue how she was going to help the mage dismount.