It's hard not to notice her, flitting here and there like a little bird. She can't be more like a few years Kurt's junior, but there is a liveliness to her step at odds with the slight rocking of the boat. On such a large boat, there is minimal rocking when the weather is fair, but there is just enough to make it admirable to see someone running around so freely.
"I have to admit, I am a little jealous," Kurt confesses sheepishly. "I still don't quite feel like I have my sea legs yet. You would think the ride to Fódlan would have been enough practice, but I still find myself stumbling from time to time. Silly, isn't it?"
His expression seems to suggest he thinks so, too.
"My name is Kurt. There is still much I can't do alone, but I think this trip will be a good place to start."
“I don’t think it’s silly at all!”
It’s an easy, lilting objection, spoken through a smile that aspires to mark it harmless. She’s seen more than a few queasy faces in the time since their departure! Lifting a hand to cup one side of her mouth, she leans in closer, voice dropping to soft-spoken note, eyes darting hither and thither and — dare she say it? Yon.
“Actually,” Maria whispers, but her lips curl at their corners and give away the game: this secret is not half so tremendous as she plays at it being. “I fell over earlier, too! I turned right as the boat rocked the same way, and — bompf! I fell over just like that!”
Pulling away again, the little cleric giggles through her grin. Where Kurt seems to doubt himself, she faces him with surety.
“It was fun,” she adds with a laugh. “I wound up finding one of my teammates! And have you looked up at the ceiling yet? There’s such pretty patterns in the wood!” Stepping closer, she points up at a particularly languid whorl. “See how it stretches? Hee hee… it’s pretty cool, right?”
There’s something about him that makes her want to curtsy, though, and so she does, flourish and all, eyes a-sparkle when her gaze darts back up to meet his.
“My name is Maria! It’s really nice to meet you, Kurt! There’s a lot of things I can’t do alone yet, either—“ Then she springs back up, crimson bouncing about her shoulders. “—but that gives us a chance to grow together with everyone, doesn’t it? Oh! But I’m not trying to discourage you, okay?” Brows tip upward slightly, tinged with sheepishness but no less warm for it.
“What I’m trying to say is that I believe in you!”