"I'm okay," came the hoarse, embarrassed mutter-- and anyone would have been embarrassed to have been caught around the waist with one arm still outstretched to break her fall, and the rest of her body awkwardly tensed. That tension vanished once she'd reassured herself that she wasn't about to have a grand reunion with the ground, as she'd been previously fearing.

She lingered for a few more seconds until she'd made sure she was properly braced, and then nodded to him. "I'd say you just saved me a few bruises."