Vax put the whole of her hair into three, and loosely braided them all together where they would frame her face on one side. He left the uneven ends to come back together in a brush, tips curling coy and natural.

"Corbie," he said as if he'd just decided something, and held the large, loose braid together in one hand, the other reaching for the end of one of his own braids to steal away the tie that held it fast. "You're too interesting to go without having other people around you. Do you know that?"