"I tried to barter for some beads back on that station in space, but things got sidetracked in a hurry." From what Regina had said about her trading for materials, however, they might not have had wooden beads on offer anyway. "I made them, in the end." A whole lot of whittling and sanding and a bit of druidry to help the shaping along. Vax looked from Corbie to the beads and back again. "Again, they're not exactly perfect, but I hope they're close enough to count."

He was a bit uneasy that maybe he'd overstepped. Maybe it was offensive, to make her coraline the wrong way. Maybe the alcove was an embarrassment of a shrine, wrong enough not to feel right. He couldn't be sure, but he'd wanted to do what he could to make Corbie welcome in the place.