[They can't help but think of their own admission just some weeks earlier.

I would rather be dead.

But Casey promises they would all bring Rue home and fight for them, do whatever they could to bring them back, and the promise is a mix of sweetly heartwarming and utterly terrifying. The very idea that they may hurt one of their own sons while feral would absolutely devastate them.

- But maybe they would recognize their smell as their own children, maybe the magic of the vows they've made would persist still, even after the rest of it had fled from Rue completely.

Without warning, Rue huffs out a sigh and shakes their big, feathery head, ruffling up their usually neat feathers. And they they lean in to nibble a preening kiss into Casey's heart-shaped feathers, tender and familiar and adoring.]

I believe you. But ultimately, it has not happened yet, so certainly, it never will. I feared being cut off from the Fae Realm's magic might trigger such a change within myself, but it's been well over a year now and I am still perfectly myself, magic and all.