"I don't have parents, if you were worried," she adds.

"...I was a little worried," he admits.

"I just started in my tree. Childhoods sound inconvenient."

"They have their ups and downs."

Promise doesn't ask.

"There are a lot of kinds of fairy wings. Some of them allow sitting on chairs with backs comfortably."

"Well. There are still plenty of practical obstacles."

"Yes. For instance, I don't know how to turn anyone into a fairy, and even if I could it might count as a harmful spell the same way turning you into a sparrow would."

"Turning me into a sparrow would count as harmful?"

"Yes. Well, probably, if you really wanted me to turn you into a sparrow I might be able to, there's a little flex around what one construes as harm."

"I don't yearn to be a sparrow. It's just - well, slightly unsettling but also kind of intriguing that turning people into sparrows is an option," he says. "And very interesting that it's defined as harm."

"Animals can't talk. Or use most of the active fairy kind magics. Or do sorcery. And are pretty physically harmless."

"Yes, I see what you mean. I suppose that where killing someone is not even theoretically possible, that tactical role gets filled with things like 'turn into sparrow'."

"Well. More often 'turn into snail'. But yes."

"Is it possible to turn a mortal into a fairy...? I'm asking mostly out of theoretical curiosity; I'm not at all sure I'd like the tradeoffs."

"I've never heard of it being done. I doubt it, but it could be theoretically possible somehow."

"I'd also be fairly surprised if it turned out to qualify as harm, especially given the reasons why turning someone into a sparrow does," he says. "On the other hand - turning someone into a sparrow doesn't make them mortal, right? Which sparrows traditionally are. So turning a mortal into a fairy might not accomplish the reverse, in which case it would be a much less useful trick. Still handy if you really want wings, I guess. Hmm, is it possible to turn a fairy into a different kind of fairy, with a different set of wings?"

"Not that I know of, but maybe. It might just be cosmetic, though, I would be more likely to have heard of it if it did something more potentially useful like change fairy kind magics around."

Promise gets out and pokes her gate. It is not settled yet.

Silver goes into the house.

Promise considers, then follows him.