The rat watched her human look away, blushing. The cormorant watched his human tuck his hair behind his ear, mouth pulling to one side in a sweet smile.
Silently, they approached each other while their humans were distracted. The rat drew a rune circle on the ground with spilled ink; the cormorant ripped out a shining black feather and placed it gently atop it.
The spell sparkled, fizzed, then faded, taking feather and ink with it.
They nodded to each other respectfully.
And when the time came to return home, each went into the other’s void, where they could watch each other’s human.
The better to know whether, as it seemed, this was a love that would last.
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This microfiction was written to the prompt ‘Familiar Swap’ by Leia on Ko-Fi.