Brad shook his feet slightly as he stepped away from the crowd forming around James. He was still blown away by either how much effort James had put into that costume, or how much he must have paid to have it designed. The way James had always ribbed brad about his interest in furries had left brad dumbfounded at it all. Had all the jokes been overcompensating for Jame’s own interest?
But it was more than the mystery of James’ sudden enthusiasm for fursuiting that had left Brad uncomfortable. No, he was experiencing some distinctly physical discomfort, too. Not only did it feel like his suit’s carefully crafted, talon-shaped shoes wearing out, if the fact that he could feel the hardwood floor beneath him was any indication, but he was feeling sweltering heat all through his costume. He’d once worn it outdoors at a con during a heat wave in the middle of summer, and this still felt ten times worse.
He quietly excused himself to his room, panting as he went, sweat seeming to make parts of his costume stick to him, wrapping around him tightly like a glove. As he closed the door behind him, he vaguely registered feeling the costume’s outer layer of feathers pressing against his skin, but he was quick to dismiss it as more of the sticky, sweaty feeling.
He HAD to get this suit off.
He reached back for the zipper, but, try as he might, he couldn’t find it anywhere. ‘The heat is getting to me,’ he thought. ‘I can’t think straight. How am I gonna get this off before I pass out… The mirror, that’s it, the mirror!’
Huffing, Brad trudged his way over to the mirror. He turned around to get a look at the suit’s backside, and was surprised to find it bare.
“Wha…? Am I… Hallucinating?” He mouthed, before leaping back, freaking out when he saw his costume’s beak move as he’d moved his lips. Even through whatever delusions this heat was putting him through, he knew that he’d never designed his suit’s beak to move.
‘I’m losing it,’ he thought, ‘I’m losing it. There’s no way I am wearing a costume.’ Another voice completed his inner monologue. It was like Brad’s own, but subtly different, more noble-sounding. The difference was so minor, that Brad didn’t even pick up on it.
‘I… I guess I must not be.’ Hesitantly, he reached to grab his left hand with his right, feeling, even as he reached, that his fingers were subtly growing longer and thinner, the costume changing to match. When his hands made contact, he felt the sensation of scales against scales, none of it loose or floppy like the costume’s rubber. The bones in his fingertips pressed through the skin to become talons at the end of his wings.
He went wide-eyed, the suit’s still-plastic (for the moment) eyes doing the same.
‘This is actually happening. This wasn’t… I didn’t want this. Not in real life…”
Before Brad had time to bemoan his fate, he went from feeling sweltering heat, to completely normal. In fact, it almost felt a little chilly, and not just because he was technically no longer wearing a costume. Looking back to the mirror he saw that the blue and white feathers covering his body were beginning to turn bright red and deep orange. And the further the change of color spread, the more his feathers seemed to shimmer, the colors swaying gently across his body like the tips of a flame.
“I’m not even turning into my blue jay? What kind of joke is this?” Brad groaned, feeling his lips harden and stretch out to fill the costume’s beak, his skull slowly reshaping to that of a bird. “I’m supposed to be-”
A phoenix. the other voice in his head “corrected” him before he could say “human.”
“A phoenix,” brad nodded, slowly. ‘I mean, I guess,’ he thought, ‘but I don’t really want to die permanently.’
Brad shook his head. Well, now that he thought about it, he really didn’t want to die. Who did? So maybe he really was supposed to be a phoenix. ‘Still, I’d rather be a creature of flame.’
Brad blinked. It had been a random thought, but it was oddly comforting. Did he really HAVE to worry about anything like this? He could fly, would never truly die, and was completely fireproof.
‘Still, being human was a stepping stone. One step in the process of growing into something greater.’
Brad smiled. Strange though it might have been, he had to admit, he felt much more comfortable, more natural, as a phoenix than he had as a human. And it was certainly a step above being a simple anthro blue jay as his fursona had been originally. Though unexpected, he wouldn’t turn down this gift, even if he could.
Plus being fireproof would mean fewer problems if James went crazy with his costume’s fire breath again.
‘Assuming that it’s even a costume…’ Brad suddenly realized. ‘Better not to say it though. Don’t want to freak anyone out too much. Still, this’ll be an interesting evening.”
As he stepped calmly out of his room, the other partygoers turned their heads.
“Woah!” A guy in a racoon suit said. “Brad, you got a new suit for tonight?”
“Those flashy effects on the feathers are awesome!” Said the young woman in the lioness suit. “Why didn’t you wear it from the start? Were you saving it in case someone tried to brag about something fancy?” She grinned.
“Oh, nothing like that,” Brad said with a dismissive wave of his talon. “I just wanted to get into something a little more comfortable.”