"...Off the top of my head, custom high heels maybe? It'd take some wizardry for sure."

"Well, enjoy the con! Oh, by the way- You're new, right? Well, if anyone is making you uncomfortable with pictures or anything, tell event security right away. I had a guy following me around at a con in San Fran once, and, yeah. It's what they're here for! And we all deserve better than that shit!"

(Sammy, meanwhile, produces their tickets and shows both to Andrea- Purchased online and printed earlier.)

“I already have a designated follower! Plus if anyone annoys me I can just pick them up and fly them away” Andrea does a cartoonish evil laugh.

“Just to be clear that was a joke, I’m not a villain.” With the few supervillain attacks that had happened, he wanted to make that extra clear.

”Though… I do kinda look like I’d be monster of the week for a magical girl show right? One defeated through the power of being shown friendship or something.”

"Aww, no, I think you're more like a scrappy side character!"

"No, no, monster of the week stealing things 'cause she doesn't know any better, then a scrappy side character!"

“Maybe I was tricked by the big bad? Something something bird imprinting on the main villainess and now I think I have to steal to support the ‘flock’? Then the team of friends shows me that real love isn’t exploitative like that. I’d watch that episode.”

"I'd want to workshop it more. Anyway, girls, we'd better get in line right? Doors open in like... Fifteen minutes."

"Yeah..."

"Enjoy the con, Garuda!"

And then the trio of cosplayers leaves.

There are still quite a few people looking at her, but there's a lot of weirdly dressed people around to collect attention too.

A few of them would LOVE to take pictures with Garuda!

Sammy looks to her. "It's up to you. I have a bottle of water and a few granola bars too if you need those."

Andrea is fine taking pictures with other cosplayers! It’s neat! Normally this much attention from so many people would be giving him a panic attack but right now they feel very bubbly as Garuda, the attention is really flattering.

Being himself sucked, being this cute girl who wasn’t scared of people was so much less painful.

And not just other cosplayers, but random con-goers who seem to be collecting pictures of everyone.

It's all very friendly. Sammy tries to stand out of the frame of any pictures.

Andrea knows how that feels. Sadly Andrea can't share the ability to become a bird girl that is less shy.

Pictures pictures pictures.

It's not as tiring as it would be normally to interact with all these people, but it's not a zero amount of tiring.

"Oh, my. What a fine specimen of my kind I see before me. Such wonderful feathers I have not seen in an age and a half! What an unexpected relief to my... Eternal disappointment. Fear not- My gaze is one of respect and not doom today. I, Lilith, the scorned, am here at this quaint gathering to gather fame and influence, to engage in surreptitious commerce, and to scout for new devious plots and plans. It shall be a most enjoyable spectacle, no?"

Whoever this cosplayer is, their acting is on point. A commanding, domineering voice and strong poise combined with an unflinchingly superior expression.

Also this cosplayer is unbearably hot. Hnnhhh abs. Crush me please.

Those fake wings are really nice too! Obviously they don’t look real when there’s real harpy wings to compare them to, but it’s definitely movie quality costuming!

Also, her kind? This cosplayer is more a dark angel than a birb, and she has hands. He wants hands in this form damnit!

”Uhmm hi! I’d sure hope the feathers are nice, they are attached to me after all.”

A smirk. "Quite so. Salutations and may you enjoy this little event... Perhaps I should like to speak again when I need not stay in the character of royalty. But for now my supplicants await. Amusing... But this may be their only chance to meet a queen. Who am I to deny them?"

Some hidden mechanism flaps her wings, and she nods beatifically before marching on.

“I liked the character of royalty…” He mumbles as she leaves. 

Gosh she was pretty, and gave him any amount of attention. He’s so glad he came to this con. And now its finally opening up! Yay! Andrea sticks close to sammy because he has Andrea’s ticket.

Theres so much cool stuff here and Andrea definitely didn’t bring enough cash in his fannypack (a backpack would get in the way of flight) to buy what he wants, not that he had much to spare to begin with after his clothes buying spree.

But those gundam models look so cooooooool. Andrea wants miniature versions of giant robots! And also every single Pokémon branded thing in the world but all the Pokémon merch as always is way out of his price range. Who has $200 for a giant eevee plushie. How would he even get it home if he did?

He wishes he had hands because so many people are playing Switch or 3DS and he wants those streetpass coins damnit! What a wasted opportunity.

Eventually he and Sammy need to break for lunch and rest. Walking (more like waddling) around on talons isn’t the most comfortable, the Garuda form really was meant to fly around instead of walk.

Sammy seems to be having fun basking in the aura of excitement that seems to follow Andrea. He accumulates a big backpack and two big plastic bags over the course of the day.

In the dining hall, Andrea just happens to be at the perfect angle to see a woman purse-snatch, taking someone else's bag just as they had turned to throw away their takeout containers.

“Hey! Thief!” He takes off without thinking, a much smoother takeoff than he has managed while thinking about it, zooming towards the thief. 

The thief(?) scowls at Andrea, hesitates, then looks around theatrically. "What? Wait- Oh my god, I could have sworn this was mine! I picked it up without thinking. Ma'am, I'm sorry, this is yours!"

AGGRESSIVE HOVERING AND BIRD OF PREY GLARING. “You took it from their table.” Yeah how dumb does the thief think he is.

"I mean, yeah, I could have sworn that was where I left mine? It's so busy here."

The owner snatches it back angrily, ("Pay more attention then!") and starts looking through it for anything missing.

(Event Staff are making their way over at a very clear Fast Walk.)

Well event staff have it taken care of. That sure was underwhelming for his first bit of hero work. Stopped crime just with a yell, bird powers not even needed. Could have done that in human form.

He lands back with sammy.

One Event Staff peels away towards her after a quick murmured conversation.

"Hey uh... I'm gonna have to ask you not to fly again. Flying inside the center is actually specifically forbidden by our insurance. I mean, they were thinking about drones, but... We have to think about the safety of the venue and everyone else, so, yeah."

“Sorry! I took off without thinking. Guess I sorta expected a chase. I’ll stay on the ground while indoors.” His talons are so sore from so much walking though. They weren’t meant for extended walking! Birbs mostly fly places! He wonders if he should rent a scooter next time or something. How would he steer though….

"Sorry! We have to deal with these sorts of things at big events, so it's nothing against you! If you have any accessibility concerns maybe we can see about doing something about it- I see you have a helper here for example. And flying outside should be fine as long as you don't go high enough to interfere with jets, but uh, maybe don't take my word for it."

“I haven’t even tried flying that high. Don’t see thaaaat much appeal? Real birds stay relatively low for a reason. It’ll be fine.” He tries to reassure the event staff.

"Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the con, then!"

For the next day Andrea is definitely scheduling some more breaks, maybe flying breaks, his poor talons. Or… if he had enough money would someone make him custom bird shoes? Some arch support sounds nice.

He goes back to enjoying the con with sammy.