Daiko had little time to get used to the costume. Despite its insolating warmth, which just really didn’t feel ideal at this time of the year, he was intent on wearing it for the remainder of today as a member of Blue Pegasus during this lovely, fun event that they put up. He could see through the costume’s mouth, but only scarcely… details weren’t as clear to him as usual, but he could still maneuver around and find his way to the streets outside. Coda perched gently on top of the costume’s head, nudging on the threads keeping it together bit by bit overtime. Daiko didn’t mind it, mainly because he was unaware of Coda’s actions as he was busy with his own challenges followed with the huge, pink bunny suit that he wore.

Now… this time of year was never really celebrated in this fashion back in Orchidia. Yeah, sure, it was an important season – spring symbolized the revival of nature from its long slumber throughout the winter, but where did eggs come into play? Coda might’ve started to feel surrounded by infants if they weren’t hidden for children and participants to find throughout town.

While Coda took off to perch next to the ever-illustrious Guildmaster, Daiko was met by a small group of children, each holding an egg that they found. “Look! We found an egg, big easter bunny!”

“C-Cool! That was so fast; we got several world records right here-“

“Now we can eat them, right? Right?”

“W-What?! No, you don’t eat eggs!” Daiko panickingly warned them, “They grow into chicklings! At least… a-at least boil them or something-“

“W-What… uhhh, easter bunny, what are you talking about?” one of the kids asked in confusion, slowly opening the case of the egg to reveal its surface being of chocolate, “See? You don’t boil chocolate; you eat it! Otherwise, it becomes gooey cocoa-like chocolate!”

“… O-Ooooooh! Yes, of course! Ahahahaha…!” he laughed it off, his voice muffled under his huge helmet. He tried to play it like he was tricking them, but sweat was building up on his face…

Coda paid no mind to the awkwardness emitting from him and simply demanded pats. Pats.

WC: 366

Raze finally made it to the place that the event was taking place all out of breath. He took a look around and saw some of the guild members dressed in bunny costumes playing with the kids and keeping them busy, one was creating bubbles with their magic another helping them with the egg hunt. He took a look at himself, he didn't manage to find a bunny outfit for the event but he managed to find a hairband with bunny ears and a mask and wore one of his white coats, maybe he could be a modern version of the Easter bunny he thought.

After wearing both the headband and the mask and greeting the nearby guild members-even though he couldn't make out who was under the costumes-, he approached a group of children that seemed to not be interested in the currently offered activities and asked them whether they would like to play "Tag". The children shouted in excitement and run like the wind at him, the young man was surprised at how quickly they reacted to his offer and started running as fast as he could with the kids being right behind him, at this pace they would catch up to him pretty soon. He snapped his finger and created illusions of light that made it seem like he split into multiple versions of himself, the running and noise behind him suddenly stopped.

Raze and all his illusions turned to face the children that were looking at them with open mouths and wide eyes. Raze gave them a slight smile that quickly turned into an expression of fear as the group split and started chasing him and all his versions down.

He was happy to hear them laugh and see they were enjoying themselves.

Coda was upmost delighted by the pats and cooed with a clicking noise as most raptors usually did in times of rest. Alias was a certainly special woman to the avian creature, and pats from her mighty hand were always welcome. In the time of spring, her plumage was starting to grow its stark, clear colors once more – those orange and yellow lines coating over grey spots underneath her body, paired along with some black tunes and lines around her face and legs. Her tail feathers were stretching out like the fletching of a large arrow.

… Wait… Daiko was left startled for a second when Alisa commented on his suit. Weren’t they all wearing full-body bunny suits? While the other kids ran away with their well-earned eggs and blessings of easter, Daiko approached her in cartoonish steps with his huge suit and tried to see what she was wearing… but the darn filter on the suit’s eyes made it difficult. He had to get closer…

…

!!!

In disbelief, he pulled up the helmet and revealed his worried, sweaty face gazing at Alisa’s headwear, then her chest and torso showing off that deep-purple top, and then her thread-covered legs from half a meter away. She wasn’t dressed like him at all… the only similarity between them both was the pair of bunny ears, but her was like a headband pushed into her hair and all, while his suit just covered everything. A few blinks followed afterwards, and then he gasped: “Wait… I-I’m not the only one dressed like this, right?”

“Easter Bunny!”

Upon hearing a young child’s voice from behind him, Daiko quickly put on the helmet and waved at them as joyously as possible, completely ignoring the detriment he put himself in…

“… I-I can’t be the only one, right?”

He would gaze at the next person near the-

*SQUEEEAAAK!*

Coda, without warning, began crying all of a sudden! It was clear that her avian eyes emitted droplets, tears, followed by her cracking shrieks once the other lady was spotted – she, too, wore a suit akin to Alisa’s, cementing how out of place Daiko felt… and at the corner of his eye, he could spot a couple men wearing the exact, identical suit! However, he was presently far more distraught by Coda’s flapping and crying.

“C-Coda, what’s the matter, girl?” he asked her in shock, raising his gaze towards the girl whom Alisa called Atani, “…”

The mask was harming his ability to recognize her, in which he closed the distance between them both and began scanning her everywhere. Coda was sobbing at her feet in the meantime, clearly recognizing the elf behind the mask. “Have you and Coda met before? No, that can’t be… hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh.” His eyes were about to burn into her soul if he glared any more; one of those moments where he regretted not being able to talk with Coda.

WC: 486

The game of "Tag" seemed to delight the children as they run up and down chasing Raze and him chasing them back in return, the illusions didn't prove useful as they were quickly dispersed by the kids' violent charge. He was getting out of breath admittedly and had to take a break, after all he caught a small commotion involving his guildmates with his side vision. Bending the light once more and creating reflections of himself for the children to play with, he approached the group as he heard an animal cry coming from their direction, not only did he want to check out what this was all about but he had also left in such a hurry to cater to the children that he didn't really stay around after the greeting, he didn't want to appear rude and so he went back to Alisa's side.

"Is something the matter?" he asked in a worrisome tone his eyes trailing down to Daiko's companion that seemed to be crying at Atani's feet. Maybe these two just know each other and the little raptor missed the elven girl, he thought as he tried to look at the bigger picture. He didn't know if he should say anything else, probably just let the two have their moment but Atani did seem to look a bit lost as to what was happening as well.

He was still a very new member but he wanted to help in any way he could, "Is your companion in pain?" he finally gathered the courage to ask even though it probably wasn't his place but he couldn't keep looking at the poor animal sobbing "Can we help her somehow?" he asked as he turned his gaze from the companion to the man.

?

Wait, they hadn’t met before? Now this confused Daiko even more; Coda recognized her as if she was an old friend, but Daiko hadn’t tied the dots yet. All he could do was comfort his old, avian friend with soft strokes on her feathery head in an attempt to soothe the crying.

The man in the white suit approached them along with some kids, drawn by Coda’s crying. Daiko wanted to make sure that she was alright, but he also didn’t want to worry the others. It was way too random, too… but what Alisa said cast a little more light into the situation. An old friend? So Coda… Coda knew her?

“… I think I know now,” he muttered as he watched one of the kids comfort the avian creature, reducing the crying into a soft chirping, “…” He kept his glance locked onto Atani for a solid moment, his eyes almost leaking into her very being until he put on his bunny helmet. “I think you remind her of someone else… it’s okay, Coda. There, there…” He embraced the bird fully with both arms until her chirps toned down into usual tones for a relaxed raptor, then let her perch on a fence next to Alisa once more.

“… O-Oh, wait, I should’ve worn something like that too,” Daiko commented on Razeluxe’s outfit, “I bet you’re not sweating your skin dry… pfuuaah!” Daiko had to unequip his helmet, but he was turning his back to Coda who spotted a kid further away trying to reach an egg stuck up on a tree’s branch.

With a quick bask from her wings, she sent a soft breeze strong enough to shake the egg down to the kid’s basket, thus living up to her species’ name.

WC: 296

Raze was delighted to see the small creature's mood lightening up again and listen to her relaxed tunes again, the child that came and petted her to calm her down with her owner's own hug seemed to do wonders, it still was so heartwarming seeing kids care for others and after Alisa gave the boy a handful of Easter eggs Raze reached into the basket he brought with him and was on one of the Pegasi tables and took out a few chocolate treats sharing them with the youngster and telling him to give some to his friends as well.

With the kid leaving with a smile on his face Raze turned to Daiko that was commenting on his outfit "The truth is I'm not sweating at all and it's much more comfortable!" he chuckled looking at Daiko's costume. "I'm thinking though, if we are close to the same analogies, I could lend you a second one I brought with me just in case." he said placing one hand on his chin supporting it with the other and looking Daiko from top to bottom, it was difficult to tell through that bunny costume as to how the young man looked like with only his face being visible.

Before Daiko could give an answer however, another child approached Raze and then their numbers started rising asking him one by one to give them some of the treats he gave to that other youngster and his friends. Should he have been surprised, young kids love chocolate most of the time but he wasn't sure how their parents would react to them eating all that candy what with the chocolate eggs and now his own candy on top. "I suppose your parents wouldn't mind a bit more sugar since it's a special event." he chuckled nervously and reached for his basket once more taking out his homemade confections and handing them out to the group of children. When each of them got one they all started running to go and play while enjoying their candy, Raze looked at them with a slight smile from afar and sighed "I meant to share some with you guys as well but that happened!" he exclaimed and laughed as he turned to face his guildmates "Sorry~".

”Oh, it wasn’t easy finding this… took me a while to find a full-body outfit. Didn’t think of the weather then… urrrghh,” he moaned in awkwardness. However, in a sliver of hope, Razeluxe came in clutch with a spare suit that Daiko could borrow! He definitely didn’t want to wait for next year like Alisa, in her ever-playful tone, suggested oh so jokingly.

“R-Really? You have a spare? Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re a lifesaver!” he thanked Raze along with a violent handshake, “I can barely breathe in this helmet…” Once Raze told him of the suit’s location, Daiko would charge straight towards it. “Wait here, everyone! I’ll be riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight back…!” he beckoned them before going out of view.

…

Coda knew nothing of easter. For her, all the commotion was another festival. Humans held festivals many times in the year, and while a few before involved chocolate formed as eggs – which was a little mindblowing to the raptor – they all had the same wide image. Joy.

Coda could see all the joy with her wide, sharp eyes… and her flexible head could turn around quite a lot, allowing her to cover any angle around her plumage. She would’ve happily played with the kids around the streets, but… she needed to reaffirm something.

In one bask, Coda levitated herself and gently perched on Atani’s shoulder. Listen, if Coda’s claws were too sharp and strong for a simple perch, then Daiko would’ve had several shoulder issues over the years, so Atani had nothing to worry about. In that position, Coda could clearly glare straight into the elf’s eyes… and then begin to nuzzle her with her beak and head feathers. Elves were just such lovely creatures for the avians, and Coda’s love for her grew with every second.

…

After a quick bath to wash off the heat – which took a total of 5 minutes - Daiko finally came back refreshed, rejoiced and in a whole other outfit; much akin to Razeluxe’s, it consisted of a headband with a pair of white, long, half-sloppy bunny ears and a mysterious, opera-like mask to cover his eyes while still displaying his grin and shining teeth. A shorter, white coat was hugging his figure unlike Razeluxe’s longer ones, but it also allowed for more air and thus spared him from the heat rays. “This suit is amazing, Razeluxe! I’m like a noble bunnyman… hey, guys, what do ya think? Coda, come and look!”

… Coda was paying no attention to him, even upon his request. She was too infatuated with Atani to nudge.

“… Aarrrghh, you always end up like this…” he muttered in defeat, his head and arms lowered.

WC: 450

"Not in the immediate vicinity I'm afraid Alisa." he replied while frowning lightly with a soft sigh as he continued searching his bag after giving Daiko the clothes. Of course there were more of those treats but they were sitting quietly in Raze's apartment as the ones he just gave away were meant for testing out this new recipe of his which thankfully seemed to be quite the success. He did realize though as he was searching his bag that there was one piece left and looking around he thought of giving it to their little winged friend that seemed to pay attention to everyone but Raze. It was to be expected as the creature had never seen him before but he was comically jealous of the affection that was shown to the other members, although being somewhat indifferent towards Daiko which made Raze chuckle softly as he tried to drown it out with a short cough.

When he returned Raze was amazed at how well the costume fit. Initially he wouldn't have taken a second pair with him especially a shorter version of what he was wearing but he could never be too sure about the weather and although he was hopping not to use it he was now glad that it proved helpful. "It fits you like a glove, and finally people can see your smile!" he exclaimed while turning Daiko around to see the garment in its full glory.

And yet another taste of defeat as Coda didn't care for Daiko's orders which was funny in it's own way but his poor guildmate must have been hurt irreversible, Raze thought chuckling in his mind and petted Daiko's head "There, there~" he said with a sigh at the end and a smile "Would Coda be interested in a treat, I found a sole survivor in my bag." he said looking at Coda's master and then turning his head towards the avian, maybe he would get some precious affectionate moments, who knows. "Coda certainly seems to like you Atani, it must be great being loved by animals as an elf!" he said looking at the girl's eyes, one thing that wasn't possible at his hometown was not be close to nature as the town was a proper steampunk place with no place for animals save for a few household pets.

… Well, at least the blondie thought he looked good in the new suit. You see that, Coda? It’s called good etiquette. The raptor was reveling in Atani’s strokes, acting much akin to a domesticated pup than any flying bird of prey. Raze, too, complimented him, so it wasn’t like Coda’s opinion was important or anything…

…

…

*Sniff* “Yeah… people can see me now, at least. I think I look pretty enough… for a Blue Pegasus Mage,” he stated with the support given to him by Raze and Alisa, “Mhm.”

Daiko’s nose perked up at the notion of a treat in Raze’s possession, and so did Coda’s beak! She even chirped a couple times in response, making her vocal chords from her days as a little chick heard. That was right, they were still spreading out easter eggs for the children to try their lucks at finding. “Let’s see if they fo- I mean… *whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistle*” Braking himself mid-sentence, the avian Takeover Mage crossed his arms, started whistling a random melody and walked ahead of the group in an attempt to scout a certain tree down the road. He was close to revealing the location of one of his eggs being there, but he kept his mouth shut at the very end…

Although, given by the scene, someone already found it. A poor boy with a red cap who hung by one of the branches about two and a half meter in the air. Upon seeing him in trouble, Daiko dashed away until he was right underneath. That was when a soft gust interrupted the Fire Mage, catching the young boy in a bed of air and gently planting his bum on the gravel road.

“Oh, nice save, Coda… wait, that spell was supposed to be a surprise! C’mon, I had it planned for a crisis…”

Coda had been training on that spell for months. It came as a surprise to Daiko that Coda was even able to pull off spells on her own, but here she was, throwing gusts of wind at her own magical costs like a… huh, what rank would Coda be if she was listed as a mage? Daiko would have to think that through for a moment, because in his eyes, she deserved some recognition of her own.

Truth be told, upon thinking, he had forgotten his own rank… it had been years since he was reminded of it, so be patient.

WC: 407