Archive of Our Own

In the middle of the lobby, lies an evergreen tree whose appearance changes depending on the season. During the winter, the tree is decorated with lights to add into the Christmas spirit. And during the spring, the tree shifts into a pink hue, resembling a cherry-blossom tree.

Bassie stands before this gift of nature and presses her hands up to her heart. What an honor to be the Main associated with this time of year. The pink flowers scatter around her, creating a springy feel in the air. It's almost time for Easter!

A bud trickles down from the tree and Bassie's eyes follow it. Without hesitation, she brings her hands forward to catch the flower in her palm. Cherry blossoms have an intricate design that consists of light pink petals and a deeper hued stigma, or core. In a way, this represents herself. Not because her basketed-head was adorned in flowers of many kinds, but because of her personality.

On the outside, Bassie always put on a smile, eager to be the best Easter Main she could. Her exterior was beautiful and pleasing to look at. However, at her own core, the darkness wasn't as pretty. But, she didn't let that get to her! She's a Main, she has a role to fill!

The girl shifts her gaze to a flower being picked up by another toon's hand. Or well, paw.

Cocoa raises the pink bud to her nose, giving it a quick sniff before smiling wide. Her buck-teeth peeked through her lips.

Bassie smiles at the sight.

She's a really cute bunny, she thinks to herself.

How lucky it was to be able to share every Easter season with such a nice toon.

Cocoa reaches over and picks up a paper, offering it to Sprout. “Hey! You dropped this!”

“Oh!” Sprout turns his attention to her with his hands full of papers, “thanks, Cocoa, you're a life-saver! If Vee knew I dropped that she would've been very angry..”

Cocoa places the paper on top of the stack. “Do you need any help carrying these papers? These seem like a lotttt for just one strawberry to carry on his own!”

“A little help would be nice since I've been struggling to keep all of these papers together, haha.”

Cocoa divides the stack in half and smiles wide, “it's always a pleasure, Sprout! I love helping Mains out! I know how important your job is and stuff, and I think Mains should stick together ultimately!”

Sprout nods, returning the smile. “You're right on that one. Mains should help each other out, and you seem like you got it all down! Sometimes it feels like you're a Main yourself with the way you are always around us!”

Cocoa and Sprout share a giggle and walk to meet Vee at her Gameshow room.

Unbeknownst to the pair, a pair of eyes were watching them. Bassie's.

Something's tugging at her core. She holds a hand to her chest and looks down at it. She's happy for Cocoa to be able to hang out with those she cares about, but there was this feeling she couldn't shake off. The bunny spent so much time helping others out and being super nice to everyone she meets. She was Main material.

Main material. Bassie fiddles with the drooping handle from the side of her head. Was she made of the same material? Or was she just a mislabeled toon?

A pang shoots in her heart at the thought of Cocoa and Sprout smiling together. He never smiled at her like that. No one did. No Main did. They just raised an eyebrow at her efforts or smiled slightly at half-hearted conversations. Bassie was aware of the fact she wasn't as popular as her Easter counterpart.

A bud falls onto the ground. Bassie looks down at it. That's odd. There's no tree in here.

Then, she reaches for the flowers on the top of her head.

Just as she thought, one flower was missing a petal.

The Easter season came around once again and Gardenview was in full bloom! The cherry-blossom tree stood tall with its pink flowers budding at the branches and the event toons roamed about.

Bassie returned back to the same position in front of the tree as she always had. With her hands out, she waited for a blossom to fall into her palm. She waited and waited and waited. Yet, none fell directly into her hand. They just fell around her.

“Wow! You caught one in your hand!” A voice calls out. Shelly's specifically.

Bassie cranes her head to the sound.

There, Cocoa has her palms up to three different toons. Main toons. Shelly, Vee, and Astro. They stare in awe at the perfect placement of the cherry-blossom.

“Mhm! I learned how to do this from Bassie!” Cocoa tells them.

Her crescent eyes meet Bassie's. “Hey, Bassie! I was just showing them your trick!”

Bassie wipes her palms against her petaled-dress quickly, pretending she never had her hands out.

“What trick?” Bassie clasps her hands together with a tight smile.

“You know, the one where you catch a flower in your hand!”

“I don't remember teaching you that.” Bassie replies with a tone that has a hint of..

“Oh- Hahaha! I guess I just picked it up from watching you then!”

“Well, aren't you such a natural?” Bassie's mouth voices her mind. It surprised her how naturally that spilled out. Was it a compliment or an insult?

Cocoa's eyes lose its familiar sparkle for just a moment, but her smile at Bassie remains. She looks back over to the Mains. “But yeah, I learned how to do this. It took me a really long time to learn since I had to get the positioning of my palms justtttt right!”

“That's surprising,” Bassie digs her nails into her own arms, “it usually seems like you're always perfect at everything you do.”

“That's far from the truth! I'm not perfect. No one's perfect!”

“Mhm.. Okay..” Bassie darts her eyes away.

There's no way Cocoa isn't liked more than Bassie. The bunny has it all figured out for herself and she's good at everything. She rarely makes mistakes, she doesn't complain about her conditions, she doesn't hesitate to help, she's not co-dependent, and she's certainly not jealous of her best-friend!

…

..Jealous?

No, not Bassie. Bassie can't be jealous. She's too sweet, she's too kind! Her flowers are too beautiful to wilt. She's too beautiful to wilt. Why are her flowers wilting? More and more petals surround her. And they are falling from her own head. Her own head is her issue. It's her enemy.

She can't be her own enemy, that won't do for a Main!

Maybe, just maybe, she could just pin this onto something else, and it wouldn't make her heart feel so heavy.

..Or onto someone.

“I caught one, too!” Shelly shows Cocoa the petal she caught in her hands.

Onto..

Cocoa hops up and down enthusiastically.

Her..?

Bassie smacks the side of her head as she lets out a grunt of frustration. Don't be like that. Cocoa's a friend.

The toons turn to the Easter main with a confused look on their faces.

“OH- HahaHaha- Don't mind me!” Bassie shakes her hands in front of her, “I'm okay!! I'm seriously okay!!”

Cocoa hops over to Bassie. She reaches a hand towards the girl's back. “If you're not feeling good, Bassie, we could always talk-”

Bassie jolts her body away from Cocoa's paw, hugging her own arms. “I don't need to talk.”

“Talking about it always makes you feel better, though..” Cocoa's paws weren't sure what to do, so they just hovered in the air.

“HahaHAHAha, I don't think it would help.”

“Oh, if you say so..” Cocoa furrows her eyebrows, “just please take care of yourself..”

Bassie scans the bunny's expression. How long until this face will be the one that replaces hers? She doesn't want to be replaced. Yet, nothing could ever replace this sinking feeling.