2563/Moving In the World

Moving In the World
Date of Scene:	27 May 2025
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	While helping Lindy move into her new, bigger home, Rashmi gets a new puzzle and Aloisia gets a brother and a mom... And Fenyx gets endless entertainment. Chrono gets lemonaid up his nose.
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown, Rashmi Terios, Aloisia Stauss

---

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was, well... well...

... Despite the fact you'd think that Chrono would be doing some of the heavy lifting, being the only actual boy here, you'd possibly be surprised he was doing something else. Not if you knew him, though.

His current task? Keeping his mother on task and organizing. In this case, making sure she didn't get distracted and helping to line up and sort things into their correct boxes and crates... to be fair, they likely were all good at it, to some degree. To managing his mother was a... special... talent...

And she had a knack for collecting... things.

But boy could that boy play tetris with pros if he wanted to.

It seemed that Lindy was moving to a rather nice place besides this really sweet elderly couple who's son was moving away, and she'd even offered to keep an eye on him, it was a larger place, but that was fine. Fenyx was helping as well, moving boxes near the door as they were gathered, stacking them nice and neat as they were packaged up and prepared to go out.

They'd been at it a while when Lindy called out. "Okay, everyone, I think it's time for a little break. Here, I made everyone some nice, chilled lemonade," she offered, a nice pitcher with iced lemonade within it and some clear glasses on a tray. Chrono was in jeans and a white t-shirt, for once, dusty and sweaty... not as straight lace for possibly the first time EVER...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi is *absolutely* a skirt girl. But when you're helping your boyfriend's mom move, swishy light fabrics are *asking* for snags, rips, and possible dangers. So when she showed up to help, it was in darker pants, one of her dad's old T-shirts with a still-visible bird-in-construction-hat graphic and half-washed-away writing, and a head-wrap to keep *all that hair* to waist height.

While she'd vastly prefer to use magic, Lindy having Faded requires that she not do very much heavy lifting either. Help lift stuff and shift it? Absolutely. Carry a refrigerator right to the truck? Contraindicated. So the bulk of her job is gathering, sorting, labeling, and backup-moving as needed.

When Lindy comes out with a tray of lemonade and glasses, Rashmi looks up from her bathroom-supplies box, beaming. "Thank you *so much,* Lindy-mama!"

And of course she starts pouring, for Lindy first.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
And really, with Aloisia there, for the most part heavy lifting was pretty well handled. She rarely even needed to be asked, she just frequently would gravitate towards the heavier objects pretty much naturally. Honestly it almost seemed more like reflex, and the distraction had been a pretty welcome one. The fact that before coming to earth she'd worked alongside miners had probably showed its effects, to be honest.

Mostly in the way she had somewhat been chattering away and joking while still working fairly professionally, that is. Nothing of consequence, really, just chatting about various foods that she'd learned about and enjoyed, or some outfit she had seen the other day that was fairly enjoyable. It likely didn't help that much with keeping Lindy on task, but it was definitely better than her focusing on some of the other things going on in her life, really.

Unlike Rashmi, she'd been a bit less cautious about magic stuff. Not that she was using or talking about it, just, well. ... Using the dolly alone on things that normally would take two people? Yeah she would absolutely do that.

Look she's an alien from a planet of magic it's just different culture stuff really.

When the break is called for, Aloisia gives a small smile and moves over to take a seat. She was, of course, actually wearing a dress, but it was a relatively comfortable one, the kind that one doesn't mind getting dirty, etc. Though somehow she had kept it clean through the work -- likely one of those technically-a-princess traits.

"Danke, Mrs Harlaown." She says in that friendly, but half-professional tone she tended to take on when more directly addressing Lindy, taking a glass and sipping at it gently.

Mmm. Sugar-with-a-squirt-of-lemon.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
On the upside, mostly this was still the 'organizing and moving boxes' stage. Moving fridges/etc and massive furniture and the like wouldn't be happening for a bit and Lindy didn't really have much, if any, of that. She just had a ton of little knicknacks.

Chrono took the lemonaid, then paused when he sipped it and looked at it. "Huh. You remember how I liked it..." he mumbled.

"I did?" Lindy asked. "Odd. You just seemed the kind of boy who would..." she said softly. Then she glanced to Rashmi. "So, Terios-chan! Chrono-kun tells me you've been really into engineering lately, even if you have decided to get into politics," Lindy said with a small smile. "And that you even took a test and passed! Congratulations!"

Close enough, at least.

"Aloisia-chan, what about you? Have you been enjoying any hobbies of your own?" Lindy asked with a small smile?"

Fenyx was happily drinking down her sugar water, bubbling a bit into it.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Thank you!" Rashmi beams. Even if it's not *quite* the way Lindy talks about it, the congratulations are sincere and *definitely* appreciated. "And it's true, I have... but it's also not *that* different; if I want to be in leadership, it's just a good idea to understand that some systems need really specific parts to *work* without, y'know... flaming out."

Which is when she takes a sip of her lemonade... and an eye twitches. And again, when Chrono says it's just how he liked it. Both of those these, extremely wrong in similar ways. But one *will not* disparage Lindy-mama's host skills in her own house, so... deeper drink of the vaguely-lemon-flavored simple syrup, a brief moment to give thanks for Satisfied Sigh and Hard Work Sigh being so similar, and she looks to Aloisia, eyebrows rising.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
There was something about that little interaction between Chrono and Lindy that was ... moderately saddening. A part of her wishes that she'd looked into certain things a bit more when she was in Obsidian instead of mostly staying away from them. Hm. She'll have to look into that a bit more in the future, because frankly... even if her memories couldn't be recovered, maybe other similar tragedies could be avoided. Maybe.

"Ah, ja, she helped me with some stuff of mine that had broken down, as well. She is very brilliant." Aloisia says, as the two earrings dangling from her ears twinkle subtly for a moment.

And then she's asked about her own hobbies.

Pause.
Hm.

"I have been doing kendo with some friends recently, it is fairly enjoyable, though I admit to not being particularly used to it. I do some jewelrymaking when I have time too, though it is expensive so I do not end up having many materials for it half the time." She gives a warm laugh.

She takes another sip of her lemonade.

Lindy-mama.

Aloisia goes quiet for a few moments as she muses on that little word contraction that Rashmi had been using off and on, looking down into the half-drank lemonade.

"Leadership is directing the working parts to work together like they're supposed to, it is not so different from coding." Aloisia comments absently.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was managing to drink his lemonade without like... dying of sugar overdose, as his wasn't sugar with a drop of lemonaid. She DID remember his, yay!

And one might notice HIS actually swished in the glass while the others more... gelatonously... whirled about a bit.

"Oh? Kendo? I think I did something like that with my husband when I was younger..." Lindy said with a small smile.

"Yeah, stories went you could wipe out half a city block if you weren't careful," Chrono mumbled offhandedly.

"Pfft, I'm sure thoses were exagerations," Lindy said, shaking her head. "And jewelrymaking... you know... it doesn't always have to be made with what is monetarily expensive. Sometimes the things one finds can be the most valuable of all," she said with a smile. "Speaking of... Chrono-kun, when you intend to propose to Rashmi-chan?"

And Chrono choked on his straw, making a quick, but rapid escape, running to the bathroom REALLY quickly, coughing and sputtering as Fenyx raced after him, the familiar trying not to laugh and offer some assistance...

Lindy smiled, reaching out a hand to grip Rashmi if she tried to leave, one hand over her lips, shhhh. Then... "I actually have a surprise for you, but I felt it'd be best if it was just between us girls. I thought it might be something you might like. I'm not sure why, though... it just... felt right?" she admitted, looking a bit confused when she said it.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That was mean, Lindy-mama," Rashmi admonishes without a *hint* of upset; she clearly found his reaction almost as amusing as Fenyx did. And she *does* start to get up, but Lindy's actions *definitely* have her interest piqued. "O-oh?"

And now it's *Rashmi* who looks a bit deer-in-headlights, as though she's about to be handed a family engagement ring. Because while she absolutely *would* propose to Chrono first, if the moment came and he hadn't gotten there on his own... There's a *weight* to those words, that has the redhead looking a bit uncertain.

"I mean, of course, Lindy-mama... What is it?"

A quick glance around at Aloisia while Lindy probes the fog of her own memory, like 'You're hearing this too, right?'

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"Ja, though I am more of a hand to hand kind of person so I keep on accidentally doing fouls because someone gets too close and I just deck them instead of using my sword." Aloisia replies, grinning a bit playfully at that as she brings her hands up into a half-boxing style of posture for a moment. She doesn't punch at the air or anything, just take the stance for a moment or two. "I can believe you being exceptional at something along the lines of Kendo though, considering who your son is. I need to get with him sometime and work on some techniques with him."

...Mostly just picking his brain on how he makes the invisible bind magical circles to be honest, it would make using her rebound barriers easier, but such a technique was more or less considered dishonorable to the Belkans, not a particularly common skill among the honor-bound knights.

Sometimes the things one finds can be most valuable of all. ...Those words cause Aloisia to look down into her lemonade again as Chrono speeds off to the bathroom suddenly. She's silent for a moment, her hand sneaking over to attempt to find one of Rashmi's as she says a quiet little...

"...Yeah. Yeah they are."

...It could be mistaken as a romantic gesture but mostly it was a steadying gesture for herself. She was hiding it somewhat from Lindy because she didn't want to drag her into it, but Rashmi's angle might make it more obvious that tears are starting to well up in her eyes a little, though she's clearly doing her best to hold them back and not impact the moment.

There is a small little nod at that look towards Aloisia, but she mostly was back to being quiet now as she sorted out her own emotions quietly while Lindy interacts with Rashmi.

Wait should she be going and making herself scarce too so that Lindy and Rashmi could have a minute alone???

Uuuuugh she's still not used to being around normal, polite society.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
"Now, where was it..." Lindy mumbled, before she reached over to one of the boxes and started rifling through it. "It was in here... I was using it as a bookmark at one point.... then a coaster..." she mumbled. "Then it was great for helping to hold up when the couch was getting a little loose until I could fix it... but... ah! Here it is!" she said, pulling it out. A... book. An old book? She opened it and... it was... a book. An old, empty book? Inside was...

A card.

'A coaster' 'A bookmark' 'HOLDING UP THE COUCH WHEN IT WAS OFFBALANCE!'

Rashmi had seen cards like this, Chrono's device took a, somewhat, similiar approach when in standby mode. The sleek, blue metal with the weird gem-like structure in the middle, the weird wing-like sides. The two semi-moonlike parts. She then tap-tap-tapped it on the table three times. "I've tried opening it a few times, but I can't get the thing to open, I thought about using some of the power tools, but I didn't want to break it. Seems to be some kind of puzzle or something? I figured you'd probably like it. I don't know why, but when Chrono was talking about what you'd done... I just thought about it and something told me I should give this to you. Here," she said, holding it out.

And it would NOT take Nicomachea long to figure out WHAT it was. A device. An INCREDIBLY powerful one.

And it was inactive and incomplete. One that was registered to only two prior users...

Lindy Harlaown and Clyde Hawlaown. Chrono's father.

An incomplete device, built for.... something.... and left with Lindy. No wonder nobody found it. It was giving off no actual READINGS right now. It really was just an incredibly powerful door stop.

But now? It was in the hands of a meister.

And when Lindy sat down, she sat down next to Aloisia, and reached out, a hand reaching up to ruffle her hair, smiling to her. "Hmmmmm. So, jewelrymaking," she said. "What kind of jewelrymaking do you like best?" Well, she can't just give a gift to ONE of her kids, now can she?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As Lindy details the things she was using whatever she had to give Rashmi for... Rashmi got that look that most people get at least once, when talking to Lindy. The 'is she serious? She's serious. Why is she serious? What even is words' look, in specific.

But she waits, patiently, squeezing ALoisia's hand in response. And when Lindy trns her back to dig through things, Rashmi looks around... And it's printed all over her face, just how much she wants to hug the poor Belkan right now.

And then Lindy brings out an inactive Device. AS A CHAIR LEVEL.

"I... I've actually seen things like it before, Lindy-mama," she says unsteadily, reaching up to accept the offered object. "You're right, I'll probably get a *lot* of time out of looking this over. Thank you very, very much."

Nicomachea's analysis comes in, and it's so hard to keep her face level. *What* kind of specs? *HOW* many emitters?! *LAST REGISTERED USERS WERE WHO?!?!?!?!?!*

Absolutely fixing this will be for Christmas or birthday, because no other day would do justice to how meaningful the thing was.

Drawing in a deep breath, she tucks the inactive Device into her ubiquitous bookbag, in the same pocket as Nicomachea... And under cover of finding a place for it, stores it into her Device's inventory. Then, she looks up, dialing in on Lindy ruffling Aloisia's hair and smiling. Yeah... her friend *very badly needs* a mother figure, and beverage service to the contrary, it would be hard to find a better one.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
... Well. That's... sure a gift. Aloisia mostly chooses not to interact too much with the 'card' situation. That was for Rashmi, after all, not her. Though her Devices were already beginning to scan and check for parts that it might be missing that she might be able to help fabricate.

...Look she likes to help out Rashmi where she can and she's good at making things with her hands, even if technically a device can make things as well or better.

...That poor Device.

Being used to help keep a couch from being off-balance. Its creators must have been crying in the afterlife. But it's not Lindy's fault. She literally can't remember magic.

The fade is a problem that all of them face. She wonders if she could look into that much herself, maybe she could reach out to some people who might not know she's left yet. Takashi seemed reasonably reliable to interact with at times. ... Though also being in his debt might not be a great idea. Hmmmm.

As she's thinking to herself on that, a hand ruffles her hair, causing Aloisia to blink a few times. "Ah. Uhm." She pauses. "It's, well. I ... uh. Back home, I uh. I used to work with some people who worked in mines that handled precious stones, so I picked up a hobby of refining those stones for use in jewelry." She actually brushes a hand over one of her earrings. "I ... actually designed the styling of these." Even if Rashmi had put the rest of the device together, she had had a large hand in the standby forms.

Rashmi, meanwhile, gets a more direct look as she gives a small smile. "I will help where I can, if needed, Rashmi." Particularly if it was missing anything particularly fiddly or difficult to fabricate accurately. Not that she had the /tools/ for making anything from scratch, but she could at least help clean up fabrications and get them into good condition for use.

...Maybe she should look into making those tools. Or getting those tools made somehow at least. Maybe some pieces of the Arthra could be salvaged for that... or there might be some of the tools intact on it. Hm.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
"You designed these yourself?" Lindy Harlaown asked, brushing Aloisia's hair back to get a better view of her earrings. "That's marvelous. Maybe I should have you design a pair for me sometime, we could match," Lindy said with a small smile.

Meanwhile, Chrono came back then, slightly damp, looking frazzled, a little cloud over his head, glowering a bit. "Mother," he said to Lindy.

"Son~" Lindy said back to him.

Chrono just sighed as he took a seat next to Rashmi again, sighing. Fenyx just looked amused.

"You know, mother, if you want a daughter so badly, maybe you could just adopt one instead," Chrono said, actually *sniping* back a little.

"OH! That's a marvelous idea!" Lindy said. "Aloisia-chan, Fenyx-chan, would you two like to be my daughters?"

Chrono, at least... wasn't drinking anything this time. He just... dropped backwards. He gave up. And threw in the towel.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< ...You *had* to have realized the *moment* the words came out of your mouth, >> Rashmi says in a mental message to Chrono, covering her mouth to keep the laughter in. Not at the offer, just Chrono's antics in response.

Patting her long-suffering boyfriend's shoulder, she sips her lemonade again -- then putting the glass down when she could feel her eyeballs start to vibrate from sugar shock alone -- and looks at Aloisia, eyebrows rising. While the circumstances were comedic... what if the offer itself was genuine?

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"...The, uhm. The style of them, yeah." Aloisia says, stepping carefully around the part that she would normally have made the earrings part herself but the original devices had already technically existed and she had more or less just designed the repaired version of the standby modes.

Hmm. Actually. If she made them and imbued them with some sort of protective magic or something maybe it could make sure that Lindy is pretty safe. Hm. Though, with Chrono as a son, she's already very safe.

She was mostly musing on that during the interaction between Chrono and Lindy -- until Lindy directly addressed her and Fenyx.

"W--wait what? I... uhm."

She's silent for a bit.
A part of her is scared to say yes.
That somehow she, who was part of a broken family, would somehow break this one.
...Another part of her says it's dumb to think like that.
Chrono fell over.

Her hand that had been holding onto Rashmi's still tightens a little, her anxieties becoming physically present even as she gets that look from Rashmi. Rashmi called her Lindy-Mama. Chrono had been there since the beginning to help her out. Rashmi had been her strongest support since coming to earth.

Those people could be her family.

"...I, uhm. I ..."
"My last family was abusive. I am scared to say yes. But I do not want to say no." She finally says. "...But your family is very warm. Chrono has been very helpful in getting me /away/ from that family, and Rashmi has been my support that kept me from going into a very dark place that I do not know I could have recovered from if I had gone there."

"...I..."

"...Would like that."