2849/Happy Birthday to... Rashmi

Happy Birthday to... Rashmi
Date of Scene:	27 September 2025
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Chrono plays a light prank on Rashmi for her birthday... and as a present to herself, Rashmi delivers Durandal into his keeping. It is an excellent birthday.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Chrono Harlaown

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Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi has to admit; when Chrono told her to dress up fancy, the very last thing she expected was a picnic in the park. Some girls might be disappointed, even embarrassed about being overdressed for such a simple thing.

Those girls were not brought up by Ananda Terios, who would not only have approved of such a gentle prank, but could have suggested it.

Thus, Rashmi is *delighted,* treating the entire picnic as if it *was* a five-star restaurant experience.

"More wine, Enforcer?" she says around a grin, holding up a bottle of orange juice.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
"But of course, my ravishing Enforcer-in-training," Chrono said with a grin. He looked rather proud of himself in his little suit, and rather smart. Smartass.

As he held out his glass towards her. Fenyx, meanwhile, was not that far away (she'd setup the blanket for said picnic and brought the food, which he had prepped, of course, but he couldn't carry it or it would have spoiled the surprise and he didn't have it in his device at the time for... well, reasons).

... She wanted to help, okay?

She'd gotten Rashmi a lil nut bundle for her birthday, she'd gathered them herself.

... Rashmi might want to clean them first.

And it was a bit nippy, but at least the ground was dry underneath them.

And Chrono was nestled close, his arm around her. "This has been a wonderful few years," he said gently. "If I had to crash land on a planet... I am happy it was this one."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Fenyx's gift was received with all the to-do that an effortful, hand-made gift deserves, complete with a hug and a promise to report back how she liked them... With a private mental note to wash them first, of course.

Pouring out a measure of juice into his glass she sets the bottle aside, and snuggles into Chrono's embrace. "Gotta say... I'm pretty happy you did, too, Chrono. If it wasn't for you... I think there's a *lot* tat would've been so different..."

With a small, happy sigh, she sits with that thought for a moment, then looks up at him. "By the way... I know it's more traditional to *get* presents on your birthday, but... I have something for you."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown blinked a few times and then... His cheeks went just a little red.

"... Important question, first. Did my mother put you up to it? Because, ahhhhh..." He sighed and facepalmed. He could imagine any number of things. Did his mother teach her some recipe from home for her birthday, and now she cooked it? If so, his bloodsugar might not survive...

"Did you at least cut the sugar levels down to a... well... maybe not a midchildian level, but at least a human level?" he asked with a playful smile. "I know my mother does enjoy overdoing it," he said in a teasing tone.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi's laugh is bright and cheery, but she doesn't immediately say no. Instead, she taps Nicomachea, drawing out a small box, of the size one would use to hold a smartphone, wrapped in paper the color of Chrono's magic.

"So, remember when we were helping her move? And she chased you out of the room for a little bit? While you were trying not to breathe lemonade, she gave me this thing... Said she couldn't remember what it was for, but that I might appreciate the puzzle."

And, indeed, inside the box, nestled on cotton batting, is a Device in the standby mode of a card, much like S2U... But this one is... different. Blue edged in white, with a white filigree wing pattern, surrounding a diamond-shaped blue crystal. On the bottom-left quadrant is also a painted pattern in pale green, that resembles nothing so much as a tea-stain, as if the Device was once used as a coaster.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown looked bewildered as he took the card, holding it up. "Huh? My... mother had this?" Chrono asked.

He held it up to the sky for a moment, looking more and more confused. "A... device. Why would my mother have this? Why would--" Then he stopped as he started going through the registration. And she could hear his breath catch and he almost dropped it. And she likely knew what names he just saw as prior registered wielders.

"H-how...?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Yeah," Rashmi breathes quietly. "He was a prototype, built specifically to match Lost Logia. But he never got finished, and I think Lindy-mama knew in her heart, that if she couldn't finish him... I could. And I'm certain that if that's what she wanted, it was so he could pass to you. That's... why this is a birthday present for me, Chrono," she says, wrapping her arm around his and leaning back in.

"Because giving you Durandal is the most important thing to me, right now."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
"I... see," Chrono Harlaown said. Because that was all he COULD say in that moment. As he held the device in hand. A hand reached up, wiping his eyes. No tears fell, but... He...

Finally, he just hugged her. He hugged her, because he couldn't not. In that moment, he couldn't not. He had to hug her and hold her. He had to make his feelings felt and he didn't know how, other than to hug her and hold her and squeeze her as tight as he could, than to hold her so tight until it felt like he might almost crush her and... He just... he couldn't...

"How did you manage... to...?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And Rashmi could not help but hug back, to hold him and be there and care for him with the weight of her presence alone. Knowing Durandal's legacy, she *knew* to expect an outpouring of emotion like this, and so she remained, until he could find words again.

"I mean, most of the work was already done," she says softly. "He's still a Storage Device, despite the vocal responses, so the only real challenge was understanding and calibrating the Bits. ...Well. ...That and the uh... after-market mods. That Coco-chan helped with."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown eventually, very slowly, broke the hold on her. He then held the card up again. "Should... I?" he asked. A part of him wanted to activate it. Another part of him wanted to put it in a case and never wield it at all.

It was just a tool. But in every way it was more than that, it was everything other than that. He finally...

            <<Durandal, engage!>>

And then... he stands there. In full uniform. The rod in hand sleek. Metal. White. With the little hovering, rotating blue and white bits spinning in the air around them. He didn't even wait for her to say to do it. He just did it. Chrono, being impulsive? Just leaping? Who would have thought?

He looked down at the device, blinking a few times, his eyes wet. "It's... it's.... heavy..." he said, gently.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"It is," Rashmi agrees softly. "But y'know what, Chrono...? I think it fits you very well."

Climbing to her feet, she pours out the last of the juice into both glasses, then takes the empty bottle and sets it down a short distance away.

"Last surprise," she says, moving back to Chrono's side. "Give that bottle a Bind. That should be enough to show you what Coco-chan and I could do."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown blinked a few times and then... "Well then. As test runs go..." He spun the device around once in hand. It felt light, physically. But so very, very, incredibly heavy. So heavy it almost crushed him under its weight.

Before he cast the spell. The six bits flew off, surrounding the can and...

<<Bind!!>>

He hadn't expected the multi-layered bind to appear like that, for it to be so quick... or for it to appear so... ahem... colorful... He stared as the bits made an audible... chiming sound, almost song-like. Their sound, voice, almost like hers in a strange way... Heavenly.

But the dazzling lightshow... A bit startling.

"How...?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...So I did a little tour of the Mermaid Kingdoms," Rashmi says. "Riventon's Device was throwing off signals that Nicomachea thought were Panthalassan, so... I decided to see if I could step into that arms race. Durandal, and one Bit each, were blessed at one of the sacred pools of the Mermaid Kingdoms. ...And it turns out the Princess of the Arctic Ocean's a sucker for romance novels... Anyway. The secret was to analyze the magic, putting it into numbers a Device can read... then infusing the *object itself* with magic, because just about any magic can enchant a *thing.* Then it was just a matter of slapping together a signal converter so Durandal could tap into the magic it was radiating."

All of this, spoken with quiet humility, as if she *didn't* just find a way to 'jailbreak' magic, even if only on a cosmetic level.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stared at her, before reaching out, scooping her up into his arms, spinning her and kissing her on the lips.

And this? This was a kiss that was, in fact... possibly more passionate that one he had ever given her. It may have involved tongue.

And when he pulled back? "I vow, one day, I will get off this planet and show you off to the TSAB at large. Because I understand, vaguelly, what you just said. And it is only because I have been on this planet for two years. I could not do it myself, but I get the idea..."

"And it will make some of their heads *explode* and it will be magnificent. Because you, my beautiful, wondrous Rashmi, are breathtaking."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Well, Rashmi *did* say this was a birthday gift to herself. Receiving possibly the single most passionate kiss Chrono has ever doled out *absolutely* qualifies as a gift, and for awhile she's just sort of in her own head, replaying the fresh memory of that kiss and wondering how to get another.

"...Hm? Oh! Yes. I would *love* to do that, Chrono... I *definitely* want to tour the TSAB sometime."

Yeah, she missed a bit, but that just attests to Chrono's kissing skills.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown snickered and just held her close, resting his forehead against hers. He loved her. He just... there was no other word for it. He loved her. He loved her like he never loved anyone before...

As the bits, six glowing, colorful little bits of advanced alien technology... began to lightly chime and glimmer, lightly chiming a gentle, soft melody for the pair...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Sometimes, the world seems to stand still, as if time itself had decided to hold its breath, just to make a perfect moment stretch a little longer. So it is with Rashmi resting her forehead against Chrono, held by the man she knows with bone-deep certainty loves her...

And she starts to sway, side to side, in time with the chiming of the Bits, unconsciously beginning the steps of a slow dance to the music.