#Installments with zip pay

[brewer36]

https://item.mercari.com/gl/m89592330115?sv=0

[nyoomerr]

Luo Binghe Shimeji (Extended Version!)

a couple years ago, riladoo created an adorable binghe shime! he could be picked up and tossed around your computer screens, climb around on all your windows, multiply, and all the other cute things that come in the standard base shimeji set.

more recently, i reached out to riladoo with a commission request - more action sets for binghe! over the past couple months, riladoo has worked hard to make some adorable binghe art, and i've updated all the source code and config files to accommodate the new actions! 🎉

the extended action set includes: - a 'sit and eat' idle action - two 'head patting' actions when the mouse hovers over him - a 'fall and cry' action for when he falls from tall heights - a 'land nicely' action for when you place him down gently

the original binghe shime listing on riladoo's gumroad has been updated to have all these new actions, so go grab him now!! he's free / pay what you want! 🥰

i've put more details about the new action sets + general shimeji setup tips below the cut, but otherwise -- LET THE BINGHE COMPUTER INFECTION COMMENCE !!

**these extended actions only work on windows, not mac. sorry ;w; the original shime set has a mac version, though!

Extended Action Set Details

when you download the files from riladoo, you're looking for the .zip file labeled "Updated Shime code" !

sit and eat this is an idle action that will trigger randomly the same as any other idle action. if you want to trigger it manually, you can right click the shime -> 'set behavior' -> 'sit and eat'

head pats these are 'stay' actions that will trigger automatically when you hover your mouse over the shime. i recommend hovering your mouse over his head for maximum head-pat-effectiveness! unfortunately, this action won't play if the shime is actively climbing a wall/ceiling - maybe in the future this can be extended further, but for now there are only head patting actions for sitting and standing poses :>

falling variations (crying / default / land nicely) there are now a total of 3 'falling' actions. to see the 'fall and cry' action, allow binghe to fall from the top half of your monitor. to see the standard/original 'fall and trip' action, allow binghe to fall from the low-mid range portion of your monitor. to see the 'land nicely' action, gently place binghe down at the bottom of your monitor. this means you're rewarded for catching binghe when he falls off a window - if you catch him and set him down, he lands nicely, but if you let him fall normally, he'll start crying!! 🥰

Shimeji Installation Tips

if you've never had a shimeji before - don't worry, they're super easy to install! i recommend following this video tutorial created by the person who originally created the source code for shimeji. you can skip the parts about downloading the shimeji itself - you'll get that from riladoo's website :>

if you install everything but opening the shimeji executable does nothing, download jarfix to resolve this issue.

if you follow the tutorial and update the 'interactive windows' but the shime still doesn't stand/climb on the specified windows, restart your computer to resolve this issue. alternatively, make sure you don't have any 'unexpected' monitors plugged in - a friend of mine had their shime constantly falling down through their monitor onto their screen drawpad, which was confusing until it got figured out!

if you are on mac instead of windows.... i am so sorry i actually have no idea how to help 🙇‍♂️ the original/default binghe shimeji set DOES have a mac os folder in with the downloads, but i've never tested it (don't use mac), and even if it works, it won't include the extended actions (i didn't build an executable for mac with the new code).

More Questions???

feel free to hit me up! in the replies of this post / through DMs / send an ask - whatever is best for you. i'll tag any asks i get about the shime with #binghe shime chronicles so they get archived nicely. i got very familiar with all the source code / config files to get this lil guy set up with his extended actions, so hopefully i can answer any questions you have! 💪😤

that's all!! i am so happy w how the new actions turned out - the art riladoo did for them is SO cute! - and i hope y'all will be, too!

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Warmth

PAIRING | Sugar Daddy!Tony Stark x Sugar Baby!Fem!Reader

WORD COUNT | 1.1K

SUMMARY | You've been studying for your upcoming exam all day, and you're starting to get a little cold. However, the perfect way to warm up is by touching Tony's warm body, seeing how he's always running warm through the arc reactor. Of course, he's happy to share his warmth with you; he doesn't want you to feel cold.

RATING | General (G)

WARNINGS/TAGS | Sugar Daddy/-Baby arrangement, mutual pining.

A/N | This fic is inspired by this headcanon written by @fotibrit! As soon as I read it, I knew this would fit perfectly inside my sugar daddy!Tony AU! I love their dynamic, and I can't wait to hear what you all think about it. This is proofread by my amazing friend @ccbsrmsf1, for which I cannot begin to thank you enough! 💙

EVENTS Masterlist | @anyfandomfluffbingo | Clothes sharing Masterlist | @fandombingo | Tony Stark Masterlist | @fandom-free-bingo | "Are you feeling better now?" Masterlist | @marvel-smash-bingo | "I can do this all day."

Banners: Yours truly | Divider: @firefly-graphics | GIF: @ccbsrmsf1

Main Masterlist | Tony Stark Masterlist | AU Masterlist

You're in the middle of studying for your exams, making long hours for a difficult one coming up. Going through medical school has always been a dream of yours, and thanks to Tony, that is becoming a reality, but that doesn't mean you don't have to work for it. He has kindly offered to study at Stark Tower so you can use plenty of empty offices and conference rooms.

This also means you're closer to him, and you can't stop yourself from seeing him whenever he's in the building. You've been studying for the past six hours, eating lunch, and drinking a lot of coffee in between, and you're starting to feel cold and restless - perfect timing to go and pay a visit to Tony.

"Jarvis, can you tell me where Tony is?" you ask the AI he has installed in the building, who kindly lets you know he is working in his lab. Your stuff is gathered quickly, and just before you can zip your bag closed, you let out a big yawn and a cold shiver runs down your spine. The weather outside looked promising, but jeans and a blouse weren't enough to keep you warm today.

As soon as your bag hangs on your shoulder, you're out the door, your feet carrying you to Tony on instinct. The elevator ride is way too long, and you're rubbing your hands on your arms to keep yourself warm, but to no avail. You feel warmth spreading through your body when you walk into his lab and see Tony hunched over in his MIT hoodie, faded jeans, and messy hair.

"Are you going home already, Sugar?" Tony asks in his deep voice, giving you goosebumps as the sound goes through your body.

"Not yet; I figured I'd swing by your lab to see how you're doing. And I was hoping to steal a bit of your warmth, too," you tell him with a small smile, unable to stop thinking how handsome he looks in his outfit. It shows off his natural handsomeness, and you can't help but stare a little too long when he turns to you.

"How can I say no when you ask me like that? C'mere Sugar," Tony says as he opens his arms invitingly. You drop your bag before stepping into his hold, your body pressing tightly against his as your face nuzzles into his neck. With a deep sigh, you let your hands wander to where they're under his hoodie, your ice-cold hands slowly warming up on the warm muscles of his lower back.

"You're freezing!" he says before he lets go, his hands carefully wrapping around your wrists to guide your hands to his chest - or, more specifically, to his arc reactor. It's where he gets the hottest and your favorite place to rest your hands when you're feeling cold. If there's one thing you both quickly learned, it is that where you usually are feeling chilly, Tony is always hot, making him your perfect personal heater.

A soft hum leaves your throat as you can feel the warmth of his body seeping into your cold hands, slowly ensuring they don't ache from the freezing state they were in before you came to him.

"Are you feeling better now?" Tony asks softly and gently, and you hum in response. If it were up to him, he would let you warm your hands on his body forever, never wanting to let you go again. Little does he know you feel the same way, but you're both too stubborn to admit it to one another.

"Yeah, I can do this all day if you'd let me," you tell him in response, another soft sigh leaving your chest when your hands aren't cold anymore. Though that issue has been fixed, Tony can tell you're still feeling cold, and without hesitation, he takes off his hoodie, exposing his muscular chest and abdomen to you, making you do a double take at the appearing flesh.

"Here, you can wear this, Sugar," he tells you without leaving room for discussion. You allow him to pull it over your head, the sleeves longer than your arms, making you giggle. The scent of Tony envelops you completely, and you flail your arms like a bird to show off just how long the sleeves are, and the sound of Tony's laughter makes yet another flood of warmth spread throughout your body.

"It looks way better on you than it does me, Sugar; I think you should keep it," Tony says, his eyes flicking from your eyes to your mouth and back. He steps closer to you, his index finger lifting your chin slightly to look right into your eyes as he closes the gap between you two.

His mouth descends on yours in a sweet, loving, gentle kiss that takes your breath away yet makes you feel so full of love. Your kisses are usually frantic and passionate when you sleep together, but this kiss is the opposite. Unrushed and soft; filled promises that neither of you is willing to give in to yet. It's perfection in a kiss.

The second his lips leave yours, it feels like you're deflating like a balloon, missing the feelings of his warm mouth on yours already. Despite this, a small smile tugs on the corners of your mouth as you bite your bottom lip, feeling like a teenager who just shared their first kiss with the boy she's been crushing on for a long time. And deep inside, that's exactly what the dynamic between you is, just in your later years.

"What was that for?" you ask Tony, who chuckles at your question.

"I felt like kissing you because you look adorable in my hoodie. And I wanted to surprise you, which, by the looks of it, worked pretty well," Tony tells you, and you nod.

"Now I have to go because I promised to go for dinner with my friends. But thank you for the hoodie. I'll be using it to keep me warm from now on," you tell him as you step back, grab your bag, and walk out of his lab with a wave.

All he can muster is a small wave back as he stands there shirtless and with a heart filled with love. He wants to give you all the happiness in the world and more, and if that means letting you warm your cold hands on his body and giving you his hoodies, he's more than okay with doing that for the rest of his life, even if that means never getting to tell you how he feels. Your dynamic is perfect for both of you, and he doesn't want to ruin it by doing something stupid.

Though the one thing he wants more than anything in this world is that you will be his one day. His girlfriend, his fiancée, his wife, his everything. That's what would make him the happiest man on earth.

[bastila-s]

Baldurs Gate 3 High Quality Screenshot Tutorial 2.0

Hi everyone, I decided I wanted to make a more specific and slightly more in-depth tutorial on how I take screenshots in Baldur's Gate 3. For this tutorial, you will need ReShade and Otis_INF'S Photomode Mod. If you do not want to download these for whatever reason, my older tutorial covers alternative ways to get some nice screenshots.

1. ReShade (skip if you already have ReShade downloaded)

For this step, you're going to want to download ReShade. ReShade is important to this tutorial as it's going to allow you to take screenshots of your game in higher resolutions. To do this, find a ReShade preset you like on the Nexus. (You can find lots of them by just typing in "reshade" in the search bar). From there, most mod authors will explain how to download ReShade in their mod description and get it working for your game.

Once you successfully have Reshade installed, a bar of text will appear at the top of your screen, prompting you to press 'home.' This will put you through a mini-tutorial if just installed it.

2. Photomode Mod

For this mod, you'll need to subscribe to a patreon to get access. Installing it is really simple, just unzip the zip file and put its contents in a folder, then run the tool once you have BG3 running.

Personally, I choose to re-map all the controls to different keys on my keyboard as I find it makes it much, much easier for me to use. Specifically, I re-map the movement, camera tilt, and starting the photomode controls. FOV is also really important to pay attention to, so make sure you like the controls for that as well.

Make sure to test the camera mod to make sure it's working before moving on to the next step.

3. High Resolution Screenshots (Hotsampling)

Hotsampling simply means that we're going to briefly make our game run in a resolution much higher than what we usually would, which often times means your game window will end up looking huge and run off your screen.

To do this, we need to make sure a few things are in place before trying to hotsample, or the screenshot won't be captured properly.

Go through this checklist to ensure hotsampling will work:

• If you have more than one monitor, you have to make sure your monitor is set to show only on one screen. (This setting is found in Displays on Windows)

• Make sure BG3 is set to borderless windowed mode

• In ReShade, go to the settings tab. Ensure you have a key set up for taking screenshots, and that you know the folder your screenshots will be saved to. It's essential to use ReShade to take screenshots, nothing else will work. Use ReShade's screenshot key.

Once you make sure you have the above done, go to the photomode mod, and click on the hotsampling tab. From here, you can change the resolution of your game. Typically, I take my screenshots in 3,840x2,160 or 5,760x3,240 if I want a very clear image. Those are just 2x and 3x my monitor's resolution (1920x1080), so you can adjust if your monitor is different. Once your chosen resolution is set, your BG3 window will likely run way off your screen and potentially make your computer lag. (This means it's working). Make sure your BG3 window is active, then hit the screenshot key you set earlier in ReShade. This screenshot should now appear in the folder that's set for screenshots in ReShade. (It typically defaults to the folder where your game is installed).

4. Extra fine-tuning

There are a couple of ways to enhance screenshots in BG3 even further.

The first way is through using ICGS Depth of field. This tool will allow your sceenshots to minic depth of field the same way cameras IRL can do it it—it makes for some beautiful screenshots, and I'm seriously impressed by how well it replicates that look. The author gives a tutorial on how to get it working—I know it seems complicated, but follow it step-by-step and play around, it'll come to you very soon!

The other tool that I just found recently is Relight for ReShade. This tool allows you to add some lighting on a character, which I thought was so cool. Here's a tutorial for this, too.

5. Post-Processing

This step is entirely up to your own creativity, but I just thought I'd share Photopea as a good, free software (that you don't even need to download) to help you edit your photos. It basically works exactly like photoshop!

Ok that's it for all but I think I will continue to update this post and add to it whenever I find anything helpful :)

& Thank you to all the wonderful mod authors out there for creating all this software and allowing us to take beautiful images, it makes me so happy !!

[daidi-dragan-glas]

Just a quick update.... Oncologist has confirmed that I'm one of the most stubborn people she's ever run across.... Almost 2 weeks ago I had my 41st infusion of FOLFIRINOX (chemo cocktail for stage 4 colon cancer with Mets to liver, lungs and lymph nodes)... I'm told that most people have to stop taking it at infusion number 12 or 15, and the most she(my oncologist) has ever had a patient handle was 38.. until me. I've NOT allowed them to reduce my chemo for "their" fear of MY side effects ... Hell, half the questions from them are "is this side effects getting worse?" Whether it's nausea, neuropathy, energy, bloodwork levels, etc, and always seemingly with an eye towards "we should cut back on this drug so you FEEL better... FUUUUUUCK THAT! I want this fucking cancer GONE... Not just reduced and I feel great until it kills me... I'll HAPPILY go thru the neuropathy that makes it hard to think, hard to work, hard to even type on a keyboard or work with a mouse, yes, that's coming from an IT person, I'll HAPPILY feel unsteady, feel like shit all day, up 5 to 10 times a night to run to the bathroom, and half of those times to actually have to clean up grrrrrrrrrrrrr, I'll happily take the vitamins, the injections, the pain pills and patches, the sore burning ass, the weakness and the frustration of it all, AS LONG AS I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN TO BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF THIS SHIT. And that means DO. NOT. DECREASE. MY. CHEMO. SO. THAT. I. FEEL. BETTER. TODAY. AND. TOMORROW..... YOU KILL THOSE GODDAMN CANCER CELLS, I got it, I can deal with the rest, I'm my own Huckleberry!!!

It's not as effective anymore though.. and the Mets in my liver are growing fairly quickly in some concerning spots...

I pushed my oncologist for alternatives.. even 2nd or 3rd opinions and experimental treatment... And she wrote a letter to the Mayo Clinic. I'm told the Mayo will not even consider giving an appointment unless they feel there is something they can do for you that is better than what you're getting. I had a phone interview, they got all my records, had a care team review my case in detail and a week and a half later, they called to set up an appointment.

I'll be doing some packing today (Sunday July 14) to leave Monday morning and be in Rochester MN at the Mayo Clinic facilities for appointments there on Monday, I'll stay overnight (quite probably in my car since things are fairly tight lately) and more appointments on Tuesday.

So, we will see what they say and what kind of treatment plan they come up with.

(yes, things are tight... Cancer treatment is NOT cheap y'all. Each and every one of my infusions gets billed to the tune of $42,000 per... Not including the testing, the Dr appointments, the hospital visits, the drugs to combat the side effects, the drugs given in combination with the chemo to combat the "essentially" allergic reactions to the chemo... {Yes, I had to ring the bell beside my chair once and had every nurse in the facility converge on me and work to reverse what was going on}... So, so far, me and my insurance company have been billed somewhere upwards of 2.2 million dollars since November of 2022. My insurance happens to be pretty good, so my portion is somewhere around half a million at this point, and as stubborn as I am, when they ask for payments, I stick to my guns and pay an affordable amount each month, to show that yes I'm making payments, and fuck you if you want more. I'm lucky!)

I would like to add... IF you are in a position to be charitable, please do one of the following:

go to one of your local oncology clinics, ASK them what their patients might need (I know there are many of you that found fulfillment in making masks during COVID, put that same effort into making hats for patients losing their hair, donate button down or zip down Henley style shirts (most of us have a port installed in the upper right side of our chest and easy access to that for blood draws, infusion and other treatments without having to fully remove your shirt is NICE), donate homemade afghans or blankets

And if you're really squirrelly, pick a local patient and befriend them, take them to appointments, make sure the snow is cleared from their driveway (chemo takes your strength and endurance away and it makes it HARD sometimes to do the simple things around the house). Rake the leaves, mow the grass, vacuum, Help them out with whatever they need (MORE THAN JUST ONCE). find out what they CAN eat and take it to them several times a week, you cannot imagine just how much that one small thing you do for them can make a HUGE difference in their actual survival!!!

Find an organization close to you that you can donate money towards local cancer patients medical bills.

Sorry, turned out to be not so short of an update and there's some rant in here too, sorry not sorry.. lmao!

but I'm sure hoping for the Mayo to pull something phenomenal out of their hat... I don't even care if it ruins my health or quality of life for awhile, I don't care about short term, I can deal with the shit of it, but I DO care about sticking around until people can honestly say... "Thank GOD that fucker is finally dead, let's PARTY!" Yes I still plan to live until I'm a total pain in the ass for even those few that love me, and then when I've died at 103 yrs old, they can spread my ashes on the Appalachian Trail across TN NC and VA and if they wish to visit they can go into the mountains and woods and I'll come to them as the breeze and whisper of the beauty of nature to them

[pinkydevil16]

HIIII okay so i literally have just headcanoned tyler as a massive sub so i was wondering if you could write some headcanons or a small imagine of him just being subby?! all i know is that man is a big whimperer and he’s clingy…super okay if you don’t wanna write this btw!!! i hope you have a great day/night <3

yes yes yes

Headcanons

• This man is soo clingy

• Tyler is obsessed with his girl/boy needing to be around them 24/7 always wanting to be holding hands or touching them somehow

• Calls out sick for work if they're off work so he can cuddle all morning

• Doesn't understand why he's always so jealous until he realises he's a hyde

• Is super subby, he's so violent and blood thirsty as the hyde that he craves comfort and control

• LOVES to be choked

•seriously grab this guys throat and he's whimpering and calling you mummy/daddy without realising it

• Aftercare is a must, he needs to be smothered and taken care go

• Going down if a fine art to this man, if you can make him a whimpering mess with a few words he has to absolutely pay it back 10x

• SLURPS

• Not afraid of PDA and deserves all the kisses even if he gets punished later

• Jealousy leads to pegging or aggressive bottoming

• Head scratches are a must

• Being called good boy in the bedroom or normal life- he relishes the pet name

•Baby Boy

• Loves to curl up and watch movies

• Wants to spoil his SO but doesn't want to be overbearing

• So afraid of losing them

• Terrified to be alone

• He needs constant attention and praise

• Loves to be punished, he wants to be hurt by only his SO

• Knife kink, blood kink, choking, maybe even branding if you're down

• Just wants to be close

• Wishes he could crawl into your skin and zip it back up

• Most definantly said the wrong thing once during sex and was put in the naughty corner for acting like a serial killer

• Tries to be dominant in bed to shake it up but if he's on top wants you to hold his throat so he can be punished if he goes too hard

• Struggles to understand his dark thoughts- especially when he wants to hurt you so regresses back to his shy self instead

• If his hyde self slips out he goes onto a depression and won't let them touch him, he doesn't ever want to hurt them

• Will 100% come out of it with praise and lots of promises of love

• Has 100% killed someone for being mean to his SO not even in hyde form

• Loves to have his jaw grabbed and forced to look at himself in the mirror

• Installed a mirror on the ceiling and one at the end of the bed to watch himself and them

• VIDEOS

• His own personal collection of them cumming over and over from him on his phone

• Watches them whilst going down on his SO to see if he can make them moan like that again

• Loves to be forced to watch them cum without him

• Tied up and made to watch them play with sex toys and tease him

• Bear hugs

• Hot chocolate and sweets whilst curled up on the sofa

• Won't watch scary movies without his SO

• Cinema dates and leaning on their shoulder

• Cried when they went on holiday for a week without him

• Saved up every tip and paycheck until he could afford a flat for them both

• Has asked them to marry him atleast 10 times before they hit 6 months because he wanted them to know he was serious

• Engaged by a year

• Married by 2 years

• Wants to renew their vows after only a year and cried when they said no and laughed

• Cried when they got married

• Cried when they got engaged

• Cried after their first date

[libertineangel]

Another "Introduction to Piracy" post

There's a few of these going round but they can be dense, spread different information through different reblog chains, and other such impracticalities, so here's a fresh, quick & simple one.

1) Necessary Software

You're going to want two things: a VPN* and a Torrent client. Personally I recommend Mullvad for the former - flat charge of €5/month pay-as-you-go, unlimited data and solid speed, very privacy-focused - and qBitTorrent for the latter.

Once you've installed both of those, you should open qBitTorrent and make sure it only runs through the VPN's internet connection: open Tools in the top bar, then Options->Advanced, and select Mullvad from the Network Interface drop-down box.

*For those unaware, a Virtual Private Network routes your Internet connection through a proxy server and then encrypts it, hiding your activity from your ISP and giving any sites you visit the impression that you're based in whatever country the proxy server is.

2) Finding your desired content

There are many sources of pirated content out there on the Internet, and you can find an awful lot of it on 1337x.to, but personally I always consult the FMHY.net directory, a site dedicated to cataloguing how to find different content by type - films, games, programs etc. If you're worried about the safety of downloading these things, risk of malware and such, honestly you don't really need to be these days - any of the dedicated sites & repositories listed on FMHY should be safe, and if you're going to a general-purpose one like 1337x then as long as the file you want lists a decent number of prior downloads it'll most likely be fine (just avoid The Pirate Bay these days, it is not the haven it was 20 years ago).

3) Downloads

Now, content generally comes in one of two forms: either a direct download, or a torrent. A direct download is exactly what it sounds like, you just receive a copy of the files you want (usually packaged in a ZIP file).

Torrents are a little different. With those, you download a .torrent file, then you open up your torrent client and add it there, then tell it where to save the actual content you want. Torrents are a peer-to-peer download system, meaning instead of downloading the whole file from a specific server you're downloading many parts from everyone else who's previously downloaded it (and is running their torrent client) - this means that how long it takes is entirely dependent on how popular the content in question is, so something obscure and old might take a very long time while a popular new release might be limited only by your internet speed. It also means that you should really keep the .torrent file once your download is finished to help everyone else, an act known as seeding; the alternative, to delete it once you've finished, is known as leeching, and it doesn't harm you but it's generally considered rather impolite.

I think that covers everything, if anyone has any questions or suggestions feel free to say so and I'll update this as needed, until then - hoist your black flag and have fun!

[space-mermaid-writing]

Cufflinks [IronStrange]

Summary: With Tony at his side, Stephen could endure living in the night.

Author's note: Will I ever stop writing vampire Stephen? Nobody knows. Vampire beta by @harpywritesfic

 Masterlist | Vampire Stephen Masterlist | Read it on AO3 | Word count: 0.7k

Cufflinks

Tony put on a fresh button up. “I don’t even know why I have to be there. They are just discussing the new product launch and our marketing campaign. It’s not like I pay people to handle these kinds of things.”

There was a board meeting in half an hour he had to attend. Begrudgingly.

Stephen had followed him into the walk-in closet and watched him change. The vampire would go meditating after Tony left, since the sun was up and he had no duties in the Sanctum or Kamar-Taj today.

Meditating and sending his mind far away was the closest thing vampires had to sleep.

He wished he could accompany Tony. That he could just leave the house during the hours of daylight and share that part of Tony’s life with him.

But Stephen was a creature of the night; damned to live in the shadows of darkness.

At least with the UV filtering windows Tony had installed in the tower Stephen could pretend he was human. He was good at pretending, fooled a lot of people. Sometimes he fooled himself, when he stood at one of the windows, watching the streets and pretended to be part of the living.

“… and stocks dropped a bit. But that’s not unusual for this phase. I really don’t know what they’re complaining about.” Tony didn’t really expect an answer from him. He just liked to fill the silence and Stephen might be biased but in his opinion Tony’s voice was the best background noise.

Until he addressed the vampire with an actual request: “Can you hand me a pair of cufflinks?”

Stephen nodded, pulling his mind out of his head to focus on the task instead. He could dwell in self-pity later when Tony was gone.

Stephen opened the drawer he knew contained accessories like cufflinks and watches. Tony had a ridiculous collection of both of them. Although there was still space for more, judging on the empty spaces between the boxes.

“Which one?” he asked, looking at the selection.

“The one you like best,” Tony shrugged, not really caring but trusting Stephen’s sense of fashion.

The sorcerer pondered for a few moments, before deciding on a gray metallic pair. They were round and had Tony’s initials engraved. It was a classic.

He took the box out and turned to Tony, showing them to him. Tony nodded his approval, while he tucked his shirt into his dress pants and zipped them up. Afterwards he held out his arm to the vampire.

“Put them on me?”

There was something intimate about the request; a special kind of trust – even though it was a simple task.

Stephen took one of the cuff links out with his scarred fingers – and dropped it along with the box under a cry of pain.

Alarmed, Tony widened his eyes. “What happened?”

“They’re silver!”

Stephen cradled his burned fingers to his chest. The pain would be gone in a few moments. It was stupid, and he had probably over-reacted. As a vampire he possessed fast healing and he had touched the metal only briefly.

But his hands were still his sore point. The phantom pain of needles had been back as soon as he had been burned, and Stephen knew it would linger way longer.

Tony cursed softly. “I thought I got rid of all of them.”

His words made Stephen pause and his eyes wandered back to the still open drawer. The gaps between the boxes suddenly made way more sense. They weren’t random.

Tony had sorted out the cuff links that were made of silver – because he knew they would hurt Stephen.

And his precious watches as well.

Suddenly, Stephen’s throat was tight for another reason than pain.

“I’m so sorry.” Tony reached for the Vamp’s hand but stopped halfway, looking at him to ask for permission to touch him.

Stephen didn’t hesitate to give his hands to Tony.

Tony’s touch was gentle, when he inspected his fingers. There was only a small dark spot left where the vampire had come in contact with the metal. It was getting lighter by the second.

Tony pressed a soft kiss on it.

“It’s fine,” Stephen muttered.

With Tony at his side, he could endure living in the night. As long as Tony kept looking at him with these gentle brown eyes, Stephen felt loved. And that was enough.

[dream-phantasm]

Leona Kingscholar x Reader: Love Letters (5)

Oops, this was supposed to be done earlier but school got in the way as usual lol

We’ll be meeting Rook soon as well as Trey again! 

Hope you enjoy!

No spoilers or warnings for now but this might change in future installments :)

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 [!] | PART 6 | END

"You scared me. I almost thought you were Rook…" Ruggie shudders, jumping a little. "Uh, who's Rook?" You question him. 

"You haven't felt him yet? I think he's been watching you for most of the day. It's better for me if he targets somebody else anyway, shishi!" He gets up, dusting off his pants. "Oh, the weirdo in the…yeah, right! The letters! It was you, right?!" You accuse him.

He raises an eyebrow before a look of shock crosses his face. Ruggie bursts into another round of giggles. You glare at him, embarrassed. "It's not funny, dude! Just tell me." You huff.

"Hahaha! Ah-" You swear to the great sevens, Ruggie was clutching his stomach, wiping tears from his eyes. His reaction almost made you crack up as well. "You- You're so- Ahaha! I can't believe you…you think it's me!?" Ruggie sneers, his tail wagging slightly, "Just wait till he hears this!"

"He?!" You look at him incredulously. "So, you know who it is! Tell me!" You shake him roughly by the shoulders. 

He pushes out of your grip rather easily, much to your disappointment. "Nope, can't do that. Unless you have more than he's paying, my lips are zipped." Ruggie grins. You glare at him, it totally seems like he's teasing you. Almost everybody at this school had heard that you lived in a ramshackle dorm, therefore it was only natural to assume you have zero cents to your name as well. 

"Uh, what if I hurt you?" You wince upon hearing that come out of your mouth. You know how ridiculous you sound. 

"Shishishi, what are you going to do? You're in a bad spot, y'know." He taunts you. "Hm. If I give you a hint, will you call off your red blue duo and your cat? We can call everything forgiven, right?" This Valentines day has been torturous. It's really not that much to ask in return for information. You're sure he probably has an ulterior motive.

"Um, I can try. They don't really listen to me, and Grim's not a cat!" You scowl, wary. "If you're so sure about that. You better try real hard! Shishishi, if I tell you, maybe he'll start treating me better." He giggles the last part to himself. 

"Right! You've met him before. Pay attention to his face, he's exceptionally handsome and has green eyes." Ruggie tells you, you nod frantically along. 

You only knew about two people with green eyes at NRC that you had talked to. That would be Cater and some random first year who had matching green hair. You really doubted it was Cater and you hadn't talked to that other guy enough to warrant gifts and love letters. 

He also seemed to dislike you, for whatever reason. 

"I gotta go before that Rook finds me. Cya, shishishi!" He picks a handful of dandelions and runs off before you can even get a word in. "T-Thank you?!" You shout after him. "You and him owe me one now!" Ruggie cheerfully waves with his free hand. Then, he's just gone. 

In the distance, you see a red and blue blur approaching. 

"[Name]...stop…running off everywhere!" Ace yells as he sharply inhales, "I don't understand this crazy track-head." 

"Track-head, really? Track is a great sport to build endurance!" Deuce is a little out of breath but otherwise seems to be in better shape than Ace. "[Name]! You were so fast! Are you sure you don't want to join Track?" He turns to you excitedly. 

"Henchman! My legs are all wobbly, I'm so tired dazo!" Grim promptly falls on your feet. You pick him up with a sigh, "I can't, I'm already in the taking-care-of-Grim club."

"Are you sure that isn't a full-time job?" Ace snorts. "Nope, that's why I'm handing him off to you guys after school. Grim-sitting is on you guys in the afternoon." You smile. 

"Why can't I come with, henchman dazo?" Grim whines. "Because I'll be studying and doing boring things. It'll be more fun with ADeuce." You gently convince him. "ADeuce? You better not make that a thing." Ace huffs. "Ever since Cater called us that…I don't want to be associated with him." Deuce shudders. 

"You think I want to be associated with you? Please, you're not very good at making jokes."

"These two…" You and Grim share a look. "Class is probably starting soon, we should get going." You hope to distract them from chasing down that beastman.

 "Yeah, we'll avenge that lost deluxe menchi katsu sandwich dazo!" Grim exclaims. "Maybe you should focus on class more." A lying hypocrite you were. It was a miracle the two of you got the marks you did. Under your collaborative effort as a singular student, you both pass with decent grades. 

"Considering you two barely keep up, it's crazy you two haven't failed yet." Ace snickers. "Don't worry! If we work hard enough, we'll become honor students!" Deuce smiles, a look of determination on his face. You can't deny him. 

"I'll become the greatest magician dazo!" 

"Oh yeah, by the way, I got a hint bout my uh…admirer." You tell them as you all walk back. "Was it that — what did Cater call him again? — guy then?" Deuce curiously asks. "No, I don't think so. Ruggie told me he's attractive with green eyes and that we've met before." You explain.

"Wow, that narrows it down by a lot."

"Shut it, Ace. It's not my fault almost all of the students here are attractive."

"Green eyes…You don't think it's Cater, is it?!" Deuce gasps. "No way! Since that Ruggie guy seemed familiar with him, I assumed the…admirer…would be a Savanaclaw member." You suggest. "What, so you wanna go around Savanaclaw, looking into people's eyes?" Ace questions, clearly doubtful. 

You hadn't planned this far. "Uh…maybe?" You shrug. "And if it's some random Savanaclaw member, what'll you do about it, huh?" You hate to admit that Ace is making valid points.

"There's someone else who we could ask about this." You snap, a light bulb going off in your head, "Do you guys know a guy named Rook?"

Deuce's eyes widen in realization.

"Ah, I think I heard Trey talk about someone named that before!"

Your next lead would be the mystery stalker, Rook.

Ao3: HERE

If you see it posted anywhere or by anyone else, it's not me.

[vodika-vibes]

First Meeting

Summary: One day, when you are bored from practicing your pickpocketing skills, you meet a man that you think you might be able to believe in.

Pairing: Captain Keeli x Reader

Word Count: 1059

Warnings: Reader is a thief

Tagging: @trixie2023 @the-bad-batch-baroness

A/N: I wasn't going to write this. I have 11 requests that I should be working on and the next installment of my Magic and Knights AU, but nooo. My brain went "you wanna write for Keeli and his thief cyare" so here you go.

Divider by Saradika

You love the open air market.

The scent of dozens of different food items, the sound of merchants selling their wares, and the sight of people zipping this way and that from stall to stall.

It’s beautiful.

It’s organized chaos.

It’s the best place for someone like you to practice their pickpocketing skills. Besides, the crew is between jobs at the moment, while the boss finds the next rich asshole who needs to be conned out of all of his money. 

You carefully finish unwrapping your gyro and pop the last bit of seasoned bread and meat into your mouth, and then you wipe your fingers on the napkin sitting on your lap.

You look just like every other person here today. A thin jacket to ward off the wind, casual shoes, a hat to keep the sun off your head…since you’ve arrived, no one’s taken a second look at you.

Which is how you like it. You do your best work when no one pays attention to you after all.

You hop off the barrel that you’re using as your seat, and weave through the crowd to toss your trash in a nearby can, and then you quickly finish your drink, something fizzy and sweet, and then you cast your gaze around the market.

And then you adjust your hat, so it’s not in danger of flying off your head and you start weaving through the crowd. Nimble fingers dip into pockets and purses taking credits as though they’ve never been there. A second pass through the crowd, and you deftly remove watches and bracelets from unsuspecting wrists.

Within an hour, your bag is loaded down with a small fortune of things that used to belong to other people, and you’re bored out of your mind. It’s never any fun when the marks don’t realize that they’re being targeted.

A huff of air slips from you, and you grouchily stalk over to a nearby cookie stand, and buy a fresh chocolate cookie, “Bad day, dear?” The older woman asks sweetly.

You pay with someone else’s credit chit, “Just bored is all,” You reply, “Not much happening here today.”

“Oh, I’m glad for the easy day. These old bones aren’t made for excitement.” She smiles kindly, “Hopefully your day will get better.”

“Oh, I hope so.” You say easily, “Thanks for the cookie.” You add as you walk away and take a bite of the cookie. It’s warm, gooey, and delicious.

And it does nothing to ease your boredom.

You purse your lips, maybe it’s time you go home. Maybe Nat will have finished coming up with a plan for the next job and you can start doing something challenging and actually worth your time.

But, just as you’re about to leave, something catches your eye.

Well. Someone, really.

A pair of men, clones, one with buzzed blonde hair and the other with dark hair with intricate designs styled into it. They’re both clad in casual clothes, jeans and tee-shirts, and they’re both incredibly attractive.

You abandon your plan to leave immediately.

For a moment you consider the blonde. He is cute, but you’ve never gone for blondes in your life, but the brunet…well…

A small smile crosses your lips as you start to plan the best way to get his attention. You don’t believe in love at first sight…you do however believe in infatuation at first sight, and you definitely wouldn’t kick him out of bed in the morning.

You slip through the crowd and brush against the man in question, effortlessly slipping his comm out of his pocket and into your jacket pocket.

90 seconds.

In 90 seconds you’ll half run up to him and tell him you think he dropped his comm, and, with luck, the conversation will blossom from there.

You count down the seconds in the back of your mind, and at 90 seconds exactly, you half jog over to him, “Excuse me!” You call, intentionally sounding a little breathless, “Sorry, but I think you dropped this!” The change in your breathing pattern will make it harder for him to detect any lie in your voice.

A handy trick you learned from your grifter friend/co-worker.

“Ah, I think you have the wrong person, my comm is right her-...” He pats his pocket and then pauses, “Oh. I guess you’re right.”

You grin up at him, “No worries, I drop things all the time.” You hold the comm out to him and offer up your name.

“Thank you. My brothers would never let me hear the end of it if I lost this,” He says with an easy smile as he takes the comm from your hand, “I’m Keeli.”

Keeli. You like it. It suits him.

“Is this your first time at the market?” you ask, unwilling to drop the conversation now that you have his attention.

“It is, actually. I take it you’re a regular here?” Keeli asks.

“It gives me something to do when my family is getting annoying,” You joke easily, “I can show you around if you like?”

He pauses and his smile becomes slightly sly, “Getting to spend the day with someone as gorgeous as you would be a dream come true.”

Your grin grows and you step closer to him so you’re able to wrap your arms around one of his, “Well then, it’s your lucky day! Because you have my undivided attention.”

“Is that right?” Keeli asks as he turns his body towards you and angles his head down as though he’s telling a secret. 

“It is right!” You pause, “Do you want to bring your brother on your exclusive tour?”

“Rex is fine.” Keeli replies, his gaze locked on your face. 

You release a bubbly laugh and Keeli seems to melt a little, “Well then, if you’re fine with ditching him, then come with me! There’s so much for you to see!”

Assuming that this goes well, you think as you tug Keeli towards the craft stalls while chattering his ear off, and answering the few questions he poses you, you’ll have to get him to ask you on a proper date.

You don’t believe in love at first sight. You’ve seen far too much of the cruelties of the galaxy to believe in something so innocent, but you feel like you can believe in him.

[peemil]

and that's the other thing. and this is hardly a radical opinion but it bears repeating. i am sick and tired of the responsibility being on disabled people to find "creative" solutions to living in this world. no hate to the zip tie hack because that's fucking ingenious and super cost-effective. but also like. what about people who lack the manual dexterity to even install something like that on their chairs, and who don't have a support system of people who would be willing to help them with that. why is the onus always fucking on us to figure out how to keep living (don't answer this question). why do people get so obsessed with shit like robotic chairs that can climb up stairs and bionic exoskeletons that disabled people would have to pay for out of pocket instead of, oh, i don't know, elevator installation & regular maintenance (don't answer this question either). or, like, a ramp. and even to some of my so-called "comrades:" why is it easier for you to imagine a future without disabled people than it is for you to consider for even a few seconds imagining what a more accessible one could look like (i'll give you a hint: you're gonna like the answer to this question a lot less than the answers to the previous two, because it forces you to acknowledge your own culpability).

[inverse-problem]

how do u store mp3 files on ur phone? :o i wanna have music offline but idk how to find them later without having to shuffle thru a bunch of files to look for a specific one TT

also how do u download them ? :oc

(I'm assuming you have some familiarity with how to do stuff like unzip files on pc, navigating folders, etc)

okay first off for getting music, I don't want to get my account nuked or whatever, so I won't talk about legally dubious ways but there are ways to get music. but also there's a fair bit of legally-free-to-download albums on websites like bandcamp. the stuff that's free will tend to be more indie but I've found plenty I enjoy. incidentally some of the ultrakill soundtrack albums are free, such as chaos/order, which you can use to try this out: https://heavenpierceher.bandcamp.com/album/ultrakill-chaos-order

(when it says pay what you want just put in $0 and you should be able to download with at most providing your email maybe, I forget. though I do recommend paying independent artists if you can!) once you download those and unzip the zip file, you have a bunch of mp3 files that you can put wherever you want

for putting them on your phone, the process varies if you're on android or ios (iphone). on android you need a music player app. I'm not on android so I can't recommend specific ones, though the default music app that should (hopefully?) be installed on your phone (it may be youtube music at this point I think?) can apparently play mp3 files stored on your device. but in any case, you should have a music folder on your phone, and you should be able to paste files into that once you plug your phone into a computer that has music files on it. your phone may even allow you to download files directly from the bandcamp website if you have an app that can unpack .zip files. but I like also having music on my computer so I can listen to it with a desktop music player (on windows foobar2000 and musicbee are popular ones). in any case, once you have a music player it should be able to automatically categorize music files on your phone so long as they're in the right folder and as long as the mp3 files are properly formatted by the artist with the right metadata (which on bandcamp they basically always are)

on ios, you download itunes to your computer, add the files to your itunes library through that, and then sync your iphone by plugging it into the computer. I don't think itunes works with android devices though

anyway, hopefully this helps a bit, you're best off searching online for a step by step guide if you need more assistance bc I don't know where you may need more detail. here's some wikihow articles that may be helpful (full disclosure I've only briefly skimmed these): https://www.wikihow.com/Add-Music-to-Your-Android-Device , https://www.wikihow.com/Move-Music-from-Computer-to-iPhone

[loosiusgoosius]

If I disappear from society, don't be surprised.

I am so so so tired of capitalism.

For Christmas I got a Raspberry Pi. The goal was to host my own website off it. This was entirely for fun.

Step one: set up raspberry Pi so I can host a site on it. Easy. Ubuntu is free (thank fuck), I know how to set it up, but hold on! According to xfinity, I cannot change dmz or dms rules on their router. I can't even REQUEST it. I can't even use a workaround because I'm not allowed to edit the port forward that was automatically added to my router. I dig through years old forums and find out that this is because I'm using the modem provided by xfinity. I now have to buy a new modem from xfinity's "approved list".

Step two: get a domain. I swim through 4 million outrageous prices that say shit like "pay $0.01 for the first year!" with the text below saying "with purchase of 3 year agreement". I finally get to godaddy and am able to convince the stupid checkout to give me 1 year of my domain (after, of course, it corrected my awful mistake to 3 years and, if I hadn't been hyper-vigilant, I wouldn't have noticed. I have to dig through 5 pages in settings to find a way to turn off auto pay because I know better by now. While I'm there I also turn off all email notifications, which were all automatically on. It also didn't tell me that I can't transfer my domain outside of godaddy for 60 days, so I just essentially paid for something I can't use for 2 months. Great. (out of curiosity, I dug through godaddy for some time. The 60 day thing appears nowhere except on the help center page when specifically searching for it.)

Step three: create a site. WordPress, once my most beloved website creation software, now slams subscription fees on me like cardi B audios on teenager girls's tiktoks. Unrelenting. Bloodthirsty. I power through to just get past "let AI design your site!" and "pick one of our patterns" so I can reach the point where I can edit the template. I already have a free template zip file. I drop it in the box. "wait!" says WordPress, in a screen-covering popup "upgrade to the creator plan to access the theme install features!" I click the only button on the screen. It takes me IMMEDIATELY to a filled out checkout page. WordPress Creator is $300 per year. Per. Year.

I read through the "features included with your purchase" to see things like "sftp/SSH certificates", "github deployments", "free staging site", and "install plugins and themes". All of these were free 5 years ago. "Save 20% by paying for two years!" No, I don't think I will.

Out of pure spite against the demon that is modern capitalism, I'm teaching myself html and css. I would kiss the creator of w3schools on the mouth, right after I kiss the creator of Ubuntu. I'm so angry. The internet is useless now.

[bruinhilda]

Well, I have all the pieces for my new computer.  And two days off.

So last night I started by pulling my OS drive and attempting to clone it.

And I IMMEDIATELY fucked it up.

It’s erased.  Gone.  All that shit I was trying to save?  Lost to the electronic void.

I googled fixes.  It came down to, “you have to install a file recovery program.  And you’re gonna have to pay for it, because the free ones can’t/won’t do shit for a drive that large.”

I did.  I ran it.  I was up until 3am, and still ended up having to let it run overnight.

IT DIDN’T FUCKING WORK.

Kept crapping out trying to save my files.  And looking at the files...they are all ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS.  Nothing is “restored.”  It’s just garbled and corrupted bits of files in zip format, and random shit like fonts and various images windows programs uses.  My user files are not there, the various programs and saved data thereof are not there.

Please note that I don’t know where my Win10 installation USB is.  I have a few ideas, but so far haven’t been able to dig it out.  I don’t know if the M.2 drive I used for windows backups shorted out when the tower crapped out, or if it was even up to date.  I suppose I’ll eventually find out, when I find everything and put it together.

Provided, y’know, that I don’t immediately fuck up AGAIN and erase that too.

I’m currently transferring what files did save to a storage drive for later.  Also removing and casing up the tower storage drives for safekeeping.  I refuse to lose all of my videos and work and shit fumbling around with reinstallation work.

[garlandwaterheaterrepair]

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[couldntbedamned]

Feels So Right, Can’t Be Wrong - Blue Salvia

Summary:

The setting: Sanctum General Hospital in Sanctum Heights, New Amsterdam

Starring: Sharon Carter - former Central Security Bureau operative, Selecting Spouse in a horrifically failed Bureau of Civic Spousal Selections marriage, patient AND Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark - owner and CEO of Stark Industries, Futurist determined to rebuild a world his father built weapons to destroy, love interest

With Appearances by: Nurse Wong, Orderly Rintrah, and Billy the Admin

And Featuring Doctor Stephen Strange as "the Surgeon"

Or, "Five Dates Tony and Sharon Had in Her Hospital Room and One They Had After She Was Discharged"

AO3 Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Marriage of Convenience, Past Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Getting to Know Each Other, Dating, Past Domestic Violence, 5 Times, Annoyed Stephen Strange, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Sharon Carter Deserves the World

Author’s Note: So this kind of just popped up as I was kicking around thoughts of just how Tony and Sharon met and eventually fell in love as mentioned in my fic Goodbye Grey Sky, Hello Blue, so this takes place well before the events of and can be read independently of that story.

------

Blue Salvia

------

Sharon had never been so happy to finish physical therapy in her life.

"You're a sadist," she told Rintrah as he handed her a towel so she could wipe away the sweat.

The large man didn't deny it. "You're making progress."

"Doesn't feel like it," she lamented. Her mile used to be six minutes and twenty-two seconds. Now she doubted she'd be able to run a mile for a few months, if walking a moderate incline on the treadmill was this hard.

"You don't see it because you judge yourself more harshly than anyone else," Rintrah said. "But I've seen the progress you've made since you were cleared for PT. Just be patient."

She supposed he was right. And it wasn't like she had an SO breathing down her neck like she had when in the CSB. Lord, Fury had been a nightmare but Hand? Hand had been so much worse.

"We'll finish up with some foam rolling and stretching and then I'll get you back up to your room, okay?"

Sharon groaned but knew there was nothing she could do but go along with the Orderly's plans.

The last thing she wanted was for Rintrah or Wong to decide she wasn't up for another date night in her room with Tony.

God, she was going to have another date with Tony Stark! What was her life?

"Pizza tonight? My treat."

Tony looked over at Stephen. "Can't. I have plans for dinner, I'm afraid."

Stephen raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Yes, indeed." He checked his watch, an elegant Kang model. "In fact, I have to go if I don't want to be late." He studied the kitchen. "We'll start installing the appliances tomorrow."

"I really do appreciate this, Tony."

Tony waved Stephen off. "Hey, even if you weren't paying me I'd be happy to help. Not as happy, of course. Maybe like, twelve percent less happy. Anyways, I have to go get ready."

"What's her name?" Stephen asked with a knowing smirk.

Tony made a gesture of zipping his lips. "A gentleman doesn't tell."

Stephen scoffed. "Since when are you a gentleman?"

"Bye now!"

As he hastened to his rented Alfa Romeo - which looked decidedly out place among the various Buicks and Lincolns - he checked his mobile to ensure his "out of office" status had gone through. The last thing he wanted was for work to interrupt his date.

He'd been looking forward to it since before he even left the hospital the previous night.

Sharon was... she was special. He liked her humor and appreciated her biting wit. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and if there was something she didn't want to discuss, she kindly but firmly let him know. That was refreshing to a man like him.

He'd started strong the previous night with Italian. He hoped Mediterranean would be just as successful.

Sharon rolled her eyes but let Tony blindfold her so he could "get the mood right."

When he took the blindfold off, the make-shift dinner table was back and he'd set up another vase, this time with a single Blue Salvia.

"Any guesses as to the cuisine we're having tonight?" Tony asked.

"French?" she tried. "I'll just go ahead and tell you I'm not eating snails."

Tony laughed. "It's not French, no, and I'll definitely keep that in mind."

He lifted up the dome on her plate to reveal the dish: triangles of spanakopita. She could smell the feta, garlic, and spinach and her mouth began to water.

"Mediterranean. I am again, impressed. I didn't think there was a place in town."

"There's not," Tony confirmed. "But, I wanted the best and it was worth having dinner catered from Baxterville."

"So," Tony said as they ate their appetizers, along with lamb and rice wrapped in grape leaves and a small assortment of olives. "Ask away."

Sharon took a minute to savor the explosion of garlicky spinach, creamy feta, and flaky buttery phyllo dough before swallowing. "Another bold move," she teased.

"Like I've said, fortune favors the bold."

"If you weren't head of Stark Industries, what would you do with your life?"

His brows raised. "That's a good question," he said. He ate a few triangles of the spanakopita as he thought about his answer. "I'd probably still want to be an engineer. I love building and fixing things. The money that comes with SI is just a bonus."

"You have some impressive creations," Sharon said. "The energy saving appliances are getting rave reviews, as do the medical devices you've started designing and testing."

"I just felt like I had to do something," Tony admitted. "Howard - Dad - spent his whole damn life building bigger, more lethal weapons. The least I can do is try and create things to help fix that he's destroyed."

"That's a noble cause, even if it's not your responsibility."

"It might not be my responsibility, but I benefitted from his warmongering so I might as well work against that."

The next course was moussaka - "with lamb, because again, I prefer the best" - with a medley of roasted yellow squash, zucchini, and colorful bell peppers as a side.

"Someone's making sure I get my vegetables," Sharon said. "Good call."

"I may or may not have been threatened with bodily harm by Nurse Wong if I didn't provide adequate nutrition," Tony said. "I don't like my chances going up against that man."

"You wouldn't stand a chance," Sharon confirmed. The roasted vegetables were incredible. "Orderly Rintrah's almost as fierce. My old SO could have learned a thing or two from Wong and Rintrah."

"How did PT go today?"

"I was told it went well, but I'm impatient so I don't really see it." She couldn't help but let out a small moan as she tasted the moussaka. It was amazing and perfectly seasoned. "I'm not used to being so inactive. Even when I was married I still went for runs and worked out."

"Even with the bruising?" Tony asked quietly.

"I wore long-sleeves and jogging pants when I went outside," she admitted. "I had a small collection of weights in the spare bedroom where I started sleeping and I'd do body-weight exercises."

"I can't tell you how sorry I am that you went through that," Tony said. "I hate that there was nothing you could do to defend yourself."

"In a way the running was a defense," Sharon said. "As was sleeping in the spare bedroom. It locked, you see." She ate some more. "Steve didn't like that; he thought that locked doors made a home dishonest but there wasn't much he could do about it."

"Did he ever try to break in?"

"The door was reinforced," Sharon said in answer. "All of the doors were. I had them all installed when I bought that house, since old habits die hard."

"I'm sorry to bring it all up," Tony said. "Well, you brought it up, technically, but I didn't change the subject and that's on me." He motioned to the vegetables. "These are so good."

"They are," she agreed.

Conversation turned lighter as they finished their entrees and Sharon eyed the dome-covered desert dishes expectantly.

"How's our Surgeon's kitchen coming along?"

"Oh, the wiring is all done. We'll start installing appliances tomorrow."

"He still doesn't know about this, right?"

Tony winced. "I'm doing my best to keep this hush-hush. I'm pretty sure Wong and Rintrah roped in his admin to keep it under wraps."

Sharon laughed. "Look at you, planning a stealth operation."

"You're worth it," he said.

She blushed furiously at that, inwardly astonished. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so affected. Even when she'd had her initial meetings with Steve, who'd at first been so sweet and earnest, she'd been somewhat aloof.

Dessert was a small plate with a sampler trio of sokolatopita, loukoumades, and baklava. Normally a chocolate gal, Sharon found herself preferring the loukoumades - tiny fried balls of dough dripping with honey. It was all delicious but the loukoumades was in a class all its own.

"Any ideas on what radio show to listen to?" Tony asked as he cleaned up and pushed the cart and dishes outside. "Or would you prefer something else?"

Sharon thought. "Would you think I'm a dreadful bore if I suggested listening to The Lawrence Welk Radio Hour?"

"Definitely not," Tony said with a smile. "One of my friends, Rhodey, is a huge fan. I've listened to that show many a time."

"Then tune the radio to Station KPBS," Sharon urged. "We should be able to catch the opening song."

Like the night before they sat close to the radio and when Tony took her hand in his, it felt so natural her heart skipped a beat.

"Maybe one day we can dance to this music," Sharon mused when a dreamy ballad played, complemented by a harp and oboe. "I've always loved dancing."

"One day," Tony agreed, enjoying the music but enjoying his evening with her so much more.

This time before he left, he added the blue salvia to the vase on her nightstand with the yellow tulip and took the vase with him, but not before again pressing a kiss to her hand.

"I had a wonderful evening," he told her.

"I did too," Sharon said as he helped her to bed. "Tony, this was so nice."

Wong knocked on the door and gave Tony a pointed look. He watched carefully as Tony took his remaining gear and left.

"He was wonderful, really," Sharon told Wong. "You don't have to worry about him, I promise."

"It's you I worry about," Wong said as he dispensed her medication. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"And that means more to me than you know," she assured him, taking her pills. "You're pretty wonderful yourself."

Wong smiled, told her she wasn't getting out of tomorrow's physical therapy, and wished her a good night.

Sharon snuggled back into the hospital bed. If her feet slightly swayed in the count of a waltz, that was her business. She dreamed of dancing and twirling around in Tony's arms.

______

Author's Notes (again): Blue Salvia - connected to healing; represents wisdom, a long life and good health. It's common for those recovering from an ailment to receive this plant.

Also, some of my favorite memories of my grandparents are times I sat with them some evenings while the Lawrence Welk Show reruns played on PBS. I figured this AU had to have something similar for a radio show.