"Lucas, dinner is ready. I fixed your favorites tonight."
Lucas glanced away from his monitor, just long enough to smile at the young blonde woman in the tight Rush Hour T-shirt. "It smells delicious, Kelly. Can you please keep it warm for fifteen minutes? I'm on Discord."
She turned her back on him. "How can you sit in front of that thing for hours, after you spend all day in front of one at work?"
He tapped on his keyboard as he talked. "This is different. I'm having fun, learning new skills, and making money. All at the same time!"
Kelly pulled out a Kleenex, and dabbed her eyes. "I'll be waiting."
Thirty minutes later, she walked back into the living room, with a plate of food.
Lucas turned around, and one look at her face had him on his feet. "I'm sorry, Honey. I lost track of time."
She handed him the plate, and the couple walked into the dining room.
He took several bites. "Perfect as always."
Kelly smiled. "Thank you, I do my best."
Ten minutes later, his phone began to make loud beeping sounds.
Lucas looked at his frowning wife, and shrugged. He checked his phone, made several replies, then put it away. "Sorry, people wondered where I went."
She nodded. "After you're finished on the computer, I thought we might watch the new Marvel movie."
"That sounds great! I've been wanting to see it," he replied enthusiastically.
After supper, Lucas went back to his computer. He laughed several times before Kelly walked over to him.
She put her hand on his shoulder, and looked at the screen. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, this idiot just called my buddies and I a bunch of scammers. He's been in the server for like five minutes."
She grabbed a nearby chair, and sat next to him. "Why would anyone do that? You're one of the most honest people I've ever met."
He turned around, and kissed her. "Thank you, Honey. It's because I posted a link to Hive on Twitter. I put our group Discord link in too, in case anyone needed help getting started. This troll decided to shoot off his mouth without finding out the facts first."
"Hive is that thing you're always playing games on, and posting pictures from all over town to, isn't it?"
He nodded. "I've been on Hive for years, and I don't regret a second. I know you've never been interested in writing, and Splinterlands wasn't your thing either. But I do hope that something comes up you'll like. There are new projects being launched every day."
She hugged him. "I've never really been into it. But since you enjoy it so much, there must be something to it. Which of the new things do you think I'd like?"
"I don't think there's anything you would be interested in yet, but let me think on it. Maybe we could even start something new that you would enjoy for sure. It would help Hive by bringing in people who have different interests."
She inched even closer. "Your friends would do that, even though they don't know me?"
"Yes, I'm sure they would. But why don't you introduce yourself, here on Discord? You don't have to start writing or anything. Just meet my friends, please."
She did so, first from his account. Then she made her own account.
Two weeks later, Lucas returned home to find Kelly sitting at the computer.
"Hello Dear," she greeted him, rising to help him out of his jacket.
The two sat at the computer for several hours.
Lucas stood, and stretched. "Aren't you getting hungry?"
Kelly blushed. "Oh. I forgot to put dinner in the oven!"
Lucas laughed, long and hard.
Kelly looked at him, her cheeks becoming even redder. She crossed her arms over her chest.
When he finally stopped laughing, he saw her expression. Then he laughed even harder, tears streaming down his face.
Exhausted, he went over to the couch. "Sorry Kelly, I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing at myself."
She scowled. "In what way?"
He grinned. "Because I wanted you to like something about Hive as much as I do. And now that you're getting into it, I need to remember that I'm the one who encouraged you."
She smiled. "Pizza and a Discord party?"
He shook his head. "How about pizza and a movie instead?"
Kelly tapped out a few words, hit enter, then made a flying leap onto the couch...
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Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery