Fifteen minutes later, Stephen entered the library to see Arianna standing at the table, looking down at her tablet, her back to the door. Briefly he considered the fact that in the several times he'd been in her presence her hair was always up in a rather long pony tail. He wondered what it would look like down. He shook himself of the thought and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, that took a bit longer than planned, but you really should have told me how badly I smelled. I took a shower so I wouldn't be quite so offensive for our actual meeting."

He came around the opposite side of table to face her to find her smirking. "I didn't want to burden you further after your rough diplomatic meeting by broaching the subject of your body odor. Besides, I grew up with a brother, I'm used to stink—yours wasn't too bad." It was only then she looked up, to find him in a t-shirt and jeans. Her smile dropped as she first she felt shock to see him out of his normal sorcerer garb, then she was struck by how equally handsome he was in street clothes...then how defined his arm muscles were.

He grinned as he saw her look him over. "Good to know. So, what do you have for me?

She closed her now hanging open mouth and smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Alright, here we go..."

She pushed a button and suddenly between them rose up a 3d image of Kamar-Taj. He gasped. "This is—amazing. You did this?"

"Well, technically the computer program did it, I just helped it along."

He shook his head. "I'm fairly certain you did more than 'help it along'. Arianna, really, this is remarkable."

"This is just the map, let me show you the part I actually did." She tapped a button on her tablet and several red dots appeared. "So this is the location of your current access points and router. This was perfectly adequate about...twenty years ago...but for modern day needs, including modern day technology such as your phone, computers, tablets, etc... you're going to want a more up to date system. Not to mention the fact that your most recent outage was just a sign of things to come. It's only going to get worse with that old system."

"But you have a solution, don't you?" he said with a smile. He loved watching her, she was in her element and seemed totally at ease and comfortable—confident in herself even.

"Oh, yes." She tapped another button and the red dots dissolved, replaced by green dots. "I recommend moving your router to the library, much more convenient access than someone's living quarters." She said, pointing to a green star located in the corner of the library. "Then, replace the old access points with newer devices, in these locations." She tapped another button and circles started radiating out from the dots. "These locations will provide maximum coverage to the compound and I can absolutely guarantee they'll provide consistent service for years to come."

"Hmm, I'm not sure if this is a satisfactory plan."

Arianna frowned. "Why on earth not?"

He looked away from the diagram and to her, resting his weight on his hands that rested on the edge of the table. "It sounds a bit too fail proof. How am I ever going to see Stark Industries best IT tech again if she installs a fail-proof system?" Arianna blushed and stared down at the tablet. She felt Stephen's eyes on her from across the table, just above the 3d image. "Seriously though, this seems remarkable. But how much is it going to cost us?"

"The tech is a donation from Stark Industries. My time, I believe you had an arrangement with Mr. Stark regarding that."

"Ah yes, that I did. I'm sure I'll be paying on that for quite some time."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry?" She wasn't sure what exactly he meant, but there was no telling what Tony had put him up to.

"It's nothing. Based on what I've seen so far, you're worth it."

Again, Arianna forced her gaze downward, away from the man who complimented her.

Stephen watched her a moment. He hadn't intended to be so flirtatious with her, but he couldn't seem to help himself. She was brilliant, but incredibly kind-hearted and...beautiful. "So, when can you start the work?"

"I'll need to collect all the necessary supplies from the Stark Warehouse and have them brought over here. I assume you can just do your portal thingy to transport them over to Kamar-Taj?"

His eyebrow quirked upwards. "Portal thingy?"

She shrugged and smirked, then continued. "It shouldn't take me more than a day to collect all the necessary supplies. The actual work will take about a week."

He nodded. "Sounds acceptable. With the time difference being what it is, it doesn't seem practical for you to be taking public transportation at all hours back and forth from the Sanctum to your house."

"Portal thingy?" she said with a grin, now happy to know she could make a jab at him.

"I was actually thinking perhaps you could stay there—at Kamar Taj. That way you could work the hours most convenient to you without worrying about travel."

"Will you—um, will you be around? When I'm there?"

"I had intended to spend my time at Kamar-Taj while you're working, yes. Can't have you falling off any ladders, now, can I?" She blushed again. He stepped around the table towards her and spoke quietly. "Do you normally blush this often?"

She quietly cleared her throat. "No, no I don't. You seem to have that effect on me. I apologize."

"You're apologizing for blushing?"

"I suppose so, yes."

"It should be me apologizing."

"For?"

"For flirting so much."

"Do you normally do that?"

"What?"

"Flirt."

"No, no I don't. You seem to have that effect on me. I apologize." He repeated her words from moments before.

It wasn't lost on her. She glanced up at him, then turned to look more clearly at him, growing a bit bolder. "How about...I won't apologize for blushing, and you don't apologize for flirting."

"That sounds like a magnificent plan."

"What sounds like a magnificent plan?" Wong said as he entered, interrupting their less-than-business-focused conversation.

"This," Stephen said, quickly changing course and turning to wave towards the 3d image. "Our Arianna here has come up with a magnificent plan to upgrade the wi-fi at Kamar-Taj."

Arianna smiled to herself at Stephen calling her 'our Arianna'. It seemed the two had, in a manner of speaking, adopted her. Though, she considered, with the flirting going on between her and Stephen, it was anything other than a sibling adoption such as Tony had already done with her.

Wong approached, his eyes wide. "Wow. That is impressive. You did this?" He said, glancing at Arianna and back to the 3D image.

"The program did most of the work—"

"She keeps saying that. But I keep telling her that programs only do what they're told. Unlike her boss, she's a humble genius."

"Hmm," Wong nodded. "That's refreshing. I suffer the same fate as she," he said, grinning over at her. "Pompous bosses and work partners. Perhaps we could come up with a support group."

Arianna giggled, Stephen huffed and rolled his eyes.

Wong looked back to the image. "Can you do something like this for us? Here at the New York Sanctum?"

Arianna bit her lip. "Actually, I already started thinking through some ideas in my head. Without seeing the schematics and the tech, of course. I haven't seen the whole building yet, nor have I gotten a good look at the devices, but based on the readings I got while we waited for the good Doctor to finish getting his beating at the Dimera 7 Summit, I'm guessing your equipment is just as old as that on Kamar-Taj—"

Stephen chose to skip over the wi-fi conversation and hone in on her jab. "I did not get a beating on Dimera 7."

"You were wounded," Wong countered.

"Wounded, not beaten," Stephen insisted.

"So, you think you can upgrade us, too?" Wong asked, redirecting the conversation.

"Anything is possible with the right equipment in the right hands," Arianna stated as she looked again at the image in front of them.

Strange's eyebrow quirked again as he looked at her, not the diagram. "I bet..."

Wong cleared his throat and glared at Stephen, who was still watching Arianna as her face turned several shades darker pink again. "Well, let's see how things go at Kamar-Taj and perhaps Stephen can have a talk with Mr. Stark about extending your time with us for some improvements here at the Sanctum."

Arianna smiled. Spending more time with Stephen—and Wong, too—sounded like a great idea. Before she could speak again, her stomach let out a loud growl. She blushed, again, this time of embarrassment at her own self, not anything spoken.

"Stephen, you didn't feed her before you brought her in here? She's been waiting for you for three hours and hasn't had a bite to eat! What kind of host are you?"

"The kind of host that thought my assistant might have taken care of such things while I was out—"

"Getting beaten on Dimera 7..." Arianna interrupted with a cheeky grin.

Stephen turned and gave her a playful glare. "I was not getting beaten. And you, young lady, can go back to Hoboken if you're going to be so sassy."

"Are you kidding me? I'm thinking of having her move in. Her sass is exactly what we need around here. Balances out your pompous arrogance," Wong said as he led the way towards the kitchen.

"Hey, my arrogance isn't nearly as pompous as it was several months ago."

"True, but you've still got a long way to go, my friend."

"Well, you could be right about one thing," he said, catching up to Arianna and glancing at her. "Perhaps the right company is what we need around here."