diff --git a/settings/quickshell.nix b/settings/quickshell.nix
index 646e7d8..1f88d66 100644
--- a/settings/quickshell.nix
+++ b/settings/quickshell.nix
@@ -1847,19 +1847,22 @@ in
                                     color: Theme.base05
                                 }
 
+                                // The icon's own menu cache: assigned from the
+                                // moment the icon exists, so the DBus fetch
+                                // (slow for Steam) happens at startup, not
+                                // mid-animation. contextMenu just points at
+                                // this — switching tray icons never reloads.
+                                QsMenuOpener {
+                                    id: itemOpener
+                                    menu: modelData.menu
+                                }
+
                                 MouseArea {
                                     anchors.fill: parent
                                     hoverEnabled: true
                                     acceptedButtons: Qt.NoButton
                                     onEntered: {
                                         if (!modelData.hasMenu) return;
-                                        // Prefetch: you cannot click without
-                                        // hovering first, so start the DBus
-                                        // round-trip now and the menu is
-                                        // usually loaded before the click.
-                                        if (!bar.activeDropdown && menuOpener.menu !== modelData.menu) {
-                                            menuOpener.menu = modelData.menu;
-                                        }
                                         if (!bar.activeDropdown) return;
                                         if (bar.activeDropdown === contextMenu && contextMenu.trayItem === modelData) return;
                                         let pos = parent.mapToItem(bar.contentItem, 0, parent.height / 2);
@@ -1867,9 +1870,9 @@ in
                                             // Same dropdown, just switch content
                                             contextMenu.dropdownY = pos.y;
                                             contextMenu.trayItem = modelData;
-                                            menuOpener.menu = modelData.menu;
+                                            contextMenu.activeOpener = itemOpener;
                                         } else {
-                                            contextMenu.openFor(modelData, pos.y);
+                                            contextMenu.openFor(modelData, pos.y, itemOpener);
                                         }
                                     }
                                 }
@@ -1884,7 +1887,7 @@ in
                                             contextMenu.animateClose();
                                         } else {
                                             let pos = parent.mapToItem(bar.contentItem, 0, parent.height / 2);
-                                            contextMenu.openFor(modelData, pos.y);
+                                            contextMenu.openFor(modelData, pos.y, itemOpener);
                                         }
                                     }
                                 }
@@ -2130,8 +2133,8 @@ in
                     // available the instant the data lands, so the height and
                     // its content update in the same binding pass.
                     readonly property real menuContentHeight: {
-                        if (!menuOpener.children) return 0;
-                        const items = menuOpener.children.values;
+                        if (!menuModel) return 0;
+                        const items = menuModel.values;
                         let h = 0;
                         for (let i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
                             h += items[i].isSeparator ? menuSepHeight : menuRowHeight;
@@ -2148,26 +2151,23 @@ in
                     fullHeight: (menuContentHeight > 0 ? menuContentHeight : lastMenuHeight)
                                 + 2 * Theme.cardPad + 2 * Theme.panelGap
 
-                    // Deliberately NOT cleared on close. Nulling the menu threw
-                    // away the loaded items, and the only thing that refills
-                    // them is a hover-enter — which never fires if the cursor
-                    // is still sitting on the icon you just clicked. Reopening
-                    // then re-fetched over DBus and the panel grew to its empty
-                    // height first, then jumped once the items landed. Keeping
-                    // the handle assigned makes reopening the same item free;
-                    // openFor() reassigns it when you pick a different one.
+                    // Which tray item's opener feeds the menu. Every tray icon
+                    // owns an always-assigned QsMenuOpener (see the tray
+                    // Repeater), fetched when the icon appears — so switching
+                    // tray→tray swaps one POPULATED model for another in a
+                    // single binding pass. The shared opener this replaces
+                    // reloaded over DBus on every reassignment, and no sizing
+                    // gate downstream could hide that the model itself went
+                    // briefly empty (that gap was the flash).
+                    property var activeOpener: null
+                    readonly property var menuModel: activeOpener ? activeOpener.children : null
 
-                    QsMenuOpener {
-                        id: menuOpener
-                    }
-
-                    // Opens immediately — never wait on the menu. Hovering the
-                    // icon has already started the DBus fetch (see the tray
-                    // MouseArea), so the size is normally settled by click.
-                    function openFor(item, y) {
+                    // Opens immediately — the item's opener has been loaded
+                    // since its icon appeared, so there is nothing to wait on.
+                    function openFor(item, y, opener) {
                         dropdownY = y;
                         trayItem = item;
-                        menuOpener.menu = item.menu;
+                        activeOpener = opener;
                         bar.toggleDropdown(contextMenu, null);
                     }
 
@@ -2178,7 +2178,7 @@ in
                         cardSpacing: 0
 
                             Repeater {
-                                model: menuOpener.children
+                                model: contextMenu.menuModel
 
                                 Rectangle {
                                     required property var modelData