#i need that scale figure so bad AAARGH

[visionkept]

Staring longingly at the scale figure of their dear co-worker. A magnificent piece.The DETAIL is extraordinary and it so happens to capture her essence from all the right perspectives. Worth every credit.

[amaikana]

another fluffy OT3 fic! (been a while since I write one :3) --- Rate: K+ Pairing: OT3/norrayemma Tag(s): Date Night, Fluff, Romance, Inspired by Honeyworks’ Song Note: the italic parts at the separations are me quoting the song’s lyrics :3 ---

 You received a voice message (18:06)

 “Hi, Emma. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can make it tonight. There are still quite a lot works that I need to get done here. I’m so sorry. Please tell Ray that I’m really sorry too.”

 ‘To repeat the message: press 1. To reply the message: press—’

Emma clenches her phone.

“…Stupid Norman.”

*

 Does being an adult means to be patient? All the incomparable things are being put on a scale

 But because we have ‘love,’ we can still be ourselves Yet we still get struck by the anxiety

* [Ne, Aitaiyo] ((Hey, I miss you))

*

Emma pouts silently as she gripped the mug in her hands which contains her already cold coffee. From the doorway, Ray—her other boyfriend who’s just gotten back from work and still clad in his formal suit—sighs and approaches her gently.

“Hey. C’mon, don’t keep pouting like that. It’ll make your face all wrinkly faster, you know?” her boyfriend tries to joke. “What’s gotten you so down, anyway? Aren’t you the one who’s most excited for tonight?”

“There’s no ‘tonight,’” Emma grumbles.

“Huh?”

“I said ‘there’s no tonight’! Norman can’t make it! He’s still at work. The plan’s cancelled!”

For a moment, Ray doesn’t say anything. Then, suddenly, Emma feels something landed on top of her head. Ray’s hand. A hand that ruffling her hair without a care in the world, as if she hadn’t just spent a full half-an-hour attempting to stylize it like one of those fancy hairstyles she often sees in magazines.

“Ugh! What are you doing, Raaay?! You just ruined my hair!”

Ray chuckles beside her. “Then just go style it again,” her boyfriend says easily.

“E-eh? Didn’t you hear what I just said? The plan’s canc—”

“Hurry,” Ray cuts her. “I think it’ll only take about forty minutes to drive to the office. The traffic is usually quite packed at this hour, though. So I probably should just use the train, it’ll be faster that way.”

“The…the office? Wait. You mean Norman’s office?!”

Ray doesn’t answer her. Instead, her boyfriend grabs two sets of coats and scarfs from the coat rack and starts dressing himself up. Before opening the door, her boyfriend turns back at her.

“Oh, by the way, can you head to the cinema ahead of us and buy the tickets? I think it’ll take too much time if we go together from here, so Norman and I will just meet you there.”

*

 Baby Girl, your eyes, and nose, and lips Hey, I wanna touch you

*

The office is almost empty the moment Ray steps into the building. Most of the employee already went home, only a few still choose to stay behind. He presses the elevator button to a floor he remembers well, a part of the office that he and Emma frequently visited.

“What are you doing, staying up ‘till this late?” he says as a greeting. Not surprisingly, Norman is the only one left on that floor.

His boyfriend jumps in surprise and turns at him with an annoyed expression.

“Don’t startle me like that!” Norman complaints. “What are you doing here, anyway? Wait. What time even is it? Shouldn’t you be at the movie with Emma?!”

Ray raises his eyebrows. “So, you’re saying we really should celebrate our anniversary with only the two of us?”

Norman averts his eyes, starting to look a bit guilty at the sarcastic retort. “It’s not that… I mean, it’s just—”

“Well, whatever. If that’s what you want, so be it. Emma and I can still have a good time with only the two of us.”

Ray dumps the plastic bag that he’s been carrying on top of his boyfriend’s desk carelessly. Norman stares at him questioningly.

“What is this?”

“That? Oh, nothing. Just a few cookies that Emma baked this afternoon. Figured you might want some snacks while pulling an all-nighter again.”

He turns around and begins leaving. But before Ray could even take a step away, a hand reaches out, stopping him.

“W-wait!”

*

 Baby Boy, your hands, and habits, and love Hey, I miss you

*

“W-wait!”

Norman doesn’t know what he was thinking. His hand just automatically reached out the moment Ray started leaving.

His boyfriend turns back around. “What?”

“U-um…”

Ray snorts. A beat later, Norman feels a hand landed on top of his head, ruffling his hair messily.

“Idiot.”

For a second, the thoughts about all the paperwork he wanted to re-read and revise for the nth time again entered his mind. For a second, he hesitates. But……

He shrugs, smiling up helplessly at his dark-haired lover. “…Thank you. Let’s go?”

*

 The more we think about each other, the more it feels our distance grow

*

The moment Emma arrives at the cinema, her heart drops a bit, realizing her two boyfriends haven’t arrived there yet. Though, taking a deep breath and a firm step, she puts on her best smile before she walks up to the cashier.

“Three tickets for this movie, please.”

The ticketing employee looking at her confusedly. “You’re alone, Miss? This one will start in a few minutes. If you’re waiting for some people, you might want a different schedule, or—”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. They’ll arrive soon.”

Still wearing her cheerful smile, she takes the tickets.

Best smile for best occasion. Also for the people she loves the most.

*

 Baby Girl, your eyes, and nose, and lips Hey, I wanna touch you

*

It took them about five minutes walk from the office to the station. From there, it should be around twenty minutes before they arrive at the nearest station to the cinema.

The whole way, Ray practically dragged Norman on his feet. Snapping at the sleepy man every few minutes and receiving weird stares from the strangers on the street.

Ray groans for the nth time. He knows that his boyfriend must be very tired from pulling all those late working hours this whole week. ‘The overworking idiot probably even did it without really realizing,’ Ray grumbles inwardly.

But…still! It shouldn’t be this bad, right? Right?!

Ray can feel some white hair strands start tickling his cheek again as the head on his shoulder lolls slightly from the train’s movement. He bites his tongue. Luckily, what would’ve probably been an embarrassing yelp didn’t manage to escape his lips.

 ‘Stupid! Idiot! Stupid Norman! Why at a time like this?! Why in a public place like this?! Ugh, wake up! Wake up, idiot! This is so embarrassing!’

That’s what he silently complaining, but…

Awkwardly, with his probably now very flushed face, Ray moves slightly and adjusts his sitting position so that his boyfriend can lean on him more comfortably.

He steals a glance at Norman’s fancy watch.

“Still about fifteen minutes until the station…” he mumbles.

Ray sighs, averting his eyes and silently tangling his fingers to his lover.

 ‘Better put up with this, then.’

*

 Baby Boy, your hands, and habits, and love Hey, I miss you

*

There’s patience. And there’s “how freaking long anymore do I need to wait for my two stupid boyfriends to arrive” patience. Besides…will they even able to make it here on time?!

Emma doesn’t care whether her probably annoying groaning would earn her another weird stares from the strangers around again. At this rate, she really will strangle them.

“Aaaaargh, stupid Ray! Stupid Norman!”

Just as she said that, her phone rings from a chat notification. She lits up as she reads the sender name.

 Ray (21:09) “Emma, I can’t get this idiot out of the taxi. Help.”

Emma frowns confusedly. “…Um, what?”

*

Swinging back and forth, I recalled it Back when we first gazed at each other’s eyes *

“Are you kidding me?!” Ray groans.

He has tried everything: from tickling, to pinching, to slapping his boyfriend’s face and practically shouting beside his ear. Still, Norman wouldn’t budge!

He has somehow managed to drag his boyfriend to get out of their train and get onto a taxi. But the moment they stepped inside the car stupid Norman immediately slumped onto him again. And now they have arrived, he can’t get his boyfriend’s head off of his lap!

Ray grimaces and glances at the taxi driver apologetically. It’s probably their luck that the dark-skinned woman driver only chuckles and waves him off from the front seat.

“Ahh, young love~ How sweet~”

Feeling desperate, Ray finally resorts to texting their girlfriend.

 Emma (21:10) “Eh? What happened?”

“Aaargh, stupid Emma! Just come here already!” he grumbles.

On his lap, Norman’s head lolls again, somehow facing his stomach now.

 ‘This is so awkward…’

*

 And I remember that moment, When I first touched you

*

Emma understands what happened the moment she finally sees her boyfriends—who are still adorably cuddling inside the taxi, she notes.

She chuckles. ‘How come Ray doesn’t realize it?’ she muses.

Emma shakes her head. “Norman~ C’mon, it’s wake up time, baby!”

Ray stares at her flatly. “I told you. He won’t budge even though I tried everything on him! How do you think he would wake up if you’re just calling him like th—”

Her boyfriend’s ranting got cut off by a sudden kiss to his cheek. The reaction is immediate: Ray flushes as bright as tomato and starts stammering.

“W-what– wh—”

Emma bursts out giggling. But even her giggles got cut off by another sudden unexpected peck to her cheek.

“This one’s for our best girl.” Norman grins at her before giving a small kiss on her nose.

“You– You were messing with me?!”

The still-red faced Ray starts pushing Norman unceremoniously out of the car. Her white haired boyfriend lands himself on his butt. He whines petulantly at her and Emma eventually can’t contain her laugh anymore—doesn’t mind that it makes her already re-stylized hair all messy again.

They’re basically making a ruckus at the parking lot now. And it takes Norman suddenly asking about what they’re actually supposed to be doing here for them to remember again that the movie they were planning to see together is about to start soon.

…Or rather, already started now.

“Why did you even buy this schedule?!” Ray complaints at her as they’re all running inside the cinema.

“W-well, the sooner the better right? Besides, it’s certainly better than having to wait another few hours for the next schedule, right? Right? Norman! Hey! Defend me!”

“Um, well…I was hoping I could go back home to change my suit first, though…”

“See?! That was an idiotic choice! Idiot!”

“Stop insulting me, stupid Ray! Are you actually my boyfriend or my bully?!”

Halfway through the cinema entrance, they all suddenly remember that they forgot to pay the taxi.

…Which sets another troublesome task, as they need to run back to the parking lot and run again to the cinema.

“Ah, young love~” the taxi driver woman shakes her head.

‘Yeah, it is,’ Emma silently agrees.

It really is.

*

 Hey, I fell in love with you Hey, let’s fall in love again

*

[topicprinter]

So damn tired, man. I tried a lot of business ideas that could work for me while staying legal about it. Coming from Brunei, a tiny country with about 350k population and a bad economic climate, my ideas are limited and initiatives are poorly executed.Sure, I've learnt from my failures each time, but I just feel tired from even trying again. My first venture was an online e-commerce store selling gadgets and then realized I can't receive money via PayPal. Shit. Stupid little detail.Second venture was Forex. Tried every strategy, backtest and learn some more. I made some money, cool. But it wasn't enough to sustain as a full time trading career. Working at my day job, I figure I might as well automate my strategy. It worked for the first week very well. Fucked up the following week. Simply because it lacks how to read the news for fundamental trading. I could quit but I need savings. According to calculations, it will take a year to get enough savings to last me 3 months. Moving on.Third venture was Freelance Web Dev and scale to Web Dev Agency. Tough competition but I won a couple of contracts per month. Problem was it was taking up my day job time and made me lose focus. Had to cancel after my third project. AAARGH!!!Fourth venture was working on a simple startup for take down stolen copyrighted software/content for software and content companies/businesses. Partnered with 2 younger fellows. And that was a problem, they were too young. Not only that, we had miscommunication after I set up everything for the startup (company name, domain, hosting, customer management system, email, backup scheduler, etc). We decided since we had no rhythm, we closed up shop. So much facepalm.Fifth venture, affiliate marketing. I hate it. I riddled my blog with lots of offers and ads, gained little traffic and 0 conversions. I realized it's taking way too long to be recognised as an authentic guy to refer others to products, even with my personal reviews. Sigh.Sixth venture, website flipping. My e-commerce shop from my first venture was still running (about 3 years I think) and about to expire. Decided to sell and see if anyone wants to flip it for more. Advertised on Craigslist, Flippa and a few other online ad boards. No catch. Investment wasted. Thought I could use it as a start to build more websites and sell them. I must suck as a WebDev.I'm on my seventh venture, won't say more but it involves food decisions and delivery simplicity for busy people but I'm also tired of working on it. Kinda lost motivation. Burnt. And now I'm here ranting.Sorry for the wall text. Just wanna let loose.

[qarajhcreations]

A Tal’Dorei Misadventure, part 5: Raid the Raiders

This story is told from a first-person perspective, of the character Tenarhik-ga-Rovhtark, better known as Tena Barkfang. As such, things that happens might not be described, as Tena didn’t experience all of them.

As we headed towards the campsite, there were clear signs of a lot of activity, trees having been cut down, dragged away. There were even prints of what looked like cows. Could it be that the cows, if it really was cows? were the same cows, that me, Lorna and Vali was originally going south from the big city to resolve? Two birds with one stone, right?

Coming over the crest of a hill, we saw it. Palisades, Hobgoblins on meticulous patrols, sentries and a lots of tents. And, lo and behold, there was also a pen with cows. I could see a strange grin on Vali’s face, it made me uneasy, but I couldn’t get myself to tell it to him, I’m not sure I’d know how to phrase it right. There was also the ordeal with Vali and Aurum; you could not find two more different people. Would I have to throw myself between them? Can they keep from fighting, and focus on the task at hand? What of Lorna? Gah, too many thoughts at once. I looked away, just as the two began to argue about the best way to approach the camp.

I started, slowly, to make my own plan. I could take out a couple of sentries, from hiding. Wait, then switch position and repeat it from another angle. I glanced at one of the larger tents, heavily guarded at all times. Orcs would pick up javelins and head out on patrol, an armory, perhaps? If I, somehow, could get to that, I could destroy their excess weapons and armor. That would make it harder for them to threaten merchants and travellers. Another big tent was on the other side of a stream, from how much it was decorated, compared to the smaller ones, it was probably belonging to the Warlord of some sort.

It seemed that Aurum had succeeded in persuading Vali to NOT just charge in, going melee with everything, which, I must admit, was an impressive feat, given how stubborn Vali could be. Perhaps that is what happens when you get old, he did say that he had been alive for a very long time. Now they were actually talking, in a constructive way, about strategies of not so much getting into the camp, but rather, create panic and chaos within the camp. I am not entirely sure why, but rather than starting an argument I’d lose, I figured things would go more smoothly, if I contributed to the solution. They discussed parts about setting tents on fire, obviously we couldn’t just waltz in, set the tents alight, and stride out again. Setting my arrows on fire would be an easy task, and going by long shots I’d made in the past, hitting the tents wouldn’t be a problem either. There was no signs that it would suddenly begin to rain, so the fire shouldn’t be hindered.

Aurum, in particular, had been spokesperson for going back to where we had met Frankie, apparently Frankie couldn’t be hurt as easily as the rest of us. I had nothing against it, despite still not completely trusting the half-bear, though I’m certain the feeling for me was mutual. Vali, to no surprise, wanted to start the assault straight away. I believe Aurum either got tired of arguing or wanted to do something, but eventually he accepted and with that, me and Lorna approached the edge of the woods, to take the two sentries by the gate out. Both our projectiles struck true, but it wasn’t enough to take the Orcs down. Instead they began crying for help and that the camp was under attack. At that time we decided to go with plan A; go back and get Frankie to help. I fired as we began running, but it was a bad shot and an arrow lost.

We probably got away just in time, it didn’t take long before we were sure they did not follow us. We had managed to rile the camp up, but not as much as we had hoped to. Still though, now we had a general idea of how long it would take them to muster a fighting force. Inadvertently, without me ever telling my strategy, it ended being very close to my thoughts. This would take some time, but we if could keep doing these needle attacks, we’d eventually wear them down to a point, where they would not be a danger to villages and travellers. We began looking for Frankie, and to my surprise, he was rather easy to find. We, mostly Aurum and Lorna, began to attempt persuading him, and I butted in with what seemed reasonable. Eventually the bear shrugged his shoulders and swung his massive axe upon one of them. I made sure to keep away from him, just slightly behind, to keep an eye out.

Coming back, we tried to be stealthy, but between me, Aurum and Frankie, we still managed to make a lot of noise. Worse was; they were expecting our approach, so just as I lit a torch, to use to make my arrows on fire, me and Lorna both got hit with some crude arrows. It stung as the arrowhead found a weak-spot in my scale armor, but I have to stay focused. “Come on Tena, you’re a big girl, no crying over a tiny arrow like that, focus on your job.” As I had my inner dialogue, denying myself the feeling of pain, I lit the shaft of an arrow. For a moment the orange, flickering, tantalizing light had me awe-struck, but then I let it fly, like a weird orange bee, arching in the night, descending upon and finally igniting the large tent, that we presumed was their armory. Meanwhile, Aurum, Vali and Frankie had taken to fight the enclosing Orcs, there were one particular ugly and large one. From my vague knowledge of Orcs, he was probably an officer of some sort. The mere presence of that Orc seemed to make the Orcs stronger, he needed to be dealt with. 

Vali and Aurum had theirs to attend to, luckily their armor and size, respectively, seemed to keep foes from doing too much, Vali had taken a couple of hits, but seemed to be enjoying the midst of battle. Another two arrows struck me from the Hobgoblins shooting from afar, one in my thigh, one in my abdomen. Aaargh, gritting my teeth didn’t do much, I’d have to pull it out later, right now, the big Orc as the problem, I’d just have to take the arrows and hits until, he was dealt with. I turned slightly, lit another arrow, and let it fly. For a short moment the flames licked the Orc’s hide armor, but nothing that lasted. A tiny voice in my head was sad that I didn’t get to see him engulfed. But the thought scared me, I wasn’t like that... The fire was pretty and all, but I... this was not me. Despite the torch being lit in the ground next to me, I promised myself to not light the next arrow on fire.

Lorna seemed to directing something, a massive cone of blue-ish light shone down, scorching the Orcs and Hobgoblins. I saw Aurum’s sa light up us well, and Vali... disappearing? No, because the Orc slashed into where he stood, and a streak of blood indicated a hit. I fired the arrow, and struck, but somehow this Orc was still standing. With Lorna’s beam in the background, dealing with the archers, Aurum and Frankie turned on the big Orc, and finally the hulking greenskin fell. With a sigh, I grabbed the shaft of the arrow in my abdomen, oh it was in pretty deep. I closed my eyes and thought of the moments with my brothers and little sister, it made me feel slightly better as I pulled the arrow out, ooof, that was unpleasant.

We had bigger problems than arrows; the camp was mobilising, and an enormous Hobgoblin with a flaming weapon was marching out towards us. I think we’ve got their attention now. Just as Aurum and Vali were about to charge, a thunderous explosion lit up the night sky with bright orange light; something inside the armory had caught fire and exploded. It was a beautiful sight beyond anything I’ve ever seen before.