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 Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:14 am
If at all possible, the striped demon paled further at Texas' explanation. Some part of his mind was holding on to small hope that Tex only knew because he'd walked in on the conversation. It was a small hope, but hope nonetheless. A hope that had been quite spectacularly shattered into millions of sparkling pieces just seconds ago.
Guardians....he saw....oh f--
That was sorta the root problem here. Still, Kane's mind whirled, none of the trains of thought particularly helpful, as they all led round and round to the same destination. Which was basically mental rambling gibberish. The feral demon had never in his life been nearly this lost for words. Not only that, but lost in general. What now? How in the hell did one DEAL with a situation like this?
He glanced sideways at Magnus, then snarled. For what he'd said earlier, Kane assumed he'd dealt with something like this before....as disgusting as that thought was. Still, some experience to figure out how to deal with this might have been nice. What the hell was the idiot fae doing there anyway with his head in the sand? Did he think that was going to help?
Anger was a helpful tool in shaking off uncertainty. With a growl, Kane had to resist the urge to chuck another handful of sand at the fae, not that it would have had much effect at the moment, considering. "Fat load of help you are," he snarled under his breath before raising the volume of his voice.
"Fine, whatever. That just means you're in on the deal now. None of this ever happened. We never talk of it, no one even thinks about it, ever again. It just goes away and everybody is happy." He narrowed his eyes at Texas...since it was hard to effectively glare at Magnus at the moment anyway. He was pissed, like an animal backed into a corner by tormentors, but at the same time, a foreign touch of fear flickered in his icy orbs.
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:46 am
In any other circumstance, Magnus' reactions would have struck Texas as extremely odd. Magnus was fairly confident and nonchalant about every lewd situation he happened to stumble into, whether on purpose or not. Of course, this wasn't exactly usual. Magnus had actually been drunk, and his partner was Kane.
...Hell, that was why Texas was freaked out by the situation himself at first. Of course, he was reasoning through it... or trying to in any case. There were plenty of alcohol-filled, illogical explanations for the whole mess.
Magnus couldn't hear Kane's insult with his head so deep in the sands, but he did feel the weight over his head get heavier. Who was burying him? Magnus brushed the sand off of his head and made and effort to get up and find out, only to flop back down into the sands with a loud plop.
His body ached more and more the more he tried to make any efforts to move, so now he just stopped all-together, plenty content to just stay still with his body in the sands. He was uncomfortable and he disliked that, but moving made him even more uncomfortable and that was even less of a happy feeling than this particular one was.
The removal of the sands allowed him to catch some of what Kane said, though. ...Oh no. He did not just suggest dropping it.
Kane did indeed just suggest dropping it.
Texas was never in favor of dropping any issue, especially an issue that concerned his friends and family in any way. His expression went from an vaguely amused grin to a rather stern, scolding look in almost two seconds flat. While he was usually calm, caring, and protective, there were other sides to the over-concerned father figure that Kane had decided to befriend...
"Kane, that's not the way the world works. It happened. You can't just drop it and bury it away or it'll fester until it consumes you. It'll always be there, at the back of your mind, nagging and nagging until you learn to deal with the situation. Really, it'll never go away because we can't alter the past. What you can do is deal with it and learn how to go on from it." With a pause, the scolding father's expression relaxed into one showing a bit more concern than before. "That holds for any situation, really, including this one. The fact that you want to bury this situation shows that it bothered you in some way, and therefore it won't go away until you deal with what bothers you."
While his expression had relaxed slightly, his posture was still strong and upright. "And while that process isn't exactly what I'd call easy, Kane, it's a lot easier to deal with such things in the here and now instead of later after it's already consumed you and has been allowed to fester for weeks and months."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:08 pm
This...was not going according to plan.
Granted the plan had been tossed together in a panic about ten minutes ago as a last-ditch effort to cover up mistakes already made, but still... Things were spiraling further and further out of control and the feral demon was already far out of his comfort zone.
And now, the self-righteous git was lecturing him?
The combination of feeling the situation slipping out of his control, his general confusion about why this had happened in the first place, now...being lectured? Kane was quickly slipping into angry, defensive mode.
Now, normally when pissed off by someone, the demon would either take off...or turn tiger, snarl at them...then take off. Either way, he wouldn't sit there and take this sort of crap, not from any Pae. No one lectured Kane.
...okay, maybe one Pae did...but no one but her!
At the moment, however, Kane was handicapped from taking either of his normal escape routes by the fact that he felt he was going be sick any minute at this rate. That didn't stop him from getting pissed and lashing out, however. He was feeling sick, in pain, and though he'd never admit it...more than a bit shaken and upset by this turn of events. Violence and fury seemed like a more attractive reaction at this point.
Icy, slitted orbs locked on Texas and the tiger demon seemed to spit and snarl with every word. "Where the hell do you get off lecturing me? You think you're better than me? That give you the right to speak to me like a child?" He snarled, no longer willing to sit here and take this, and started carefully, but determinedly climbing to his feet. Normally, he was actually more imposing and threatening while on all-fours. However, Kane was getting sick of Texas standing over them both like a lecturing father figure and he'd be damned if he was going to let him do that much longer.
Pointing a clawed finger at the other demon accusingly, he continued with a growl barely being held at the back of his throat. "You want us to deal with it? What the hell do you think we were doing before you got here? Dealing with it! I'll deal with this in my own way, and if that method is dropping it, then I'll damn well drop it! We'd quite happily agreed to let this go and move on about our lives before you got here, all determined to FIX everything!"
Okay, so 'happily' was an exaggeration.
Kane was on a roll at this point. Anger was so much easier to deal with than insecurity and confusion, so he was all too eager to latch onto and run with it. Even if it wasn't anything personal deep down...he was simply lashing out at anyone or anything in his way.
"You want to know my problem? You want to know what bothers me?" he continued with a dark tone, eyes flashing. "What bothers me is people getting involved in my personal business who have no right to do so. People who have no part in what happened, but want to come along and magically 'fix' everything and make it all better. Maybe if they'd keep their noses out of other people's business, then I wouldn't be so bothered! So, to deal with what bothers me, how about you ******** off and GET LOST?!?"
The tension and near shouting had made his head throb again, but he only hissed at the pain, gritting his teeth against it and clinging to the raging anger and adrenaline fueling his system. He was uneasy...confused...and embarrassed, which all translated into fury. At himself. At Magnus. At Tex. Hell, the whole damn isle.
Which left Kane on his feet, in a stand-off of sorts with Texas, but snarling and baring his claws as if daring either of them to try and make him 'deal' with anything.
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:53 pm
While Kane's reaction might've made any untrained person flinch back, Kane was attempting to start a fight with Texas Pete.
He only stood there and waited patiently, expression unchanging from the rather calm, yet dominant, position he had taken on during his so-called 'lecture' of sorts. Kane hissed and snarled, demanding Texas leave and get out of their business because they were resolving it just fine. Yeah, because 'dealing with things' usually involved burying things into a hole and forgetting that they even existed.
Though he did find the remark that he got some sort of pleasure out of this rather amusing. Kane at least deserved some credit for that one... if he was trying to be a comedian. A smirk crossed his expression briefly, but just as quickly as it came, it left again, leaving the same calm, and perhaps agitating, expression.
Magnus lifted his head out of the sands to watch Kane shakily stand up and start scolding Texas for attempting to 'fix' their problems. Texas always tried to fix other people's problems. That was his life to some extent, and if Magnus had learned anything about his best brother, he at least knew that much. Still, Texas' presense wasn't exactly the most welcome...
But at least it was only Texas. The situation could be a lot worse. At least it wasn't Kane's faun charge or something that had found them. Magnus could at least deal with this particular Pae'il.
...But for the moment, Magnus was much more content to not deal with anything and just watch Kane argue and Texas not react.
A few moments after Kane was done being outraged, Texas cleared his throat, his usual soft baritone escaping his lips with no signs of agitation even touching his voice. "Kane, no, I'm not a sadist." With only a second-long pause, the almost eeriely calm demonic continued. "And Kane, you're acting like a child, shoving away issues and burying them forever. Of course I'm treating you like one."
Not allowing Kane to attempt to argue with him much at all, however, Texas all-too-quickly carried on, relaxing his stance only slightly. "You two both seem to have quite a bit of a hangover, and I know what can help you." Sometimes, the best way to deal with an argument was to completely disengage from the situation. Texas decided to take that route, simply changing the subject all-together. "Magnus, think you can stand?"
Mmwha? He was being talked to? Magnus' eyes widened slightly as he realized Texas' attention had suddenly shifted away from the tiger onto him instead, and he mumbled, "Yeah, sure...," before clawing himself off the ground with the help of a nearby palm tree.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:13 pm
That irritating, taunting stare! Kane couldn't remember being this aggravated by any single Pae, so much so that he was practically staring at Texas through a red haze. A snarl ripped from between his fangs, bringing yet another throb pulsing through his pain-filled brain. He was ticked, emotion enveloping any sense of logic and he snapped back, "If you'd stop treating me like a child...I'd stop acting...like...ah dammit...!"
Yes, that was exactly as pathetic as it had sounded. Crap. He wasn't exactly at the top of his game right now. Far from it. Frustrated, Kane bent over to scoop up a rock to fling at Texas...and ended up sinking to his knees as a wave of dizziness and nausea nearly had him revisiting his last meal. If there was anything on his stomach at all. Not likely.
As it was, the demon was forced into silence for a while, wings tucked tightly around his shoulders, bent over on hands and knees as he struggled not to be sick. While he'd thought he was getting better earlier, it seems he'd just been ignoring the symptoms, and all his movement and shouting had only made things worse, returning with a vengeance. If he learned nothing else from this disaster...hangovers suck.
Pretty sure that wouldn't be the only lesson learned.
The slowly passing sickness had one benefit, it seemed. The time allowed Kane's rage to dissipate, leaving only a mildly irritated, ill demon crouched in the sand. Still, he had to have the last word. Shooting a glare at Texas, he grumbled, "You're lucky I feel like s**t, or I'd have ripped you a new one." Sad attempt aside to salvage any pride he might have had left, he actually centered on what Texas was saying about getting rid of the hangover. Even if the other demon was irritating the hell out of him right now...getting rid of the hangover sounded like a good idea. At least without the pain and nausea, maybe Kane could half function. That would be an improvement. Right now, he was about as useful as...well....Magnus hiding his head in the sand.
"Fine, whatever...might as well continue the nightmare," Kane grumbled, stubbornly struggling to his feet once more. Ugh. Death sounded like a nice alternative about now. Had to be quieter...darker...less painful and annoying.
"I don't get it," Kane muttered, still looking at Texas with some hostility, but at least calm for the moment. No use in making himself sick again. "Why is this so damn important to you to get involved?" He almost nodded his head at Magnus, then thought better of it and pointed with his thumb instead. "From what he said earlier, he does this sorta' s**t all the time, then just pretends it didn't happen. Why can't you let it be this time?" He couldn't hide the look of disgust that crossed his face while bringing this up, but still...Magnus had implied as much earlier and claimed it as 'normal'. Why the hell did Texas feel the need to get in the middle of this if it was?
Of course, nothing about this was 'normal' for the feral demon, but he didn't want to talk about anything he thought, or felt, or remembered...ever. He wasn't about to be psychoanalyzed by some uppity brat who envisioned himself a therapist.
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:20 pm
Admittedly, Texas would have probably said it anyway even if Kane would have slapped him for it, but it was advantageous that Kane was in such bad shape when Texas started the lecture. He chuckled mildly at Kane's remark that Texas would have regretted that quickly otherwise, and quietly responded, "Good thing I said it now then."
He turned around to help gather up Magnus, who was having a lot more trouble with the whole standing thing, when Kane spoke to him again. The demonic sighed. More questions that Texas doubted Kane seriously wanted the answer to. Still, Kane had talked, and Texas was never one to sugar-coat the truth... unless he was talking to a young child, that was, but even then what he said depended on the question. And Kane wasn't a young child, as much as he was acting like one, especially with such a poor retort. "Because you're my friend, Kane. And Magnus is my brother. And I don't want this to tear us apart. Hiding the situation and running away... will do just that."
This wasn't the scolding father speaking, as was before. This was the deeply concerned friend speaking, calm expression now replaced with one showing hints of worry and almost a tint of his own fear. And Texas did fear this situation. He didn't want to lose anyone because they couldn't stand to be around each other anymore. Texas would always wonder if there was something he could have done to stop the situation from spiralling out of control.
Magnus was hardly surprised by Texas being concerned. No, that was usual. What surprised him more was that Texas was that concerned that this would somehow make him lose them both in some way. Please. They could have moved on from this and been perfectly fine!
And then Magnus remembered his own suggestion. He thought the whole situation was so severe that it required going their separate ways while pretending it had never happened. ...Right. Magnus instantly went to the assumption that they should just never see each other again. Not that Magnus would argue with that. It would certainly make things easier to deal with.
Then he couldn't wonder why the fact that it was the Tiger he slept with freaked him out so much. Magnus only grunted as Texas shifted so Magnus could lean heavily on him, deciding it was time to shut off his mind and concentrate on his hardly functioning legs. Hangovers were really this bad? Perhaps when he got people drunk, he needed to make sure they never came down from that high.
Yeah, that high was the way to live. This... wasn't. This was non-happy.
Texas shifted his gaze back to Magnus, almost seeming a little shy after his perhaps over-concerned admittance. "Think you've got your footing, Magnus?" The only answer he gained was a vague nod, and that was enough for Texas in any case. Vague alertness admist their no-doubt pounding heads was probably enough to get them to some water, at the least.
"Alright, try walking with me." He turned back to Kane and then offered, "You seem to have your footing. Can you walk, or would you like some support to?" Kane seemed much more prideful than Magnus was in this state, so Texas figured he might just rather grit his teeth and bear the nauseating pain of walking.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:14 am
Whatever smartass comment Kane had been preparing as a response to Texas...flew out the proverbial window with a single word. No one could have predicted that what seemed like an ordinary comment would have such an impact on the feral demon. The lingering irritation and fury simply dissipated, leaving Kane staring at Texas oddly for a moment.
...his...friend?
...
He claims to be...my friend?
Had Kane...ever had a friend? That wasn't a joke or snarky commentary. It was a serious question and the demon found himself pondering on it...probably longer than he should have had to. He'd had acquaintances, yes, ones that weren't all bad to put up with. Those were the rare Pae that didn't immediately irritate the hell out of him on first meeting and actually managed to spend some time around the demon, maybe even manage a conversation. Sad how...rare that was. And obviously family didn't count.
Rarer still were the Pae that he actually sought out a second encounter with. It was...a rather short list. Granted, Texas and Magnus had been on that list, considering he'd sought them out at the luau...even if that eventually led to...
Not following that train of thought further, Kane frowned to himself. He'd considered them past acquaintances who weren't horrible to hang out with. That...was as far as he'd gotten regarding any sort of connection. He'd never trusted anyone enough to call them a friend...and it threw the demon for a loop to hear that another thought enough of him to call him their friend. It was...sobering.
At this point, it had been far longer than only a moment...and Kane was still staring at Texas oddly. Oops. Blinking rapidly, Kane shook his head...then cringed at the resulting pain.
Well, Texas was right in his assumption. Even if he hadn't been caught staring at the other demon like a loon, Kane would have refused help. Not unless he were dying. For real. Unlike the way he felt right now, which was wishing for death.
"No, I'm good." His tone was oddly...flat. The wind had been taken from Kane's sails and for now, he started shuffling after the other two slowly and carefully, mind elsewhere at the moment. It was actually a good distraction from the pain and sickness...even if it was creating a new sort of sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:50 am
Texas had definitely noticed Kane's stare, but he didn't seem too uncomfortable. If anything, he was happy that something he said--whatever it was--was making the demonic think a little. Still, he didn't look so good, and Texas couldn't tell if it was the hangover that was making him look so green or if it was the thoughts that were running through his head that were causing the shift.
But Texas had said enough for the moment. This was no time to interrupt Kane and ask him what was on his mind. He would probably only get defensiveness or hostility, neither of which Texas was particularly fond of dealing with at the moment... and neither of which would benefit Kane or Magnus, who were both already in some amount of pain. No, at the moment, it was more important to get them some water, and perhaps get them something that would calm their churning stomachs.
He knew hangovers too well, all thanks to the man that Texas had to now support as they headed towards the nearest place that Texas knew would have enough resources: The Headquarters. Since most people were still recovering from their own hangovers from the party the night prior, Texas knew there would be hardly anyone in the areas where they needed to go. The demonic was, at least, well aware that more people was the last thing these two needed, so when they arrived, he specifically avoided any areas he was almost certain would have people.
In fact, with the route he took, the Headquarters was eeriely quiet, even for Texas Pete. But the last thing he needed to do right now is make Kane and Magnus deal with more noise and more people seeing them in their embarrassing states. He knew that if Kane didn't kill him later for doing that... Magnus would.
Texas was right, to some extent, about the kitchen being empty. The kitchen that they had found, at least, was empty. Moving over to the island, Texas set Magnus on a stool. The fae almost immediately slumped forward, head hitting the table a bit harshly and only increasing his headache. With a sigh, Texas noted that perhaps he should find some medicine too...
The demonic headed to the cupboards, taking out two conveniently placed cups. He placed them on the counter, recovered a pitcher of water and some bread from the refrigerator, and returned to the table, pouring out a glass for each of them. "Here. Most hangovers come from being intensely dehydrated thanks to the after effects of too much alcohol in the blood stream. This should help."
That sounded almost too sciencey coming from his older brother, but frankly, empty-headed Magnus could hardly give a crap one way or another. Instead, he reached forward, grabbed the glass, and all but choked on the water as he attempted to get as much of it down his throat at once as possible. If this would make him feel better, that meant that he needed extra large quantities of it all at once, right?
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:04 am
With the fury gone, Kane was left without his last remaining source of energy to drive him. If not for the promise of a hangover cure, he may have just stopped and curled up on the ground to wait for death at this point. Hell, his luck, he'd just lay there in pain and not die. Damn.
And so, instead, he continued shuffling along behind the brothers, his mind taking the long silent walk as an opportunity to kick into overdrive. Great.
Why was he so thrown by Texas' comment? Yeah, so he called Kane his friend. So what? That just meant he was crazy enough to consider the feral demon a friend. His problem, not Kane's. Plus, least he didn't call himself Kane's enemy. One less Pae likely to plan to attack him in his sleep.
He didn't have to get involved...things would have worked out fine. Okay, maybe not fine, but...barring some brain bleach, this entire situation could have been dropped and left in the past, never to be acknowledged again.
Mind moving backwards through the day's events thus far, Kane found himself puzzling over what had happened the night before...much as it sickened him. This was a different sickness than that from the hangover. As if it were a new, constant fixture taking root in the pit of the demon's stomach. Why...had it happened at all? What the hell had possessed him to do that? With Magnus?!?
Even arriving at the HQ resulted in only a brief pause from the striped demon, then he tucked his wings around his shoulders with a frown and followed Texas and Magnus inside. It wasn't as if he'd never been here before anyway. Uncharacteristically docile, the demon followed the other two to the kitchen without a word, taking a seat and facing away from the fae. Tex's explanation soared over Kane's head like a flock of birds, mostly 'cause he really didn't care what it was, just as long as the cure worked. Only when he took his own glass and started to sip slowly did he glance over at Magnus. ...the hell? Stupid fae was going to make himself sick. Serves him right. Payback for...whatever the hell it was he did that Kane was blaming him for at the moment.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:25 am
Expectedly, Magnus ended up coughing and choking on the simpliest bit of water. Still, though, it felt so good to have water rushing down his throat. Usually, he was much more of a fan of the feeling of alcohol as it burned down his throat, but this water was much more soothing than anything he had unluckily experienced thus far that day.
Now this was a happy feeling. After finishing off all the water, he immediately plopped the glass down on the counter and offered a hopeful look for some more of the fresh, delicious water. Water was something to have a jacuzzi bath in, usually. Right now, it was something to enjoy the feeling of as it slowly brought some of Magnus' alertness back.
At least, now, his throat didn't scratch as badly.
Relieved that the cure was helping them, Texas poured out another glass for Magnus before quickly topping off Kane's glass. Then, he attempted to offer some bread to the both of them to get some food in their churning stomachs. Magnus grabbed at the food quite eagerly and nearly engulfed in it in the same way he practically drowned himself in the water. While Texas was vaguely concerned, he was pretty sure that Magnus would be fine, and was much more concerned with Kane who was notably acting weird.
...Of course, it wasn't like he didn't have good reason. Kane and Magnus had done something distinctly odd the night before and Kane had a pounding hangover as far as Texas could tell. He was worried, though. Worried that Kane would up and leave and attempt to avoid them for the rest of his life. Worried that Kane hadn't listened to him and would just bury the situation until it ate at him on the inside.
That and he just looked sick, and not even the drink seemed to be quite curing it. It wasn't so much a sickness as a... disgust, perhaps, with the way he kept glancing over at Magnus.
"Kane?" asked Texas, the note of friendly concern creeping into his voice once again. "Are you gonna be alright?"
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:55 am
Kane glanced at the bread, sighed, and took a piece. He basically picked at it, but at least he was eating it, if slowly. Not really his sort of food, but, it could have been much worse. Fortunately, after a while, the bread seemed to be absorbing some of the leftover alcohol lingering in his system. Also, the water was helping, so he started on his second glass.
The pounding headache was letting up, if slightly, enough so that he could see straight and start attempting to focus. Now what? Once the hangover was gone, what was left except the possibility for extreme awkwardness and not much else? Not a situation Kane wanted to get trapped in. He'd had enough of awkward, horrible situations today and he wasn't exactly fond of the feeling of being trapped either.
He seemed inclined to ignore Texas' question at first, staring at his glass, then slowly draining it of the rest of the cleansing liquid. The empty glass was set on the table and he glanced back up, none of the usual intensity present in his stare. "Yeah," he answered flatly, "I'm fine. ...really." Kane was far from 'fine,' but he had no choice but to lie, even if it was obvious. He wasn't going to admit that he wasn't. Never.
He slid back from the table, standing and muttering, "Hey, I'm going to head out. I think I could use some sleep, so..." He needed to say something else...otherwise, Texas would probably try to follow him and he'd never get away. Thinking back to earlier, he added, "I'll...catch you later, 'k?" Implication that he wasn't going to vanish delivered, he headed for the door to do just that.
Once outside, Kane glanced behind himself briefly, then shifted to his tiger form. The process was less natural than normal, a bit more awkward and uncomfortable, but he managed it. Despite his still aching head, and the fact that it probably wasn't a good idea...he let out a savage snarl, closer to a roar, in pure frustration before setting his paws to the earth, intent to find himself a quiet place near a stream to finish his recovery.
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