#that can easily make me go through the 5 stages of grief in the span of 1 hour | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rieson · 3 years ago

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chapter two ; an espresso and cafe mocha, please.

“Do i go left or right?” You ask Perona, stopping at a red light, eyes gazing over to the road that splitted in two directions, you could see her zoom into her phone screen in the corner of your eyes.

She opened her mouth to answer you, but the automatic GPS voice navigation beat her to it. “Turn right.” Perona gasped at the voice, staring at her phone in disbelief as if it just insulted her whole life’s work and as if one of her acrylic nails just fell off a few minutes after she got them done.

“I thought i turned this feature off!” She clicked her tongue, immediately going to the maps setting to to turn it off, you could hear her tapping the screen as you steered your car to the right when the lights turned green and chuckled.

“Why are you dead-set on telling directions?” You tapped the steering wheel on beat as the music she put on.

“I just like it. Plus, you actually listen to my directions for once.” She answered easily, turning her head to look at you and to see how you'd react. You furrowed your eyebrows at that, “Huh? I always listen to you.��

She scrunched her face at your answer and shook her head, “Nono. I disagree! When i asked you to play with me and get into that stroller so i could push you around back then, you said no so fast! I didn’t even get to finish asking the question yet!”

You pulled a face. “That wasn’t ‘back then’ that was more than a decade ago!”

“Still! You refused me!” Retorted Perona.

“Because I didn't want to be the baby! Why was i always the one getting taken care of when we played parent anyways?” You argued back, trailing off at the end in a questioning tone.

“....Would you believe me if i said that i just wanted to push you around everywhere and then leave you in random places with you still in the stroller..?” She answered sheepishly, avoiding your gaze when you snapped your head at her and placing her chin on her palm as she looked out the car window, doing her best not to look at your face that reflected on the tinted glass.

“What?!” You shout out in surprise, you feel betrayed. Unbelievable.

Perona decides to peek at you from the corner of her eyes when you haven't said anything else after that, watching your expression go through 5 stages of grief in a span of 10 seconds before you focused back on the road. She feels a tug at her heart, guilty because she thought she hurt your feelings.

The guilt didn't last long though, because not a second later ─ she sees a flash of cheeky smile on your face before you went back to your faux-sad expression. Perona sharpens her eyes at you.

“You’re evil. Real evil you know, Per?” You say out loud after a moment, sniffling over-dramatically. Perona quirks an eyebrow when you start to rub your nose, rubbing your imaginary crying sniffles away with your palm. Perona's eyes twitch.

“Don’t think i didn’t see that, [name]!” She points an accusing finger at you, the finger she pointed with poked your arm. Her nail digged into your skin a little, you jumped. Perona’s nail is unnecessarily sharp, you swatted her accusing finger away with your left hand.

“Why is your nail so pointy?! That scared me.”

“It’s how i like my nails! This is exactly why i love it pointy, so i can just poke people when they’re being annoying.” She answers proudly, showing her nails off. The shape of her nail was stiletto, it had a drawing of her ‘Perona Ghosts’ (as she likes to call it) on some nails, the few other fingers were left with no ghosts though, only a drawing of gravestones with crows. It’s pretty creative, you’ll give her that much.

“See? This is why i said you’re evil.” You huffed and put on a weird spongebob-y voice. “Oh whatever Lord is out there, please help her renounce her evil ways!”

Perona scoffs, claps her hand together to make a prayer gesture and decides to go along with your joking manner, “Please don’t listen to them my lord! I need no help in what i’ve always been like since thy gracious bestowed life to me!”

A grin that could only be described as ‘shit-eating’ made its way onto your face, you put one hand on your chest while the other one busies itself with the wheel. “Oh no it’s gotten to her my highness! Please guide her through this difficult phase in her life!”

Not able to hide the amusement behind her eyes anymore, Perona finally lets out the laugh she’s been holding in since the conversation started. Her signature laugh bouncing from the walls of your car, you smile to yourself in satisfaction as she quieted down to a fit of giggles. It was always a joy to watch the girl you grew up with become more open with expressing her emotions.

You’ve worked hard to get to this point ever since you were a kid. You met her when you just turned 8, with her going up to you when you were opening up presents given to you at your birthday party, asking if you liked the gift she picked for you, holding her head high, it was accompanied by a self assured smile on her face.

“I was the one that picked the bracelet maker you’re holding! You like it, right?” The pink haired child questioned, she held her head high – she seemed very confident that you’d like the gift she hand picked herself. If the smile on her face was any indication at all.

You look at her up and down, opening your mouth and closing it multiple times before you came up with a response. “Yeah. I dunno if i can figure out how to use it though..” you purse your lips, it took a few moments before you spoke up again, “It seems complicated. I like the bracelets on the picture in front though! Can i make one like that with this thing?” You shaked the packaging and it rattled.

She raised a dramatic eyebrow at your question and squatted down to your level. Stretching out a long ‘hmmm’, she stared at the packaging in your hand, analyzing it. Subconsciously, you put the packaging down so your hand wasn’t in the way of the text on the back, you poke it towards her direction. She takes this as a sign that it's okay to pick it up, so she does.

A minute passed by and it seemed that she was getting uncomfortable in the squat position, she was swaying left and right as she tried to read the instructions on the back, so she plopped down the floor and crossed her legs. She continued to inspect the packaging. You couldn’t even see her face now. You scratched your head, do people usually get this serious while reading instructions..?

You don’t know what happened but it seemed that something clicked for her, because not even a second later ─ her eyes peeked out from the top of the packaging and it shone. You stared at her as she shoved the package back into your arms, you scrambled to not drop it.

“I got it!” She exclaimed, you backed away a little with how loud she was being, hugging the gift tighter to your chest. She didn’t seem to notice you moved a little farther away from her, only shooting you a smug smile. You furrowed your eyebrows. “Huh?”

“I got it! I know how to use it!” She answers, successfully filling you in on what she was so joyed about. You made an ‘O’ with your mouth, “So.. how do we use it..?”

“I’ll show you! You'll need me to help you make one afterall.”

“..Ah? Okay, sure..? How are you going to do that though?”

“Hm..” She put her hands in a thinking gesture, “I’ll ask my pa if i can stay over at your house, if he's being nice - maybe he'll let me come over to help you with it! I read the instructions, I can definitely help you. I'm sure!"

You nod multiple times at her. “mhh, I see… That works. Thank you ─ for the gift too, I like it!"

“Horo-horo-roro! Of course! I already knew you’d love it.”

“Ehh?”

“My name’s Perona by the way! I'm Zoro's older sister.”

“Oh that kid with the moss hair! He's your younger brother? I’m [name]!”

Perona burst out laughing from the nickname you used to call her brother, her arms went to hug her stomach as she threw her head back. "PFFTT─!! MOSS HAIR! HAHAH, That's a good one! I'll call him that from now on!"

"Ehhhh?"

That was a nice road back to nostalgia, You remember the very next day that came after your first meeting with her ; You had just finished showering and changed to your normal everyday clothes when your parents called you to come down, you did as they said (because who were you to say no? Maybe it was important). The sight that you saw when your parents moved out of the doorway shocked you though. It was your new friend, along with her father and little brother. All three of them huddled together just outside the door before one of your parent ushered them inside the house. Perona was immediately by your side at that, already talking about how she has planned a lot of bracelet designs to make with you today.

It turns out that yes ─ Mr. Dracule did end up giving in to Perona's wishes and let her stay over at your house. You’re pretty sure Perona either annoyed him into agreeing to the plan or whether the guy just wanted some time off without his eldest daughter yapping his ear off for once. You suspect it's both. Can’t blame him either way anyway, with how Perona is like and all.

That day still ranks the 3rd most eventful day you’ve ever experienced in your life, just behind you graduating highschool and experiencing convention as a youtuber for the first time. It’s funny to think about how something so silly can be a core memory to you. You wonder what your parents felt when they heard the ruckus you and your new friend were making in your childhood bedroom while trying to assemble the bracelet maker. You do remember seeing them cringing when they saw how much of a mess you two made in the aftermath though, they didn’t say anything much, just ruffled your head and patted perona’s shoulder, saying that if the both of you helped clean the mess, you two would be rewarded.

What a time. A very chaotic one at that, but it was good.

"What are you thinking about?" You hear Perona faintly ask, it broke you out of your reverie. You only hum in response, a vague answer that only made Perona more curious. She tries to prod around more to get you to answer.

"Fuuu..!! Secretive with your daydreams as always." She quipped. "Can't you tell a lady at least….a tiiiiny bit of juicy details that happens in that mind of yours?"

"Juicy?" A-ha. Got you. "What kind of daydreams do you think i have?"

It was so easy to fish out a response from you, you always took the bait with no hesitation, child's play. She bit back a smirk that threatened to form and crossed her arms. "Well..!! I’ve always assumed you had ones that had embarrassing stuff involved.”

“What? ..I don’t get those.”

“Blegh, what kind of daydreams doyou have then?” She tries again.

You huff, “You’re nosy.”

Perona blew her bangs away. “Always has been.”

“Alright alright.. Since you want to know so bad.” She perked up hearing that, You raised an eyebrow at her obvious anticipation but you don’t call her out on it to protect her dignity.

“I..” A long pause, you feel like you have a hole in your head by how hard Perona is staring at you the longer you stretch your answer, you wouldn’t be surprised if lasers shot out of her eyes at this point.

“...Recalled a memory from when we were kids. A nostalgic feeling if you may.” You finally say, looking at the road and stealing a glance at the GPS on her phone, you follow the directions the phone showed on screen.

“What, that’s it?” Perona responds disappointedly after a moment, unsatisfied with your answer.

“Well sorry that my answer has let you down my queen.” You retorted sarcastically after seeing how your answer made her drop all pretence of interest in what you were saying. “It was a good memory though, good times.”

“Hmm? Is that so?” Perona started. “Which memory though? We’ve been glued by the hips since we were 8 years old! I can’t count just how many things we’ve been through.”

“The first memory.”

She snapped her fingers, and even though she wasn’t verbally saying anything, you could practically hear her say ‘Ah!’.

“Doyou think my parents still kept the set?” You questioned, tilting your head ─ you can imagine them probably storing it away at the back of a shelf in the storage room. Probably. You made a mental note to ask them about it later on.

Perona hums and gives a non-committal answer, “Maybe.” and then goes on more confidently, “I do know one thing though, I still have the threaded bracelet with that aqua and purple colour combo.”

You looked at her, eyes wide. “No way.” You knew she had a habit of keeping things she likes or finds interesting, so much to the point it cluttered her room and took up half of the room. But still, that bracelet would be 13 years old by now. Would it even keep its shape? Cotton usually doesn't last years..

Perona points at you with theatrically narrowed eyes. “Yes way! Mind you, I take good care of my stuff and it’s in good shape. Unlike your bear friends that’s holding onto a single thread, it looks like something that just came out of a horror movie too. That’s how much of a bad state your bear plushies are in.” She says, somehow knowing what you were thinking.

You gasp dramatically, “Alfred is doing completely fine!” You sucked in your cheeks, voice quieting down. “…Only his friends are in a less good condition..”

“The blatant favoritism!” She calls you out, knowing full well that she too, has favorites in her plushie collection. You scoff, hypocrite.

"Yeah? What about that…Cumachi? No wait… Kuma..Kumachi bear you got? That thing has seen some stuff. Poor little dude."

She stares at you incredulously, "It's Kumashi ! Shi! I can't believe you still can't remember his name right." Voice heavy and laced with disappointment, she massaged the bridge of her nose, eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, it's close enough. Give me some credits." You shrug, trying to reason but Perona looks more offended at that.

She ends up deadpanning at you, shooting you the infamous 'i-cant-believe-you' stare as you pretend not to see or meet her gaze and start whistling.

You smile, even with all her complaining, or how much she seems fed up with your bullshit, you know her replies are always in a joking manner. If it weren't, you don't think you'd still be friends with her after all these years. She's the type of person to confront you if you do something she's uncomfortable with, she's straight forward. Perona would tell you if you've crossed a boundary.

"Oh hey, there's the cafe!" Perona says, pointing to one of the shops on the sidewalk. You raise an eyebrow and lean forward, following where her finger pointed. 'Ooh.' The exterior design looked nice.

Your eyes scan the building. The cafe itself wasn’t small, but it definitely wasn’t the biggest either ; still, looking at the comfy sized building washes you with a sense of comfort, it’s been awhile since you’ve entered any cafes at all.

You grin and look over at Perona, “Let’s get a drink.”

────────────────────────────

Skilled hands coming up to tamp and brew coffee beans, Ace’s hands move so quickly from station to station it feels like he’s performing a magic trick. Even though he’s just merely brewing a drink for customers, the way there is no hesitation in every move he makes, the way his hands just seems to know what to do, and the way he still finds a way to keep balance and that charming smile on his face makes it feel like he’s doing some sort of art form.

He truly is good at his job.

Ace slides a cup of coffee in front of one of his regulars, and with an easy-going smile etched on his face, he starts a small conversation. “Here’s your Midnight Espresso, Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself!”

The corner of the person's lips lifts up at Ace’s energetic delivery, their tired eyes seeming to gain a bit more life to them as they take the warm cup. “Thank you.”

Ace mutters a small ‘Of course, it’s my pleasure.’ before crossing his arms and starts leaning at the counter that separates customers and employees. He put his whole weight on it, which causes his arm muscles to flex a little. “No ginger thai latte today? You─” he makes a weird gesture with his hands. “─powering up before tackling a hard task?”

The person in front of him sighs heavily, shoulders sagging, they reply tiredly. “You know it. Deadline’s tomorrow and i’ve got to get this paper done by then.”

Ace grimaces and nods in sympathy, getting flashbacks of some of his brothers that pursued education till the end, their faces shoved in front of a computer as they researched and wrote their final paper. The only light source in the room would be from the computer, and usually a plate of food left uneaten would be there too. He didn’t know what to feel about it back then, but Ace thinks he does now.

“Oh yeah─” Ace pushes himself backwards and swiftly grabs a pastry from the counter, his other hand goes under the counter to get a small plate. Not even a second later, he plates the pastry and slides it over to them. “─I get ya. Here’s a little something from me, ‘s not much but it goes well with Espresso. I hope you’ll be able to get it done today.”

The person’s eyes widen before settling down and chuckles. “Thanks alot, you’re far too kind.”

Ace shrugs. “Just doing what i can really. Plus, downing a full cup of espresso with an empty stomach isn’t really a great feeling.” He shook his head while smiling.

The person stares dumbfoundedly at his answer, eyebrows furrowed, they opened and closed their mouth multiple times. Looking like a fish fresh out of water. It took a moment but they finally responded. “How’d… you know i haven't eaten anything?”

Ace grins at them, eyes glinting all knowingly. “I have a brother that pretty much lives off of coffee. I’ve picked up a skill just from watching him ─ I can tell when someone is depending on caffeine alone to get through the day.”

“What a handy skill to have.”

“Hahah! Really is when you’re surrounded by workaholics that don’t know how to take a break.” Ace shakes his head, gaze full of affection for his brothers and friends he surrounds himself with.

The person hums and nods at ace while he reminisces about the people he cares about, taking their new plate of pastry in their hand, The smell wafts through the air. It smells amazing.

Noticing his regular taking in the smell of the freshly made pastry and smiling contentedly, Ace finds himself smiling along with them. This is one of the few things he liked about this part-time job. Whenever people come here to relax or unwind, no matter the reason they stepped inside the cafe, they always seem at ease after a good drink or food. It was a good thing.

People-watching isn’t something Ace would usually do, but ever since Thatch offered him a position here, it’s been something he does without even realizing it. Well─ maybe he’s just nosy but the feelings are all the same. It has come in clutch for him a few times too, so it’s not that bad.

“Well, thank you for the pastry, i really appreciate it. This’ll definitely be an extra boost for me.” His regular spoke, not looking so glum anymore. “I’ll go sit in my usual corner now, thanks again! I’ll remember to pay you back.”

“You don’t need to! It’s just a pastry, goodluck on your paper!” Ace replies, waving his hands at them as they walk away to claim a table in the corner. All Ace gets in response is a shake of their head and insistence on paying back his ‘good’ deeds. Still, Ace only smiles and doesn’t attempt to retort.

‘School really does drain the life out of someone huh?’ He thinks to himself and silently cheers for the person in the corner before wiping his hands on the cloth that is tied to his belt and goes back to the register. Alright, time to get back to work.

Usually, Ace would already have said his usual ‘Hello, welcome to Midnight Espresso! What can i get for you today?’ as soon as he faces a customer, but the words seem to be stuck in his throat as he stands there, hands frozen and ace finds it hard to believe what he’s seeing.

In Front of him stands two people, they’re standing side by side. The person on the left is dressed in a two piece dress set, black with accents of pink. It reminds him of the gothic style back in the days. They’re also wearing some sort of headpiece, Ace doesn’t know what it’s called but it's lacy. One thing that makes this person stand out is their hair, it’s pink and eye-catching.

As intriguing this particular individual is, They weren’t the one that caught Ace’s eye. The one that did, however, was the person beside them.

The person in question was reading the menu above Ace’s head, eyes going over the variety of drinks and solids the cafe had to offer. Muttering to themselves as they made a thinking gesture.

Ace knew this person.

Maybe they don’t know him, but he sure does know them. How could he not?

This person was the one that managed to make him laugh even on his bad days, so much so to the point it would hurt because he was smiling too much. At his lowest point, their videos were the ones he always looked forward to ─ allowing him to power through a new week.

He looks to the person and swallows the lump in his throat. Somehow, they look more attractive in real life than they do through a screen. Whatever camera it is that they use to film videos, it sure doesn’t do them any justice to just how good they looked.

Ace feels like he’s looking at a sculpture made by a famed sculptor’s rifflers; their facial features defined so well he could get lost just by staring at it. He’s not really one to stop and gaze at someone, or something, just because it’s beautiful. He’s done a double take more often than not and appreciates the beauty, but it’s usually just a simple fleeting moment.

This person, however, leaves him speechless.

“Uhh, Hello? Anyone inside?” A sharp, witty voice pulls him out of his thoughts and imagination and he turns to meet a deep-set of eyes that’s looking at him questioningly.

It’s at this point that Ace realizes that he’s been staring and blinking owlishly at them, blood rushes to his face in embarrassment as he coughs and tries to cover it up. Bowing a little as an apology, he smooths out his apron and speaks. “Sorry for my negligence.─” He enters his customer service mode, voice changing as well to be more pleasant sounding. “─Welcome to Midnight Espresso! What can i get you for today?”

The pink-haired woman raises an eyebrow at the sudden change in voice but doesn’t dwell on it for too long and asks a question. “Can I get a Mocha?” And Ace nods in response, tapping the cash register tab to add Mocha on it. “Yes, you can. Is there anything else that catches your eye?” he prompted.

At that, her eyes scan over the food menu and mutters an ‘ I’ll take a look first’ ace smiles and nods. “Take your time.” He then turns to look at you. “And for you? What can I get for you?” Ace asks gently, he smiles, keeping it cool. But if one were to look under the counter, they would see Ace fidgeting with his fingers.

You smile back at him and ace feels like he's about to explode.

“I’d like to get the shop’s signature, is that possible?”

“An Espresso?” He questions, eyebrows raising in surprise but he regrets doing that as soon as he sees your furrowed eyebrows. Quickly, Ace tries to clarify. “It is possible! You can order anything, don't worry─” his hands flails and it hits the register tab on accident. Ace grimaces but continues, “─I just recommend you also order some sort of.. A ‘back-up’ drink..? And maybe some solid food to go along, you know─ Just incase.. You don’t like it or it tastes too strong..? Ahah..!”

Ace tries to play it off cool and attempts to ignore the fact that he just rambled non-sense to you and made a fool out of himself. He shoots you a grin but by the way he can feel his own muscles twitch, he’s sure it doesn’t look like a charming smile he wanted it to be and more of a weird, forced smile. God damnit.

Fortunately for him, you seem to think the opposite of that as you wave your hands with a laugh, silently telling him that ‘Its alright’ and spoke with a light chuckle. “Aah? That makes sense, by how you talk about how strong it tastes, i guess the description in the menu really doesn’t lie huh?”

At your joking tone, Ace lights up and humors you. “It seriously doesn’t─” he clears his throat and puts on a gruff voice deeper than his own. “Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself.”

Ace watches as you snicker at his impression of a scary voice and feels himself gain a bit more confidence. Quieting down to a chuckle, you grin at him and he grins at you back ─ and this time, it’s full of confidence.

“If you don’t mind, what do you recommend?”

“I don’t mind at all! For the drink, I can adjust your espresso by taste or you can order a completely different drink just in case. If you decide to order a completely different one, I recommend ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ . It's good for mornings like these and still bitter but less so than an espresso.” Ace answers, then adds. “Of course, the bitterness can be adjusted as well! And it’s really easy to do so, just let me know!”

You nod, taking in his words and asks. “I know there’s tea in that, but what else is?”

“Lemon and honey. It’s the reason why it's bitter and a bit sour-y.”

“I see, hmm.. Alright, that too then.” You confirm.

“Alrighty!” Ace immediately adds it to the tab. “What about the food?”

At that question, you look over at Perona to get her input but she was already staring at you. Ace sees you startle a little bit and chuckles quietly.

“Yeesh, that scared me... Have you decided what we’re gonna eat yet?”

Perona stared at you with an indescribable expression before turning to look at Ace to order, Ace can see you looking at her in disbelief in the corner of his eyes as he took Perona’s order. Probably because she didn’t answer your question.

Perona ended up ordering quite a bunch of food to eat here and to go, you also decided to add in your few coins and order a dish you had your eyes on. All in all, it was a pretty good order that will fill both you and perona’s stomach, that's for sure.

Ace repeated the order one more time to confirm if he got it all right and totaled the order. Telling the total amount and you paid for it. Ace smiles and nods. “Alright, your order number is 3,” he hands you a small device that has the number three on it, “Here’s your tag, it’ll turn green to let you know that the order is ready and you can grab it from the counter over there!”

You followed to where his hands pointed and nodded in understanding, “I see, Thank you so much..” You look at the nametag pinned on his apron, Ace feels embarrassed but he knows you’re just trying to figure out his name. “..Ace.”

Ace grins lazily, “Of course! It’s my pleasure, you can go ahead and take a seat anywhere while you wait, there’s a few board games in the cabinets too ─ it’s free to play if you get bored.”

“This place really has everything huh?”

He winks playfully at you, “Oh yeah, when your customers mostly consist of young adults trying to unwind, ya gotta prepare.”

You nod in understanding, “Well, I better not keep the line waiting ─ Pretty sure Perona’s starting to get tired of waiting too─”

“[Name] come on! I’m gonna find us a table.”

“─Yep, there it is. Bingo” You grin, holding your hand out to him and sneakily shoving an extra 20 bill in his hands when he held it out in response. Ace jumps at the unexpected feel of paper that wrinkled his hands. “Huh? You already paid─!”

He didn’t have time to give it back to you because you were already out of the line, following behind Perona and only looking at him to say, “Take it as a tip for your great service, sir!” before smiling at him yet again and turning back to follow Perona to your table. Ace stares ahead dumbfoundedly.

He broke out in a dumb grin, clenching the hand that held the 20 dollar bill you handed to him and finds himself unable to stop smiling like a teenager boy in love. Ace’s hands were not at all soft, infact, it’s covered in scars from the consequences he’s had to face in turn of being an impulsive teenager and rough. Yet, Ace doesn’t think you held any signs of discomfort in your face when you took his hand in yours to sneakily put an extra bill on it. Ace holds back the urge to run in circles and scream.

Today, Ace’s day was made.

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CHAPTER TWO END.

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hello , yes , i know this is like one month and more late.. don’t look at me i got a writers block eughesuhfu.. i did say that i have an incosistent uploading time so thats one thing i was honest and true about. sorry for possible grammar mistakes ! i have not had the chance to proofread this chapter yet so if you see any mistakes, please point it out !!

i hope this chapter makes up for it, and all though it’s not too long - it is longer than the other two previous chapters so please enjoy !! to those who have waited, thank you so much for waiting ; i appreciate you a lot , like a LOT LOT ily thanks for reading.

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#midnight espresso #portgas d ace #one piece #portgas d. ace #one piece x reader #sabo one piece #one piece fanfiction #one piece fanfic #one piece smau #portgas d ace x reader

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