going down swinging [galene/luca]

[GALENE]

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[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] Galene didn't know many other beings, be it a human, magical being or merperson. The quiet girl mostly kept to herself, foraging for food and singing to herself in her little alcove. But, when she did venture out and meet someone...it usually ended up being a rather good thing. At least that's what the young maid thought for herself. And that was how she had met Luca. He was a young merman, not much older than herself. As Galene didn't know many beings, she considered him a friend, and had always wondered if he considered her the same. That is, until he invited her to try something with him, something she'd never really tried before (except something she'd discovered herself on accident). Luca wanted to walk, and he wanted to teach Galene as well. The mermaid found out herself when she had flopped ashore one time, trying to grab a little crab that had scuttled up on to the sand. As soon as her tail was out of the water completely she felt something change and a strange new sensation, like her fin had been split in two. Looking down, it practically had, and she was so frightened that she scrambled back into the water. Galene was still very wary of it all, but Luca had seemed excited. So the normally reserved maid swam to the beach, waiting for the brunette merman to show up as she sunned herself in the shallow water next to the shore's edge.

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[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

He wasn't sure of what exactly he was thinking when he had suddenly blurted out that he wanted to learn how to walk. To Galene, no less. Not that Luca knew much about the mermaid, but he liked to consider himself as somebody she could trust (although, he probably thought that for anyone he would come across), and in turn, he felt that he could trust her as well. But it was a little frustrating that whenever they did get the chance to talk, things would eventually lapse into an awkward silence. And then he'd excuse himself to go, or quietly escort her back to where she usually spent most of her time. The day he mentioned his little wish, in an attempt to keep the conversation going, had been one of those days. Much to his surprise (and excitement), she had agreed.

The merman toughened his resolve, determined not to mess this up for the both of them. It wasn't often that he asked anything of her, and it was even rarer that she agreed to anything new. He felt that it was his responsibility somehow, to make sure that things would turn out for the better today. At least today, he hoped.

So he prepared. He left for shore early in the morning. He knew quite a lot about the transformation itself: fins, water; legs, land. And most people who walked covered their legs. He learned once that they there were several variants, but the most basic were pants and skirts. Skin, as it turned out, felt so much more than fins usually did. They'd get cold easily, or warm, or hot depending on the weather. He wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable later on, and so he was lingering around the places closer to where the humans usually stayed. It was a little late before he realized that there weren't any people out around this time, save for the fishermen, but they usually left to go farther out at sea.

Fortunately, today would prove to be a good one. At least by the looks of it. He ventured on to a smaller part of the beach, a little hideaway that was frequented by young couples in the late afternoon. Which, apparently, happened to be the case at this time as well. Though it puzzled Luca as to what they could be doing, frolicking about without their clothes on. Maybe they were merpeople who could stay on land longer and went out into sea at dawn? Who knew? But they had what he needed, sitting on a discarded pile near a rock that was just within his reach.

When the two heard the shuffling of clothes, Luca dove back into the sea without a moment's notice and swam for the other end of the beach.

He saw her, a few ways away, her fins still in the water as she waited for him. All the excitement made him want to swim even faster toward her.

"Galene!" He called out, a wide grin on his face as he resurfaced, approaching the mermaid. He let the waves help push him to the shore, his fins still in the water as he scurried part of himself onto land.

Some of the clothes he had "borrowed" hung on his shoulder as he held one of them up for her to see. "Here. Try this on!"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] She heard some splashing noises in the water and she looked up with a shock. Luca had surfaced a little ways away from her and was swimming towards her quickly. Relieved that it wasn't anyone dangerous she turned to look at him as he half-beached himself, his long tail still in the water. The merman happily held out a wet shirt from a pile of similarly wet clothing that had been slung over his shoulder. The shirt was thin, and even more thin that it was wet, but she took it from him anyway with a bit of a smile. "Thank you," she said quietly as she wrung some of the water out, twisting the fabric tightly between her hands. When it wasn't as wet she separated the layers of fabric and pulled it on, just like she had seen people do on the beach after swimming. They would take their clothes off just to reveal more clothes, and then put the original clothes back on to leave. It was strange but everything about humans was strange to her. Since the top was still rather damp, it stuck to her skin as she pulled it on, but eventually got it to sit somewhat right (or what she thought was right and at least comfortable). The thinness did nothing to really cover her, as her own blue top was showing through the fabric. She only wore what could be considered a kind of bandeau, just to keep herself modest. "What else do you have there?" she asked curiously, scooting forward a bit more on the sand, her own tail still dipped in the water. She knew the second she was fully on land her short time to have the strange double-fins that the humans had would start.

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[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

Luca barely caught the question before he dove back into the water. He swam behind a small rock that was partly still in the sea, the rest of it mostly dry on the sand.

"Sorry! And you'll see! Wait a bit. The other one I have here's just another shirt. Plus uh...this...thing." He cried out from behind it as he threw the clothes on top of the rock as he dragged himself out of the water with his arms. The strange sensation he had felt only once before today found its way to his fins, which, at this point, weren't fins anymore. He shifted his body farther up the sand and tied a long piece of cloth that he'd accidentally procured in his hurry to go unnoticed, around his waist.

He was about to jump back into the sea to return to Galene the same way he had gotten there. Which, to his defense, would have been faster--but ultimately, it would've been really stupid.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.

Luca held on to the blunt edges of the rock, hoping that it would help him move. He could barely manage, but much to his surprise and excitement, he managed to propel himself forward with the use of it. Yet he was still unaccustomed to the strange heaviness of his body.

He found his way back to her, awkwardly righting himself so that he was sitting down.

With one hand on the rock beside him, he held the other one out to her. "You ready?"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] He swam away quickly and she followed him with her eyes, not quite sure why he had swam away so fast. The conventions of changing clothes and the reality that after transformation, merpeople were without clothing (which was socially incorrect, of course — but she didn't know that) were foreign to her, at least for one's bottoms. She covered her top but there wasn't really much to cover on the bottom. After a little while she saw his figure rise from behind the rock, a long piece of fabric tied about his waist. From underneath said fabric, two of those strange double fins were planted on the ground, and started to propel him forward as Luca approached her. It took a little while but he made it over to her, sitting on the ground next to the shoreline that she was still half in to preserve her tail. "You ready?" he asked. Well, she was a bit nervous, she would admit. Walking honestly didn't seem like it was easy, but...she could learn. She could learn for Luca's sake. He was excited, she could see it in his expression, even if she wasn't that great at reading people or having people skills at all — the anticipation was just so visible on his features. Nodding a little she took his hand and let him hoist her out of the water, sliding up on the sand. With amazement she watched as her tail disappeared, replaced by those double fins. She didn't have any bottoms herself, but thankfully with her small and short stature, the shirt she was wearing was more than long enough to cover her with at least enough overhang to remain somewhat modest. "How do you move like that?" she asked, referencing the walking he had done to approach her. Her new appendages felt strange and heavy, and...cold. The breeze blowing on the residual water left on her legs made her shiver and she could feel the sand underneath her thighs scratching her skin. The sensation was very new and sensitive, like a nerve exposed to the wind. Still, she always knew walking would probably be beneficial to learn, to be able to see more of the world, she just never knew how to go about it. Thankfully, Luca was here to help with that.

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[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

Luca tried to steady himself as best as he could with her added weight (not that she was particularly heavy), but whatever new weight there was for the world to introduce for them was really darn heavy all the same and adjusting was taking a while. This was starting to prove harder than he thought. But he couldn’t give up now and he didn’t want to tell her something like “if you really don’t want to, don’t—“ because that would be really dumb and inconsiderate. She did say yes after all and Galene had wanted to refuse him, then she would’ve done so when he had asked first. So this was probably alright. Somehow. Maybe.

"Well, I used the rock to drag me here. It's a little heavy though. I mean, I am. Not the rock. You can try it though!"

He frowned a little, knowing that his hand wouldn’t be enough to keep her from toppling over onto the sand, and he also knew that he couldn’t hold onto that rock forever. They’d gone there to learn how to walk after all! So he might as well.

The flood of sensations was difficult to look past. The sea was different in comparison, the water introduced a kind of lightness that the land didn’t, especially for a place with so much…space. It was a wonder, and Luca was constantly amazed.

He closed his eyes to calm his nerves down, although it did nothing to how cold it was everywhere else for him—he took a deep breath and brough his foot to a shaky step forward, letting go of the rock he was holding on to.

He barely caught himself, but managed to anyway, his feet (feet and he’s using them! This was great) digging into the sand as his arm circled around her for support. Luca’s fingers rested on somewhere between her hip and her waist, and his knee bumped into hers. His nerve endings were going crazy, and when he finally found it in himself to look Galene in the eyes and say something, he was so red in the face—land dynamics were so strange. Being this close in the ocean never really warranted anymore color on their skin but there was really nothing he could do about that right now. Luca felt that it could have possibly been better to just conveniently look past her, but that was cheap and he didn’t really know how else sincerity could work between two people.

“If you’re alright, I think you could…maybe…take a step back? It’s like what I did! Only you move a foot first in the opposite direction. I think.” He was probably doing this all wrong, but he really wouldn’t know.

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[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] Luca explained that he used the rock to stand up, so she attempted to do the same. Her small hands gripped the rough surface, and even though it hurt a little she pulled herself up, a bit wobbly on her feet but still standing on them nonetheless. One hand remained on the rock to keep herself steady and the other was firmly grasping Luca's, using him for stability, or at the very least, moral support. The sand was soft beneath her feet but managed to get everywhere. It stuck to her wet skin and was covering her legs, going in between her toes and it was a little annoying, but the thrill of standing on land was much more salient in Galene's mind. Luca managed to take a step forward and she wanted to lunge forward to help when he looked unstable, but she knew that she would go crashing to the ground as well. Moving across land was difficult. He managed to catch himself though, their hands still clasped together and their bodies still close. It wasn't until Luca's knee brushed her own that she realized how close they were and how different it was in the confines of air rather than water. She looked up at him just as he looked down at her, and she noticed how red his face was. Why was he so flushed? Was he embarrassed about almost falling? Or was it about their closeness? Galene was a bit naive, but even she could sense the strange tension that came from getting extremely close to someone. When Luca said she could try stepping back, she was still confused, nonetheless. Forward motion was what they were trying to achieve, but maybe they were too close for mechanical reasons. It would be hard to walk being so close to someone, right? The mechanics just wouldn't work out. So with a slight nod and still gripping his hand she let go of the rock, wobbling on her feet a bit before taking a step back, a small one...and it was barely a step as her feet just slid in the sand. They had a bit of distance between themselves now but she was standing, all on her own, save for the support she garnered from holding on to Luca. A bit of a exhilarated smile crossed her lips and a little laugh escaped her. "This is...exciting," she said happily, smile widening as she looked around. The breeze was drying them off, little by little, and soon her hair was starting to float in the breeze instead of stick to her shoulders and back.

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[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

Luca took a deep breath, and let it out in the brief moment that he had looked away to the tides rushing, low and tempting. The reasons would've seemed arbitrary, but really he was just nervous. Possibly because he knew so little. Possibly because she had trusted him enough to try this out with him. Possibly. Of all the possibilities in the world that existed precisely because of this situation, the latter had seeped so deeply, so badly into his system that he wanted to just dive back into the ocean with her and say, "let's try again next time, maybe when I know how!" or something to that effect.

But other, more important things pervaded his fears. Not quite effectively getting rid of them but they were apparent enough for his resolve to be somewhat steadier than how he was fairing on legs.

"I'm not really sure how to go about this though..." he admitted, a sheepish smile on his face. It felt more like the blush was wrongly attributed to, but it really didn't matter at this point.

It occurred to him that it might've been easier to just learn on his own. That he could've held onto things, clinging onto them until he finally got used to his legs, which probably wouldn't have taken very long. It would've made much more sense to teach her instead.

About to open his mouth to apologize, Luca was stopped by the sound of her voice, which didn't seem to call for much apology from him. Relief washed over him, as did a new found sense of self that he had almost lost a few minutes ago, perhaps if she hadn't spoken. Or if she didn't have that kind of look on her face.

He removed his arm from around her waist, sure enough that his legs didn't feel so much like jelly anymore. He let go of her hand as well, and then took a few slow steps back, he wobbled a bit on his way, but found that he was still (triumphantly) on his feet.

He wasn't too far away, possibly four or five small steps from him.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

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[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] Luca admitted that he didn't know what to do, but that didn't really bother her. She didn't know either; that was the point, right? For them to learn together. She obviously couldn't read his mind, so she didn't know what he was thinking or why he had said what he did, but it didn't matter much to her. She was happy to be doing something, to be on land and learning a new skin, and truthfully, to be spending time with someone other than herself. She was glad it was him. That thought just brought a slight pink coloring to her cheeks, but she tried to ignore it or play it off. Her waist felt bare when his arm left it, used to the warmth it brought. Now that her cold and wet shirt/dress/thing was floating free and the cool sea breeze caressing it, she shivered a little bit, watching as he tried to take a few steps himself. She wasn't sure if she should try yet, or if he would get as far as he could while they were still gripping each other's hands. He was walking slowly enough, though, that she was sure that they wouldn't fall. Plus the fact that she wanted to try it out as well; it really was exciting to learn something new. Taking a deep breath she watched him, trying to remember how she saw other people walk. Finally she took a step forward, lifting her foot off the ground, albeit a bit awkwardly and not very far, and planted it firmly down in the sand. It probably looked like she was stomping, but she was gaining forward motion. Trying to follow through with her other foot, she picked it up, moved it a bit farther forward, and let it fall to the sand once more. This walking thing wasn't too difficult, was it? Well, she answered her own question when she tried to take another step and her footing failed her, and she could feel herself about to fall. Stomach leaping to her throat she let out a slight squeak as she grasped Luca's hand, not wanting to fall but unable to stop the momentum as she landed on her knees in the sand. It wasn't too far of a drop, but it was still a defeat. "Ouch," she sighed, lifting up her leg to see that she had dug her knee into a shell, and she picked it off of her skin, leaving a slightly red and painful indent, but thankfully no cut. It still hurt a bit though and combining that with the embarrassment from falling brought even more color to her cheeks.

made by garden of gangnam style

[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

He made a mental note in his head to thank her for all of this later, despite how it was going (or how it looked). Sure, it might've been better if he had learned all of this earlier, he'd had the opportunity to even before they met. But some part inside of him liked to think that maybe that was the reason why he kept putting it off despite his love and fascination for the things that humans did. He wanted to return the favor to her somehow, later on. He kept that in mind as well.

Luca watched her take a few steps forward.

"You're doing a great jo--" he began to say, but was cut off by Galene's loss of balance. His intention had been to catch her and have her back up on her feet. Special as he was, he was still subject to whatever forces of nature were at work on land to keep him from looking remotely decent in front of her at the moment. So he fell too.

Face flat, in the sand.

He shook it away from his face and his hair. His cheeks were tinged pink yet again when he looked her to ask, "are you okay?"

He scooted on over closer to her and inspected her knee himself. It wasn't hurt badly and there was only the outline of the shell that had dug into it. He wondered if water would make it feel better, but realized that the nearest source was the sea and putting that on her knee would turn her back. Then they would have to stop (not that he knew how much time they had left anyway--)

An idea struck him then, his hand awkwardly sinking in the sand (when it had been intended for support), but he managed to lean forward enough to plant a soft kiss on the red spot on her knee. It felt a little strange to feel the new skin on his lips, but it was nice. Something he couldn't place properly. But nice.

He righted himself again on his seat in the sand and smiled at her, "I saw a human mother do that their child when he hurt himself playing on the beach. Did it...work?"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] For as different as human and merperson culture was, a kiss meant the same thing in both. Well, romantic kisses, anyway. Kisses of comfort like the one Luca had described weren't really commonplace, so it still brought a deep blush to her cheeks even though it seemed chaste as ever. "O-oh," she squeaked, covering her face slightly with her hand, starting to feel shy again. While her knee still hurt a bit, she did feel better, even if she was too shy to admit why. Galene had always fancied Luca a bit, and she knew they were just friends, but he they were just so close right now. It was strange. "Y-yes, I suppose so," she finally said after a bit, bright blue eyes blinking away a little out of shyness and...almost modesty, if that would make any sense. A little smile crossed her lips as she kept thinking, and she looked down at him once more. "Thank you." She gently pulled her knee away and sat on the sand, brushing the little granules off of her legs and feet. Galene wanted to try walking again, but she could feel like something was off; maybe she would transform back again soon. She knew that they didn't have a very long time on land. "What are we going to do now?"

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[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

The waves were pushing against the shore, and from far away, the sound of people in another area could be heard. He acknowledged her thanks with a nod and a smile, but he made no move to stand up again. Luca was quiet for a while, taking a moment for himself to process things. Today had been so exciting, even if they hadn’t done much since (and they fell too). He was going to address her, ask her a question-

“You’re—” but this was happening more often than usual. Luca about to say something, and then stopping suddenl y when he’d get a good look at her face. Galene was beautiful, and there was no doubt about that. Most mermaids were, a lot of people who’d come and gone to talk to him on his excursions near the shore were too. And it wasn’t something he spent a lot of time thinking about, but something was different here, and whatever it was, he couldn’t avoid it when she was so near. Which was rather unfortunate for him, because he had a horrible tendency to think outloud. “--really, pretty.”

He was staring, and he caught himself too late. In his haste to find something to shield his face with, his head found her shoulder and he stayed there, apologizing once his forehead made contact with the cloth of the shirt she was wearing.

“I mean.” There was a sharp intake of breath on his part. “Let’s just rest for now. I don’t want us trip on ourselves again because of turning back. We can try again later…or tomorrow.” He managed a smile, eyes still closed, his head still on her shoulder.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] It fell quiet between the two, so quiet the sounds around them became amplified. The sound of children playing and dogs barking in the distance surrounded them, but all Galene paid attention to was the sound of the waves lapping against the sand, seemingly calling her back to them. That, and Luca's voice, which rang out loud and clear right next to her. "You're really pretty." Her sea blue eyes widened and a ruby red blush bloomed across her cheeks. He had called her pretty. He thought she was pretty. The word soared through her mind like a fragile butterfly caught on a warm and gentle breeze. And even though her thoughts and feelings were going wild at this point, the maid couldn't bring words to her lips. What was she supposed to say? Thank you? Was she supposed to say a compliment in return? You didn't call males pretty, right? Or at least that's what she had gathered. And she wouldn't use that word to describe Luca anyways; but there were plenty of words she could think of that would be more suitable. She was much too shy to say any of them though and blushed at the thought. Luca seemed to fall quiet too; Galene's mind was just too busy processing for her to realize it. His head was leaning against her shoulder as if he was trying to hide his face, but it seemed like such a natural and relaxed position that one wouldn't have been able to guess otherwise. He was here. So close to her, their skin separated by one thin, damp layer of fabric, newly formed legs tangled in the sand and brushing together slightly. Luca spoke again and she heard it but it didn't process, a backload of information keeping it from entering her ear and going through the mechanisms to be transformed into meaning in her brain. Galene was at a loss for words. She wished she could work up the courage to say something as well, tell him that she had always liked him — liked him, not just liked him — but her vocal chords wouldn't cooperate. "You think I'm pretty?" she finally managed to get out, her words sounding quiet and foreign and her voice sounding strange to herself.

made by garden of gangnam style

[LUCA T.]

[atrb=border, 0, true]

#GALENE

He lifted his head slightly, but was still determined not to show how red in the face he was (plus the small, pink mark on his forehead from leaning on her shoulder). But the question made him wonder about how she took what he said. Whether or not she liked that he had called her pretty, or whether or not she understood that he meant it. There were an infinite amount of words in the universe for it after all, he just wasn't bestowed with the kind of knowledge to describe exactly what he felt every time he looked at her. But it something he would save for later, secretly hoping that things wouldn't change so much by the time they learned how to walk properly.

Shaking the thoughts away from his head for now, there was a goofy sort of smile on his face when he finally lifted his head from her shoulder.

"Pretty doesn't really say much about what I think." He admitted, "but it'll do for now."

He looked away momentarily, to distract himself from thinking about what he said, what she had asked him, and just...her in general. He tried to think of a change in topic despite knowing that whatever he had to say was going to be a less than smooth transition into it.

Still, he managed to settle on a thought that wasn't too far off, he spoke again, asking her a question this time.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you plan on doing when we can walk better?"

Although it seemed like a lighthearted question in his head at first, the moment the words left him, he felt some sort of weight to them that he couldn't completely understand. It might have had something to do with how he still didn't know much about her. Which piqued his curiosity even more and made him unable to take the question back.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS

[GALENE]

[atrb=valign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style,width:50px; border-right: 25px solid #EF734E;]

[atrb=style,background:#fafafa; width: 300px; padding: 20px;] Luca was being slightly cryptic and the young maid wasn't sure what he meant. She was too shy to question it, though, or maybe even make him retract his statement completely. It was a nice feeling, to know that someone — especially Luca — thought she was pretty. The blonde didn't necessarily have low self-esteem, but she was much too humble to admig that she was pretty or attractive or anything. Instead she just blushed, and mimicked his smile when he lifted his head from her shoulder, though she wished he would've kept it there. It wasn't that she didn't want to see his face or his smile but she enjoyed being close to him for reasons she didn't know the answer to in the slightest. Then he asked what what she wanted to do when she could walk a little bit better. And in all honesty, she didn't know. What did humans do? Did they do the same things merpeople did? She was sure that they had some of the same daily activities but she was too shy to admit anything for fear that she could be wrong. But she vaguely remembered something. When she had been singing for some humans once, she saw a few of the people start to get up and move along with the music. Unfortunately, she didn't know what it was called, but it had been beautiful. Merpeople didn't really do that, at least like humans did. The ocean's current kind of made all merpeople move all the time anyway, so they wouldn't get carried away. "Um...I saw some humans once start moving to music...I don't know what that is," she admitted sheepishly, the blush darkening on her cheeks. "But I think it would be fun to learn how to do that."

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