The Evening Off
The Evening Off
105Please respect copyright.PENANAQR9WwsaT2F
For the first time in several days, there was nothing that I needed to do.
Shade was with Echo, Bone had dismissed me for the day, and Raven apparently wasn’t allowed to return to Echo’s until the evening meal. Nobody had asked me to fix, carry, clean, or find anything before the two of us had returned to the hut. Even the hut itself was tidy.
I had no idea what to do with myself.
Raven appeared to be far less troubled as she pulled a pelt over her legs.
Then she did something I wasn’t expecting.
She reached over and lifted the edge nearest to me.
The whole hut seemed to pause as I looked down and considered the invitation.
“You’re letting out the warmth,” Raven stated after a few seconds.
After struggling for several minutes to give Raven a simple feather, I didn't think there was a way for the warmth that was building up in my face to get any stronger than it already was.
Apparently, I was wrong.
“Oh, sorry,” I said.
I shifted myself closer, letting her draw the pelt across my lap. She rested a shoulder against my arm, and I spent several seconds trying to decide where I should put my hands before deciding to place them over my lap and letting them sink into the fur.
For a while, neither of us spoke. My fingers found a small mat in the fur to pick at as Raven’s eyes remained fixed on the fire.
Then she looked up at me. “What was your home like?”
My brow furrowed as I glanced around the hut before my mind registered what she was asking me.
“In Alaska?” I asked.
Raven nodded. “With your grandparents.”
I paused as I tried to figure out where I should begin.
“We lived in a cabin,” I started awkwardly. “A hut that’s made of logs.”
“Like the grooming den?”
“Kind of. Just a lot smaller and not nearly as steamy.”
Raven chuckled, “And the three of you lived together?”
“Yeah. We had separate rooms.”
“How many?”
I stopped as I tried counting them in my head. “Depends on whether or not you count the pantry.”
“What is a pantry?”
“It’s a little room where we stored food.”
Raven’s brows lifted. “You had enough food to give it its own room?”
A laugh escaped me, “Sometimes. I’m sure if you were to ask Grandma, she would’ve told you we never had enough of anything.”
“Was she the one who gathered it?”
“Some of it. We all helped. We grew food when it was warm enough. Grandpa and I hunted and fished, and Grandma would put a lot of it away for the winter.”
Raven nodded, seeming pleased to have found something familiar.
“That’s one of the things that told me you weren’t him,” Raven commented, “When you spoke of your grandmother at Echo’s. Back when you repaired Bunny. Thorn never knew his mother, much less his grandmother.”
I frowned slightly, “Well, I never really knew my mother, either…”
“Really?”
I nodded once, “My parents died in an accident when I was around a year old, so my grandparents took up the responsibility of raising me.”
Raven’s expression softened. “They were your care-kin.”
I nodded again, “Taught me everything I know… Helpful. Otherwise, I don’t think I ever would have managed to survive out here.”
Raven’s mouth curved as she continued to stare up at me.
“Tell me more,” she said, “What was your village like?”
I almost laughed. “My grandparents were my village.”
Raven straightened slightly. “Was your family cast out?”
I shook my head. “No, that’s just how we preferred it. It might have taken up to an hour to get there, but there was a village where I went to school and where we’d go for supplies when we needed them. Outside of that, though, it was just us.”
That explanation led to me having to explain to her what a school was. The closest comparison we were able to draw was how the children of the tribe went to the training grounds to learn the basics on how to hunt and fight.
“What about your friends?” Raven asked, “I’m sure it was difficult for you to see them, if you lived so far away.”
The laugh that escaped me was slight with barely any humor behind it.
“I did have friends,” I explained, “But I was sort of the odd one out of our little group. Homestead life didn’t really appeal to them, and they thought I spent way too much time working rather than letting myself go off and have fun.”
An amused smile appeared on Raven’s face as she settled against my arm again. “Somehow, I agree with them.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I knew how to have fun… Sometimes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
The two of us shifted slightly, allowing ourselves to settle farther back against the bedding and stretch out our legs beneath the fur.
“What did you do then, when you weren’t working?” Raven asked.
I reached for the easiest response I could come up with. “I went fishing.”
“How is that not working?”
I smiled.
“When I’d go out because I wanted to,” I explained, “Not just for food, but because it was quiet. The views of the forest and the mountains made it peaceful, and every now and again, I’d hear of a new fishing spot that I’d yet to try.”
Raven remained quiet beside me, watching my face as I continued.
“My friends used to talk about this old fallen aspen beside the lake,” I explained, “They’d say that’s where all of the biggest fish could be found. That was the spot I decided to try before…”
My words trailed off.
Raven reached up and rested a hand against my chest.
“Before you fell through the ice,” she finished.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. I drew in a breath and let it go in a sigh, “Terrible spot, by the way. I was out there for two hours, and didn’t get a single bite.”
Raven laughed softly, warming my arm where she leaned against it.
“Still…” she commented, “Sounds lonely.”
I thought about it for a moment.
Whenever I looked back on my life on the Willoughby homestead, lonely was the last word to come to mind. Quiet, sure. Remote, definitely. Doing tasks around the property kept me moving and made sure I wasn’t alone with my thoughts for too long. But at the end of each day, I always had Grandma and Grandpa— their smiles, their laughter, their warmth.
Even so, there were times where I had wondered if there were things that I was missing out on. Hell, it was one of the thoughts that had come to mind while I had been out on the ice.
And when I held that up to what I’d managed to find here so far; Flower’s compassion, Rain’s constant hovering, working with Bone, Echo’s theatrics, caring for Shade, and now, Raven’s warmth…
I suppose it was a little lonely.
“Did you leave anybody behind?” Raven asked carefully, “Other than your grandparents.”
I shook my head. “No. My friends all left Alaska to do other things. Study. Travel. Start over somewhere that wasn’t quite as cold.”
“What about you?”
“Me? I didn’t know what I wanted. Continuing on with school sounded alright, but I didn’t know what I would study. I could have found work outside of the homestead, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to leave Alaska or my grandparents, but—”
My words caught in my throat as I heard Grandpa’s voice echo in the back of my mind.
“Life has a way of changing plans. Sometimes it’s for the better, sometimes not. Half of the things that brought me here were things I didn’t plan on.”
My eyes began to sting as my heart clenched in my chest. Despite that, though, I smiled.
“David?” Raven asked, sounding slightly concerned, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, blinking back tears, “I think I just finally understood something my grandfather was trying to teach me, is all.”
Raven paused before giving me a sympathetic smile. She gently rested a hand over one of mine as she gave me a few minutes to dry my eyes again and collect myself.
I felt her thumb brush over the top of my hand. Back and forth…
Her next question came without warning.
“Did you have a mate?”
I sputtered, “W-what?”
Raven recoiled slightly.
“Sorry! Sorry!” she said quickly, “That was a bit too personal. I apologize.”
I took a moment to compose myself before letting myself relax again.
“No,” I finally answered, “I didn’t have a mate.”
I considered Raven’s apology momentarily.
She hadn’t been home from the far-hunt for even a week before she began telling me about her relationship with Thorn and how he had courted her. I had sat with her as she mourned over his clothes while they were spread out on the bed. I had asked about the man she married, and how that man became what he’d ultimately become.
I suppose fair was fair.
“It’s alright,” I said, taking a breath, “You can ask me whatever you’d like.”
Raven looked up at me again. “You’re sure it’s alright?”
I nodded, “Go ahead.”
Raven remained quiet for a few moments as she fidgeted with the feather in her braid.
“Were you courting someone?” she asked.
“No.”
“Cubs?”
“Definitely not.”
Raven turned to me and blinked. “I don’t believe it.”
I raised a brow as I glanced down at her.
“A kind, responsible young man like you?” she continued, “Why, any woman would be lucky to have a man like that.”
I wouldn’t have been surprised if my face was as red as a sockeye’s back at that point.
“Yes, well…” I choked out, “Courtship wasn’t exactly a priority of mine around the time I fell through the ice.”
Raven let out a slow breath as she relaxed further against me.
“Did you ever have eyes for anyone?” she asked.
I paused before letting out a breath myself.
“Her name was Melody.”
“Melody,” Raven repeated, “Sounds like a pretty name.”
I shrugged, “I suppose. She seemed nice. Caring. She really liked wolves and wildlife, and so did I. So… we courted each other. Briefly…”
Raven’s brow furrowed, “What happened?”
“We wanted different things, I guess,” I explained, “She told me I spent too much time working and not enough time with her. I told her that my chores at home needed to come first, and eventually we decided it would be best if we stopped seeing each other.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”
I snorted slightly, “We were sixteen. It’s not like we had to be anything just yet.”
A lull settled into the hut as Raven and I continued to relax against the furs and watch the fire.
Eventually, Raven took one of my hands into hers and began examining it carefully.
“Tell me,” she said, “How different is this body compared to your old one?”
I frowned and sat up a little straighter as I tried to think of the face that used to greet me in the mirror each morning.
“There are some similarities…”
I moved and positioned myself onto my knees, turning towards her so she could see me properly. Raven did the same, facing me directly as we knelt on top of the pelts.
“Skin tone’s the same. Hair color’s the same. Eye color is similar. Mine just had a touch more green to them.”
Raven’s eyes drifted over my features as I continued.
“No freckles. My hair was a lot shorter. It just barely covered my ears. And Thorn’s body is definitely a lot taller and stronger than mine was.”
“Well, Thorn was a soldier,” Raven pointed out, “Unless—”
“I definitely was not a soldier,” I cut in, “As far as humans go, I think I was pretty average.”
Raven paused briefly before she reached up and took the ends of my hair in both hands. She pushed the locks up closer towards my ears, seemingly trying to reconcile the human lying beneath the therian.
“David?” she asked as her hands came to a stop.
I chuckled, “Probably. If you can still remember how Thorn looked when he was eighteen, then that’s probably close.”
Slowly, Raven lowered her hands, allowing my hair to fall back around my shoulders.
“We can cut it, if you’d like,” she suggested.
“I’ve considered it,” I admitted. “Combing out the knots can be annoying sometimes.”
“But?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, “Long hair’s warmer.”
The two of us retreated back under the pelts, allowing ourselves to get comfortable again. Sleep began to tug at the lids of my eyes as the warmth surrounding us started to settle into my bones.
“David?” Raven asked quietly, “Is there anything that you miss about being a human?”
My mind struggled to come up with an answer. If I was being perfectly honest, being a therian wasn’t that bad. I was stronger and faster than I had ever been when I was a human. I could hear and smell more than my human senses could ever hope to pick up on, and I had only recently become aware that I was much better at seeing in low light, likely the result of being a lynx therian.
That being said, there were some drawbacks.
“I kind of wish I had a human’s duller sense of smell sometimes,” I confessed, “I don’t like that I can smell when people are afraid.”
“I guess I can understand that,” Raven said as she laid her head down next to me.
I felt one of my ears twitch as I heard someone bark out a laugh in the distance.
“I also sometimes wish I couldn’t hear as well as I do now,” I added, “I wish my ears didn’t pick up every little piece of chatter that gets spread across the village.”
My mouth stretched wide as a yawn escaped me, and another thought came to mind.
“I miss my old voice.”
And that, I did.
Thorn’s voice was deep. Not as deep as Bone’s was, but still deeper than any twenty-one-year-old had any right to sound. At least, that’s how I saw it.
“Sorry,” Raven replied softly as she shifted closer to me.
It was obvious that she was losing her own battle against sleep, too.
“It’s alright,” I said as I allowed my eyes to slip closed, “I’ve already gotten used to it.”
I felt the bedding shift beside me and I let myself stay still as I felt Raven’s warmth settle against my arm once more.
When I opened my eyes again, the fire had burned low.
That was all I understood for several seconds before I became aware of a weight resting against my chest.
I looked down.
Raven was curled up there, her head tucked beneath my chin with one hand resting loosely against my tunic. My arm was wrapped around her and our legs had become entangled beneath the pelt that was covering us.
I stared down at her absorbing the situation I now found myself in. Apparently, my sleeping self had considerably fewer reservations than I did while I was awake.
Raven stirred as I drew in a breath. Her fingers curled briefly against my chest before they relaxed again.
I did my best to keep myself from breathing too deeply, fearful of what she would think if she woke up to find us like this.
It was a stupid thought, really. She was going to wake up eventually.
Outside, the sun had almost completely set, judging by how dark the hut had become. I could only guess that it was already time for the evening meal, if it hadn’t already happened.
Either way, we should probably get up.
I looked down at Raven again. Her hair lay across my arm, the feather nestled among the dark strands. Her face was completely relaxed in a way that I rarely saw while she was awake.
I figured I could give her another minute.
Then the hide covering the entrance lifted.
“Oh.”
The voice made my eyes snap towards the doorway.
Echo stood there, her eyes glancing from my face down to Raven, then to the arm that I still had wrapped around her.
I felt my stomach drop as a smile formed on her lips.
“Don’t!” I whispered.
Echo’s smile widened. “I haven’t said anything.”
“Yeah? Well, don’t start!”
She stepped inside and let the hide fall closed behind her. Her lips pressed together, making an enormous effort to contain herself as Raven made a quiet sound against my chest.
“Well,” Echo said softly, “I was wondering what was keeping her.”
My eyes narrowed. “We fell asleep.”
“So I see.”
“We were just talking.”
“Must have been a very comfortable conversation.”
Raven shifted against me.
I looked down just as her eyes blinked open. She stared down at my tunic for several seconds before she lifted her head and looked up at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then Echo cleared her throat.
Raven turned quickly. “Oh, no…”
“Oh, yes!” Echo grinned.
Raven pushed herself up onto one elbow, causing cold air to slip underneath the pelt. I reluctantly withdrew my arm as she glanced back towards the entrance.
“Where’s Shade?” she asked.
“He’s eating,” Echo replied, folding her arms, “He’s with Bone.”
Relief loosened something in my chest briefly before I felt my stomach drop again.
I thought about how Bone and Echo had been acting earlier that day when they discovered my feather. I thought about the strange look I saw them exchange with each other. And now, Shade had been left with Bone.
Yup. The two of them had planned this.
“The two of you missed the evening meal,” Echo stated as she strode over toward the firepit.
“We didn’t mean to,” Raven said groggily, “We were just–”
“Talking, I know. David told me.”
Raven looked back at me.
I could only shrug, having no other explanation I could offer her.
Echo’s eyes darted to the feather that now hung askew in Raven’s hair.
“Pretty,” she commented slyly.
She watched as Raven’s hand immediately rose to straighten it back out.
“Don’t start,” Raven warned.
“What?” Echo chirped, her expression turning unbearably innocent, “I just came to make sure neither of you had forgotten you still had a child to collect. Clearly , the two of you were occupied.”
“We were sleeping,” I insisted.
Echo gave a firm nod, but the grin on her face remained. “Together.”
The hut went quiet.
Beside me, Raven pulled the pelt higher over her lap as I buried my head in my hands.
Suddenly, I became painfully aware that the two of us were still sitting close enough to each other that our shoulders touched.
Echo noticed, too.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I growled.
Echo smirked. “Very much.”
“ Out !”
Raven and I barked out the order at the same time.
Echo threw up her hands as she started trotting back towards the entrance. “Alright, alright! I’m leaving! Happy to see the two of you enjoyed each other’s company today.”
With that, Echo slipped out of the hut, her footsteps fading into the village beyond as Raven and I were left stewing in our own embarrassment and irritation.
“Sounds like she really enjoyed having her privacy ,” Raven grumbled.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing the last traces of sleep from my face, “You want me to go and get Shade, or do you want to…?”
Raven sat and thought for a moment before resting a hand against my arm.
“Why don’t we go together?” she suggested.
I nodded, “Alright.”
Getting out from underneath the pelt was considerably less pleasant than getting under it had been.
Raven shivered beside me as we stood, reaching up to check the feather in her braid again.
After feeding another log into the fire, I pulled on my cloak and waited near the entrance while she found hers.
Neither of us mentioned how we had woken up.
I was grateful for that.
Outside, the last of the daylight had faded behind the mountain. Raven walked close beside me, our arms occasionally brushing as we followed the path toward Bone’s hut.
We heard Shade before we reached the entrance.
“Look!”
He came running through the doorway with both hands clasped against his chest. His feet slipped, and Raven caught his shoulder before he could slide into my legs.
“Careful,” she said.
Shade barely seemed to hear her as he opened his hands.
Three small wooden animals lay across his palms, a bear, a salmon, and a ram.
“Bone gave them to me!” he beamed.
I crouched to get a better look.
The bear was familiar. I remembered watching Bone work on it during the day I’d spent in his hut. Its broad back had been smoothed since then, and tiny marks now suggested fur around its shoulders.
I’d seen the salmon, too, taking shape between his fingers whenever he paused to think about something.
The ram was new to me.
Shade held it up by its round little body, proudly displaying the horns that curled beside its head. “This one’s my favorite.”
“You’ll freeze out there,” Bone called from inside. “Bring your treasures inside.”
Shade immediately turned and ran back through the entrance.
Raven and I followed.
Bone sat near the fire with his bowl beside him. Another, scraped nearly clean, rested where Shade had apparently been eating.
His eyes lifted as we entered.
Then they stopped on Raven’s feather.
One corner of his mouth lifted as Bone looked at me, then at Raven.
Then he reached for his bowl again, saying absolutely nothing.
Somehow, that was worse than when I'd seen his shoulders shaking earlier.
“Mother has a bird feather,” Shade announced.
Raven’s hand brushed against it. “Yes, I do.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“David found it for me.”
Shade looked up at me. “Can you find me one?”
Relief came so quickly that I almost laughed. “I'll keep an eye out.”
“A big one.”
“Of course.”
I did my best to ignore Bone as he made a quiet sound into his bowl.
Shade settled on Bone’s bed and began arranging his animals on the bedding. The salmon went beside the bear, and the ram stood on a fold in the hide above them.
“I haven’t seen that one before,” I said, nodding toward it.
Bone followed my gaze. “The ram?”
I nodded.
His expression softened slightly. “Thorn made that.”
Raven went still beside me.
Shade picked it up again.
“Father made it?”
“A while ago,” Bone replied. “It’s been sitting in one of my baskets ever since.”
I looked more closely at the carving. It appeared to have been carved with almost expert precision. The horns were almost completely symmetrical, and the legs were straight and even, giving the carving a very proud stance.
I suppose Bone had been right. I was much worse at carving.
“May I see?” Raven asked, crouching beside Shade.
He passed it to her.
She turned it carefully, her thumb brushing over the ram’s back.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Shade reached for the salmon and made it swim through the air.
Raven smiled faintly and returned the ram to him.
“Take good care of it,” she said
Shade smiled. “I will.”
Bone gave them a moment before looking back at me. “Have you two eaten?”
“We missed the meal,” Raven admitted.
“So I heard.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Damn, Echo moved quickly.
Bone set his bowl aside and pointed toward the pot near the fire. “There’s some left. Get yourselves a bowl.”
I tried to decline. “We don’t want to take your—”
“David.”
I stopped as Bone fixed me with a hard stare.
“Bowl.”
I glanced over to Raven, who was already reaching for one. I drew in a deep breath and let it go in a sigh.
At least neither of us would have to worry about cooking for the night.
Picking up a bowl and a spoon, I ladled out the last bit of stew that remained in the pot and settled myself next to Raven on the floor. I couldn't help but look at her portion, pausing briefly to compare it to mine. They were roughly the same, but hers had just the slightest bit more.
I let out a quiet breath.
Good.
Raven and I ate quietly as Shade played with his wooden figures on the bed.
Bone removed the pot from the fire, hanging it out of the way to cool before it could be washed. Much to my relief, Bone spared us from his teasing, although I couldn't help but notice every time he'd glance at the feather in Raven’s hair.
Every now and again he'd look at it, then to me, I'd shoot him a glare, and he'd drop his gaze again and focus on something else, all while a small smile constantly pulled at the corners of his mouth.
I finished my bowl as quickly as I could.
Raven had barely finished half of hers by the time I set my bowl aside.
I settled myself next to Shade on the bed, watching him play on with the animal carvings.
“Father,” he said, lifting the ram towards me, “Do you think I could make an animal that looks this good?”
I looked at it, then to him. “I'm sure someday you can, given enough time and practice.”
“Will you teach me?”
My expression remained flat as I thought about the lopsided creature that I had carved while sitting next to Bone and the crooked spoon that was still tucked away in my pack. My carving skills didn't hold a candle to those of Bone or Thorn.
Not only that, but Raven had also given me hell for letting Shade get close to a trap, despite taking every precaution to make sure that he was safe.
A carving knife was definitely out of the question.
“When you're a little older,” I told him.
From across the room, I heard Raven let out a relieved breath.
Bone simply smirked.
Once Raven had finished, he quietly collected our bowls and set them aside near the dirty stew pot as Raven, Shade, and I made our way onto our feet. Shade gathered his wooden carvings against his chest again as I scooped him into my arms and followed Raven towards the hut's entrance.
“Thank you for the meal, Bone,” she said.
Bone regarded her with a nod. “Anytime.”
“And thank you for looking after Shade,” I added.
For the first time that day, it felt like, Bone offered me a warmer smile as he gave one of my shoulders a rough pat. The force of it nearly made me take a step sideways.
“Of course,” he said.
“Thank you for the carvings,” Shade piped up, holding up the ram.
Bone snorted.
“There will be plenty more where those came from,” he said, taking it in one of his hands. “But remember, these are not just toys. They're handcrafted pieces of ourselves. Take good care of them, and they'll last a lifetime.”
With that, Bone returned the figure to him. Shade looked down at the figures in his hands again with more consideration before pressing them against his chest and tucking his head under my chin.
Bone’s gaze softened at the sight.
“See you tomorrow?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied with a soft grunt.
I nodded then turned and followed Raven out of the hut.
I let out a sigh of relief as we stepped back onto the main path and turned towards home.
“Well, as far as visits with Bone have gone,” I commented, “That really wasn't that bad.”
“You were expecting worse?” Raven asked.
“I was expecting him to be relentless.”
“He did notice the feather.”
“And he kept whatever he thought about it to himself.”
Raven laughed as she playfully nudged my arm with an elbow.
“You should embrace it when Bone picks on you,” she said, “You'll have more fun that way.”
I barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Then I suppose you should embrace it whenever Echo picks on you .”
“Alright, now you're asking for too much.”
“Then you see my point.”
The two of us shared a laugh as Shade let his salmon carving swim through the air all the way up the path until our hut came back into view.
By the time we returned home, Shade had decided the bear liked to eat the salmon, and the ram liked knocking the bear over.
He demonstrated this to her twice before Raven convinced him to put the carvings beside his bed.
“Where they can sleep,” she'd told him.
Shade seemed to think that was reasonable.
Getting him to crawl beneath the furs of his bed was another story. First, he needed Bunny, then a drink, then to check to make sure that the ram hadn’t fallen over.
Eventually, his head settled onto the bedding as he muttered about finding feathers and making wood carvings.
Meanwhile, I tended to the fire, trying to make as little noise as possible in the hopes that it would make it easier for her to get Shade to sleep. It must have worked, as his words came out slower and quieter until they stopped coming altogether.
Raven stayed beside him until his eyes finally closed.
When I turned around again, she was working on loosening the ties of her cloak.
I paused as I glanced toward the entrance.
“Are you staying?” I asked.
Her hands paused before she looked up at me. “If that’s alright.”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “Of course.”
She folded the cloak and set it aside with her other belongings.
I watched her for a moment before looking down into the fire. “I can go back over to Bone’s for the night.”
Raven turned. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Just in case you still want some space. I don’t mind. He’ll probably let me stay if I can reach his hut before he officially settles in.”
There was a brief pause.
I was halfway to my feet and about to reach for my pack before Raven spoke again.
“David...” she said gently.
I looked up.
Raven glanced toward Shade, then back at me.
“I’d like you to stay.”
For several seconds, I couldn’t think of anything to say.
I wasn't being pushed out. She wasn't going to collect her things and return to Echo's. Tonight, both of us were staying.
“Alright,” I finally said. “I'll stay.”
Raven smiled warmly as she turned and settled herself underneath the pelt on her side of the bed. She took a moment to make herself comfortable as I unhooked the clasps of my own cloak and set it aside.
When I turned back towards the bed, Raven lifted the edge of the pelt.
This time, I didn’t leave her waiting. 105Please respect copyright.PENANAu1B9THijFi
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