Hi there! Idk if you're taking requests but here's one for now:
Ted Logan x reader
Reader works at a music shop (they bond over a love for music or a specific band). Reader doesnt play the guitar. They ask Ted for some pointers and hes all flustered trying to teach her.
you're so wild (and wonderful)
summary: It's not every day that a cute near-stranger offers to teach you guitar. (gn!reader)
wordcount: 5.2k
A/N: uhhh little to no beta so again. correct me if i terrifically fucked up some grammar thing or spelling and i'll be SO SO grateful
tagged: @kurt-nightcrawler
You'd worked at the mom-and-pop record store long enough to get a good feel for the place.
It wasn't small, but it also wasn't big and shiny like other popular outlets; tucked into a street corner in downtown San Dimas, it wasn't exactly noticeable if you didn't know where to look. Because of that, you mostly encountered the same people -- the lady always wearing cable-knit sweaters, the teenage punk with a pretty gnarly mohawk, and last but not least the middle-aged guy who came in every so often to check if you had any new Beatles records.
(You usually didn't, but it was nice to hear him talk about how his various fishing trips went instead.)
Sometimes, someone new wandered in now and then, drawn in by the faded sign and various music posters plastered around or on the door. Of course, not all stayed; some just found what they were looking for and left, others got overwhelmed and did the same. It didn't really matter, because most of what you did anyway was sit behind the counter and wait.
But it wasn't unpleasant in the slightest. The hours were excellent, the pay was good, and you got a discount if you wanted to buy a record for yourself. All in all, it was totally worth the occasional music snob who ranted to you about the newer generation "ruining music" or whatever. You didn't get paid to listen to that.
Today wasn't too different from any other -- you checked all the deliveries, made sure everything was in order, and double-checked the new arrivals. Then, you found your familiar post by the register, pulling up the familiar battered stool. It did nothing for your poor back, but it was better than standing for sure.
Your coworker, Alice, arrived a couple minutes after you. She was slight in build with more than a few piercings, always sporting an oversized band tee. You were generally friendly to each other, but since she usually killed time by looking through all the various records and other things on sale, or just straight-up vanished into the back; you didn't get many opportunities to speak to her. Which kind of sucked, because she was ridiculously funny. In a sort-of sarcastic, biting way.
An hour went by with nothing out of the ordinary. A couple of teenagers came in, and you watched somewhat amusedly as they attempted to pool their money to buy a Pixies record.
Unfortunately, they had to leave empty-handed.
You were staring at the wall when the tinny chime of the bell announced a new customer.
Abruptly, your attention snapped up, and you got a good look at the new arrivals.
One was around average height, with blonde curls in what looked to be a halfway-mullet and downturned eyes that made him look permanently sleepy. He looked around the store with unconcealed reverence, and it was a little funny -- but you respected it all the same. But it wasn't him that really drew your attention.
It was the other guy he came in with.
Tall, dark-haired, rather easy on the eyes and dare you say handsome, he carried himself with an easy, loping gait that immediately stuck out to you. It wasn't often you found someone attractive quite like this, and even rarer that you had to pause what you were doing to look. (Even though the fact remained that in this case you were doing pretty much nothing, it still counted.)
It took all of your effort to remain seated and wait for him -- well, them, to approach.
Thankfully, it didn't take too long. After maybe a minute or two, the newcomers looked at each other. For whatever reason, you waited with extreme anticipation.
Then they grinned.
"Excellent."
You were a bit taken aback at the way they said it in perfect unison, but didn't get the chance to dwell on it; they were heading towards you, and you had to put on your customer-ready smile.
Though it didn't escape your notice that it came easier than usual.
"Hey," you said, hoping you didn't sound strained, "can I help you with anything?"
"Hi," replied Blond Guy. "Yeah, me and my esteemed colleague here would like to know if that two-for-one sign that is looking most ragged still applies." He gestured to the back, where all the various memorabilia and tee shirts were -- stuff that usually wasn't popular amongst customers, and were mostly things that the owners found in the depths of their attic. His "colleague" nodded in agreement, hair flopping around a little.
You mirrored the nod, but with less shoulder movement. "Yeah, it goes for basically anything, since everything over there is under ten bucks." Pausing briefly, you added, "unless you try to get a tee shirt for the price of a guitar pick. Then, no."
That earned another nod from Tall Guy. "OK, that makes sense. Thanks, dude."
He grinned, and his smile was bright enough to rival the sun; you were momentarily blinded, but were able to smile back. "No problem. Just ask me if you need anything else."
When the two boys turned away to inspect the goods, you heaved an internal sigh of relief.
And for once, it wasn't because the customers were being annoying.
You put in the bare minimum in pretending to not be staring; only glancing for a split second at the pages of your battered magazine that served as time-killing material before looking back up. But, seriously, even if you were doing a poor job, neither of the guys seemed to notice. They were pretty engrossed in examining a couple Garfield mugs.
After that, they actually moved on to the records -- lingering near Hendrix but not dwelling long on Herb Albert, and then making their way through the racks from there. It was a personal hobby of yours to guess what a customer would buy from their appearance and demeanor alone. But you'd been too … preoccupied to think of it, and you assumed it'd be considered cheating to take a stab at it now.
Eventually, they returned to your counter, and you looked up at their approach. As if you hadn't been watching intently out of your peripherals.
A single record was set in front of you, and you put down your magazine.
"Just this one?" Peering down at it, you quickly recognized the album cover: More Songs About Buildings and Food, by Talking Heads. "Oh, good choice."
"You really think so?" Asked the taller boy, and it was a little overwhelming with how much he was focused on you. It didn't seem like he was doing it on purpose, though. "I liked '77 a lot, but I'm not sure if David Byrne's delivery'll go well in this album. His voice is pretty distinctive, dude."
"Trust me," you grinned, "it's good. You won't regret giving it a listen."
Flipping the record over to peer briefly at the back, you put it back down. "That'll be $6.95."
It took a bit of frantic searching on their part, but eventually, you slid a couple crumpled bills into the register and gave them back a nickel in change.
For a moment, your hand just hovered awkwardly in the air, the coin in your palm. The boys exchanged glances, as if daring the other to take it. But, finally, the shorter of the two grabbed it, shoving it into the pocket of his jeans.
"What're you gonna use that for? A Tootsie Roll?" Grinning, the dark-haired guy looked proud of his joke.
You didn't miss how he glanced over at you, to check your reaction; completely unphased by how his friend shot him a near-murderous look.
"Shut up, Ted, you wanted it too!"
Unfortunately, you didn't catch the blonde's name, as they were already walking away from you, record in tow. The small bell chimed once more. For a moment, you just looked at the door, the store feeling empty again.
At least you had a name to attach to his face.
… But it was kind of embarrassing, how you didn't even think of asking him. Maybe you wouldn't even see him again.
Sighing, you picked back up your extremely entertaining reading material, attempting to bury your shame with a poorly-written article about a celebrity's affair.
The rest of the day was pretty boring, to say the least. Only a couple more customers came in, but at least you made a decent amount of sales. Alice emerged from the back a couple times to put a couple ancient-looking movie posters on the walls -- you recognized Barbarella and Yellow Submarine.
"Don't get run over," was Alice's way of saying goodbye to you, as you grabbed your stuff and headed home just after six.
You stayed up a bit later than usual, but it didn't matter, since you had to be at the record store at around eleven or so. And it wasn't like you got lunch rushes or anything that you absolutely had to be there to handle.
To be honest, it was barely annoying when that Ted kept popping into your mind; nobody could blame you, after all. It was rare that anybody you encountered at work was someone who legitimately had the power to capture your attention. So you entertained the feeling, right up until you arrived back at work the next day.
Sitting down at the counter with a purpose after doing the usual routine, you rummaged around for another crappy magazine. Now you were going to be professional and level-headed.
And that was what you did for an hour or so. Professional stuff, like helping out a confused-looking older woman find an Elvis record, or shooing away a group of what looked to be ten-to-eleven-year-olds who tried in vain to barter for the junk that was already considerably cheaper than everything else in the store.
Everything was going well.
Until, of course, the bell dinged again, and you just had to look up on instinct.
They were back.
This time, the shorter guy was wearing a backwards cap (bright red) with his blonde curls poking out the front. You appreciated that for a moment, and then, of course, your gaze slid over to him. Worn-out Megadeth shirt and all.
To your mild surprise, he met your gaze almost instantaneously. And then he was jogging -- well, practically bounding over.
"Dude!" He exclaimed, once he was directly in front of you. "You were so right. That album was truly heart-stirring."
It took you a moment to recall which album he was talking about. When you did, though, you didn't hesitate to return his once-again blinding smile. "Yeah, told you so. You should totally listen to more Talking Heads, if you liked the album that much." Unlike last time, Ted's friend was hanging back, but you were curious anyway, and gestured in the blonde's direction. "Did he listen to it, too?"
"Oh, Bill?" Nodding vigorously, Ted's grin didn't fade. "Yeah, he thought it was pretty good. But he didn't like it as much as I did."
"At least he still liked it." You shrugged. "I mean, you were the one who bought it, right?"
Ted glanced off to the side. "Well, I was the one who decided to buy it." He ducked his head a little. "Uh, we pooled our money, though."
"Oh, okay."
There was a bit of an awkward silence, before you spoke up again. "... Is there anything specific you're looking for today?"
"Oh!" At that, Ted perked up. "Yeah, actually. I was gonna ask if there were any other Talking Heads albums here, besides, y'know, the ones I've already listened to." Quickly, he added, "uh, and by that I mean '77 and More Songs About Buildings and Food."
"Sure, I remember." You put down your reading material, before getting off the stool and coming out from behind the counter. "Let's take a look."
He followed behind you as you made your way to the T shelf, and stood next to you as you thumbed through the records.
(If you concentrated just hard enough, you could feel how he was only inches away.)
It didn't take long to find what you were looking for, thankfully. Feeling victorious, you pulled out Remain in Light. And right behind that was Fear of Music. It kind of sucked that Speaking in Tongues wasn't nearby, but if you got lucky, maybe you could find it in the countless decaying cardboard boxes in the back.
"There," you announced, "here. This is good stuff, I think." You showed the album to Ted, and he leaned a little closer in order to get a better look.
"It might be kind of a weird listen for some people, but it's good in my opinion. Some of the songs are kind of similar to hip-hop, and they even use elements of African music -- it's pretty cool." When you offered it to him, he took it; he handled it as if it was a delicate piece of treasure, flipping it over to read over the song titles.
"Rad," he said, after a few moments of deep concentration. "Thanks."
"No problem."
You found yourself smiling along with him. "Need anything else?"
"I think I'm okay for now." His shoulders bobbed when he nodded, you noticed. "I'm gonna look at the other albums over here for a sec, I think."
"Sounds good. I'll be over there if you need me."
After you turned your back to walk back to the counter, you didn't catch how he looked up -- before glancing back at the records. Once you were seated once again, the only thing you saw was how engrossed Ted was in finding what he was after. Or maybe he was just examining the album art; who knew for certain?
It was a little while later when Bill traipsed over to Ted, and they quietly conferred. Their very hushed discussion ended pretty fast, and before you knew it, they were in front of you, and the album you'd shown Ted was placed in front of you.
"Just this one?" You wondered if they were going to keep buying singular records. "Same as yesterday. $6.95, please."
Again, it took a bit for the money to be collected from their pockets, but again, there was a nickel left in change.
You didn't miss how Ted gave Bill a smug look as he reached over to take the coin from you.
Ted's fingertips were callused as your hands brushed, and
chocolate brown eyes met yours, and
"Do you play an instrument?" You blurted, and then winced. "Sorry, that was -- "
" -- Actually, yeah!"
But before you could apologize, Ted cut you off. If he was thrown off-guard by your oddly-placed question, he didn't show it; if anything, he actually looked happy that you'd asked.
"I play guitar!" Proudly, he continued, "so does Bill! Which is great, because we can learn all the tough songs together." The previous brief animosity over the nickel completely disappeared as they exchanged glowing looks. "It is most productive."
"Oh." Briefly, you were still caught between guilt and embarrassment, but you recovered quickly. "Oh! That's neat, actually. Guitar's a cool instrument."
Bill seemed to take your praise in stride, but Ted -- he suddenly avoided eye contact. You carried on, though. "I've kind of always wanted to learn, but I've never really committed." Giggling semi-awkwardly, you shrugged. "Oh well, I guess. Maybe someday, right? Actually buying a guitar might be kinda hard, though. I've fooled around on a couple, but never owned one."
"That is totally understandable," nodded Bill solemnly, "it does take a decent amount of cash and time to be able to learn any instrument."
"Exactly," you agreed. Smiling, you nodded slightly in return. "Have a nice day, guys."
Suddenly, Ted's attention was back on you with an intensity. You looked at him -- did he have a question about the album? -- but no, he was practically radiating nervous energy, almost looking like a deer caught in headlights. You watched as his Adam's apple bobbed; he seemed to be steeling himself.
Before you could ask if he was okay, though --
"I could -- " he cleared his throat, "I could, uh, teach you a bit of guitar. If you wanna."
What?
"What?" You and Bill said, at the same time.
"I mean, I'm not, like, prodigy material, but… " Ted's face was gradually appearing pinker by the second. "I know some stuff, at least."
Ignoring Bill's extremely concerning look directed at his friend, you genuinely considered his offer.
This was actually a prime-time opportunity.
It wasn't every day that cute boys just fell out of the sky (well, walked through the door of the record store) and offered to give you free guitar lessons. Sure, it was true that you barely knew him -- but if you said no, would you even get the chance to get to know him? Probably not. You couldn't tell if he was the type of guy to back off if you said no to something like this; and that was a little scary.
He was shuffling a little, and looked pretty nervous by the time you came to a conclusion.
"Yeah," you affirmed.
"That'd be nice."
If anything, Bill looked more surprised than Ted; who, after a moment or two, seemingly remembered his ability to speak.
"Wait, really?" Ted's face displayed open shock, before fading beautifully into joy.
"Killer, dude."
--
Turns out the bookmark you'd been using also worked pretty well as a means for Ted to scribble down his (and Bill's, apparently) address. His handwriting was a couple steps up from basically illegible, but considering that you'd noticed his hand shaking, you'd take what you could get. You had a sneaking suspicion that, even on a good day, writing wasn't his strong suit.
The apartment building wasn't too far from your own home, thankfully.
You were only a bit nervous when standing in front of the door. Waiting for either Bill or Ted to answer it.
It turned out to be the latter, who looked partially disheveled as he opened the door for you, stepping aside.
"Sorry. It's a bit of a mess, dude," he said, sounding sheepish, "uh, but trust me, it's usually way worse."
Stepping inside, you looked around -- it wasn't the worst place you'd seen, to be honest, and it had a sense of familiarity radiating from all the stickers stuck on basically every surface, and posters, pictures, and other memorabilia everywhere. Most of the posters were of bands you recognized.
"It's fine," you replied, as he shut the door behind you. "Is Bill home?"
"No, he went out," came Ted's answer. "Dunno where, though. He just gave me a sorta squinty look and left."
"Oh."
An awkward beat, before Ted picked up the thread of conversation; thin as it was.
"C'mon, you can sit down on the couch or wherever. I'll go get the guitars." He smiled at you. "There's probably, like, cereal in the kitchen if you want something." And with that, he practically bolted into the next room.
Doing as he said, you made a place for yourself on the green couch, trying not to knock off any of the pillow and whatnot piled onto the surface. Not that you thought Ted would mind or anything, judging by the semi-cluttered state of the apartment -- but you didn't want to be a rude houseguest, especially during the first time he'd invited you over.
Ted returned pretty quickly, though, carrying two guitars. One was beige, the other black and red.
"You can take Bill's," he said, offering the latter guitar to you. "He won't mind, I think. Unless you break it or something."
"That's not … really comforting." Taking the guitar, you placed it in your lap. "Now I'm nervous."
"Oh. Sorry, dude." He sat down next to you, his own instrument placed on his leg in a position that looked much more comfortable. "I mean, if you did break it, it'd be most calamitous." Seeing your expression, he rushed to add, "but I trust you not to! Since you work in a record store and all."
"That's a good point." Looking at him, you hoped you didn't appear too lost, and you adjusted the way you held your guitar to mimic him.
"So, uh." Ted didn't seem to notice. "You wanna learn a couple basic chords? It's gonna be a bit weird at first, but you'll get used to it pretty quick."
"Alright."
"Stellar." Rolling his shoulders, he grinned. "Here's an A major chord." He demonstrated the finger position, and then strummed his guitar -- it looked easy enough, but still took a couple tries for you to put your hand in the right spot for it to sound right. Eventually, though, you got it, and Ted beamed.
"That's it. Probably the easiest chord. Wanna move on?"
"Sure," you said, "how long will it take to get used to the strings? They're a little tough to keep down."
"Don't press too hard, it'll kill the quality." Ted adjusted himself in his seat, but didn't take his eyes off you. "If you play regularly, you'll get calluses in no time. Don't worry."
"I hope so." You unconsciously mirrored his movement, but weren't able to hold eye contact for as long as him, and dropped your gaze to the guitar in your hands. There were a couple small scratches here and there, which was comforting; because if it could survive a few dings and scrapes, it could survive your amateurish playing.
"I know so, dude." Ted was completely relaxed. " 'Kay, moving on -- C major chord, right? Also pretty easy." He repositioned his fingers, and strummed once more.
Again, after some trial and error, and maybe a little help, you caught on. Ted looked pleased. "See, you got it! You're learning way quicker than I did."
You weren't sure if it was empty praise or not, but judging from how blunt he'd been so far, you doubted it. And it wasn't like you weren't going to take the compliment -- not with how it brought a supremely light feeling into your chest.
Ted had you practice going between the chords a couple times, to get used to switching finger positions. It was awkward, to say the least, but not outright difficult or challenging. You supposed that, with enough practice, it'd get way less fiddly.
"What's next?" You asked, after that. "More chords?"
"You got it!" He'd been demonstrating how to switch positions efficiently, and you tried not to focus on how his fingers easily reached across the fretboard with little to no effort. "Next, we've got the G major chord. Three fingers again."
It was the same process as before, you thought. However, this time, you just couldn't get it right; his fingers and hand were positioned in a way that made it difficult to tell which frets he was pressing. A little frustrated, you tried for the fifth time, and yet. No dice.
Ted didn't seem too bothered, but he sounded empathetic when he spoke up. "Oh. Lemme help, dude."
If you were expecting anything in particular, it probably wouldn't have been him reaching over to move your ring finger onto the correct fret, and then nudge your index finger over a little.
Your heart did a traitorous little skip.
His hands were warm.
"... There." Even he looked bashful as he pulled back. "Uh. That should be good now."
It took you a moment to breathe a "thanks."
Wonderfully, and finally, you got it right. The chord was a little shaky, but you reveled in your triumph.
There was something thick in the air,
but it quickly dissipated as Ted cracked another smile. "See? You got it!"
"Yeah," was all you could muster.
"Let's go between those three for now," he said, mercifully not picking up on your current state of mind. "I think that's a good spot to kinda review, right?" Flicking back his head to get his bangs out of his face, he continued. "I'm not going too fast, right? I'm not, like, a professional music teacher or anything, so…"
At last, you recovered your ability to find words. "No, you're fine. The chords aren't too hard to remember, anyway."
"Right," agreed Ted, "then, can you play the A major one again?"
That was easy enough. You got C major right rather quickly too, much to Ted's delight. And you even remembered how to shift between the two positions in a way that didn't result in uncomfortable finger-twisting. Your fingertips were steadily growing sorer, indented by the strings, but you tried not to focus on it; you'd get used to that later.
However, when you got back to the G major chord… You tried once. Nope. Once more? Couldn't get it.
Third time could be the charm.
No dice. Your guitar emitted a sound similar to that of a severely out-of-tune violin.
"That one trip you up again, dude?" Ted frowned, but it wasn't in a disappointed way at all. More like the sympathy from earlier -- and he sounded a bit guilty, but you didn't know why.
"I swear it's not on purpose," you grumbled, "sorry."
" 'S fine, really." His frown melted into that same easy smile. "I get it. Imagine how long it took for me to get that one right. I didn't have a teacher at all."
Your mind abruptly conjured up an image of Ted, just as frustrated as you were, sitting on the same couch. Struggling to learn the chords you'd gotten in mere minutes. Maybe Bill and him struggled together, when they were both unfamiliar with guitars. Like you were now.
It was kind of a funny image. You were wondering if it was rude to think so; it probably was, right?
But your train of thought was quickly interrupted.
As Ted moved over.
Closer than the last time.
"I have a trick that helped when I first learned the G chord," he began, "uh, you just gotta remember that your middle and ring finger are on the same row, right? And the pointer is just up there." He made a couple hand gestures that didn't really help with the explanation. You understood what he meant, however…
"Where's the pointer finger supposed to go, again?" You asked, a little embarrassed that you'd already forgotten the correct hand position.
Ted opened his mouth to say something. His brow furrowed as he hesitated, before apparently giving up on trying to detail it with words. Gingerly, he placed his own guitar the side.
"Just -- here. Hang on."
Your heart swooped as he reached out again, and --
he was so gentle in how he guided your hand to the correct spot, before carefully nudging your fingertips onto the frets, pressing them ever so slightly onto them.
It took him a moment to speak, and when he did, he hadn't removed his hand from on top of yours yet. He was turned entirely to face you, having been so focused on his task of helping you that he hadn't noticed -- until now.
"Uh," he said, before clearing his throat. "So, see? Middle and ring on the same row, like I said."
His voice was quieter. "And … pointer to the side. There."
You risked a glance up at his face.
It was a brilliant pink.
But he still hadn't moved away.
Every single nerve in your body felt like they were migrating to where your skin met his.
"... There?"
You echoed.
Ted finally seemed to snap back to reality -- pulling his hand back, nearly scrambling backwards on the couch, almost bumping his guitar off it in the process, with how he bounced back on the cushions in his rush to get out of your personal space.
"Yeah!" He blurted as he did so. Face scarlet. Hand flying up to scratch at the back of his neck.
"That -- that should be good."
And now he was avoiding eye contact.
"Okay," you replied eloquently, mentally kicking yourself afterward.
You had to admit, there was a little bit of suspense before you finally strummed your guitar.
And as if from the heavens above, the correct notes finally rang out, just as Ted had demonstrated earlier.
"There!" You declared, and couldn't help your sigh of relief. "I think I'll remember it next time."
It took Ted a second to respond, but when he did, he'd recovered, and was grinning; even if he was still a little pink.
"... See!" He dropped his hand back to his lap to join the other. "The same goes for other tough stuff in music. If you're having trouble, just try to find a pattern." Sagely, he nodded. "Even if it takes you a while to find the pattern, it'll be most gratifying in the end. Makes it way easier to remember stuff."
"Yeah, thanks." You loosened your grip on your guitar. "Actually, that helps a lot. Should we go back to reviewing all the chords again?"
Ted reached back to grab his own instrument, before flicking back his head to get his bangs out of his face.
"Let's do it, dude."
--
It was about an hour and a half later when your fingertips really started to get sore; even after said hour and a half was interspersed with several breaks, in which your very helpful teacher showed you a couple records from his own collection. And played a couple songs from said couple records.
Most of the songs were from the albums you'd chosen for him.
However, when it came to continuing to practice guitar, half of you wanted to bravely persist, and the other half wanted to stop. Though it was inevitably Ted that made the decision.
"I said it'd take time for you to get calluses, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard," he said, after you winced for maybe the third time. "It hurts, right? And that sucks, that was exactly what it felt like for me during the first, like, few weeks or so." Idly, he pushed back a lock of his hair which had migrated into his face. "I think we could stop for now."
"Yeah, okay." You put down your guitar. "You're right. I should head home to eat, anyway."
"Right," he replied.
There was an awkward beat, before you finally stood up. Ted followed suit.
"Yeah," you repeated, not being able to stop the smile that tugged at the corner of your mouth. "Thanks. Really, it was really sweet of you to offer to teach me a bit of guitar. I only mentioned it in passing, too."
His hand was back on the back of his neck as he walked the short distance with you to the entrance. "It's nothing," he deflected, but his expression said it all. "I'm just glad that I didn't turn out to be a horrific teacher, or something."
"No, you were fine!" Giving him another 'thanks' as he opened the door for you, you stepped out of the apartment. "I'm just glad that I wasn't a horrific student."
Turning to face him, you inclined your head, speaking before he could object.
"Bye. And thanks -- "
"-- you wanna do this again?"
It seemed even he was surprised at the question, taking into account how his face reddened. Once again. "Uh," he added, "I mean, it was fun. To hang out and teach you a couple chords. It'd be nice to hang out again." His tone was wavering. Stilted, almost. "Yeah."
It was cute.
"Sure," you answered without missing a beat. "Give me your number and I'll call when I get home."
His answering grin was powerful enough to power a thousand solar panels.
You probably broke a speed limit heading home, to say the least.
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