[He says "ow" under his breath, but it didn't hurt.]
Maybe if I wasn't fed up with giving Nightman and whatever the hell else skeleton some kind of shitty entertainment, sure.
[He bumps Cloud with the back of his hand and points across to a portrait on the other wall, mostly because he's going to have to veer into Cloud to turn them over toward it.]
[They can wander together over to the painting. It really doesn’t look like too much. It’s—an alley? Dark, dank-looking. Trash and trash cans. The buildings are brick and old, clung to by fire escapes.
Sitting in the shadows off to the side is something that be dry nearly seems invisible because of its color. Gleaming. Jason is already focused, so it doesn’t even take very long for the shadows to start stretching out to take them.]
[The atmosphere that greets Cloud is not unlike Midgar. It feels like a city, choked and cramped, but full of life no matter where you turn. Sirens and cars can be heard in the far distance. Nearby: voices, a radio or TV through an open window, a dog barking.
Sitting in the alleyway, propped up on a kickstand is a motorcycle which Jason has already headed toward. He takes one handlebar, but glances back at Cloud with a bit of a smirk.]
[ he's going over to look at it looking the closest cloud gets to kind of excited. he loves this gamer motorcycle and he is looking at it all over, trailing his hand over the metal. ]
[He surprisingly doesn’t sound mean when he asks,] You ever driven one before? [So that’s new.
The bike is mostly glossy, but some of the pieces have been wrapped in a matte finish. It’s clean, babied. Well taken care of. The shape here and there is a little different. The tires have a bit more traction to them. The front between the handlebars actually has a small digital screen display. The engine tucked away in the belly glistens with a strange coat of something around it.]
Wouldn't ask if I hadn't. [ jason isn't teasing so cloud answers it simply. he's looking over the motorcycle's every nook and cranny, so he gets to the belly and looks at the coat curiously ] What's on the engine?
[He seems amused at Cloud’s excitement and curiosity.] Now who’s interrogating somebody? [He doesn’t sound bothered.]
A special coating that keeps thermal radars from seeing the heat of the bike. Got a pair of mini guns under the two front fairings, too. Don’t tell anybody.
[He
actually motions at the bike for Cloud to get on. Like. In the driver’s seat.]
Right, because I love to tattle to the authorities. Did you modify it yourself?
[ he's two years off modifying his own bike but he still ... likes motorcycles. jason motions for him to go and he doesn't hesitate to straddle it with ease, turning to look at him with a smirk. only he's genuinely kind of excited about it so it's more like an actual honest to god smile. from cloud!!! incredible. ]
[He waits for Cloud to get on before he squeezes himself onto the back behind Cloud, tucking himself where it’s comfortable for both of them. He wishes Cloud would stop being cute like that. The enjoyment is infectious.
Reaching under Cloud and around front, he slips his hand over the right handlebar so he can put his thumb in the ignition. He has to push it in to crank it, but there is also a fingerprint reader that has to verify first. The bike purrs to life, though. He peers over Cloud’s shoulder, moving over to the display dash that winks to life. He pulls up a route map and inputs some addresses so the GPS will route them.
[ he cannot stop being cute because he has no idea he is doing it. a tragedy.
cloud's peering at everything jason is doing like he's remembering how to do this himself later, even though a) he couldn't with the fingerprint scan b) the idea of cloud strife going to gotham for real is hilarious actually it should happen.
this time the smirk he throws back at jason is a real smirk, but it's because of this; ]
Won't be a problem. Injuries we get here just turn to ink.
[ he is being a shit. he peels off, fast (but not furious), and at least he was not lying to jason when he said he knew how to drive. he's also clearly used to maneuvering in odd places, considering there's no hesitation between his quick downward glances at the map and his even quicker turns. whee motherfuckers! ]
Been a while since I drove without anyone trying to kill me. [ wheeeee where are they goiiiing ]
Hey. I don’t want any injuries. You said you knew how to—drive!
[CLOUD. It’s a good thing he already has his arms around Cloud’s middle when they take off.
But unfortunately Jason trusts him. Which is extremely evident by the fact Cloud is actually getting to touch the bike much less drive the bike. No one touches the bike. “This is a painting, it isn’t even real.” No one.]
Be gentle with her, [he says over the wind and Cloud’s shoulder,] she’s a good girl.
[The route leads them, first of course, out of the alley and onto one of the main Gotham roads. They’re in the heart of the city, so the roads are tight and compact. There aren’t any people, but Cloud can tell many people usually exist here. A lot of the buildings are apartments based on the human-touched balconies, though the street level is littered with shops. Food, clothes, souvenirs, bookstores.
The other buildings are business; they stretch tall and industrial toward the sky above them, the one which does lack pretty much every star from this point of view. It’s just them and the night cast away by the orange city lights for now. But the route looks like it’s leading out.]
People are really out here trying to kill guys just riding their bikes!
[ it's important to note. and despite how fast he drives, he does seem to be nice to the bike. i don't know how you can tell this, this is what roche tells me when i play ff7r even though i am terrible at the driving minigame.
gotham's a lot like midgar's upper plate, in a way, cloud thinks as he navigates the city. but a little like the slums too, going by the alley. still; there's no space in the slums to ride like this, and the buildings look a lot better, so it feels more like a midgar with no pizza.
the thought makes him smirk as he continues to follow the route, wondering where jason picked without asking. ]
Well, [ he sounds amused over the sound of the wind ] I might have stolen it directly off Shinra's showroom that last time. But that's what they get for blowing up our helicopter out of there.
[It's sickening Cloud is speaking his language which only makes him more in love synced.] Alright. I've got more than one count of grand theft auto on my record. [Samesies.
Cloud is fortunate there is no traffic. Not that Cloud would be bad at traffic, just it'd make their ride so much more slow and annoying than it is currently. The city fans out its tall buildings around them, opening for them. The higher ones get smaller and smaller as they disappear from the epicenter of Gotham.
Jason actually doesn't point anything out specifically, but on the ride, Cloud finds the GCPD precinct, a couple of schools, and some fancy corporations like Wayne Enterprises and a sister LexCorp building. Cloud loved scientific, shady industries, right? Haha. There's, like, so many here.
But it's okay! Those buildings are being left in the distance. Goodbye forever. The route they're on is spitting them out of the main city onto a highway that cuts across and out toward land and hills, wow.]
[ he says it fondly. also jason is so gay. wow. anyway the longer they drive the more in sync they get! so jason can tell even more that cloud is truly enjoying this. it's terrible.
he is ignoring the fancy corporations because he hates shady scientific industries and they are driving Away, so it's fine. he follows the route through the hills, looking a little curious ]
This still count as Gotham? [ where are they going. ]
[Stop, don't look at him. It's not like he feels any kind of kinship with Cloud or anything, shut up.]
Yeah. Weird that some of a shithole city can actually be nice, huh?
[Usually he's driving, not riding. And while he does actually take some rides here and there that aren't also being chased, he doesn't get to look around quite like he can when someone else is driving. So he has his chin propped up on the back of Cloud's shoulder, and he's! looking! at what all he can see like this. It's nice. Thank you, Cloud.
The route takes them off the highway and onto a smaller road that winds up a small hill. Cloud gets some really cool turns and shit! The hill is lined here and there with trees, but it's easy to see through them that the city is now across from them on the other side of a bay area. The docks are the most prominent thing, scattered around the edge, but all of the lights and buildings are there.
At the top of the hill, Cloud reaches the end of the route and a dead end. The only thing there waiting for them is two disgusting large, wrought-iron gates between two pillars with a W emblazoned on them.]
[ this is a very cute and cozy picture. and also a little hilarious. jason would totally envelop him like that.
cloud's having fun with the driving, almost relaxing into it when they pull up to the gates and he's slowing down to a stop. cool breaking is only necessary during chase scenes. he doesn't step off right away, looking sideways at jason when they're in front of the gates
he... has an idea where they've wound up, and he mostly feels and looks curious about it. ]
This your dad's place? [ jason hasn't always been consistent with calling bruce his dad or not but it's the simplest way for cloud to say it when he refuses to use the word batman. because it's stupid. he's looking at the gates with a raised eyebrow, bike idling ] He afraid people will forget who lives here?
[Yes. Be enveloped by a dorito, it's fine. Also, yeah, rich people are the worst. He hates that he enjoys Cloud's dry sense of humor. He snorts as he uses Cloud's shoulders to lift himself off the bike.]
Yeah.
[He doesn't clarify which question the yeah is for. (It's both, technically.) He stands beside the bike, gazing through the gates and toward the house that's sitting back farther up the hill. It's a dark, dreary-looking old money mansion estate. There are some lights on, though, so it's apparently not abandoned.
Some very conflicted feelings spill through into Cloud. When you don't exactly get along with someone, when they're a little overbearing, when you're afraid to disappoint them but know--or think--you already do, and when you love them regardless. The house sitting through the trees up the paved drive feels like a home and like a bit of a burden.
He turns away from it and the bike, surprisingly, walking off in the opposite direction, hands in his pockets. He doesn't tell Cloud to come on, but he heads off the path of the road and down a little embankment with the intent Cloud can follow.]
[ they're not exactly feelings he totally gets, he thinks, but they make perfect sense with what he knows of jason and jason's family and relationship with them. it's why he doesn't ask even if he frowns after him for a second before he turns off the bike and steps off, abandoning it for thieves forever.
it's a portrait and it's fingerlocked, but whatever.
he's quick to catch up so they're walking elbow to elbow again, looking around curiously like he can tell where they're heading ]
If you have your own second mansion you're leading me to, I'm gonna judge.
[ he doesn't need to be synced to know cloud's not serious; it's obvious from the tone. but it's a roundabout way to ask where the heck are they going ]
[The bike will be okay, but if anyone is fucking up here trying to steal it, he's going to enlist Cloud to help him kick their ass to hell and back.
There's something comforting about being elbow to elbow with Cloud which he would accept death before ever saying. He is taking his time traversing the embankment; it's not too steep, but it does veer down to where the plateaued edge gently careens into the bay. Like a little shore.]
Please. I've got an apartment. And a bunker, but that's sitting beneath a police station.
[He thinks he's funny.
There is a stone bench there between the opening of some trees, the surface carved into.
This is where he leads Cloud. In the little cut-out of the trees, Cloud can face Gotham directly across the bay. It's just far enough that most of this side of the city can be seen, towering buildings, bridges, and all. It's still difficult to see most of the stars, even here. There is a smattering of them like flicked paint back behind them toward the estate, but overhead of the city lacks them completely. The only thing visible is the moon at the line of the tallest buildings. But the city does trap the light in, a kind of blue and violet hue. The city glows with it.]
[ but he unfortunately sounds amused. jason can be funny and it's unfortunate. he follows quietly otherwise, observing everything around them until they get to the cut-out, where he takes in the view of the city.
there's no water, near midgar, the way there is here, and it's different. the city's lights glow a lot differently than the bright mako green of the reactors coloring the city he knows best, and like that, at night, despite the sky being missing, it's almost... pretty. ]
... You talked a lot of shit, but it's not so bad looking.
I This Old House'd an old bomb shelter. [Cloud doesn't know what the hell This Old House is, you fuck.] --I kind of stole and renovated an old bomb shelter they had below it.
[Gotham looks rather nice from this distance and angle, yeah. There is a bench for sitting, but Jason decides to be a hooligan and stand on top of it with his feet instead. How very like him.]
It grows on you a little. Sounds like she's already got you right in her clutches.
[ there's kind of a huff of amusement when jason explains the reference (sort of), because yeah. that sounds like him.
cloud does not join him on standing on the bench, just looks... further up at him. ]
Aren't you tall enough? [ deadpan before he turns back to the city, pensive ] Not sure about that. Maybe all cities look better from a distance and totally empty of people. [ because he knows he's seeing a very different gotham than what jason grew up with. ] Helps that it doesn't look like a pizza.
Nope. Never. [He will be a gremlin, Cloud has to deal with it. He offers a hand out, though, if Cloud wants to take it.] Maybe you should come up instead of bitching. You can see so much of the dark water from here.
[He snorts. Not on Cloud, in general.]
Now you're sounding like a real robot overlord, Cloud. [Distance cities without people.] Maybe Gotham would be more stable if it looked like a pizza. I'm sure every stoner would love that.
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Maybe if I wasn't fed up with giving Nightman and whatever the hell else skeleton some kind of shitty entertainment, sure.
[He bumps Cloud with the back of his hand and points across to a portrait on the other wall, mostly because he's going to have to veer into Cloud to turn them over toward it.]
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This one?
[ curious!! ]
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[They can wander together over to the painting. It really doesn’t look like too much. It’s—an alley? Dark, dank-looking. Trash and trash cans. The buildings are brick and old, clung to by fire escapes.
Sitting in the shadows off to the side is something that be dry nearly seems invisible because of its color. Gleaming. Jason is already focused, so it doesn’t even take very long for the shadows to start stretching out to take them.]
You like to ride?
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Ride?
[ yes he does like to ride show him the ride show him ]
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[The atmosphere that greets Cloud is not unlike Midgar. It feels like a city, choked and cramped, but full of life no matter where you turn. Sirens and cars can be heard in the far distance. Nearby: voices, a radio or TV through an open window, a dog barking.
Sitting in the alleyway, propped up on a kickstand is a motorcycle which Jason has already headed toward. He takes one handlebar, but glances back at Cloud with a bit of a smirk.]
Ride.
[Do you like to brr brr go fast, blondie?]
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Depends. Can I drive?
[ he's going over to look at it looking the closest cloud gets to kind of excited. he loves this gamer motorcycle and he is looking at it all over, trailing his hand over the metal. ]
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The bike is mostly glossy, but some of the pieces have been wrapped in a matte finish. It’s clean, babied. Well taken care of. The shape here and there is a little different. The tires have a bit more traction to them. The front between the handlebars actually has a small digital screen display. The engine tucked away in the belly glistens with a strange coat of something around it.]
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A special coating that keeps thermal radars from seeing the heat of the bike. Got a pair of mini guns under the two front fairings, too. Don’t tell anybody.
[He
actually motions at the bike for Cloud to get on. Like. In the driver’s seat.]
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[ he's two years off modifying his own bike but he still ... likes motorcycles. jason motions for him to go and he doesn't hesitate to straddle it with ease, turning to look at him with a smirk. only he's genuinely kind of excited about it so it's more like an actual honest to god smile. from cloud!!! incredible. ]
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[He waits for Cloud to get on before he squeezes himself onto the back behind Cloud, tucking himself where it’s comfortable for both of them. He wishes Cloud would stop being cute like that. The enjoyment is infectious.
Reaching under Cloud and around front, he slips his hand over the right handlebar so he can put his thumb in the ignition. He has to push it in to crank it, but there is also a fingerprint reader that has to verify first. The bike purrs to life, though. He peers over Cloud’s shoulder, moving over to the display dash that winks to life. He pulls up a route map and inputs some addresses so the GPS will route them.
Then he gives Cloud a patpat on the thigh.]
Alright. Don’t kill me. Have at it.
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cloud's peering at everything jason is doing like he's remembering how to do this himself later, even though a) he couldn't with the fingerprint scan b) the idea of cloud strife going to gotham for real is hilarious actually it should happen.
this time the smirk he throws back at jason is a real smirk, but it's because of this; ]
Won't be a problem. Injuries we get here just turn to ink.
[ he is being a shit. he peels off, fast (but not furious), and at least he was not lying to jason when he said he knew how to drive. he's also clearly used to maneuvering in odd places, considering there's no hesitation between his quick downward glances at the map and his even quicker turns. whee motherfuckers! ]
Been a while since I drove without anyone trying to kill me. [ wheeeee where are they goiiiing ]
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[CLOUD. It’s a good thing he already has his arms around Cloud’s middle when they take off.
But unfortunately Jason trusts him. Which is extremely evident by the fact Cloud is actually getting to touch the bike much less drive the bike. No one touches the bike. “This is a painting, it isn’t even real.” No one.]
Be gentle with her, [he says over the wind and Cloud’s shoulder,] she’s a good girl.
[The route leads them, first of course, out of the alley and onto one of the main Gotham roads. They’re in the heart of the city, so the roads are tight and compact. There aren’t any people, but Cloud can tell many people usually exist here. A lot of the buildings are apartments based on the human-touched balconies, though the street level is littered with shops. Food, clothes, souvenirs, bookstores.
The other buildings are business; they stretch tall and industrial toward the sky above them, the one which does lack pretty much every star from this point of view. It’s just them and the night cast away by the orange city lights for now. But the route looks like it’s leading out.]
People are really out here trying to kill guys just riding their bikes!
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[ it's important to note. and despite how fast he drives, he does seem to be nice to the bike. i don't know how you can tell this, this is what roche tells me when i play ff7r even though i am terrible at the driving minigame.
gotham's a lot like midgar's upper plate, in a way, cloud thinks as he navigates the city. but a little like the slums too, going by the alley. still; there's no space in the slums to ride like this, and the buildings look a lot better, so it feels more like a midgar with no pizza.
the thought makes him smirk as he continues to follow the route, wondering where jason picked without asking. ]
Well, [ he sounds amused over the sound of the wind ] I might have stolen it directly off Shinra's showroom that last time. But that's what they get for blowing up our helicopter out of there.
[ crimes!! ]
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in lovesynced.] Alright. I've got more than one count of grand theft auto on my record. [Samesies.Cloud is fortunate there is no traffic. Not that Cloud would be bad at traffic, just it'd make their ride so much more slow and annoying than it is currently. The city fans out its tall buildings around them, opening for them. The higher ones get smaller and smaller as they disappear from the epicenter of Gotham.
Jason actually doesn't point anything out specifically, but on the ride, Cloud finds the GCPD precinct, a couple of schools, and some fancy corporations like Wayne Enterprises and a sister LexCorp building. Cloud loved scientific, shady industries, right? Haha. There's, like, so many here.
But it's okay! Those buildings are being left in the distance. Goodbye forever. The route they're on is spitting them out of the main city onto a highway that cuts across and out toward land and hills, wow.]
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[ he says it fondly. also jason is so gay. wow. anyway the longer they drive the more in sync they get! so jason can tell even more that cloud is truly enjoying this. it's terrible.
he is ignoring the fancy corporations because he hates shady scientific industries and they are driving Away, so it's fine. he follows the route through the hills, looking a little curious ]
This still count as Gotham? [ where are they going. ]
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Yeah. Weird that some of a shithole city can actually be nice, huh?
[Usually he's driving, not riding. And while he does actually take some rides here and there that aren't also being chased, he doesn't get to look around quite like he can when someone else is driving. So he has his chin propped up on the back of Cloud's shoulder, and he's! looking! at what all he can see like this. It's nice. Thank you, Cloud.
The route takes them off the highway and onto a smaller road that winds up a small hill. Cloud gets some really cool turns and shit! The hill is lined here and there with trees, but it's easy to see through them that the city is now across from them on the other side of a bay area. The docks are the most prominent thing, scattered around the edge, but all of the lights and buildings are there.
At the top of the hill, Cloud reaches the end of the route and a dead end. The only thing there waiting for them is two disgusting large, wrought-iron gates between two pillars with a W emblazoned on them.]
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cloud's having fun with the driving, almost relaxing into it when they pull up to the gates and he's slowing down to a stop. cool breaking is only necessary during chase scenes. he doesn't step off right away, looking sideways at jason when they're in front of the gates
he... has an idea where they've wound up, and he mostly feels and looks curious about it. ]
This your dad's place? [ jason hasn't always been consistent with calling bruce his dad or not but it's the simplest way for cloud to say it when he refuses to use the word batman. because it's stupid. he's looking at the gates with a raised eyebrow, bike idling ] He afraid people will forget who lives here?
[ why is W on them. rich people are the worst. ]
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Yeah.
[He doesn't clarify which question the yeah is for. (It's both, technically.) He stands beside the bike, gazing through the gates and toward the house that's sitting back farther up the hill. It's a dark, dreary-looking old money mansion estate. There are some lights on, though, so it's apparently not abandoned.
Some very conflicted feelings spill through into Cloud. When you don't exactly get along with someone, when they're a little overbearing, when you're afraid to disappoint them but know--or think--you already do, and when you love them regardless. The house sitting through the trees up the paved drive feels like a home and like a bit of a burden.
He turns away from it and the bike, surprisingly, walking off in the opposite direction, hands in his pockets. He doesn't tell Cloud to come on, but he heads off the path of the road and down a little embankment with the intent Cloud can follow.]
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it's a portrait and it's fingerlocked, but whatever.
he's quick to catch up so they're walking elbow to elbow again, looking around curiously like he can tell where they're heading ]
If you have your own second mansion you're leading me to, I'm gonna judge.
[ he doesn't need to be synced to know cloud's not serious; it's obvious from the tone. but it's a roundabout way to ask where the heck are they going ]
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There's something comforting about being elbow to elbow with Cloud which he would accept death before ever saying. He is taking his time traversing the embankment; it's not too steep, but it does veer down to where the plateaued edge gently careens into the bay. Like a little shore.]
Please. I've got an apartment. And a bunker, but that's sitting beneath a police station.
[He thinks he's funny.
There is a stone bench there between the opening of some trees, the surface carved into.
This is where he leads Cloud. In the little cut-out of the trees, Cloud can face Gotham directly across the bay. It's just far enough that most of this side of the city can be seen, towering buildings, bridges, and all. It's still difficult to see most of the stars, even here. There is a smattering of them like flicked paint back behind them toward the estate, but overhead of the city lacks them completely. The only thing visible is the moon at the line of the tallest buildings. But the city does trap the light in, a kind of blue and violet hue. The city glows with it.]
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[ but he unfortunately sounds amused. jason can be funny and it's unfortunate. he follows quietly otherwise, observing everything around them until they get to the cut-out, where he takes in the view of the city.
there's no water, near midgar, the way there is here, and it's different. the city's lights glow a lot differently than the bright mako green of the reactors coloring the city he knows best, and like that, at night, despite the sky being missing, it's almost... pretty. ]
... You talked a lot of shit, but it's not so bad looking.
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[Gotham looks rather nice from this distance and angle, yeah. There is a bench for sitting, but Jason decides to be a hooligan and stand on top of it with his feet instead. How very like him.]
It grows on you a little. Sounds like she's already got you right in her clutches.
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cloud does not join him on standing on the bench, just looks... further up at him. ]
Aren't you tall enough? [ deadpan before he turns back to the city, pensive ] Not sure about that. Maybe all cities look better from a distance and totally empty of people. [ because he knows he's seeing a very different gotham than what jason grew up with. ] Helps that it doesn't look like a pizza.
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[He snorts. Not on Cloud, in general.]
Now you're sounding like a real robot overlord, Cloud. [Distance cities without people.] Maybe Gotham would be more stable if it looked like a pizza. I'm sure every stoner would love that.
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