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Chapter Text

Water doused Kimi as he pushed the door open, he quickly avoided getting hit by the bucket while the mechanics didn't bother to hide their laughter. He sighed as he headed to his private room to get a fresh change of clothes, he'll find a way to get them back later.

Once his clothes were dry, Kimi allowed himself to think about his options. He needed to find an instrument to learn if he wanted to avoid eating pineapple pizza.

He used the towel to dry his hair, he hadn't expected Mercedes to start the prank wars immediately during the first week. Kimi opened his bag searching for something, he smiled as he found it, well, at least he'll have an entire race season playing pranks.

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𝐀 𝐅𝐞𝐰 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐨

𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. "𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳," 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥, 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

"𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘥," 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸?" 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 "𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺".

𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵?" 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸? 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺?" 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮". 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩?".

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵?" 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 "𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪? 𝘈 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?".

"𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 "𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦?".

"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮. "𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥," 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 "𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴".

𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 "𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?". "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘋𝘊 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵.

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 "𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸". "𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥!" 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸 "𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦".

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. "𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦," 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥?" 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥, "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺," 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. "𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭!" 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 "𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴".

𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴". 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦 "𝘕𝘢𝘩, 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦!".

𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴!". "𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 2027!" 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩?" 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. "𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺," 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦-𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵!". 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵".

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦," 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵, 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘐-𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺," 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮," 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘵 "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺? 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦".

"𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥," 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳, "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴," 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘖𝘩, 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰—," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨".

𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦," 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯". "𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘺𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 2027," 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴.

"𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘬?! 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳?!" 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, "𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮," 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2027 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯.

"𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯," 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳?!". "𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬.

"𝘈 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪!" 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. "𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘢 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺!" 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴?" 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥," 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥!", 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴.

.

The sound of groans were music to Kimi's ears, he had wrapped ballpens, headsets and even notebooks in wrapping paper with his face on it. It was harmless enough to be unwrapped before fp1 began and annoying enough to make the mechanics, engineers and possibly George hate him.

They should be thankful he didn't do worse after that water incident, Kimi laughed as everyone mumbled insults under their breath. He couldn't wait for the balloons to arrive, he will have so much fun with them.

Although he should probably keep an eye out from now on, the Mercedes family know that the pranks are all in good fun so it shouldn't disrupt his racing. But that didn't mean his life outside of it would remain safe.

He'll have to think of what instrument to play for that talent show as well, there was absolutely no way, he'd eat pineapple pizza and say that it is the best pizza. The entire country of Italy might actually kill him because of it.

Kimi placed a hand under his chin as he pondered his options, he had plenty of money to find a good tutor but the time would be an issue. Before he could think longer, his eyes fell onto Max who was talking with Charles in front of the Red Bull garage.

He recalled that he had to convince the WDC winners on the grid to judge the talent show. After Charles left, Kimi decided to make his movie, fp1 was only a few hours away so he needed to move fast.

"Max, can I ask you something?" Kimi asked as he walked towards the Red Bull driver. Once he'd explained his reasons for talking to him, Max looked at him in disbelief.

"You want me to convince the other WDC winners to judge your talent show?" Max repeated. Kimi nodded enthusiastically "C'mon, it will be fun".

"I can try?" Max said shrugging "I'm not sure all of them will agree, some definitely can't come, unless you want me to bring a grave or something". Kimi frowned, Max really needed to work on his sense of humor, Lewis and Alonso may be old but it didn't mean they were on the verge of death.

"Thank you Max," Kimi said gratefully, better not comment on Max's sense of humor or he won't agree to doing Kimi a favor "The talent show will be held at the end of the season, give me a good score". As Kimi walked away, Max let out an amused scoff, he was rather curious himself on how many WDC winners would agree to the proposition.

.

It was the last free practice and Kimi was in a good mood, he was second in yesterday's fp2 and he even managed to prank George. He couldn't believe his teammate thought that the sunscreen Kimi gave him was actually sunscreen.

Watching him slather whipped cream all over himself made Kimi happier than placing second. Suspiciously, he hadn't been pranked back which Kimi did not trust at all, he needed to keep his guard up.

It was time for free practice 3 which meant nobody would try anything yet. Kimi placed his helmet over his head, he'll push for first this time, nothing would go wrong or so he thought.

.

With only a few minutes left of fp3, Kimi ended up crashing into the wall ruining his chances of making it up to the top three. He felt a ringing in his ears, his world blurred for probably only a few seconds in real time but to him it felt like hours.

Then, oddly enough, he heard the sounds of a piano being played, it sounded... heavenly. Kimi blinked his eyes rapidly and now, he could also see, there was a man playing the piano in front of him.

For a moment, Kimi had forgotten that he was still in the track, all that there was, was this room and a man playing beautifully on the piano. 'If this man taught me piano, I'd win the talent show,' Kimi thought as the realization dawned on him.

He opened his mouth "Can you teach me how to play the piano?". The man paused and turned to him, shocked colored his face like he had seen a ghost.

Now that he had a clear view of his face, Kimi thought the man looked quite familiar, he was sure he'd seen that face before but he couldn't recall where. Before Kimi could remember, and before the man could reply, Kimi returned to the real world.

He got out of the car, luckily, he was unhurt, unfortunately the car would need to be repaired before qualifying began. As Kimi headed back for the pits, he saw the man playing the piano dressed like a Mercedes mechanic standing in the pits looking lost.

Had Mercedes hired a new mechanic?, if so, did that mean Kimi had met him before and what he saw was a memory he'd forgotten?. He could barely remember what he saw, the only thing he recalled was the man and the piano, he didn't remember if they'd exchanged words or not.

Maybe it was because of the crash, he hoped nothing was wrong with him. Kimi didn't want to miss the first race of this season due to a crash during free practice.

After the standard medical check, and thankfully being declared fine, Kimi went to look for the mechanic, out of curiosity and to ask the man to teach him piano. He'd asked George about it, his teammate had asked him if he was sure that he didn't have a concussion.

Then, he'd said that Mercedes hadn't hired any new mechanic and if this was some sort of prank, it wasn't a very good one. Kimi was left feeling both agitated and upset, both from the crash and at George.

He was quite sure George was lying to him, probably as revenge for the whipped cream incident but still, pretending a new mechanic didn't exist seemed quite cruel. Once fp3 had ended, Kimi had looked for the mechanic but couldn't find him anywhere.

George most likely told him to avoid Kimi or something just to drive him insane. Kimi sighed, he'll focus on that issue later, he still had qualifying to do.

.

The smell of champagne was delectable, despite the crash, Kimi had gotten p2 in both qualifying and the race. As he laughed, he could see Charles making a disgusted face as the champagne reached his mouth.

He moved his eyes to George, Kimi was confident that Charles champagne was supposed to be his but a mix-up had happened somehow. It was kind of sweet that Mercedes was sure he'd make the podium but he definitely didn't want to taste what was in that bottle.

Once the whole thing had ended, Kimi had asked George what he'd put in the champagne and apparently it was salted water. Kimi almost felt sorry for Charles, he got the bad champagne because of a mistake.

Thankfully, Charles was good-natured about the whole situation, Kimi was surprised that it was even legal to change what was inside of the champagne. He made a mental note to review the rulebook to see what extent of pranks he could get away with.

.

Kimi had tried approaching the new mechanic, but he was either ignored or avoided. How George managed to convince the man to do it confused Kimi, surely this went against a contract clause.

Oh well, he'll try again on the next race, there was still plenty of time before the talent show but he did need to start learning so his piano playing at least sounded decent. Andrea Kimi Antonelli refused to eat an abomination that is pineapple pizza.

It was almost time for them to leave Canada, which meant Kimi still had a short amount of time to do one last prank. He wondered curiously if the Mercedes team would actually kill him if he placed coffee-colored water into the espresso booth.