The warm wind blew across the land of Marigold and while it wasn’t the hottest days, nor the coldest of the season, the freezing temperatures had already long drifted away and ahead from this day yawned the spring, blossoms and blooms. Venus Rosé felt good to be out into city square once again, ever since she returned from the camping trip with her lover and hid herself in her room to stay away from all the media attention. But, that plan of hers didn’t last long when she finally succumbed into the urge to see bask under the proper sunlight and be amongst humans once again. Here she was, strolling through swirls and eddies of people in the middle of the town; still entirely cloaked. It seemed that the idea of a runaway act into the woods worked since there have been no signs of flashy cameras in her face – so far.

The second Venus was out into the streets, she didn’t hesitate to visit the town’s quest board to see if there was anything she could use to kill her time. Fortunately, there was a performer who was searching for people for his play, in hope to bring the theatre back to life so naturally, Venus decided to take the offer for the sake of a hefty pay. The idea of acting – she couldn’t help but laugh at herself; she was clearly no actress and she had no interest in being a part of the entertainment industry either.

”For the money, Vee. For the money.”

It wasn’t as though she was so penniless and was desperate for money, in fact, it was the opposite: she had a good amount saved up, enough to buy a house perhaps, but Venus was simply greedy. Who wouldn’t want money? So, here she was, after several minutes of waning through the roads and turns, in front of her was the building where she was supposed to meet her client who hired her for the play whilst wondering what might await her and whom she might possibly meet to make her day interesting.

Spoiler:

With the last request ending in a bit of a sour taste, Jan Ren couldn't help but reach out to his client of his own volition, this time. He knew there was more to come, as things wouldn't simply stay at peace with a single assailant captured. He'd came up with the suggestion of dispatching a guarding team (led by yours truly) to round the theater at all times.

Imagine how let down and surprised he'd felt, discovering that the next mission up for grabs -- the more urgent one -- was once again, acting.

Oh, how he dreaded acting.

Admittedly, Jan Ren felt more roped in to the request than requested. He's helped the theater several times now and the folk of Marigold had already started associating him with the playhouse quite closely; and the familiar performer himself was initially convinced that for such reason, the Sinese had showed up. But the young man's previous encounter with performing on stage ended, while well, awfully exhaustingly. A quick fix was granted to uplift his spirits and motivation, in the form of... A hefty sum suggested. To which, Jan Ren immediately said -- "I'll do it!!"

Come the next morning, and the young man had caught wind of a certain announcement regarding the 'safety of Marigold' or something? Surely this tied to the assaults made on the actors before, it only made sense. And exactly after he's been enlisted to act on stage. A mental note was made to confront the performer about it, potentially with much of an egotistical sense of vanity involved. A certain figure from Daeva Eye, 'Venus Rose'...

That guild again. His last encounter with a lady aligned with his guild's alliance, resulted in him getting stabbed. So they harbor wanted criminals too? Between a wanted criminal and an assassin, Jan Ren couldn't help but question his own Master's decisions. What could it be about these ladies that possibly made a good impression on the woman? "(And Penumbral Guard requires I'd be careful? Seriously, what was she thinking...?)" Questions for other times it seems. Either way... It became likely that in attempt to save the theater from further deaths, he'd have to face off against a wizard of an allied guild... A worrying thought, to say the least.

...Yeah, okay. Deep breaths...

Making his ever-familiar way, reaching in almost record time of walking through the streets, the shirtless Sinese stood infront of the backdoor, as instructed. Nervous on two fronts (naturally), he steeled his mind and came in. "--I'm here."

WC: 420 blazeit
TWC: 420/2,500

Arriving earlier than the rest, which was very unusual for her, Venus Rosé was greeted by her client by the door; a pasty-skinned man who looked as if he had never been exposed to sunlight in his life. His large spectacles occupied most of the space on his visage, framed by his dark, unkempt locks that were nearly jutting out in every possible direction. Did you just wake up? – was what she wanted to ask the man, but did not permit the words to pass her lips. Even the outfit he wore screamed ‘shaggy’ as though he had just gotten out of bed in his pyjamas and wondered if every play writer looked as obscure as him.

”You must be Venus Rosé – I can tell from just your appearance. The name’s Locklen.”

What an uncommon name for an unusual looking man, the Siren thought. Despite his appearance, the man was rather amicable and courteous, inviting her inside the theatre and letting her sit by the seats which was mostly vacant throughout the entire hall. ”I have no experience whatsoever in acting. Are we having an audition or perhaps, a tutorial? And what’s the play about, I didn’t get any information on that.” It was quite obvious that Venus had a handful of questions for the performer; she was quite nervous too, considering this was one of her first gigs though she was positive she would have no trouble whatever role that was handed to her.

”Yes, we’ll discuss all about that once everyone has gathered.”

So, she sat cross-legged, relaxing back into her seat with her right arm draped over a chair and waited, cleaning her nails, and chipping them off neatly with a blade that she carries with her every second of the day, even to the ladies’ room until a knock resounded on the door. She could tell from the first glance that the young man who just walked in was a foreigner, and of course, the most prominent feature that easily attracted her attention was his long, jet-black hair that almost urged her to run her fingers through it to witness its silkiness by herself. ”Well, isn’t that fashionably late…” Her tone was hidden with an obvious hint of sarcasm and though she hadn’t originally intended to speak her thoughts out loud, it seemed to have passed her lips without her knowing.

Upon entering the dimly lit building, the ever-familiar performer rose from his chair personally to greet the Blue Pegasus wizard. Even in threateningly dire times like these, he could still keep a positive attitude, a strength the Sinese adored in this client. Their shared history simply consisted of many a request which Jan Ren had completed, though it was just enough to build solid trust.

Making his short way in, Jan Ren took in the empty theater, watching to see if anyone else was present. None of his previously-encountered actors were around; instead, he was offered the company of just one charming woman -- hold on, not just any charming woman.

This redhead wasn't familiar. She sported absurdly stunning beauty and style, from her features to her posture. He'd seen numerous pretty ladies in his time, though this lass easily made it to the top in his encounters. If he dared be ambitious enough to claim, she rivaled even that Rania in terms of look alone. From his moving position on stage, Jan Ren missed the woman's mark, and in mere sight, all his tension had but left him. Some prime eye-candy to wash away the stress was his favorite treat.

He could only assume this would be her first time taking the request, though that too would be in naught. His own vanity leading the young man to decide, by himself, that she'd be a newbie like he was. Newfound confidence never before seen in the Sinese rose up, backed by nothing but a simple bravado. Jan Ren flashed a well-practiced smile at the woman, starting out with but two simple words:

"First time?"

Reaching to sit by the charming lady, making considerable mental effort not to feel intimidated by her appearance (deemed "way out of his league"), the Sinese kept his eyes locked onto her own auburn as he plopped himself down the neighboring seat. "Acting, I mean." He explained, leaning slightly close to her as he lent his hand for a friendly handshake.

"I'm Jan Ren from Blue Pegasus. It's a pleasure to work with you."

-- Though shortly after the exchange, some few others began coming in. A burly-looking bald man, a young girl in "outstanding" fashion, a serious-looking gentleman... So on. Was this 'surprise play' only to be made with unfamiliar actors? What was Locklen thinking?

"Right!" ...With the assortment soon complete, the client went up on stage and officially opened with the request details. "Thank you all for coming!"

...

WC: 413
TWC: 833/2,500

Out of all the vacant seats in the entire theatre, the man chose to sit beside her. Unlike most people who approached her before, he was quite daring – she had to give him that. ”You can say that. I’m only here for the money, not for the acting skills.” But, it was also true that she had ample amount of time in her hands that she chose to be a performer instead of hunting down some robbers and bandits or even creatures; gruesome jobs that were usually assigned to her. It was also easy to assume that this man probably had some experience in acting.

The Siren peered down at his hand that was reached out to her, before shifting her gaze back towards his face. Venus appreciated all kinds of beauty in the world – such as the naked torso of her lover – be it humans or even flowers and this man before her, who had introduced himself as ‘Jan Ren’, had the kind of face that would stop most girls in their tracks; not because he was handsome, but because he had that kind of ethereal beauty of his appearance.

”Venus.” She shook his hand and managed a smile, although she guessed it would look more like a wicked smirk than a friendly smile.

Right after they shared their pleasantries, more members of the theatre came in and soon, it was quickly filled with up with people who were none other than strangers to her. Amongst them, there ought to be some professional performers, perhaps. The client finally climbed onto the stage and began his introduction after thanking them for their appearance, ”As you can see, there’re some newbies—“

”Get to the point,” spoke the impatient redhead, cutting her client’s words mid-way as she gestured him to move along with her hands.

The man let out a discreet cough. ”Uh, yes. So, we’re going to be doing a play that will become one of the best in the century! The news will spread within the town and everyone will be excited for us! I hope this will bring our theatre back to how it was, at least…” He trailed off before clapping his hands loudly. Handing out each one of them a script, Locklen began a summary of the play about how a young girl began chasing a white rabbit, down the rabbit hole where she goes on an adventure in an entirely different world (Alice In Wonderland) and soon, they’d be given their roles for the play.

Though presented with an initial pleasantry, Jan Ren's eye twitched immediately as the woman had clarified her identity. Venus. Judging by the recent announcements, this woman's name and her hair color, one could see how he'd infer her personal identity (not that it required genius intelligence for such). Though he smile had not declined in their exchange, the Sinese opted to sit quietly by the criminal, reserving his words to himself. His suspicion only amplified with her sinister smirk and the rude remark she demanded of the client. What's with this guild and their pretentious attitude?

But making a scene right there with so many newbies would be his undoing. Like him, it was likely they'd known her name but hasn't assigned to her face. Considering the possibility of the potential offender he's heard of being right next to him, the Sinese chose to play it safe and simply keep a close eye on the redhead. Considering himself to be the prime point of guard in the theater at the moment, he began convoluting a plot behind her appearance. Rather than innocent money-gathering, he'd thought up how Locklen himself invited her for capture.

But all was for naught. They had a request to do and if he'd stressed over it, he'd fail.

Assigned the role of the Absolem the Caterpillar, didn't help with his intentions. Jan Ren was to sit atop a high stand, wearing a messy costume and smoke through a pipe, live. Yes, actually smoke on play. "Y'know..." He started, having stayed close to the woman up until now regardless of his lingering suspicion. "Smoking on stage. Haven't ever done this before." He commented, eyes briefly breaking away from the script he'd received to scan the wanted woman. "What part did you get?"

Stay calm. Don't let out any suspicious actions. In due time, she will be dealt with.

WC: 311
TWC: 1,144/2,500

Venus was indubitably unaware that the Sinese stranger knew of their guild – let alone even met one. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest idea to be working with other strangers during these times, especially when she was being hunted and targeted by every possible being on the streets. Who knows, the Sinese man could be one of them as well. She snuck a look at him over her shoulder once again and surveyed silently before turning her attention back to the script and studied it. Venus was given the role of Alice, which she dreaded that she even audibly groaned. Venus was merely a newbie in acting, it was unfathomable to why she was given the role when she hardly even knew how to act, especially not an innocent young girl who was always happy-go-lucky and probably only thought about rainbows in their head. At the very least, she would have been satisfied with just being Queen of Hearts, so that she could be the foul-tempered queen just like her own personality.

They did go backstage to get their outfits fitted and obviously, she had to wear an extremely feminine dress that fluffed out by the hems and a wig and some hair comb that kept the wig in place. It didn’t suit her image; she looked like a teenager. Perhaps the features on her face appeared as if she wanted to punch someone in the face, but she wanted to bawl her eyes out.

For the money, for the money. She kept chanting the words to herself, as though it would keep her sane the entire time. After they’d finished reading the script, they had begun performing in practice. The Sinese that she had her eye on earlier was dressed as a caterpillar and she couldn’t contain the huge grin growing on her face. Jan Ren, whom she could say was her quest partner was located far up atop the mushroom that she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. ”Did they ask you to really smoke on stage?” she commented in response before adding, ”Well, at least this will be your first experience.” She gently lifted the skirts of her dress and bowed courteously, giving into the pretence of a nice girl. ”I had to act as Alice. This dumb-looking girl will be the death of me.” Her nice charade quickly disappeared followed by an annoyed expression and an eyeroll.

”What a shame. Your pretty face is hidden by that costume. Maybe, you’d look cuter as a rabbit.” She just wished this would all be over soon and enjoy a drink or two as a celebration. ”You look like you’ve done this before.” She paused. ”Acting.”

Admittedly, in this costume he was dragged into, Jan Ren could only think how his movements would be seriously hindered. In the case that Venus decided to run amok, being the wanted criminal she is, he'd have to step up and stop her... Which is impossible in this clumsy body-costume. What was the point of his face sticking out anyway? It all seemed like an intentional design flaw, and the young Sinese couldn't help but think the leading performer conspired to stop him. Which makes it even more absurd that he was expected to climb up to a two-meter high pole, sit there and smoke for his entire appearance. What kind of weird play is this anyway?

"Oh?" The Sinese replied, eyebrow raised over the woman's distaste. "I'd have figured playing the protagonist would make you happy." He commented, taking note that he was complimented. Vanity kicking into gear in his head, as his chest was puffed out slightly (though unnoticed thanks to the goofy costume) in pride. Thinking, 'maybe they're not really that bad'. "Hmm! Yes, I did get to act here before!" Jan Ren proudly exclaimed, tone taking a lighter shift, in his ego inflating. "Locklen did ask for my help a couple times before! Though this is the first time I'll be smoking on stage." For some reason, the young man turned occupied with appearing lame, for having never smoked before.

Come rehearsal, the Sinese was - as instructed - placed on top of a high pillar, with nothing but a hooka by his side; the cumbersome costume only weighing down to the ground. On the first attempt at smoking, Jan Ren began coughing uncontrollably. "UGH!! (Why do people do this!!?)" Face reddening as his lungs failed to hold onto the smoke's thickness, he got yelled at and chastised by the director. No amount of apology or argue would get him out of this part, it seems.

So he'd have to hold on. Over, and over. The same scene repeated until finally he lashed back. "What do you mean 'learn!?' How long do we even have until the performance starts??" In some fit, having already started feeling woozy from the smoke. And to make things worse...

"Three hours! Now stop complaining!!"

...Three hours.

... "There is NO WAY we're getting this done in three hours."

WC: 385
TWC: 1,529

”Not necessarily.” She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. ”I try to avoid being in situations that put me in the center of attention.” Even with that statement, here she was, with a 2.5 million bounty on her head and God knows when she would end up behind Fiorian prison bars. It seemed that her comment had lifted up the other man’s spirits, from the look of the expressions on his face despite the face that he was nearly clothed from head to toe in that ridiculous costume. The woman raised an arm, like a leverage of sorts as she leaned against the pole that the caterpillar stood on.

”I see, it must be disappointing for you that you didn’t get the protagonist role,” commented the female in regards to his remark about working for Locklen before.

In truth, they were supposed to be going over their scripts, practicing their lines instead, she was occupied by having herself engaged in conversation with a fellow performer. One could say she was merely procrastinating her work, due to the reason of her not liking the role that was given to her and it seemed that it was not only her who thought the same way but also the man dressed in a caterpillar costume. Having to experience smoking for the first time at a place like this only added to one of the bizarre factors about him, aside from his extremely goofy outfit.

Seeing him coughing uncontrollably proved enough that he was truly a non-smoker and somehow, the coughing only repeated as they had to repeat the scene a number of times until it was perfected. Three hours until the show started and with the caterpillar coughing every time he took a smoke out of the pipe, it didn’t seem that they were getting anywhere near done anytime soon. The woman rolled her eyes so excessively that her eyeballs might have already travelled to the back of her head. ”Y’know, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep doing it…” she spoke, her words trailing off when she realized that her warning might have already been a little too late with she noticed the Sinese’s face turning a shade brighter in pink every time he inhaled from the pipe.

”You might be getting high.”

That makes some sense, troublingly. With her identity being dangerous enough that the guards would have to announce her arrival at the city just means it'd be in her best interest to stay away from the crowd and crime away unnoticed. Which begs the question, "Then... Why would you come to perform?" seeing how she would be on obvious display and could get potentially jumped at any moment, it would be a plausible thought. "It'd be safer if you didn't try your luck, I'd think." You could never know when or how you would get assaulted.

Or suddenly stabbed.

Despite Venus' retort, Jan Ren remained seated atop his high pillar. Unmoving, dedicated to the job (seemingly). His face reddening with the ongoing struggle, eyes changing color gradually as well. This isn't just tobacco, is it? Even if he wanted to, the Sinese couldn't quit. He had a reputation to hold, having come to this theater's aid time and time again in his stay there. Even if the director was tough and impossibly expectant, they had to keep going. Funny, how the black-haired found himself caring less about the oddity or the existing wanted criminal... In light of some momentary peace.

"Me...?" He replied, voice strained; "Getting high...? Never!..." First time for everything. Eventually, he stopped coughing, having gotten used to the act. Best news would be how, by the time his segment was perfected, the actors still had a full hour before performance would come up! The bad news, were... How the boy slumped down on his pole, refusing to come down.

"I'll, be fine here... You guys keep going, I'll move it when we're up..."

In this state, he completely disregarded any worries, even with the rest of the crew going against his sudden sluggishness. To him, he was Channeling Absolem's Spirit into his persona. That way, he could act to the best of his ability (read: do nothing until his scene). He'd stopped caring even about the mouthy director's demands, eventually caving in and dropping down from the pillar -- like a lug. Moving it away from the stage to go chill backstage.

"...This might not be so bad..." What are the odds of the theater being attacked in broad daylight anyway? Especially without anyone hearing of it. Everything was going to be fine!

WC: 385
TWC: 1,914/2,500

The woman released an exasperated sigh for having to explain her reason once again, ”Like I said,” she glanced up at the man and paused. ”Nevermind.” She waved her hand dismissively in an attempt to change the subject. When Jan Ren pronounced his thoughts about her coming to work as a performer today, the redhead merely grinned. ”Well, safe isn’t fun, is it?” Venus liked to enjoy many things in the most fun way possible, but that also didn’t mean she was going to let herself be caught and be thrown into the dungeons that easily, though she did enjoy the chase. She had to admit that her arrival at the town was rather overly exaggerated with the guards announcing her entrance everywhere, giving unnecessary panic to the worried citizens.

The hunter really wasn’t all that dangerous compared to how the rumours made her to be, and she certainly wasn’t going around murdering people left and right – only perhaps some who truly deserved death. It was a wonder though, for her to be hired at a job of this sort, she’d expected more refusals in having her work for them albeit, it seemed that her client didn’t care whether she was being hunted or not. Nonetheless, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about such trivial things, she thought, as she shook her head out of her reverie back into reality where she was on stage beside the caterpillar on a pole. The man dressed in the ridiculous costume didn’t heed her advice and persistently denied her claims of him being intoxicated despite his slurring of words. ”Right,” said the female with one eyebrow raised. She’d leave him up to his act as she ran through her script once again and practiced proceeding on with the following scenes, which she quickly found extremely monotonous.

At one point, Venus slid herself into the backstage, away from the rest of the performers, thinking that she would seize this opportunity to take a break perhaps, or more so, procrastinate. While taking a break, as she’d like to call, she busied herself getting distracted by some belongings of those who participated in the play. She didn’t have a reason to why she was looking through the cupboards, but there she was, snooping around other people’s bags and properties to see if there was anything that caught her eye. So far, she found a few shiny accessories – oh, jewellery was her favourite thing to steal – some items that she hadn’t seen before, perhaps a new technological device from another country and a few wallets. They didn’t have plenty of money, but they were more than sufficient.

”Good find today.” She spoke to no one in particular as she stuffed the things that she’d gathered into her dress.  

...And do nothing until his scene, he did. Sitting backstage, too whoozy to even plop himself on a proper chair; the Sinese was leaning against the wall, legs sprawled as his eyes remained shut, simply breathing in and out as he enjoyed doing simply nothing. Uncharacteristically of him and putting shame to his guild's very shtick, Jan Ren decided to give in to his current laziness and remained true to such. Even worries concerning the Wanted female he was working with were thrown out the window as his mind went blank; achieving something akin to deep meditation, simply by sitting still. Whatever it was he was forced to smoke on stage, really was getting to him. Not that he'd be too aware of that.

Though sounds of shimmying and rummaging disrupted the young man's peace as his bloodshot eyes opened slowly to see the very same redhead he turned so worried about earlier, going through the other actors' things. Perhaps she went through his own, too. Simply staring for way longer than he should have, thoughts filling his head, underlying message being the decision to stand up and do something about this. However, he was far too comfortable in his current state to give a damn. Would he stay true to his urges or give in to the current high? "...What are you doing?"

The answer would be, both.

Eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Venus as she went through the assortment of belongings, commenting as if replying to her personal self-praise on right cue. One hand placed on the ground as he perked up, no longer sprawled against the wall; knees bent towards his form as he prepared to, at any point, react to the wanted criminal. A wanted figure, stealing her peers' stuff? Makes perfect sense, he judged. Absolutely oblivious to the woman's true antics and only having her previous display of impatience and this specific petty crime to go on, Jan Ren had determined that should she attempt anything beyond that, he'd have to mobilize himself. Even if he really, really didn't want to.

...However. "I dunno what you're trying to pull there, but do keep in mind we're in the middle of work. I'm really not in the right mind to try and stop you but, please put those things back." Fact is, he was definitely not as effective as he wanted to be, intoxicated as he was. "This will only bring trouble to me later. Just... Do whatever you want. But not with me around. Please." A mishmash of rapport-breaking tone and victim mentally, coupled with mannerisms hard-drilled into his speech pattern, with a dash of a slur and dull wording. Easily far from the Sinese's usual self.

He would later come to reflect upon this and heavily regret it, certainly.

WC: 466
TWC: 2,380/2,500

As Venus turned around to leave with the belongings that she’d just stolen, the face she wasn’t expecting to see was right there beside her, clearly not in open view otherwise she would’ve seen him when she entered backstage. She froze for a moment, obviously not anticipating that the situation would turn out like this, but she didn’t panic, she’s dealt with many worse situations than this. Instead, the pretty redhead merely smiled as she closed the cabinet and turned towards the drunk man – Jan Ren – who was also her temporary co-partner for this unbearable acting quest. A wicked smirk formed unto her lips as she gently brushed the strand of loose hair on his half-conscious face.

”Oh, aren’t you a very sweet boy?”

The Sinese man almost seemed as if he was prepared to take her out due to her actions and she’d wait, to see if he was planning on doing anything despite knowing that he wouldn’t; he was too nice, perhaps only if she did something worse than stealing. And, when he didn’t, she’d lean against the wall and speak, ”It’s just stealing – it’s not that bad of a crime. Sometimes people need to do things like these to survive, sometimes for the thrill. Maybe you’ll understand one day.”

Venus took her time taking off the costume that she was required to wear for the stage, which she no longer needed since she’d got what she came here to do. The performance would either turn out to be a failure or her client could simply find someone else to replace her position, but she didn’t care however it ended. ”You’re going to have people taking advantage of you if you keep being nice to strangers,” she’d give some advice, because she did have some basic decency in her to appreciate the kindness given to her.

”But, because you’ve already witnessed what I did, I’m going to have to hurt you.” She grinned. ”Just a little bit.” Right after she’d provided him a warning and before he could even respond – not that she was going to bother waiting for it – her first flew right across and landed in the middle of his face. The strength exerted would’ve been more than enough to knock him out but also controlled enough to prevent from breaking his skull. However, when she noticed the slight bleeding from his nose, the woman winced, ”My bad.” That was the cue for her to leave before she got caught from the rest of the performance crew, so she slipped out of the theatre through the backstage, as nimble as a thief.

Bam.

Knocked unconscious.

...When he came to, Jan Ren found himself laying down by the wall, surrounded by some of the fellow actors, Locklen among them. It was soon clear what had conspired. Keeping in mind the words and actions offered right before the redhead vanished, the Sinese internally cursed at himself for once again, being powerless there. In this instance, clearly high as well. For all its trouble however, the director appeared awfully nonchalant about the charade; "Welp, that one's on me! Hahaha, probably should have known better!" At least he was taking it well. Usually, the raven-haired would have thought these people to be a lot more stressed over such an occurence, but apparently not.

In short notice, the play was cancelled; and for the trouble and theft made, compensation was made through Locklen's personal pocket. With the 'grandiose' performance advertised throughout Marigold cancelled on such short notice, much backlash ran around with how unprofessional the theater management was, ultimately resulting in its reputation dropping significantly, once again. Not quite back to square one, but Jan Ren couldn't help but feel how his work over several requests was all but gone; further infuriating the boy.

Nevertheless, the silver lining laid in how the assumed attempt at the building really wasn't in Venus Rose; but in possibly someone else. Which was all the more worrying, for future times...

WC: 229
TWC: 2,609/2,500