"So this is your portal?" Di asked Isuka, poking the purple goop as it swirled around. Isuka nodded, having pulled a stone out of the ground to sit on while she read.

"Interesting," Di remarked, pushing one of her flowing, dark blue hands inside of the portal. "It feels like an Oobleck of sorts."

"It also seems to be one way," Isuka said. "In the day that had passed, I was not able to reach those two humans. It's a shame, they really made life interesting for me."

"Interesting, you say?" Di repeated, a plan of mischief forming in her head. "If it's interesting you want, we could do something together."

"With you? Never." Isuka shot the idea into the ground. She had already had the Lilim in her mind once. Any more contact with her and she might be placed under some sort of control or contract; that damn smile on the Lilim's face didn't do Isuka's worries any favors either.

"Aren't you thankful for what I did for you?"

Oh brother, this again, Isuka thought, rolling her eyes. "You hid in Kiris's mind and came barged into mine. I have no stake in your endeavors." Di shrugged and went back to staring into the portal, getting on her knees to get a closer look. "Oh, do go on about how we will never do anything else. It will make the next chapter we are both in all the sweeter."

"You can call them chapters but I still won't go with you."

"Fine, choose not to be aware," Di said with a smile. "Regardless, the scientist and the orderite are priority. For you see...I have a few things to be thankful for as well." She closed her eyes and let herself drop in. Isuka watched, at first placid until it hit her what had just happened. "Hold on," she said, getting off the stone and reaching into the portal. She couldn't feel any leg or body part lingering inside. "Uh, magical star lady?"

Di felt her life slowly seep from her, the sheath of stars and space leaving her skin until she was as bare as a baby. Her skin was revealed to be pale, her body thin and lithe, and falling through the purple portal. Her exit opened under her, her body turning sideways as she came crashing through the roof of her old bedroom. She bounded after her initial landing, the bed springs creaking as her body slowly lost all the energy she had from falling. She watched the purple portal to her magical world disappear and fade away, leaving her lying in the darkness of the room.

She sat up and crawled around on her creaky bed, her hands and legs shaking from the weakness in her muscle. She slid down the edge, feeling her socks touch the carpet for the first time in forever. She kept her hands outstretched as she went to the opposite side of the room, feeling the head of the lamb and moving downward to turn the switch on. Her pupils shrank in pain once it came on, causing her to turn away while her eyes slowly adjusted to her room. The peeling wallpaper on the walls made her a bit nostalgic. She saw the lightbulb on her roof, somehow still swinging from the roof on its copper wire. There was still a wet, gross spot on her roof, but it wasn't seeping water into the bucket so she knew it at least wasn't raining. Still, the homesick feeling quickly melted away, overtaken by an overlying pessimism.

The hallway to the bathroom didn't make her feel much better. Nor did the bathroom itself, smelling of mold and metal. It was never this strong, she thought as she flicked on the switch. The constant blinking of the lightbulb did always make her head hurt, but now she could see her mortal body in the mirror. She had forgotten about the scars on her arms and legs, initially hiding them before she realized she was the only one in the room. Her glasses were still on, cracked in one lens. Her hair was still the same bird's nest mess from before, with split ends and bangs that competed to cover her eyes. She took them off and tossed them to the side before leaving the room.

She started going to one more room, being light on the creaking carpet as she traveled to the only other bedroom in the house. She stopped mid-way, seeing a square cut in the drywall to her left. "I'm only going to check," she whispered to herself over and over. But didn't seem to work like before. She had somewhere else to go, she believed and had no intentions of staying once she left the house. She wouldn't be here for the fallout. She wiggled her hands in the drywall and pulled it out, reaching her wall dust-covered fingers inside and pulling out a rusty switch-blade. If she was going to do it, now was her best time.

She continued her creep towards the bedroom, seeing light through the small sliver under the door. Her hand gently pressed against the door knob. Her grip tightened on the blade. She counted herself to three…

1….

2….

Creeeeeeaaak.

The door opened before she could turn the knob. She slowly opened it the rest of the way, her knife ready to stab as she took stock of the bedroom. Just like her own room, the lights weren't on, but the window on the left side was shining in the light coming in.

Oh yeah, this room had one of the few windows in the house.

She looked left and right and hurried in, rooting through the bed and finding a laptop under the blanket. Her face brightened like she had found gold, quickly opening it only to find the screen broken. "No, no nonono…" she said, rooting around some more for a charger. She ran back to her room. Hopping onto her shitty bed and plugging the cord in. She spam pressed her power button, shaking the screen to urge it on. Nothing ever came up, and with a frustrated yell, she sent the laptop careening into the wall, hearing keys rattle when it bounced off onto the ground.

"Fuck! Damn him!" She said, falling into her bed. She turned to the side, seeing the blade still in her arm. She tossed it back, seeing it tumble harmlessly onto the ground. "I need to get to New Jersey," she said, closing her eyes for one last nap in her room.

"I really hate all this paperwork," Lalu said, sitting beside Virto in their Kitchen. They had piles upon piles of papers that they had to read and sign, their life slowly draining with each flick of the pen.

"I hate it too, but we really can't do anything about it," Virto said.

"Well that's stupid! Just because they thought you were dead, but you weren't, means you suddenly have to get a social security number back!?"

"Well that, and the SWAT team the IRS sent," Virto said. They both looked around them, seeing men in full SWAT gear and weapons standing guard around them. An auditor was with them writing on a clipboard. She looked up at them every once in a while, giving a judging glare and shaking her head.

"Right, the people with guns. I already miss the other world."

"Does this other world have any money you are storing?" The auditor asked. Virto and Lalu laughed, looking and pointing at each other and the auditor.

She wasn't amused. "Did I say a joke?" They shut up immediately, shaking their heads. "Fine then. I'll have you know that if we do find you are storing money off-world, the punishment of this will be severe." They nodded and went back to paper signing, Virto stopping on one particular paper. They saw two SWAT carrying a glass cage upstairs, a xenomorph banging against the steel bar window of the cage. "You're confiscating my alien?"

"We have no interest in your lab. However, the Department of Homeland Security sees it differently." There was a crash outside, then screams as the alien started going on a rampage now freed. "Ah- You two-"

"Yeah yeah, we know," Virto and Lalu got up, going down to help out before anyone got eaten or killed.

Di explored the rest of her house, having thrown on some baggy clothes that she found in her closet. She held the knife close as she went into the living room and the kitchen, which were the only other two rooms in this single-story home. Both rooms were just as abandoned, with furniture gone and chairs laying smashed in the corner.

Already on her person was the emergency money she had stashed deep in her room, having promised herself she would only take it out once she was ready to go. Joining her single stack of cash was her broken laptop in the hopes that it will turn back on some day and the clothes on her back. She dug around the small kitchen for food, turning up dry with each drawer she pulled. Unless you count cobwebs as food, I mean. She closed the last cupboard, resigned to herself that there was nothing in here left for her anymore. She went out of the house, looking both ways before deciding to take a left down the street. She just needed to get to somewhere, she thought, then she could find something that could take her all the way up the states.

She walked a bit, making sure she was far enough from her house before she started knocking on doors. Most were no shows, but a few were at least willing to hear out her plight before shutting the door back in her face. She didn't blame them, but each shutdown stabbed her determination a bit deeper.

The sun was going down by the time she finally got a family to help her. She offered some of her money to take her upstate, talking about a plan to find a bus and ride it to a long-lost relative. The mom wanted to see if they could contact them, but she begged them not to. "I, I don't have their number," she said. "Please, all I need is a ride."

They were hesitant, but money was money. The father and oldest child were the ones the rode with her as they went up to one of the bigger towns, a distant 50-mile drive. She watched the scenery pass by her, clutching her bag like it was her baby girl. She worried that it could all be for naught, and the Virto in real life could reject her. Visions of her pet nerd looking at her with disgust filled her mind, leaving her to rot on his doorsteps as her last hope faded away. She was starting to regret going back through the portal. She should have just stayed and played god. She should have kept away and kept running.

The older sibling woke her up once they got into the city. She gave some of her money as promised and waved them off, pulling up her hood and looking around. There were a lot more people than she was used to in her sparsely populated neighborhood. She moved around people while looking around, deciding to go inside a store to freshen up beforehand. She got weird looks as she walked into the store, keeping her head down and rushing into the bathroom.

While she washed her face she looked at her bag, seeing the laptop peek slightly out. It was killing her not being able to turn it on. She looked around the bathroom and hide in one of the stalls, opening her laptop and seeing if it will come on. She held the power button again, crossing her fingers and praying.

Bee- Her eyes light up with hope when she heard something. She thought she had even seen a momentary glow. "Come on…" she said, trying to urge it further, but no more signs came. It needed more power now.

She came out of the store looking around. She saw a bunch of people on their phones, making calls and scrolling on apps while browsing all the food and waiting in line.

"Or maybe I just needed someone else's power," she whispered. She chose her target with precision, spying a mom that was waiting bored in the back of the line. Her phone was in her hand, but the screen was off. It was time to work the old Lilim charm. She put one foot after another, marching with regalness and authority….aaaround the shelf to hide from everyone amongst the seasoning. Damn it.

"Come on Di," she told herself. "This isn't you, you can do this." She peered around, still seeing the mom there. She had another chance, but her heart was pounding. It just needed to be natural, just go up and say….

"H-h-" the words were clinging to her throat. She was barely above the drop of a needle, much less loud enough to be heard in a busy store. She shrunk back into her hiding shot, staring at the salt on the bottom, self in misery.

"Hey, are you alright?" someone said above her. She looked up, seeing one of the store reps looking over her. He seemed off-put by the broken glasses. Of course he did, she probably looked homeless to him. "N-no," she said, clutching her bag.

"Alright, well you can't stay here. Are you buying something or…." she shuffled up and over to the salt, holding it out to him. "I want to...buy salt," she whispered back.

"Riiiight...well, I can scan it here actually." The store worker took out his phone, which had a weird-looking case with a scanner. "We installed this new thing where customers with a few items can just checkout if they run into a worker. Of course, store policy requires-"

"Can...I use your phone?" Di said, poking the side of his phone. He gave her a weird look but shrugged. "Actually yeah, why not?"

"R-really?" She said, not expecting such a friendly answer.

"Yep, honestly, it's a good way for me to get a break. Take as long as a call as you want," he said, reclining against the shelves. She awkwardly smiled and turned her back, quickly opening his browser. She wanted to talk to her online friend so bad, but she realized….

"Is there a way to get to another state?" she asked him. He arched an eyebrow and peaked over, seeing that she had opened one of his browser apps.

"Oh, you mean a Bluehound?"

"Bluehound?"

"Yeah," he said. "If you're trying to pay for one, then you would need your own stuff." Di looked in her bag, showing a peek of her broken laptop.

"Which you don't seem to have, wow. Did, did I stumble on something?" He asked. Di looked to the side, adjusting her glasses.

"Sorry, just, um, alright." He took back his phone out of Di's hand. Di initially gripped for it, but she was too weak to win in a struggle. "Just wait until the day ends, I'll, I'll see what I can do," he said. He gave a skeptical hug, Di's arms falling by her side. "It's gonna be alright," he said, moving on to see what other stuff he needed to do on his shift. "Thank you," she said silently. It was the first hug she had gotten in a long time.

She waited till the end of the day, watching the store slowly empty while she munched on a sandwich she made, the bread and lunch meat now added to her bag. She saw the man from earlier close the door behind him and went over, tapping his shoulder. "Huh?" he said, turning and seeing the hoodie lady from earlier. "Oh, hi again. Bluehound, right…."

"So I managed to get a ticket," he said, sharing his screen with Di in his car. They were still parked outside the store, staring at the app of the bus. "It's a little under 200, but that plus the laptop repair shouldn't be too much to handle."

"Please, let me pay for it," Di said, starting to take money out of her bag. The man grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"No, it's alright, I got it," he said back.

"But you've done so, so much already I need to at least offer something."

"You're leaving home or something, you need the money more than I need mine. Seriously, I can just make it back."

"But-" He tapped his phone's screen a few times, getting a notification. "Too late, I already paid for the ticket."

Knock knock knock, went someone against the window. They both looked out of the driver's side, seeing a police officer getting a light out of their pocket to see inside. "Hey, you aren't doing anything suspect in there are you?"

The storeman opened the door, letting the cop see inside. "No sir."

"Are you okay, young lady?" the officer said, asking Di instead. She nodded with the man. "He isn't hurting me."

"Alright missy. Just be careful about how you associate with. You don't look exactly swell." The gruff officer left and went back to his cruiser.

"That was close," the store man said, going back to showing Di the ticket. "It's going to come in the morning, but I know a place where you can get your laptop fixed right up before then."

"Thank you for doing all this," she said. "Everyone probably thinks you're some kidnapper or something and here you are, the complete opposite." She looked down, staring at the dimly lit floor of her seat. "I wish there were more like you around..."

"Why are you going to New Jersey anyways? I don't think I ever asked," he said.

"I'm just really need to meet up with someone there. You see...I'm not actually from this world."

"...what?"

"Wait I am! But I went to that world, but I was transported back to this one and...you're, nevermind, you think I'm crazy." She rushed out of the car, catching the man off guard. "Hold on wait!" He said, getting out with her. "You stopped midway!"

"I know you're probably just, weirded out at this insane person talking about this, talking about that okay?" She said, wanting so much to back away from the car. "Everyone always does, everyone!"

"Well I don't, and New Jersey is obviously a real place," he said. "You obviously seem that you want to leave a bad place, right?" Di looked away from his gaze but nodded.

"Right, so maybe I don't understand what's going on, but I do know when someone's hurting. And if getting you upstate is what is going to help, then why not?"

"But I'm a stranger…"

"Stranger's just another friend to me." He smiled and went back into the car, turning on the engine. "Come on, hop in!"

"Where, where are we going?"

"My place. I suppose you don't have anywhere to sleep right?" She shrugged no. "Well then, hop in!"

"Well...alright." She sat back in, holding her bag to her chest. The man put on his seatbelt and pulled out of his spot, driving her back to his home. He lived nearby the store, in an apartment complex that was four stories tall. He brought her and her stuff in, taking her up to his room on the third floor and opening the door. "Oh," he said. "It might be a bit messy."

"It's alright, I'm used to a mess," she said, wanting to be polite. He opened up to a one-room apartment, with the kitchen and bedroom joined together. The TV was on but fuzzy, and a pile of clothes that laid in the far corner of the room. The only other room was the bathroom, the door being beside the TV.

"Come inside, don't be a stranger now," the man joked, patting the bed. Di went over to him and sat, looking around at how good the walls and ceiling were. He said it would be messy, but only some dirty dishes and clothes lying around was a step up. "I need to use the bathroom," she said, going to go check out the bathroom. She opened the door and immediately her nose scrunched up, Di going back to sit down at the bed as she struggled to get the stank out of her nostrils. Maybe she spoke too soon.

"Yeah, my bad about that," the man said laughing. "I would have cleaned it if I was expecting company."

"Thank you, again," Di said. "I'll just sleep and be out of your hair."

"No need to limit yourself, you're running away! If you don't enjoy something, then what's the point?" He went over into the kitchen, taking some microwave pizza out of the fridge-freezer. "I ran away too, you know."

"Really?"

"Of course!" He said putting the pizza in the oven. "I hated how my parents were so controlling, and they even took me out of school because I was 'hanging around too many hooligans'. I think they were just racist, but I hated it, so I left and finished high school at my best friend's house."

"Your best friend seems wonderful," Di said, putting her bag down on the bed. She couldn't deny it was comforting, being able to let her guard down around someone that understood her situation to a degree.

"He was, he was also black, which might explain why they took away my phone," he said. "He didn't have to do that, nor his family. We would have been cool either way, but when I had nowhere else to go, they just took me in like I was another brother of his." The microwave beeped, and he took the pizza out, putting everything on a large plate for them to share on the bed. He turned on the TV, getting a fuzzy picture of the weather channel. "I promised myself that if I was ever in a situation to help someone like you, I would."

"But, you could get a murderer in your home…"

"Well, are you a murderer?" He joked. Di laughed and reached for a slice of pizza, but stopped before she picked it up. "I...can I have this? I always got sort of yelled at for-"

"Well your daddy ain't here, ain't he?"

"No…." Di looked at the television, seeing herself on it. She still had the same awful hair and the same awful glasses, but she felt as if she was different...lighter even. "I suppose not."

After a long night of pizza and sitcom laughs, the two fell asleep. Di woke up once the sun shined through the slits of the blinds, rubbing her eyes to see that she was changed into completely new clothes. She jumped and screamed, looking around and seeing the man using his phone on the bed. "Y-wh-what happened?"

"Oh, you were too asleep I guess, but we got some stuff done before morning," he said casually. "You also drank my wine."

"Sorry…"

"It's alright, I was the one who offered. How's your head?" She put it to her face, feeling an unusual sense of heat radiating from her temple. "Throbbing," she said, going to the bathroom to wash her face. "Did you have to change me while drunk?" she called from the bathroom, seeing her face. Her bangs and hair was trimmed, hanging neatly down to her neck instead of flowing everywhere over her shoulders. She saw bandages on her arms and legs, and some high-going socks over them to cover up her skin. She was also wearing a skirt and a cute jacket with a My Little Pony shirt underneath.

"It was either that or let you sleep naked on the bed. Trust me, I am not trying to catch a case at all."

"Are you sure nothing weird happen?"

"Other than your rooting through the thrift store, not much," he said. "Your laptop is also fixed, and I bought you a new charger. That one-"

"Fixed?" she said, leaving the bathroom and picking up her bag. She found her laptop completely restored and cleaned. She bit her finger squealing and turned it on, almost crying when she saw the logo. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She said, jumping to wrap the man in a hug. She squished him with all her might before catching herself, relaxing the hug just a smidge. "I mean…thank you so much."

"Funny enough, this is what I was like when my friend got me a new phone to replace the old one," he said with a big grin. "So, were you be able to contact that other world with your otherworldy powers, or is that not how it works as a human being?" he said, half-sarcastically.

"I'll have you know that I'm not lying," Di said, not amused of being made fun of. "...But I understand it. So, what is the time of the bus?"

"You have an hour, so we can do whatever we want around here," He said. Di thought about it, walking around the bed before turning to him with a lewd grin.

"You know, I'm still a virgin in this world," Di said. "Maybe I want to feel what it's like one time before I go?~"

"Oh?" He said, being pushed into a wall. Di grabbed his collar, unbuttoning his shirt with a sultry smile. "Oh ho ho, I see I see~"

And like that, fireworks. I shall now put inside your head an image of fourth of July fireworks, because I am not horny enough to write out this scene. I apologize for the inconvenience.

"Oh god that was wonderful!~" Di exclaimed, laying on him with the blanket concealing both their bodies. "I felt like I was on clouds for hours~"

"Yeah, I can still feel myself inside you..." he sighed in bliss, reaching to the side to check the time on his phone. "Oh, wow it has only been two minutes."

"What?" Di said, checking the time with him. "Oh, well then."

"Guess you can try something else before you go."

"Hmmm….well, I have one more idea to try."

After her idea, they finally went to the Bluehound station, Di now having exchanged her old bag for a small suitcase, filled with more clothes and enough supplies to make sandwiches for a week. They watched the bus arrive at the station, the two of them hugging one last time before they went on. "Thanks for putting my suitcase up there," Di said, finding her spot on the bus. The man sat beside her, grunting as he got settled onto the soft leather.

"Oh, you don't have to stay with me," Di said.

"Oh I'm not, I'm also a passenger."

"But you don't have a ticket!"

"Oh don't I?" he questioned. "Take a closer look at your ticket." Di opened her laptop and checked the screenshot, seeing the group icon on the ticket. "I bought a doubles!" he said. "Surpriiiiise."

"But, your job!"

"I took a couple days off. I had to make sure you got you wherever you went safe. And if it doesn't work out, you can just come back with me." She had a small blush, feeling embarrassed from how far he was going for her. "T-thank you….I need to know your name."

"Alan, you can call me Alan," he said with a thumbs up. Di gave a thumbs-up back, giggling into her bag as the bus started moving. She fell asleep as the buildings and scenery started flying by her, her body deciding to take another recuperation.

The sound of hissing woke Di up. She looked out the window just in time to see the sign for the state of New Jersey go by. She shook Alan, stopping once his eyes started to open too. "Where are we?" Alan said, rubbing the crust out of his eyes.

"New Jersey!" Di whispered loudly. "We're almost there!"

"Oh, nice," he said. "So, do you know where to go exactly?"

"I know the street. I didn't become an all-powerful being by not thinking to ask beforehand, you silly goose."

"Cool, what about the street name?" Alan asked.

"...You will have to get back to me for that," Di said, side-stepping the question. They felt the bus slow down at the local Bluehound station, hopping off with Di's stuff and looking aright. "Alan, wait!" she said, noticing the lack of anything on her escort's person. "You don't have any things!"

"I know someone I can stay with up here," Alan said. "It will be fine, I swear."

"And you say I am the ditz," she said. "Now, all we have to do is find the street right?"

"Yep, and fast too," Alan said looking up. The sun was already a good way through the sky, and no one would like to be out in the streets once it was dark. It was a daunting task, but Di was confident that they could cover a street's worth of housing in no time.

"You know something Virto?" Lalu said, meeting his friend on the front steps with two cans of soda. The sun was almost completely down, leaving the streetlights to come fill the void in the purple-blue horizon. "I'm starting to think that we should have stayed in the portal."

"Between Leana being in the hospital, people finding out I'm not dead, and almost getting the house repossessed, again?"

"That, and I miss Issia," he said. "I thought we would have figured out a way back by now, but it's been one thing after another...what if we never get back?"

"I'm sure we will figure out something," Virto said shrugging. "We always do." Lalu cheered to that and drank from his can, spying two people walking down the street. They both look like they got off a plane, the woman having dried mascara coming off her eyes. She looked like she was crying, taking a couple more steps before stopping in her tracks.

"I can't anymore Alan," Di said, shaken up. "We searched all over town, yet not one person was him…" She fell to her knees on the ground, unable to stop the tears falling down to the ground She pressed her fingers against the concrete, almost dragging her nails against the surface in dismay. "All this effort you went through for me, yet...I failed."

"Hey, hey now, it's alright," Alan said, kneeling down beside her. "You haven't failed at anything. Sometimes, you just can't get lucky all the way."

"But I left everything for this," she said. "I had it all, and I just had to throw it away for something as silly as closure!" She slammed her fist into the sidewalk. "This is why I run Alan, just can't take being hurt anymore."

"Hey, drama queen can you fuck off? You're ruining the mood!" Lalu called from afar.

"Wonderful, now we're being heckled because of me," Di said, curling up in a ball. "Excuse me while I wait to be run over."

"Like I would let that happen," Alan told her before turning to the two on the porch. "Hey dude, why don't you make like a tree and leave us the fuck alone? It's a public sidewalk!"

"I don't give a shit, go cry inside a house," Lalu said.

"Even close to death, I can still hear that orderite's voice...oh the fun I had with him…" Di said. Alan furrowed his brow, looking at her, then Lalu, then back at her again. "Uh, ma'am?"

"Hey, cut it out dude," Virto said, hitting Lalu in the shoulder. "She's obviously had a rough day, we're just making it worse."

"Read my lips Virto, idgaf our house got swarmed by SWAT. If anything our day was probably worse!" Lalu complained, taking another sip. "She's probably just a tourist or something who lost her bus stop."

"Now I can her my pet Virto," Di cried, wiping her nose of snot. "I just miss them so much…"

"Virto…" Alan could almost hear the gears turning in his head. It was a long shot, but he grabbed Di, lifting her up on her feet and turning her head towards the two hecklers. She quieted down when she saw Virto, recognizing that iconic green hair and thin frame. Virto caught her gaze and looked back, looking around themself before pointing inward. "Lalu, she's looking at us."

"Yeah…" Lalu said, seeing what they only knew as a stranger pick up her bag and start to walk over. She had a meek body posture, but that didn't make it any less strange when she got within talking distance of them. The two were even more confused when she got on her knees and bowed. "H-hi…"

"Hey?" Virto said. Now they were perturbed. "Please get off our steps?"

"I know, but may I please ask you both one question?"

"Hell naw, bowing is weird," Lalu said, starting to go inside. Di gulped, knowing she didn't have much time to get it out. She didn't know how to say it, so she got back upright and just blurted it out: "DoyoubothknowIsuka?"

Lao stopped at the door, turning around as he had just misheard what he just said. Virto was stunned, not expecting that answer at all. "What?" was all they could utter, leaving Di to repeat it again.

"Do, you, both know Isuka?" Di said, slower and more collected. She stood back up but she was still on shaky toes, the hands clutching her suitcase handle shaking.

"Virto, I'm perplexed," Lalu said. "Do you know her?"

"Not at all," Virto said. "Do you?"

"I wouldn't expect either of you to," Di said. "But it was the only thing I knew both Virto and the orderite would recognize…may Alan and I please come inside?"