Even with Crystal sitting at the desk Amoe could smell the bud from the couch as Crystal unsealed the bag. She watched Crystal's slender fingers picked up little bits of plant before she delicately packed it into the bubbler, the piece having a multicolored swirled design that wrapped around the glass. Amoe hadn't smoked before she was in college, but now, late in her freshman year, she had smoked enough to know that she really enjoyed it. She didn't consider herself a stoner as she never bought the stuff herself, but she wouldn't pass up on the opportunity when it presented itself. The late nights smoking with Mark, Steph, and Crystal were some of the most fun she had that year, and she enjoyed the eclectic and varied conversation that could occur when people started rambling, lost in their own thoughts.

***

“HUAAAAAAAH”

I woke up gasping, confused and in pain. At first all I could see was darkness, my eyes adjusting to a strange, dirty yellow wall in the dimness. As my eyes focused I could see the wall covered in black and brown dirt and debris while a long black rope was seemingly pasted into it, running from one side to the other, curling and rapping over itself before disappearing out of my view. My vision focused on it, trying to understand what it was, with intermittent lengths of it that were wrapped or covered in what looked like a mix brown seaweed and a dark yellow cotton candy, the clean portions of it seeming to shine in strange metallic kind of way.

It was then I could feel the pain in my shoulder, and I realized I was lying on my back; the wall above me was a ceiling and I could see the dirt that hung from the strange rope to seemed to sway back and forth , moved by an an unfelt breeze.

A relentless dread washed over me as I struggled to move, but it felt like my body was wrapped in warm fur, almost like I was buried in sand made of nothing but the hides of some kind of fuzzy animal.

The ceiling above me suddenly rippled like a strange wave, loosening fuzz and dirt from it that sent the debris falling and floating around me. A piece dropped down and landed on my lips before a small breath from my nose caused it to tickle my nostrils, the thing smelling of strong old cheese.

And this smell caused a flood of memories, the terrifying realization that the musky smell around me was of old slippers and dirty feet, and I realized what I was looking at. The pain in my shoulder throbbed as I found myself useless struggling in the oily browning fuzz that wrapped my whole body, a bit of light emerging as cool air blew the oily fuzz around me on the edges of my vision.

As the wall of flesh above me crested before folding back in itself, the whole thing unnaturally shifted downward, till I was left trembling at the enormous dirty yellow digits that hung off the ends of them. Dirt was rolling off of and between them, each bit of pebble and fuzz causing me to whimper and twitch as I stared in terror at the enormous digits. They slowly swayed up and down, each one looking like an enormous leather couch, the swirls covering the skin intermittently filled with dirt, fuzz, and whatever filth had clung to them. Amoe's toes...

***

Amoe picked her knees up, exposing her heel from her slippers, and stretched her legs forward. Her toes lifted up naturally inside her slippers as she popped her heel further out, feeling the cool fresh air against the bottom of her sole and heel, before pressing her toes back into it old furry insole, causing the back of the slipper to slap against the bottom of her foot.

Crystal had finished packing the bowl, reaching for a lighter as she did. Amoe simply watched, her hands tucked below her thighs as she pulled her slipper clad feet back under her. Her toes were now snug in her shoes, and she unconsciously begin to tap her slippers against the floor, an innocuous movement in which she could feel her worn old insole compress underneath her as the fluff pushed up between her toes. The area underneath the ball of her foot was trampled flat in the comparison to the area underneath her toes, although the places where her toes lied where flattened still in comparison to the rest of the insole. She would occasionally pause, squeezing at the fluff between her toes as she watched Crystal with anticipation.

***

“UGHHH-”

I gasped as the air was ruthlessly forced out of me. The monstrous toes had narrowly missed my face before they pushed in the fluff wrapping the rest of my body, the weight of them pushing on my chest and ruthlessly forcing the air our of me. I could no longer breathe, my body writhing uncontrollably as I fruitlessly attempt to escape the monsters that continued to beat me.

They lifted up, shifting away from and behind me, further into the shoe, allowing me to gasp in one shallow breathe before the wall of flesh came down onto me.

WHAM

It felt like my whole body had been punched all at once, an sharp pain emanating from everywhere as I the fleshy wall of skin pushed me deeper into the fluff, only able to sense the heat and blackness amongst the pain.

Suddenly it lifted off me, but I had no time to breathe before the ceiling of skin came crashing down again

WHAM

I was dazed, unable to make sense of what was happening when the wall shifted up just enough for me to see a fluff covered hair compressed amongst the dirt that was wedged into the skin, before it all came back down.

I tried to scream, but with no air in my lungs it was nothing but a noiseless whimper.

WHAM

***

Crystal lit up the bubbler, sparking the lighter before moving her hand over the weed, the flame over the fresh herb instantly smelling up the room. With it lit, she drew in a breath, instantly lighting the herb and creating the tell tale sound of gurgling as the smoke passed through the water. To Amoe, the now familiar sound was associated with the pleasant high of marijuana, peaking her interest as she lightly tapped her foot below her.

***

WHAM

My vision was a kaleidoscope, the beating I was taking right now beyond anything I had experienced in my entire life. I had completely lost track of time, only sensing fear and pain as the wall of skin above me undulated and shifted, the lack of air competing with the raw pain from the blurry wall that lingered above me as to what caused me the most panic, time seeming to slow as I watched dirt and debris fall down onto me.

Before the fleshy wall came down once again.

WHAM

***

Amoe watched as Crystal smoked, but she wasn't sure if it was entirely the bud that interested her. Crystal's red dress did not betray her obvious beauty, her orange hair glimmering like a red river. Amoe picked up her legs and brought them down rapidly, the rapid shuffling physically manifesting her nervous lust. But it wasn't just that alone; a mix of alcohol, fatigue and repressed sexual tension all playing into it as her feet and toes grazed the old worn insole as she started moving her feet in and out of her slippers.

Before Crystal finished smoking Amoe pressed her feet back into the slipper, expecting to receive the bubbler from her, reaching out her hand. As she stamped down on the old fuzzy insole she noticed something unusual under her right foot, what felt like a soft, smooth stone or plastic, exposed in the fluff of her slipper, an otherwise foreign material she had never noticed in all the years wearing the old things. It was barely noticeable underneath the ball of her foot. She instinctively shifted her foot, lifting and sliding it back enough so that her toes hovered over it, getting ready to probe at it. As she was about to put them down, Crystal exhaled, drawing Amoe's attention back to her beautiful red haired friend. She must have been holding her breath as long as she could, because she coughed and hacked as the marijuana poured out of her mouth. Amoe's watched as the smoke slowly passed her face, her own shallow breath allowing her to taste it.

***

Am I dead?

Everything felt hot and black around me, like I was covered in an enormous leather blanket. I couldn't breathe, panic filling me as I realized that I was completely locked in place, a wave of memories rushing back to me as the pain in my shoulder only felt slightly worse than the aching of the rest of my body. Just as I began to black out from lack of air, the wall of flesh mercilessly lifted off of me, the flesh rippling above me sending fuzz and dirt raining down around me as it did, the bit of my face still exposed from the rest of the fluff still covered in oily fuzz amongst the bits of dirt added to it, threatening to clog my nose.

I gasped for air, tasting the humid environment of the slipper, bits of dirt and filth slipping into my mouth, causing to me to hack and cough as I struggled to breathe through my nose or mouth, whatever I could before dirt or fluff when inevitably clog my breath; my vision still blurry in the humid dim environment of the slipper.

But my brief respite only lasted a second, before a new terror took it's place. As my vision refocused, I found myself staring once again at the bottom of Amoe's toes, her big and second one now hovering directly above my face, the bottoms of the big toe probably bigger than my whole entire body.

It seemed to hover there, shifting up and down slowly, like it was contemplating what to do with me.

“Please...” I whimpered, looking at the toe like it might be able to hear my begging. “Amoe...”

***

Amoe, forgetting what she had just noticed in her slipper, laughed as Crystal continued to hack, reaching out for the bubbler as Crystal awkwardly handed it to her while she kept wheezing away. Amoe shifted her foot below her, her big toe resting partially on the trampled old fuzz and on the side of the strange thing wedged into her insole.

“That's some good stuff” Crystal said, gasping for breath as she continued to wheeze.

***

“HA, you think so?” Amoe's voice boomed around me, strange and otherworldly, seeming to emanate from every direction.

Her big toe now rested just next to my face, looking like an enormous dirty boulder that blocked my vision of anything in that direction. I could see dirt caked into the ripples of her skin, bits of oily fuzz clinging to the sides of it that looked like seaweed. The bottom tip of her nail was visible, a layer of black grime wedged into it where it met her flesh. A bit of her flesh swelled as it pressed against the fluff of the slipper insole next to me, her hot, dirty skin touching the side of my face. The feeling of the skin reminded me of the terrible pain I had just felt only seconds before, causing me to shake uncontrollably.

I couldn't stop trembling, feeling the heat from the thing that lay slightly on the side of my face, and I spoke to it fruitlessly, begging it to have mercy.

“Please...” I cried, quivering as I watched the digit slowly rise and lower itself next to me, the flesh slightly expanding outwards and loosening the fuzz so that it rolled off and onto me, causing me to twitch in fear, before it pressed down on the side of my face again.

“... Don't...” I started to say, but it didn't matter.

The toe slid backwards, dragging fuzz and dirt with with it, her nail shifting forward and revealing the face of it in a strange metallic sheen.

***

“Ha, you think so?” Amoe said, taking the lighter and sparking it up. She hadn't waited more then a second before drawing in a breath, and the effect was immediate, a light headed feeling that made the world seem out of focus for a second, the effect of alcohol mixing with the weed to give her whole body a warm, wobbly feeling, a sudden sensation of touch that made the couch she was on feel softer and more comfortable. She curled her toes unconsciously below her, slowly sliding her big toe back and onto the tip dragging some loose dirt and fluff along with it.

She leaned back as she exhaled, looking towards Crystal, who's eyes were already slightly pink, her toes sliding back forward as she relaxed, rolling loose oily fluff and whatever other various bits of old junk along with it. Amoe didn't cough, simply exhaling, looking at Crystal who smiled at her as she did, Amoe handing the bubbler back to her.

***

The big toe slid forward again, sliding against the side of my face as it did, the loose dirt and fuzz underneath her toes rolling along with and smearing me in strange oily paste. I didn't have more than a second to think about, when the toe shifted upward, the dirty bottom of it dangling loose fuzz and dirt as the whole thing shifted over me, before it slowly started to lower.

“Please!!!” I shouted with all of my might. “Please God, Don't-!”

But it was already too late, the dirty bottom of Amoe's big toe pressing down onto my face like an enormous dirty couch cushion, pushing my head further into the fluff as the warm skin warped around me. Everything was black, the pressure steadily increasing, and I would have been screaming if it was possible, only able to taste the dirty skin as it pressed into my lips.

***

Amoe looked at Crystal sparking the bubbler, unaware as she slowly curled her toes back below her. Noticing the strange thing slightly under her toe she remembered what she had felt earlier. Not really thinking, she shifted her big toe over it, before lightly probing the foreign entity with the somewhat fuzzy bottom of her toe. Whatever it was felt relatively soft beneath her, but was devoid the fluff of the rest of the insole and was smooth in comparison, although she could just barely feel distinctive bits of loose fuzz and dirt there underneath her, a feeling she couldn't really notice amongst the normal fluff of her slippers.

The gurgling sound of the bubbler drew her attention back to Crystal as she inhaled. Amoe watched Crystals eyes focused on the flame; the crossed eyed look caused her to giggle. Crystal looked at her when she did, and Amoe couldn't help but blush, instinctively lifting her toes up from the insole of her worn slippers slightly, her heel partially removed. This allowed the fresh air sneak in, as most of her foot remained inside the slipper, just enough to allow a slight cool breeze between her toes. With her heightened senses she could feel the distinctive fluff and dirt between them, the sensation of the tiny particulates a small annoyance to her. She didn't think as she wiggled her toes, smearing some of the dirt and fluff between them deeper into the gaps between her toes, while some fell out of from between them, dropping onto smashed and worn insole below where the strange foreign entity lay. As she did, her second toe grazed the object again, which only drew the smallest of notice from her as she eagerly awaited the bubbler to return to her.

***

As the dirt and grime fell out from between the monstrous toes that wiggled above me, I couldn't help but give a pitiful whine as the bits touched my face.

“Eeeehhhh....”

The massive digits wiggled up and down, the bottom of one going down as another curled upward like some kind of strange flesh piston. Each time they pulsed the muggy slipper air blasted me like the wind, bits of dirt and fuzz blowing up around me as I struggled to breathe amongst the disgusting particulates flying around. I could see the oily fuzz hanging off the bottoms of her toes, dancing up and down as the monsters above me jerked in different directions.

I watched as a large blob of filth emerged from between her smaller toes. I only could tremble as the while it was continuously smeared up and down between her toes, before it fell down onto me, hitting my lips. I could smell it distinctly, like a moldy cheese that had been left the sun too long.

And then her second toe came down further, the tip of the bulbous flesh grazing me face as it did. I could feel the heat of it before the warm flesh touched my face, her skin covered in an oily sheen where dirt and fluff wasn't, smearing the dirt and grime on the side of my face before it shifted back upwards again, pausing for one last wiggle.

I trembled as the dirt showered down from above as the toes remained in their raised position, before Amoe's big toe once again shifted above me, the swirls on the bottom of her toe smeared black and brown as it positioned itself like a lion ready to strike.

“Please...” I whimpered, staring at the toe, hoping against hope that it would somehow hear me.

And then it lowered itself, and I didn't realize as was crying as dirty flesh caused my whole world to turn black.

***

Obliviously her big toe probed the strange thing in insole, almost as if it had mind of it's own, before Amoe noticed the feeling of the loose fuzz and dirt coating the strange thing below her. As she shifted her toe across the surface of whatever it was, she dragged some of the filth along with it. The odd material felt unusual enough to finally draw her conscious attention.

Huh, it's like a piece of the fuzzy insole has worn away... she thought. She shifted her toe across it, where bits of fluff and dirt she could tell were flattening as her toe smeared the stuff across it, the thing oddly cooler in comparison to the rest of the flipper, the juxtaposed feeling causing her to shiver.

But just as she started to look down to inspect her slipper, Crystal drew her attention, the bubbler suddenly in front of her. As she grabbed the bubbler she leaned back, removing her slipper from her left foot as she swung her right leg over her left, the slipper on her right foot dangling slightly out of her shoe as she picked up her toes and dropped them so that the rest of the slippers insole would slap the bottom of her foot. She lit the bubbler as she did, drawing in breath for a few seconds before suddenly feeling choked, finding herself hacking up a cough like Crystal earlier, her leg jerking wildly as she stretched it outward, gravity causing her foot to fully reinsert itself to it's slipper home.

***

It felt like I was flying. The light around the slipper seemed to bounce as the dirty flesh that was the ball of Amoe's foot hovered above me, rippling as it seemed like I was being rocked on a ship on the high seas. The fresh air from outside the shoe felt cold on my face as the dirt and fuzz blew around me like it was in a storm.

I was screaming all the while, but it didn't matter as the world continued to spin.

***

Amoe coughed and coughed, feeling high already, swinging her right leg back under her and putting her left foot back into her old slippers. Crystal smiled at her as she did, and Amoe finished coughing she found herself giggling, Crystal cocking her head like a dog.

Crystal giggled as well, but then paused.

“What's so funny?” she said.

Crystal smiled as she looked at Amoe and the two girls once again locked eyes. The goofy smile on Crystal's face caused Amoe to blush; she felt a sexual tension in the air between them. The way that Crystal looked back at her she felt like she could tell.

“Oh... nothing” she managed to say, staring down at her slippers.

The things looked even more worn and old when she was high, but the feeling of warmth and comfort were also enhanced. She could feel the pulse of her foot within them, not quite sure if the thrumming was more intense from high, the tension, or both.

Crystal stood up and walked over to Amoe, shuffling her bare feet left and right like she was dancing, before sticking her butt out and turning to sit on the couch next to her. Amoe stared at her body as she did, unable to help but admire Crystals slender form, her ass and boobs not the largest but still plump in their own right.

***

I could feel nothing but heat and blackness as the dirty ball of Amoe's foot had me completely buried underneath it. I tried to keep my eyes shut, but as the rough skin pushed into my face I could feel my skin pulling away, forcing my eyes and mouth open.

I was trying to breathe as I felt the a strange foot oil seeping into my eyes, stinging them as rough bits of dirt and grime smeared into my skin; I desperately tried to move my face in any direction to draw even a shallow breath, but it was impossible, I was only able to sense the heat and blackness under the ball of Amoe's foot.

***

“Like what you see?” Crystal said, smiling.

Amoe felt hot at the words, instinctively pushing her feet down into her slippers, unable look at Crystal. But as she did, she felt the strange thing below the ball of her foot again, diverting her attention downwards. The weed and alcohol bounced her mind in all directions, and the strange feeling amongst the usual old warm fluff of her slipper drew her curiosity once again.

Oh yea. She remembered. What is that?

She twisted the ball of her foot slightly, feeling the strange entity warp and push slightly as she did, tingling her skin in a way that she felt a slight tickle. At this she started to giggle, the feeling enhanced by the heightened sensation of weed, her eyes turning to the floor and her dirty old slippers. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she slipped her foot out of her slipper, the cool air sharp against her skin making her feel oddly exposed.

***

“HE-HE-HI-HE-HE”

The giggles of Amoe seemed to boom around me, even in the dark blackness of the flesh that completely buried me beneath them. I couldn't scream as the pressure seemed increase, the oily flesh mercifully greasing me as it seemed to pull my face in every direction, smearing dirt and fluff across my face as the weight of the thing pressed it into my skin.

I would have been screaming from pain if I had been able to; I was so deprived of oxygen I was more desiring to draw a breath.

And just as if a miracle occurred, the foot lifted off of me, and just as fast it disappeared from the slipper, leaving me lying in dim light. The foot that had been tormenting lurked somewhere below me at the entrance of the cave I was buried in.

I could hear myself crying before I heard the goddesses above me speak, their voices echoing around me like thunder.


***

Crystal looked at her friend, and then followed her eyes down to the floor, looking at her friends bare foot. It was visibly colored with dirt and fuzz in comparison to earlier, bits of wispier flakes of fluff sticking out from under the nails on her toes, larger black and brown specks of dirt intermixed with a few stray loose hairs covering her skin. Amoe picked her toes up to the roof of the slipper, lifting the old thing up with it, the edges around where her heel rested torn and dangling off of the edges.

“What's so funny?” Crystal said again.

Amoe's eyes were now as equally pink as Crystals, and it looked like she was squinting as she looked around.

“Huh?” Amoe said, tilting her toes forward as she did, looking at the insole of her slipper as it dangled below her foot, trying to find whatever it was she felt amongst the fluff. Yet as she tilted her toes back and forth, she could see nothing, just the the formerly white fluff stained a shade of brown changing colors as the light hit it from different angles, a loose hair hanging off the bottom of her foot.

“You're staring at your slippers” Crystal said, before giggling again. “What, did you finally realize you need a new pair?”

Amoe rapidly shook her slipper back and forth as she responded.

“C'mon!” She said, her face turning slightly red as she continued to shake her slipper, the thing bouncing rapidly into and against her foot from all angles as she jerked her foot in various directions. She then picked up and uncrossed her leg, before letting her slipper clad foot fall back to the floor with a small thud. Amoe then pulled her foot slightly out of the slipper again, allowing her to see the her plain foot, the bits of fur and hair not exactly visible to her with her poor vision, but she could feel the things on her skin and between her toes.

“They aren't that bad...” She said, looking down as she pushed her toes into the trampled down fluff where her heel rested, picking her toes up to tilt the slipper upward onto it's heel before she let it fall back down the ground.

“Not that bad?” Crystal said, laughing. “They are literally falling apart!” Both the girls were staring at the slipper now.

“But, really.” Crystal said, calming down a bit. “What's up?”

Amoe looked up at Crystal for a second, forgetting what it was that Crystal was asking about.

“Huh?” She said, before remembering.

“Oh...” Amoe said again, reinserting her foot back into the warm slippers, just far enough so that her toes were above where the ball of her foot rested and weird bit of insole lay. She could feel the bits of fuzz and dirt wedged between her toes still, instinctively wiggling them to loosen the various bits of trash trapped between them, letting them fall unceremoniously onto the fluffy insole and the strange thing in the insole below her toes.

“It's nothing...” She said, pausing before lowering her toes down onto the sole, the strange object in her sole making contact with the bottom of her second toe. The odd feeling of it against her skin caused a tickle as she did, and the feeling seemed to shoot up her leg in pleasure. Without thinking she shifted her big toe across the fluff towards it, dragging dirt and old fluff with it. As her big toe made contact she felt loose fuzz and dirt along with it, the detritus the toe dragged along intermingling with the various bits of loose oily things already there.

She looked up at Crystal as she began shifting her big toe back and forth across it, the foreign entity causing her to smile as it tickled the bottom of her toe.

“I think there's something in my slipper...” she paused, visibly shivering as she felt the strange thing below her toe as she dragged it across, oddly enjoying the feeling of it rubbing against her skin as the fluff and dirt rolled along with it.

“It almost feels like...” She paused, enjoying the feeling of the dirt and fluff rolling under her toe and the strange entity wedged into her sole.

Amoe lifted her heel up, lifting her toes up at the same time so that her foot formed somewhat of a little v shape. Her toes hit the top of the slipper near the mouth of it, pushing the roof of the shoe upward, as Amoe looked under her sole, into the bed of the slipper.

Both the girls stared down at the back of Amoe's foot and the insole, the skin on her heel and the side of her foot visibly discolored brownish black, bits of fluff and dirt clinging to the bottom as a few loose hairs hung down from the bottom of it. Even if Amoe was looking, she wouldn't have been able to see the individual detritus clinging to the bottom, but could see that parts of her sole were slightly discolored, a sight she was quite used to from wearing the old things.

“Do you see anything?” Amoe said, shifting her toes down for a second before lifting them back up into the roof, the loose hairs swaying off the bottom of her sole.

Crystal looked down into the fluff for a second, ignoring her friends dirty foot. It looked just like an old fuzzy insole would, the fluff smashed and stained where her foot rested, not much visible beyond the mouth of the slipper where her foot blocked the rest of the insole.

“Just that you need to get a new pair of slippers” Crystal paused to laugh. “God, how old are those things?”

Amoe bit her lip, wiggling her toes as the entrance of the shoe up and down, small glimpses of light revealing the dark worn insides for the briefest of seconds before her toes lifted up again.

Crystal laughed. “What does it feel like?”

Amoe released her lip from bite.

“I guess... like...” She said, before pausing, slipping her foot fully back into the slipper again and looking at Crystal. She slowly lowered the ball of her foot back into the sole, feeling the strange thing below amongst the various bits of fluff and dirt, the thing seeming to quiver below her as her dirty skin made contact with it. The odd movement caused a tickle on her leg, the physical pleasure causing a small smile.

Amoe finally responded “... like a bit of the fluff has worn off the insole, I guess”

Amoe looked at Crystal as she slowly shifted the ball of her foot on top of it, the thing rubbing against the ball of her foot curiously gratifying.

“but, I guess your right.” She said, before laughing. “I should get a new pair, shouldn't I?”

As she continued to knead the ball of her foot against it she felt for what could have only lasted a second like it was vibrating, a strange tickle filling her with pleasure, like a tiny little massage below the ball of her foot.

Crystal nodded, looking at the old slippers.

“I wonder what it was like in there...” Crystal said, looking at the old slippers.

The thought distracted her as she continue slowly grind the thing below her, before she looked up at Crystal.

“What do you mean?” she said, picking her slipper clad foot up slightly off the ground, causing the ball of the her foot to lift off from the thing in her insole.

Crystal giggled again. “Mark” she said, looking at Amoe.

Amoe lowered her slipper back onto the ground, tilting her head as she did, the ball of her foot making contact with thing before her skin warped slightly around, the rest of her sole nesting back into the old warm fluff.

Crystal laughed again. “Wow. You are really high.”

Amoe blushed again. “Whaaaat?” She said, extending her voice as she did.

“He was in your slipper earlier... helloooo” Crystal said in a sing song voice.

Both the girls looked down at her slipper again, Amoe feeling the old warm comfort of the slipper wrapping her foot, the slightly alien object partially covered in loose dirt and fuzz, all of it completely buried below the ball of her foot.

“Oh... yea” Amoe said, sounding slightly spaced out, before yawning. “That is... so... strange”

She tried to imagine what it must have been like, the familiar brown fluff of the slipper making up the walls and roof of what must have been like a cave to him. Her foot was inside the slipper now, and the idea of sticking her foot inside of there with Mark still in there made her uncomfortable, like being trapped at the bottom of a dark cave with a monster at the entrance.

The thought started to give her anxiety when Crystal touched her thigh with her hand, almost as if she knew she wanted a distraction.

“So what do you think of Mark's little... fetish?” She said, smiling.