Ethan

**Ethan** is a side character of Down to Earth. He is a high school student and one of Zaida's first friends on Earth. He unknowingly found the secret of Zaida being alien after seeing her float on the security cameras at Mallmart. But instead of telling others about her or blackmailing her, he wanted to become her friend and know more about her species and powers. Outside of Kade, Ethan is the first person to know that Zaida isn't human.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ethan is a young man with russet-colored skin, brown eyes, and black hair dyed blue at the tips. He wears square glasses and has a mole on the top left side of his cheek. A lot of what he wears is themed around the brand "I Believe" and he is usually is seen wearing alien-themed clothing.

### Personality

He is an optimistic, alien-loving, smug guy. He is a chill guy that is quick to give his trust and quickly becomes friends with people he likes. He can be very bad at talking to others and can say inconsiderate or he talks about what he thinks without notice. He can also be very persistent of things he finds curious about, like how he met Kade and Zaida and found their secret. He is also very supportive when it comes to his friends, whether that be giving an ear to listen to Zaida or giving Kade advice. He also likes to light-heartily tease Kade, poking fun at his feelings about Zaida because he wants to see them to get together.

## Story

### Events before the story

#### Early Life and Witnessing an Alien

Ethan grew up always looking up to his brother, and because of him, he gained an interest in space-related things. Due to the mutual interest they had, they would frequently talk about their wonders of space. Throughout these moments, they would always discuss the possibilities of what was out there, how aliens would look or sound like, and if there might have been another Earth-like planet out there. Their favorite thing to do is to go camping and spend their time UFO hunting until their eyes burned. The two would do things like this many times and create many good memories with each other, but as both of them got older, his brother started moving away from Sci-Fi and started focusing on other things in his life. Ethan, on the other hand, never really changed. Throughout his years he always stayed interested in space and always believed there was life somewhere out there. He chooses not to stop believing as he didn't want to let go of the thing that helped him bond with his brother, and he cherished it more than anything in the world. The interest gap between them, however, leads them to be more distant, but they never had a bad relationship with each other.

Ethan would go on attending and finish both elementary and middle school without anything interesting happening, but suddenly, in his sophomore year of high school, his brother got into a car accident and sadly didn't survive. Ethan grieved his death, but instead of letting the sadness consume him, it encouraged him to become even more interested in Sci-fi because it helped him memorialize and cherish the memories he had shared with his brother. It kept him grounded and being happy that he got to spend that time with him.

Ethan spent two more years living positively and merely trying to get over the high school as it was his last year but one day, he was working overnight, and he was ordered to check the security footage in case something had happened. All of a sudden, he saw something that would change his Sci-fi world forever. He witnesses a girl beginning to float to get a cat plushie on the top shelf along with some guy trying to pull her down, who he presumed was her friend. Out of shock, he deleted the footage out of their system, but wanting him to know more, He kept this footage to himself One day, on a trip to the "Panda Tea house", he came across the duo he saw that night in the footage. Wanting to uncover the truth of what was happening, he approached them with a question to Zaida, being "Is she an alien?”

### Season 1

#### Meeting Kade and Zaida

Kade and Zaida stood there quietly, while Kade takes the time to observe his choice of clothing. Kade tells Ethan to go away but didn't get the answer he wanted. So, he starts pushing them, questioning if Zaida was a witch, a fairy, a demon, or an elf. Zaida gets uncomfortable, but Ethan continues pestering her with questions and brought his focus on the shape of her ears, saying she had to be hiding something because of them. Zaida finally tells him she was a normal person and that she was just born with them and asks him if that wasn't normal. Ethan realizes he passed the line and before he can say anything, Kade grabs him by the collar demanding him to apologize. Ethan tries to cover his true intentions and out of panic tells him that he didn't know if they were real and thought she was cosplaying and didn't mean to offend her. Kade drops him, as he thought his lie was a reasonable assumption. He apologizes for his habit of taking what he thinks and shares his name. Wanting to get closer to them, he tells them that if they were free after, he would want to make it up to them. The two agree to go, as they were curious where Ethan was taking them. But to Kade's dismay, he took them to a busy arcade.

Kade gets second thoughts on not lying and before he can leave, Ethan goes off to load up cards for Kade and Zaida as his treat. The three go walking around and Ethan challenges Kade, telling him that he couldn't beat a pro. Kade brings up the fact that he hasn't played "Street Battle" since high school. Ethan says that he is about to finish high school, and Kade asks if he was attending Prime High. The two start talking about Mr. Smith and how he was a good teacher. Ethan gets Zaida's attention by saying she can go after he kicks Kade's ass, Kade starts getting competitive, but Ethan beats him without breaking a sweat. Zaida pokes fun at Kade for losing, but Ethan proceeds to also destroy Zaida and Kade pokes fun at her. Ethan starts boasting how he is good at competitive games but says they should go play something else, as it wouldn't be fun with only Ethan winning. Ethan gets captivated by the winnable prize at the claw machine, and he notices that Kade is gone and asks Zaida if she knew where he went, although she doesn't know as well. The two go walking around trying the find him, but Zaida suddenly vanishes, and Ethan wonders if he was being ditched. He continues walking around the place and suddenly hears Zaida scream in a nearby photo booth Ethan goes to surprise them but walks into Zaida and Kade in a very uncomfortable position.

The trio goes off getting food and states that he was both offended and impressed that they ditched him for alone time at a photo booth, with Kade trying to deny they were doing anything sketchy. Kades thanks him for inviting them for food, and Ethan tells him that it was no problem and that he still felt bad about it earlier, and tells Zaida that her ears were cool. Kade observes his choice of clothing and asks Ethan was into aliens. This question perks him up, and he goes on a rant on how some people do believe in aliens and repeats the story of him and his brother. This makes Kade look sad, and Zaida cry. Ethan tries to change to mood and invites them to a game of "DDR" or maybe more "Street Battles", but Kade turns him down saying they used all their points at the photo booth. Ethan is happy that the two had a good time, and they prepare to leave. Before parting ways Ethan provides Kade his number so that if he and Zaida ever get bored then they can consider Ethan to hang out anytime. The trio says their goodbyes, but wanting to know the truth of the footage, he informs them to wait. He says they were chill, despite the way they met, but wants them to be honest and ask them if they were the people in the video, as he pulls his phone to show them the video. Kade is nervous to know that all this time, Ethan recalled what happened through the security cameras at MallMart. Ethan tells him he works there, and all of a sudden Kade gets defensive over Zaida. Ethan tries to reassure him that there wasn't a reason to worry, as he was not there to cause any trouble and that he even deleted the footage from the system. Kade aggressively asked him to want he wanted, Ethan merely wants to uncover the truth if she is an alien.

Kade takes him back to his place so they can talk more in private. Kade and Zaida tell him everything that has happened up to this point. Although the thing that captures Ethan is the species that Zaida is from, the Zodians, and mainly their abilities to fly and read minds. Zaida offers to demonstrate and, of course, Ethan agrees. Ethan is amazed at her ability to fly, and Zaida boasts how she practiced a lot when she was younger, Ethan tries to test her ability to read minds as he tells her to see what he was thinking. Zaida explains that her telepathy only works through head contact and that if he was okay with being up close, she could demonstrate to him. Ethan doesn't care and tells her to go for it. The two touch heads, but Zaida quickly pulls back, shocked at Ethan's thought of her thighs being big. Kade gives him a look of disapproval and assures Zaida that he is not calling her fat. Ethan is amazed but is confused on how throughout the process he could feel like he was reading her mind too and saw her new art idea. Zaida explains that both parties share their thoughts. Ethan then asks if she was into art and if she could show him her sketches. She is more than thrilled to share and floats to Kade's room to get her drawings. The two guys are left there, and Ethan breaks the silence by wanting to ask something personal and asks him if sex for humans was the same for Zaida's species. This leads to a very uncomfortable conversation where Kade explains they weren't in that type of relationship and before they can continue, Zaida comes in to break this conversation and is confused about the way Kade was so red. Ethan explains that he misjudged their relationship and thought it was romantic. Zaida reassures him that they were only friends and shows him her art. Ethan is amazed at how good she was and how aliens were into art as well. Zaida tells him Kade was the one who taught her art and that she is very fascinated by it, along with many things Kade is teaching her about Earth. Ethan finally comprehends why they were living together, but then becomes curious about why she left Zodia for the earth. Zaida gets quiet, which makes him even more interested in why she left, questioning if it was because of intergalactic wars, if her planet was destroyed, or if she was an outlaw that was running away, before he can continue questioning her, Kade throws a pillow into his face and tells him that he should leave. Ethan gets up and thanks to them for spending their time with him and allowing him to meet a truly alien and that he was Zaida's number one fan. He also offers them to be a substitute teacher whenever they need one, and before he leaves he states that he was a bit disappointed that they weren't romantically uninvolved because he was up for the idea of seeing a Half-Alien/Half-Human child between the two, and says his goodbyes, leaving Kade in an unpleasant place to explain to Zaida what they talked about.

#### Gaining the trust of Kade

After meeting the two, Ethan begins wanting to be close friends with the two, and wanting to help Kade situation with money, he put in a good word about Kade to his boss as he considers his application to MallMart, and in the upcoming days, Kade starts working at the register.

On his first day, Ethan passes by the register to ask him how his first day was going, Kade sarcastically says delightful, and Ethan goes on boosting on his position and how he should be indebted on how he helped Kade to get the job. Kade says while he is thankful he wouldn't be moving in with his mother anything soon, he states he knows he didn't care about him and only did it for Zaida. Ethan ignores this and asks him if this would mean that they would be able to hang out more. Of course, turn him down and while Ethan tries to say he is only here to help but Kade just flat out says that he didn't trust him and that he knew about Zaida's secret before they met in "Panda Tea house" and that it seems like he was stalking them and him wanting to "help" them is just him wanting to get something he desires from them. Ethan tries to reassure him that he doesn't do anything creepy and it was just a coincidence that they went to the same place and that he merely happens to recognize them from the footage he tried not to look suspicious but he couldn't help himself. Kade still suspicious then asks him how he had a job as a Department Manager despite being in High school, Ethan just says he is a really smart kid, Kade just says it made him more suspicious than a female placed a load of crap on the casher, Ethan says he needed to go and if he needed anything that he was here, trying to cheer his mood.

A few days later, Kade had been stressed due to his struggle with his view on Zaida, and after being unable to clear his head to share his thoughts with Zaida, he resorts to asking Ethan for help on teaching her, of course, he agrees and later the trio meet at Kade's favorite restaurant "The Cherry Blossom" while Zaida is enjoying the amazing food, Ethan reminds her that they were there to teach her reading and writing, telling her that it wasn't gonna be easy and that she had a long road ahead of her, Ethan then comments on Kade saying that he wasn't interested in hanging out with him, asking him what made him change his heart. Kade doesn't try to pretend Ethan wants to hang out with him as a friendly get-together and states to him that he was only here for Zaida, and the only reason why he even dared to come was that he needed help teaching her. Ethan feels uneasy just moves on to Zaida asking her if she was prepared, She is hyped up more than ever, is ready to start. Two hours have passed and both Kade and Zaida were just done (Kade ate too much and Zaida had too much to remember) Ethan sees they made little to no progress and decides that they should end their meeting today, Kade never was faster to get out, he gives his thanks and tells him that he will text him if they were free again, Ethan not ready to give up tells Kade to wait and since he did them a huge favor that he should deserve some kind of payment. Irritated, Kade pulls out his wallet inquiring him how much he wanted, however, Ethan only wanted him and Zaida to go shopping with them. The two leave the restaurant and follow him to "Game Go", Kade calls him weird for wanting to just bring them there, Ethan says he just didn't want to check out games alone, then ask him what his favorite game is, Kade feeling uneasy, goes along with it and tells him that it was "The Legend of Zella: Flute of Past and Future", Ethan says that he did look like a Zella Fan, Kade is confused and Ethan explains that he looks like the person to like adventure genre and then says that he was a more "shoot em up" type of gamer, Kade express his dislike at shooting games for being bad at it, Ethan tries to encourage him saying that it only takes time getting used to it, Ethan along with Kade notice that Zaida was gone, then he got the front row seat on Stace crushing over Zaida and the beef between him and Kade, although he didn't say anything and didn't mention it until they left.

Around 2 days later, Ethan shows up after work questioning why Kade didn't arrive that day, and, to his surprise, Kade had quit. Kade lets him in to talk about why he quit while playing "Epic Bash Dudes" but eventually he ended up ranting and explaining the situation with his mangers Stace’s preposition and how he wanted to get buddy-buddy and how his new coworker, Suzy, made the mess of clothing just to make him go away, Kade then tells him that he loves working there but he a was already dreading to go back, Ethan sees why he was in a bad mood but gives him the advice that if he wanted to keep the job then he should deal with it by acting completely as stone so she doesn't get the reaction she wants and shows that it just doesn't bother him, Kade is very skeptical at this, but Ethan reassures him and pulls out his fist, telling if whatever were to go down, that he should be sure to share everything with him and not just Zaida. Kade smiles and bumps his fist declaring him that he would share if he were to be at him the next round, Ethan gets flustered as this was the only game that he wasn't good at and Kade laughs, Zaida smiles as the mood had just gotten much better thanks to Ethan.

The day later, Ethan texts Kade to want to know how his day at work, wanting to know if he accepted the advice, to his surprise, Kade was in a good mood and respond by saying that his day wasn't that bad.

A few days have passed, the trio was at Kade's place. Kade says he had a good day at work for once, and Ethan is amazed and glad that his advice had helped him a lot. Zaida also shares her drowsy day of playing games and sleeping until Kade came back. Ethan comments how she was enjoying the best life and then starts talking about his day. He says he had met a girl that started a conversation with him named Jessica. Kade gently pokes fun at him but Zaida didn't comprehend what he implied. Ethan gets flustered and changes the subject, asking if the two finally have started to date. Kade once again shoots him down. Zaida hands him her drink, notifying him that he needed to try Banana Chocolate, and when Kade drank it, he says it's good. Zaida says the same thing when Kade offers her some mango tea. Ethan disturbs their brief conversation and prompts them that Zaida has to practice her reading and writing. While doing the work assigned to her, Kade and Ethan end up talking more about his day. Kade starts talking about Suzy explaining her taste in music after getting to talk with her and finding how she was very relatable and was just an overall cool person. Ethan brings up how similar she was to Jessica, and when he says that, Kade tells Ethan to tell him more about his minor crush. Ethan goes on about how she is charming and kind, but Kade cuts him off, joking how it was boring to listen to. Ethan jokingly calls him an asshole and the two laugh it off, both not knowing that Zaida was feeling left out. The trio finally finishes their study session, and Ethan says his goodbyes.

#### Movie night out

A few days later, Kade calls Ethan and invites him to the cinema with Zaida, explaining to him how Zaida was feeling and the deal he had with Stace. Ethan agrees. Later that night, he meets up with Zaida, Kade, and Stace, who has just been labeled as a "Stranger" by Zaida. He then asks Kade what movie are they going to watch, Kade hands him and Stace their tickets for the movie that Zaida had been dying to see. He gives Zaida an unsure look when he sees the Horror label on the ticket, but not wanting to break her spirit, he agrees to go watch it. The four go into the building and Kade tries to tell the two that he and Zay were going to buy the snacks but Zaida states that she wanted to go with the two and find their seats with them. Kade asks Ethan if he wanted to stay and help, but Ethan understands what Kade wants and decides to stay with them to watch over Zay. The three walks down the hallway and Zaida is in a pleasant mood now that she is in an unfamiliar place. Stace compliments Zaida describing how she was glowing. Zaida’s heart skips a beat hearing this, but Ethan reassures her that she just looked delighted and was not glowing. The three examine the room and decide where to sit and causally goes with it, not seeing how Stace arrange the way they sat, much to Kade's discontent. Throughout the movie, Ethan is way too scared at the movie to pay attention to Kade and Stace’s cold exchange, he then is poked fun of by Stace and he had grabs Zaida’s arm after being scared. They come out of the movie considering them sadists but is surprised that Zaida didn't even flinch, Zaida explains that while she didn't show it she might have been scared on the inside. Stace while trying not to offend her tells her that at times her grammar and accent are always a bit off and interrogates her if she was from a different country as he didn't recognize, they froze but Ethan once again swoops in and saves them, telling Stace that she is not far from here but didn't want to talk about it, Stace is understandable of his statement and Kade sighs out of relief. Stace recommends they should go get something to eat, and everyone agrees, Ethan goes on to throw away the trash and Stace joins him but notices that Zaida chooses to stay and was having an intimate talk with Kade. Ethan breaks his attention asking him that he seemed deep in thought, Stace brushes it off and they head to burger prince to grab a bite. While Zaida was looking at the rain while Kade doesn’t care in the end, they reluctantly joined him.

They finish up and Ethan and Stace say their goodbyes, with Zaida calling him Stranger. Ethan tries to encourage him up saying that someday he will get there, all he requires is a little more time to get to know her.

#### Getting to help and know Zaida better

A day later, he comes knocking at Kade's door, as it was Zaida's day to study. Ethan comes in and looks around confused about where Kade was. Zaida explains Kade had gotten pretty sick and that he was resting, Ethan starts to tease Zaida saying they were making out in the rain and that's how he got sick, Zaida gets flustered about this question and avoids it by asking him if he wanted to see Kade. Ethan tells her they should just let him rest and set up the work they need to do. Ethan starts handing her practice sheets to help her write lower case letters. Zaida thanks her and say's that she got the hang of learning letters. She continues her work and out of nowhere, Ethan is asked if he had any secrets that he had been holding. Ethan shrugs and tells her that everyone has their secrets. Zaida then follows up the question by saying if he would tell his friends those secrets, Ethan says that would depend on the secret, and the friend but then is ask if she had something in her mind that she wanted to share. Zaida sits there a few seconds before she asked him a serious question. She said if she did a not-so-good thing, would Ethan still want to be friends. Ethan is stumped as that question came out of nowhere, and then asks Zaida for more context. Zaida says she is scared that if she opened up about her past, they would view her differently. Ethan is still stumped but tells her if she murdered someone then that would be an issue, Zaida then reassures her that she would have never done something like that, Ethan laughs, saying he couldn't imagine saying she hurt anyone. Ethan tells her she shouldn't worry over it too much and that it wouldn't change his or Kade's view on her but maybe help them get closer to each other, saying it's her to decide what and when to share what's in her mind, Zaida smiles of relief as hearing what he said. He brings up the fact that Zaida seemed to have gotten used to living as an earthling, but another question comes up in his head, He asks her if she liked Earth more than her home planet, Zaida answers a bit hesitant saying she loves the earth and has made the best memories than anything else, she did not wish to go back as to her, Earth was her new home. Ethan pokes fun at her for being "Down to Earth" and boring, telling her that why didn't she abduct cows or probe anyone. Zaida is confused but shrugs it off and continues her work until she was done for the day, Ethan gets ready to leave, prompting her about her next lesson was next week, and said his goodbyes.

A little while later, Ethan is chilling on his phone in the middle class when he got a notification, and to his surprise, Zaida had gotten a phone and was posting her art and followed him. Jessica looked over his shoulder to ask Ethan for an extra pen but noticed his phone screen and was interested in the Zaida account and asked him to send him the link as she wanted to follow her. She takes a liking to Zaida and is surprised she had only one follower, Ethan mentions that he just followed, she tells him that she has friends that can change that.

#### The Sleepover

A day later, Ethan just wanted to go and visit Kade's place and showed up to meet Zaida's new friend, Suzy, the two got along pretty well quickly. He was there talking with the two and was there to see Kade was in a pretty bad mood before calming down as he realized he and Suzy were there. Ethan asked if he was alright, whereas Kade just said he just didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to bother him about it o he just left it as it is. He joined the others into playing "Epic Bash Dudes" and then "Mr. Money" and was disappointed at how outclassed he was compared to Suzy. He was then asked by Kade if he had classes tomorrow but his attention was cut by Zaida who asked for a selfie. Ethan was more than happy to do so, much to Kade's discontent. The three clean up the mess Suzy did and sit down. Suzy brings up the fact that Zaida Instabam's account was doing pretty well and comments that the reason was that she was just that beautiful. Ethan told Suzy that it was because her art was amazing. This gets Suzy thinking and states that if Zaida would end up taking doing modeling that she would kill it. Ethan says she should focus on art as it would take her far. Suzy and Ethan get into a little argument as Suzy claimed that she could just dress up and make quick cash while Ethan says she had more options through art and then they both ask Zaida what she wanted to do. Zaida just says both, while Ethan thinks that was genius, Suzy said that would be stressful. Ethan says that either he was excited to see what she would do as she was adapting so fast on earth and Zaida thanks him. Suzy still can't get over the fact that she was alien. Zaida then says she felt at home thanks to Kade and goes on sharing her thanks with him. Ethan notices that he was feeling uneasy and to help him, he ruins that mood by saying he needed to piss and leaves the front door saying there was a better bathroom outside, much to Zaida's confusion. Ethan goes outside enjoying the view and notices a meteor shower, wanting to scare them, he goes running inside saying that they needed to come outside quickly. They all go outside scared of what possibly could be happening just to be face to face with Ethan trolling, but they see the beautiful sky and enjoy it with him.

The groups enjoy the view while Kade reprimand not to scare him like that again, Ethan get's all smug saying that he must have been worried that aliens were going to show up and take his Zaida away. Kade blushes and tells him to quit it. He notices that Zaida was looking uneasy, Ethan then brings up that, while he knows that it would be hard to talk about, he wanted to know what her home planet was like. Suzy also is interested, as she wanted to know how it was out there as she believed they were alone and Earth was the only planet with people. Ethan is flabbergasted, saying that the Universe was vast and they couldn't possibly be alone. The two bicker about the topic before Zaida cuts them off, She says that while she might have been from Zodia but didn't consider it her home. She had such a better experience on Earth, she wasn't treated not like an object and she didn't live like she was in a prison. Everyone was shocked at hearing this, Kade tries to brighten the mood by offering them to stay over 'til morning as it was late. The two get ready to go to sleep and Ethan takes the couch and starts dozing off but was woken up by hearing Kade ask Zaida to sleep with him. Ethan jolts out of joy, having a huge smile on his face, unlike Suzy who looked a bit worried.

## Relationships

### *Love Interests*

* **Jessica**: She is a classmate of Ethan that he met Jessica at Mallmart, and with the way he describes her, it's evident that it's a one-sided crush but from what we have seen. They seem to be friendly with each other.

### *Family*

* **Brother** †: In their younger years, Ethan and his brother were inseparable due to their mutual interest in space. They used to spend all their time together discussing the possibilities of what was out there in space, stargazing and UFO hunting while camping, but as his brother got older, he was no longer interested in aliens which leads them to be more distant from each other, and while they never had a bad relationship, they weren't as close as they used to be. However, this didn't stop Ethan from enjoying the stuff they did. Unfortunately, his brother died in a car accident two years prior, which led to Ethan loving the thought of aliens even more as it helped him memorialize and cherish the memories he had shared with his brother.

### *Friends*

* **Zaida**: Ethan discovered Zaida's secret after he saw her float on the security cameras at Mallmart and miraculously met her and Kade at Panda Tea House where he talked and discovered Zaida being an alien, thanks to his obsession with Si-fi, It helped Ethan accept her as an alien. He is the social friend of Zaida's life who is helping her goal to adjust to life on earth by always being willing to hang out with her, teaching her the basics of writing and lecture, and helping her see potential in art and how it could help her in a future career. He was also the person to help her see that even if she opened up about her past, it wouldn't change their view on her and would help them get closer to each other. Ethan considers her a good friend and she was the one to show his lifetime dream of meeting an alien and is Zaida's number one fan.

* **Kade**: Ethan met Kade, alongside Zaida, when he miraculously met them at Panda Tea House. The two did not start off at the right foot. Despite wanting to be genuine friends, Kade made it clear that he didn't trust him as he knew about Zaida before they met in "Panda Tea house" and thought he was there to blackmail Zaida in some way. Even after Ethan was willing to take time out of his day and teach Zaida, all Kade could see was that a person who wanted to only hang out with Zaida. It wasn't after Ethan showed his more trustworthy side by helping him come over the barrier with his coworker, were Kade started to see him more like a friend and eventually gained some sort of trust from Kade. While there is time's were Kade questions why he become his friend, he still is open to hanging out with him and considers Ethan a friend.
* **Suzy**:

## Trivia

* A joke throughout the comments of "Down to Earth" is that Ethan is basically the "audience", due to his reaction, comments and most of all shipping the two.
* Ethan is the first, and so far, the only one to make the meta-joke of saying the Webtoon title "Down to Earth" in a regular sentence.
	+ Original sentence: "For an alien, you sure are "Down to Earth". You're so normal... How boring."

## List of appearances

* Episode 21
* Episode 22
* Episode 23
* Episode 24
* Episode 25
* Episode 31
* Episode 36
* Episode 38
* Episode 41
* Episode 44