[center]Astarte and Lifprasil and Lakshmi All Chill[/center] [i]'What a bother,'[/i] She thought as she carelessly flipped her lavender hair onto her back, [i]'I'd cut it if I didn't love playing with it so much.'[/i] Astarte squinted her eyes at the sight a mere couple inches away from her face. White petals, no spots of different color. Only white. The flower's center was brown and its stem a pale green. She sniffed it and found her nose scrunching up. A familiar pressure began in the depths of her nostrils, followed by a pressure in her throat. Then a tickle. She sneezed. [b]"Ugh."[/b] She muttered and sniffled, wiping her nose. Her eyes had watered, but when they cleared enough to see the flower again, she saw that it was covered in her spit. [b]"... Ew."[/b] The crunching of leaves behind a nearby bush had Astarte perking up immediately, keeping an ear out as a smirk slowly crawled onto her face. It turned out that Lakshmi had found her way into the clearing, letting out a light sigh upon realizing she had been caught by Astarte. [color=blue]"Aw shoot..."[/color] she grumbled, before Lifprasil descended from the sky, floating just above Astarte. [color=orange]"You'll never be able to kill anything more powerful than you if you cannot sneak up on it."[/color] he said to Lakshmi, and under the shade of trees, he was able to comfortably wear his helmet. Astarte shut her jaw tightly and raised an eyebrow at Lifprasil. Lifprasil looked down to Astarte, the pair of bulbous, yet impenetrable eyeholes glowing a slight shade of yellow. [color=orange]"Of course, I wouldn't kill you."[/color] he reassured Astarte without a hint of any real feeling woven behind his statement. [color=blue]"Uh... Yeah!"[/color] Lakshmi fumbled, hiding something in between her polarizing cupped palms. [color=blue]"As weird as it sounds, Lifprasil and I have been watching you... Eat... Flowers..."[/color] [b]"T-That..."[/b] Astarte bit the tip of her tongue after visibly wincing, [b]"I had to know what they tasted like!"[/b] [b]"Turns out they're not as tasty as herbivores make them out to be..."[/b] Lakshmi blinked, and went to walk over to a flower, she decided to squat a safe distance away from Astarte. She then decided to join in on eating flowers. She bended over awkwardly, trying to keep her hands cupped as she plucked a flower from the ground with her mouth. Astarte barely stiffled a giggle. [color=blue]"It's not that bad. M'Lord! You should try some."[/color] Lakshmi exclaimed, which was returned with a simple head shake. [b]"Apparently Lakshmi is a herbivore. What's next? Will her other arm become a huge flower?"[/b] Astarte chuckled and grinned, letting herself relax and stand straight. Lakshmi huffed [color=blue]"N-n-no! I don't want a flower hand..."[/color] she wept, before Lifprasil stopped her. [color=orange]"Your hand won't turn into a flower. But you do have something to show her."[/color] Lifprasil said, crossing his arms. [color=blue]"O-oh yeah... Uh... Anyway, we thought you were lonely, so we made you a little memento so you can remember to visit us sometime."[/color] Lakshmi mumbled, extending her now open palms to reveal an intricate necklace of root, an array of colorful flowers woven in between the taut grass holding the necklace's structure as a whole. [color=blue]"And by we; I mean Lifprasil sat around and stared off into space..."[/color] This warranted a chuckle from Lifprasil. [/color=orange]"I was just thinking of something... Important..."[/color] Astarte narrowed her eyes at Lifprasil for a moment before looking at Lakshmi and her open palms. She'd never seen anything like what Lakshmi was holding, so she walked close to her and picked up the necklace. She ran her fingers along the roots, taking care not to damage the flowers. After a few moments of inspecting the necklace, Astarte lifted her gaze to meet Lakshmi's. For the first time since they knew each other, Astarte showed herself to be more subdued than anything. She was serious, hinting at curiosity with her wide open eyes. [b]"What is this? Is it a crown?"[/b] She asked in a plain tone. [color=blue]"It's a necklace, ma'am, you wear it around your neck.[/color] Lakshmi returned. [color=blue]"U-uh... Watch!"[/color] she said, before taking the necklace, and fitting it onto the goddess' neck. Astarte placed one of her hands on the necklace as Lakshmi finished fitting it. Still looking at Lakshmi, she spoke. [b]"Thank you."[/b] [color=blue]"Y-yeah!"[/color] Lakshmi said, both stammering, and smiling with a nervous huff. [color=blue]"...Are you okay?[/color] she questioned. Silence was Astarte's answer, at least for a few long moments until she smiled and turned around, closing her eyes in the process. [b]"Yep! I think I like flowers now. Not for eating, though. I like looking at them. They also smell nice, though they make you sneeze all the time."[/b] Lakshmi shook her head [color=blue]"They don't do that for me, as funny as that may sound."[/color] she responded, while Lifprasil simply plucked a flower from its place in the greenery, giving it a lithe sniff. [b]"Oh?"[/b] Astarte turned to look at her with a wide grin. She walked to her and pressed her side against Lakshmi's. The size difference was funny. The mortal was at least a head taller than the Goddess and looked far stronger than her, [b]"I can fix that for you, if you want!"[/b] [color=blue]"Whatever do you mean?"[/color] Lakshmi questioned. [b]"The sneezing! I can make you sneeze when you smell flowers. It must have something to do with your nose!"[/b] Lakshmi looked down at her feet, reflecting over what Astarte just said. [color=blue]"How do you think my nose is affected, then?"[/color] she asked, rubbing the bridge of such bodily extremities. Astarte tilted her head and stared at Lakshmi's lips, as if trying to decipher what she just said. [b]"Uh, I suppose you don't need me to fix your nose, then? Okay!"[/b] She chuckled, lest they realized she didn't understand the question, and began curiously poking and touching Lakshmi's clothing. The now bemused hero chortled, entertained by Astarte. [color=blue]Y-y-ou don't know w-what I'm talking about - do you?"[/color] she asked, matting down her tunic.