The wine stained woman was far south of her home in Firnen, spending her time scouring the dunes of the desert in particular - searching for a rose. Ishak moved slowly, letting her bi-colored gaze sweep the sands, her jaws held firmly around a small rabbit hide. It wasn't simply some trinket - but a way to carry the bounty she hoped to find here. There was a distinct lack of appropriate color around her den, and she had found a decent place to start a small garden.. So that's what she would do. Aside from the fact that she needed the plants to start said garden. Tail tip flickering near her haunches, the stocking'd female found what she was looking for and placed her rabbit hide on the sands, spreading it carefully before starting to pace around the Desert Rose - searching for the best way to uproot the thing without damaging the roots irreparably so that she could transplant it back to Firnen.

code by koi

The good thing about the winter months was that even the hotter places of this land were cooling off. Sure, the winds werent freezing cold and threatening to blow you away like in the North, but the fiery-haired man could definitely notice the difference. That was why he chose to explore the parts of Amaryllis that he had previously not dared to step foot on, simply because it had been a sweltering heat. The Dunes were a strange place. His greater weight sank deep into the gold sands with every step he took, which made it difficult to traverse and tired him out faster than usual. Add to that the fact he carried his bulk and heavy mane and you have a lion who was not enjoying his exploration today. A reddish silhouette of what he assumed was a woman appeared in the distance and he squinted his grey gaze to try and make out what she was looking at. Was that a... cub? Or a rock? Curiosity got the better of Bhaskar and he slowly made his way towards... them. However, once he approached close enough, he noticed the rose. What is that? He asked without even an introduction.

@Ishak

"What is that?" The question lifted Ishak's brow as she looked towards @Bhaskar and let him take the full brunt of her rather pointed expression. Relaxed facial muscles, tensed jaw, and eyes that spoke volumes. An expression that read quite plainly "Are you an idiot." "It's a plant." Duh. The carmine serpent dug slightly at the base of the rose, careful not to dig her claws into the meat of either the root or the stem as she worked to see how deep the tendrils went. "Unless you're asking about me. In which case - I'm a lion. And what are you?" A great bloomin' idiot if you asked her, but no one had, so that was neither here nor there. She found the edge of the root and carefully began scooping sand away so that she could lift the plant from its home. Ishak reminded herself she would need to make sure that she brought enough sand back to mix with the Firnen soil so that it would grow appropriately until the roots strengthened for dirt growing rather than sand.

code by koi

His amazing skill of reading expressions did wonders for this situation because the gargantuan didn't even notice @Ishak wasn't pleased with what she might consider a dumb question. Her answer struck him as odd, though. I can see that. He looked from the woman to the rose. Was she stupid?

It took her tone to make Bhaskar realize that she was pulling the good ol' snarky attitude with him. Her strange likeness to another sarcastic red lioness was slightly disturbing. Oh, excuse me! I forgot that you red-pelted women can only speak in sarcasm. Are you also some lost royalty that I ought to be bowing to? He rolled his eyes. The female began to dig around the plant which he still didn't know the name of. You want me to bow down to you now? A deep curtsy bow for her majesty! He sarcastically bent down in a bow, then stood up.

She ignored the lion as he blathered on, her ear flickering when he mentioned some sort of long lost royalty, scoffing with her lip twisted into a grimace of disgust. "No." A simple answer - flat, and with emphasis on the word. She was no royalty, never had been, never would be. Ishak continued to dig at the plant when she found the roots, carefully grasped the thing with her jaws so as not to inadvertently damage the meat of the rose and pulled. It came free from the loose sand easily enough and she set it off to the side after shaking off some of the grains, inspecting the roots for any damage. They were, after all.. the most important parts. Ishak looked towards @Bhaskar with a bland expression when she finished with what she was doing to stare at him. Secretly, she was enjoying the company - it helped to know she wasn't truly invisible in these lands. Externally, however, the carmine woman was all bluster and bravado. She didn't need anyone - she was just fine on her own, thank you very much. Tail tip twitched near her hocks before she spoke - the words heaved out as if dragged forth by sheer force of will. "So why are you here? Watching some red-pelted woman pull a plant out of the ground that riveting? You must lead such a boring life if that's your best method of entertainment."

code by koi

Ah, yes. A dislike for royalty, or at least a dislike for being called royalty, was another characteristic of the snarky red lioness. What a strange coincidence! Except this specimen was far tamer with her disagreeing response. Whereas Nephthys might've yelled in disagreement against the notion of being a lost princess, @Ishak was not a woman of many words.

He watched her as she carefully dug around the plant's roots, confused as to why exactly she was doing it. What did she need a stupid plant for? They were no good for eating, especially this ugly one. Yes, I live a very boring life. It's amazing. He responded with the same characteristic sulking dark expression. He only wished his life was boring. Recent events were making it far more difficult to lay around and do nothing. I guess I'm just wondering why a red-pelted woman is pulling an ugly plant out of the ground. Are you gonna eat that? Don't tell me you're one of those plant-eaters? She didn't look malnourished.

She grunted by way of answer to his comment of living a boring life. Seeing that the bulbous root of the rose was mostly intact, she debated the best way to return it to the Rainforest. When @Bhaskar spoke of eating it, she shook her skull, and for a moment, debated lying. But truthfully - most wouldn't believe someone when they said 'Nah it's to kill others with' so she opted for the truth and decided that it didn't really matter one way or another if he believed her or not. "No. Not unless I want to die. It's for someone else." She would decide that the best way to carry the plant would be to just lift it by the flowers and stems. After all - the root was the important part - that she would be planting so that it seeded and continued to regrow so she could utilize the plant over and over without having to dig it up from the damnable hot desert every time she wanted it. Ishak shifted, gently rolling the plant towards the lion, an expectant look on her face. "It would he a good exit to the utter doldrum of your boring life you know." Sarcasm dripped from her words, tail tip flickering near her ankles. She doubted he would actually accept her offering, and waited for him to either decide she was serious - or if she was just being a secretive sarcastic dickwaffle and would wander off.

code by koi

Dull grey gaze watched intently as the woman pulled out the rose and surprise... with the roots intact. Strange, why get the ugly roots too? Her answer came shortly and he was mildly surprised by it, but as always his face showed no sign of said surprise. Poison, huh? He studied her face, then looked at the rose again and made sure to memorize it. Bhas added a mental note to his imaginary notebook: don't ever eat plants. Ever. So what? You're gonna force-feed this ugly plant to someone? Nobody will eat that. Who would be an idiot enough to eat this? Oh, Bhas you muscle head. If only he thought a bit more creatively.

"It would be a good exit to the utter doldrum of your boring life you know." The woman rolled the plant towards him and he paused for a bit before his paw reached for the tender rose. Then he stomped it. This evil should not exist.

@Ishak

Annnnnnnd just like that, her hard work was gone. Ishak let her gaze turn towards @Bhaskar when he crushed the rose, her expression shifting - icy, cold. There was something else - but it was hidden carefully behind her frigid facade. "They don't have to." She stared pointedly at his foot, shrugging off the initial burst of anger - after all, it wasn't just the ingestion of the plant that was important. Given that the lion had used his paw to smoosh the plant, she gave him Ohh...ten to twelve hours before he started to feel the effects of what he had done. It absorbed through the skin - and rather by happy accident, the pads of a lion - though rough and tough... the inner folds of their feet weren't quite so lucky, and the membrane of skin was thin. A large paw - having crushed the plant that in its entirety was a danger - That suited her just fine. He had been the one to crush her hard work - it was fitting that in an attempt to destroy it (so she assumed) he inadvertently put himself in harms way. By the time he managed to get it washed off his foot - with no water nearby in the desert, the damage would already be done. Teach him to act first without thinking. Still - she did feel sort of bad about it - while she had offered the plant to him, she hadn't thought that he would actually do something about it that would end up with him actually possibly getting poisoned. And - she could be wrong.. he could be lucky enough that the sap, juices and bark of the root and plant didn't penetrate into the folds of his foot.

code by koi

He fully expected the oncoming storm that might sweep him for crushing the maroon woman's plant, but he just couldn't help himself. Not only that, but he was doing good to the world, okay? Okay. "They don't have to." The woman informed him and he stared at her, expressionless, for a bit. He didn't grasp what she was implying.

And then... the wheels turned. What- he began but stopped himself. He needn't question, because he knew the answer. Shit, Bhas' heart rate began to rush and he wondered if she really meant what he thought she meant. Is it...? His rough baritone voice trailed off as he lifted his paw to look at it - the debris of the rose sticking to the bottom. Was it possible for this plant's roots to penetrate the skin and poison him?

In many other situations, he would've questioned this, prodded for more information but right now the panic was fogging his clear thinking while the panic began to rise within him.