Beautifully handmade crimson, pink and white banners graced the area inbetween dorms, gym and the tropical jungle scattered around the cleared space in their midst, not to mention the remainder of the facilities as nearly every hallway reminded the nubile young women of Shokushu what pleasant occasion they had the pleasure of indulging in.

Valentine Fair, they spelt out in equally bright letters, the prototype event of an early spring festival from students for students who wished to cherish Valentine's Day, however ironic it might be for them to celebrate the period of love since relationships among themselves were forbidden and punishable offenses if found out, not that everyone cared to obey such fundamentally flawed rules and guidelines in the first place.

It was set on a Saturday, from early noon until the middle of the night in order to permit every member of the student body to attend and therefore not interfere with early Saturday classes. The dawn of the new semester encouraged the idea that students wouldn't be stressed out over approaching finals and had plenty of time for fun.

Roughly every single club of the school offered some sort of contribution and the art club impressed with flamboyant wall paintings, obviously using colors that could simply be washed off the next day. An impressive portrayal of a Priestess in a flowing red gown romantically involved with an Angel and a temple in the background counted itself among these pieces, an idea Ryu herself had pitched as it was one of her best works to date and they painted the whole deal onto a concrete canvas. Most of the buildings displayed their works while the drama club engulfed most of the phenomenal scenery near the woods.

They meant to sing and dance upon sundown to initiate the closing stages of the festival as the program described. They fashioned cupids and man sized hearts among other pieces to enhance the scene although it'd be quite a while before they actually played their part. In the event that anyone managed to remain awake until the depths of night, the apex of the festival had been a downright stunning display of firework on the beach.

Currently the skies remained cloudy and a faint yet cool breeze lulled the fair in a somewhat chilly atmosphere, but the weather prognosis promised a delightfully warm afternoon and clear sky to enjoy the festivities under. A few first sun rays punctured the heavens already as Ryu slowly but surely finished up two hours of handing out food and drinks from the book club stall, the only club the red head was part of. They could choose between working something out with love poems and such or take on responsibilities for catering and evidently chose the latter.

"Thank you for your visit. Have a nice day on the fair." She rarely cooked before and was quite proud of every smiling student who enjoyed the fruits of her labor to the fullest which came in the form steamy, heart shaped pastries with delicate cherry filling along with faux brand wine, poured from bottles with an emblem the greater artists among the club created, blessing the scene with a gust of deceptive realism. It tasted like delicious strawberries and contained not even the faintest sliver of alcohol.

Ryu had not yet seen Ishtar around in the bustling masses of students, but surely the blue haired princess could not have been too far away. Ishtar already knew just when Ryu was free to wrap up her duties and join the fray although drama club might have kept her busy. Her lover tended to be cast in fairly popular roles and maybe the lovely goddess might just prepare for her performance later that day.

Melodic tunes played in the background, courtesy of the music club who occupied the same space the drama club would later on.

Ishtar head seemed to be on a swivel as she headed down the pathway from the dorms to the other campus buildins, gym, and other campus buildings. Everywhere there were lovely crimson, white, and pink banners, each of them appeared to handcrafted by a student. It was simply absolutely beautiful sight.

There it was spelt out in bright letters, the Valentine Fair. It was a first event of the new spring, not it was easy to tell what season it was on a tropical island. Sadly though as romantic as the festival could be, the girls could not outwardly show there love. It is as if the faulty was daring the girls to show a little public display of affection and get themselves in trouble. Still Ishtar could not help but feel the spirt of Valentine in the air.

Fortunately it was the festival was set on the weekend, on Saturday to be precise. That gave time for every woman on the island the opportunity to attend the festival. That way they even had Sunday off to get ready for the start of the new semester if needed. It really meant they could finally relax on this island.

It seemed that every club on school contributed in some way to the festival. The art class had seemed to do the lion share of the work. They had filled the walls with amazing wall paintings each could easily be a master piece. It was hard to imagine that just a simple rain could remove the paintings. The most amazing piece was that of a Priestess that had a red gown. She looked up longingly at Angel just above. The way the Angel returned the gaze it was clear that the two were lovers. It was simply amazing how the artist had managed to capture their love while spreading across an entire wall of a dorm.

Of course the drama clubs will be closing stages of the festival. Ishtar knew she would be taking part of the in the play but that would not be for a while. Until then the blue haired beauty would have time to explore the festival and participated in some of the events. At least before it got to dark and it was time to perform. The young woman looked up to see how the weather was holding for today and tonight.

It was still cloudy and there was a cool breeze flowing through the walkways. The young woman had hoped that rumors were true and that it warm up this afternoon as the clouds finally part. Today needed to warm for the play as the drama clubs outfits were a little different than usual fair. And it was all part of the Valentine’s festival.

The young woman was wearing a classic dress for her. She was wearing a two piece dress that has a backless, bright yellow top that emphasizes her chest. While the bottom is red and produces a good contrast to her top. She hoped that she would soon run into her red knight soon.

In the end Cora wound up taking her place in the stall and Ryu finally got some much needed breathing room whilst slipping out of that confining apron, an item certainly not solely created for one of her stature with how much more emphasis her highly prominent chest had gotten once freed from prolonged confinement.

Down below Ryu donned a pure white and crimson one piece dress with short, puffy sleeves and the whole garment descended to the very midst of her lusciously toned thighs, more than enough to give a hint as to her athletic and well endowed nature. It was complemented with equally cherishable thigh highs, fetching quite a few pairs of eyes while setting out for the crowd, but none of that concerned the fiery knight now.

She caught a glimpse of familiar blue hair and couldn't wait to meet up, only to remember that they were out in public and while the festivities certainly invited it, displaying their affection in public was strictly forbidden hence their one kiss in the cafeteria back in the day actually turned out to be far more hazardous than they initially believed. However, for the moment Ryu decided to take a more traditional approach on the matter and slowly but surely slither through students attending the fair, only to ultimately wind up right next to her beloved.

"Good afternoon, Ishtar." A warm smile graced her features, refraining from pouring too much love into her words although since the red head proposed such minor attempts to avert any strange comments or looks from other members of the student body were little more than facade any they both knew how things worked. "I've been waiting for you to show up, but then again I've heard the drama club has quite a bit of something fancy planned for the evening."

She leaned in just a little closer as to lower her voice just enough for them to speak in private despite the noise of chatting and music in the background, the faint scent of strawberry and sugary pastries emanating from the girl and wafting through the air. "May I add that you look absolutely stunning today?"

Ishtar continued to make her way through the area the students had all set up for today festivities. It always impressed the young woman at how creative the student body was in using materials on hand on campus. They had managed to make all this from what they were given by the school and what they found on the island.

As Ishtar moved around through the crowds that were gathered today. Being a Saturday, almost all the girls seemed to be here. It made the area crowded though not impossible to move through the festival. So it was a wonderful surprise to find that herself suddenly face to face with her red knight out of seemingly nowhere.

The beautiful knight that was wearing a pure white and crimson one piece dress that complemented her fiery red hair. The dress had short, puffy sleeves allowing to see the athletic nature of the red knight. She also had a pair of thigh highs that made her look most attractive the blue haired girl. They seemed to emphasize those toned thighs of Ryu’s. She simply looked as radiant as ever to the blue haired girl.

A smile appeared on the blue haired girl, though she could not help but look around to see if anyone noticed. The pair had only shown their affection to each other once in public, but fortunately no one in the cafeteria saw the couple kiss that faithful day. They had been lucky once, the lovers could not expect their luck to hold out forever. Now they knew they had to hide their affection for each other from the facility and their fellow students. To do otherwise, would get the pair into a lot of trouble with the facility.

“Oh hello, Ryu! How are you doing today. The young woman continued to smile as she responded as if they were just merely friends. It was simply their way of operating in public like this. The Drama club does have something planned for this evening. I hope everyone enjoys it because we have been working all week on this project. Ishtar nodded her head as she spoke.

The crowd made it difficult for each other to talk which forced to lean in closer to talk. It was convient and allowed Ishtar to smell the fresh scent of strawberries and pastries wafting from the beautiful. Thank you. I think you look and smell wonderful as well.

"I'm doing great, thank you. How about you?" Naturally any moment spent with Ishtar put the red head into a great mood and today was no different as they wound up fairly close thanks to the nearby crowd hindering speech at any regular levels, but of course they had to refrain from getting too close in public. "Well, whatever it is, you know you can count on me cheering you on. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you girls have planned for today."

Ryu did not wish to pry, no matter the build up of anticipation and let the matter slide before curiosity got the better of her. It would be little more than a few hours in the meanwhile fairly sunny afternoon that Ishtar would have to turn to her duty of performing with the remainder of the Drama club and Ryu looked forward to their play, dance, whatever they had in mind.

A slight blush stole over her features at the comment about the scent although Ryu did not look too flustered by these kind words. "It's the pastries I've made .. I've been busy down here for a while before you showed up, but I'm free to do whatever I want for the rest of the day."

It sparked an idea of sorts now that Ishtar was around, presumably off to enjoy the Fair on her own as well. "Hey, Ishtar? Now that we've got some time before your performance begins .. Would you mind taking a picture with me? I'd love to have one with just the two of us." They never made one in the past, after all, and Ryu sought to have something along those lines for quite a while now. In essence not a great deal of electronic devices happened to be freely obtainable and few had been blessed with the luxury of cameras safe for a few clubs and their members who shared certain privileges.

She believed to have seen a couple of students shooting pictures for the albums they wished to publish after the Fair had been concluded and while doing so may be far more reminiscent of a prom, they rarely had the opportunity to interact with the remainder of the student body in that fashion. Ryu thought they might have had such an exclusive event sometime back, but couldn't quite remember any of it, let alone ascertain with certainty that it happened in the first place.

I am doing very well and I am super excited about today. The young woman smiled warmly as she was happy to spend time with the beautiful redhead. They could not get any closer than this, but anytime she could spend with Ryu was great in Ishtar’s book. I think it will be a lot of fun to watch. We hope that it will make a great conclusion to today.

For now the Drama club’s plans remained secret, Ishtar would have trouble explaining what it was without the script in front of her. The young woman could also act out the lines, which was easiest way she could remember the lines. But with the crowds as thick as they were, Ishtar was be holding from giving away any previews.

Ishtar could see the blush, however faint from the comment about the scent. Oh I see. I bet they have an amazing taste. Ishtar smiled again. I am free as well, at least until an hour before the play starts.


Ryu seemed to look around for a moment as if she was trying to find something in the crowd, A p-picture? They have a camera here? Ishtar looked around for a moment herself. The thought of cameras were almost completely foreign her. Due to the rules of the campus, the girls were not even allowed a cell phone due to its camera capabilities. Somewhere somehow, somebody went through a lot of trouble to get the camera for today, Sure I would love to get a picture with you.

Ishtar had not seen any cameras since some sort of prom, though details were quite hazy. She could only really remember dressing in some sort of costume, but that was all she could remember. The rest of seemed to be a hazy dream. For Ishtar it seemed normal, though she could not remember any other dance like that.

Among monsters and everyday campus life pressure, Ishtar somehow managed to let Ryu flourish in spite of what the two had gone through together and today was no different when they started to head toward one of the more crowded spaces near the murals and paintings where a small contingent of students had set up a camera on a tripod, pointing directly at what appeared to be a prom arch in soft hues of white, scarlet and pink for the sake of the occasion.

Students could be seen having their picture taken, some by themselves, some with friends, some just in pairs although everyone would be aware that the rules forbid anything more public than living it out within their personal dorm rooms.

“Alright, then. Can we have the next one, please? Alone or together, it’s up to you.” Ryu delightedly ushered Ishtar along and while they had to get in line, the couple hardly waited more than a minute in the intensifying afternoon sun once the clouds had passed, leaving them highlighted by the radiant beams. “Don’t forget to smile, Ishtar.”

Chest jutted forward and proudly standing in an upright position, Ryu could not hide her charms whilst offering her warmest expression to the lens. She held her beloved princess by hooking her own arm into hers, flushing the tiniest bit further, but before long a distant click implied that the two of them had been immortalized on film at the very least.

They were approached by the photographer shortly after stating they’d like a copy for each of them. “Oh, I’m sorry. We’re running out of film quite fast, so we’ve had to limit how many we could make for each student.” She smiled, choking out any expression of disappointment in an instant. “I’m joking, I’m joking. It should be quite alright. However, you’ll be able to pick them up on Monday at the earliest. We lack the manpower to do it any sooner than that.”

Soon after dealing with the stand, however, Ryu leaned in to speak to her lover for a moment. “Thank you, Ishtar. It means a lot to me to have this memory.” Not that the young red head needed a reminder, but the photo itself was sure to be of a most encouraging nature in the distant future. “Is there anything you’d like to do?”

The two women made their way through the crowd that shown up for this weekend’s event. For now at least Ishtar and ruby knight could forget about the stressful events that came with campus life, both the daily campus stress and the extracurricular activities that creatures often made the pair participate in. For now at least, the pair focus was on the festival in general and a prom arch in particular.

There was a camera with students line up in being pictures, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. All were fairly respectful, each girl seemed to be the wary of violating the rules that had been established on campus.

Soon the camerawoman called up Ryu to the picture and the Ishtar followed her up. They did have to stand in line, but the line moved very quickly. Apparently the camera would only wait long enough to girls to pose and then it was off to the next group or girl in line. It is hard not to smile today!

Ishtar let out almost a bit of silent gasp as she felt her arm get hooked by her beloved’s arm. She smiled warmly, her cheeks having a warm glow to them due to being slow close to her secret lover. Ishtar stood proudly next to the redhead waint for the click of the camera. It would be something she could cherish forever.

The pair quickly asked the photographer if they could get a copy of each girl. Initially the photographers stated she could not do it. Ishtar’s heart broke for a moment, until the girl smiled and revealed it was just a joke. However the pair would not be able to receive the pictures until next week. Apparently they did not have any time to develop the picture with all the activities that were going on today.

It means a lot to me as well, I will cherish this picture always. It was then that Ryu asked her if she wanted to do something. I would like to walk around and see all the art on display. And we can see what else looks like fun at this festival as we walk around.

“Very well.” Off they went to the nearby building facades which had countless pieces of artwork lined up, most of which evidently followed today’s romance driven theme. Candlelight dinners, weddings, couples and more had been portrayed before them on easels and such although among some of the more prominent pieces, Ryu discovered one of her own albeit relatively early works. Someone must have dug through the archives of recent years and found it to be suitable for the festivities before using some of the concrete walls to recreate it in greater size and artistic prowess.

Some might have had trouble seeing the greater picture for what it was, but the red head knew every portion of it. Two individuals stood before an imposing temple structure near a dirt road amid tropical woods, each of them bathed in sunlight. A beautifully sculpted woman with flaming red hair had been caught up in the arms of an angelic entity and vice versa, their lips sealed in the depths of intimacy. She donned a flowing red gown which parted about halfway along her most athletic flank, giving rise to the velvety smooth expanse of her legs as the garment itself was held together by a golden rope of some sort. Originally Ryu painted her outfit in pure white, but other than that everything matched the painting to perfection. Her apparent lover had been cloaked in little more than a loincloth, enhancing his handsome albeit masculine stature, wings spread wide in the wake of their passionate union.

Along her hip resided a tattoo, holding the same shape as the necklaces they once received from Calidare himself. She was mildly surprised to find it here and yet found herself smiling. It was during one of her first weeks on campus that such an exquisite piece had been brought into existence.

“Over there.” She pointed at it for Ishtar to see. “Looks like someone found one of my works from art class. I’ve had a great time painting that one back in the day although I’ve improved a fair bit since then. I painted it back when ..” Ryu paused, thinking back on the occasion there was no telling to which extent Calidare himself had been involved in having the red head paint it. Unbeknownst to her he had manipulated her mind into guiding the brush to his liking as to initiate their first encounter in a more gentle manner, but before long Ryu caught herself stalling the conversation. “.. when I encountered Calidare for the first time.”

She did not plan to dwell on it for too long. There were a great many more pieces to regard and one of them Ryu could see from the corners of her eyes. “Hm? Oh .. I didn’t think Juniper actually submitted that one.” Not far from the two resided another piece akin to The Creation of Adam.

It would have been impossible to miss that the two men portrayed on the canvas were actually drawn as women, two of them from Shokushu itself and the charming goddess seated among the clouds reaching from the heavens to Eve below bore striking resemblance to the blue haired princess standing beside Ryu. She looked to be perfection in the flesh with stunningly gorgeous features and alluring blue dress, portrayed in the same radiant light as her knight had always seen her in person.

The girls wandered over to the nearby building facades where the art show was being held. Lining each of the buildings was many, many pieces of artwork, simply too many to count. All of them seem to have romance as their theme. There were Candelight dinners, weddings, or even simply a couple having a romantic moment near a pond. Still there was one that managed to get the red knight’s attention. She seemed to pause for a moment as she stared at the gigantic picture that was on the one of the concrete walls.

The image was two individuals that were standing infront of what appeared to be some sort of tall temple that was in the middle of some sort of jungle. Despite the number of trees, light bathed down from the spot denoting some sort of clearing. There stood a man and a woman each caught up in each other’s embrace as they kissed. The woman had fiery red hair that seemed to accentuated by a flowing red gown. The gown itself was held together by some sort of golden rope before it split about half down her sculpted body. This showed off the woman’s lovely legs from thigh all the way to her feet. Just at her hip, Ishtar could see a tattoo, one that matched the ones that she and Ryu were often.

The man there was little he wore other than a loincloth, but given how fit and defined the handsome man was he did not seem to mind. He had a pair of wings that were spread very wide as if he was surprised at how passionate the meeting had become.

Ryu explained that she was the artist of the gigantic piece in front of them. Wow, that is absolutely amazing. I cannot believe you painted this. You have a lot of talent. The red knight had explained that she had painted when she met Calidare. Ishtar remembered meeting the winged person when she first arrived on campus. She could not remember the entire meeting but it had seemed that she might have one more meeting with Calidare and Ryu at some other point. Ah I see. I guess I can see the resemblance.

Before they could discuss it further, they were on the move again. There were so many pieces and not enough time. Ryu quickly spotted another piece, one that had been painted another student. Juniper seemed to have great talent as well beyond that of a journalist.

Ishtar blushed when she saw the images on the painting. Supposely two men, they both appeared to be quite feminine. One appeared to be the blue princess herself reaching down to from the heavens above as her red knight stood at the ready to ensure that Eve and the blue haired man would not be disturbed. W-wow….

She had been beyond pleased to know that her work was admired by her beloved princess, but never truly thought of putting her paintings on display for the fear of being criticized never truly wore off over the years despite having gotten more used to general social interactions. “I’m very happy to hear you say that.” A warm smile graced her lips, enough to lighten up her mood just a tad further as they regarded the artistic portrayal of romance, love and passion before them on numerous canvases.

Painting one could do in solitude, without any distraction or interruption, but most importantly not in front of an audience. She might have been a great athlete, too, but never actually joined any official teams safe for the book club where none of the members had to prove anything to anyone else. Stage fright would probably get the better of her, but at the same time she admired Ishtar for her hobbies and dreams. They seemed utterly impossible for Ryu to achieve, but Ishtar went through with them despite suffering from memory loss which likely required a greater number of rehearsal to get it just right.

“Yeah, wow.” Ryu nodded in acknowledgement of that fact, a mischievous smile stealing over her features only to gradually diminish. She was there the night it was painted, even aided in its completion, but solely one who had seen their first version could tell the difference between the two to ever exist. “Sadly the original was removed by the facility, but I’m glad she had the opportunity to paint it from memory once more. Back then Juniper put it up on one of the walls without permission ..”

Not that they didn’t know of the consequences. It was an experiment to find out what cleaned up after attacked students and how the facility managed to repair shattered walls and such without leaving a trace of these horrid events the day after. They were in for quite the surprise that night and the experience taught them a great deal as to how far above their paygrade the whole ordeal truly was.

However, in light of the fact that Ishtar seemed interested in exploring some of the local artistic talent, Ryu refrained from rushing her onward this time. Any moment spent with the blue haired gem naturally led to a moment that could be cherished in her presence hence the charm stricken knight hardly cared as to what exactly the two did before moving on.

Ishtar smiled that at her lover. The young woman’s words said more than the one sentence about happy she was than she let on. The way that Ryu’s face lit up that in reaction of being praised for her work, showed that Ishtar comments had a huge impact on the young woman. Just to see the redhead smile warmly made, the blue princess’s heart melt. It was one of the things that Ishtar had come to fall in love with her partner.

Painting one could do in solitude, without any distraction or interruption, but most importantly not in front of an audience. She might have been a great athlete, too, but never actually joined any official teams safe for the book club where none of the members had to prove anything to anyone else. Stage fright would probably get the better of her, but at the same time she admired Ishtar for her hobbies and dreams. They seemed utterly impossible for Ryu to achieve, but Ishtar went through with them despite suffering from memory loss which likely required a greater number of rehearsal to get it just right.

It was removed by the facility, that seems to be a bit harsh… The fact that Juniper seemed to be able to paint this version from complete memory which was quite impressive to the blue haired girl. The campus must not of thought so as they had apparently removed before most students, Ishtar included could see the original. She could see that a smile on the beautiful red head beginning to fade as they looked at the giant painting.

Ishtar did not know what was the story or the reason they had to paint a giant mural like that in the first place. Still it was nice that the school allowed such a wonderful painting to be recreated at least for the festival. Hopefully they would allow to remain for at least a little while after the festivities of tonight.

Still Ishtar seemed to note that the smile at least seemed to disappear off Rei’s face. So she smiled warmly, Thank you for indulging in my interest in the paintings, they are all very well done. Ishtar nodded as she spoke. Is there anything you would like to see?

“Whatever comes to mind. I’d love to spend all the time I have with you by my side.” In the end Ishtar would have to perform, which tore her away from Ryu’s side for a good while, but before and after the two had plenty of time to spend together. There was the issue of topping the day off after nightfall, but that was something else to think about later on. Before knight and princess met one another outside, Ryu handed out meals for a good while and figured that stretching her legs some more would be a great idea and thankfully the two of them had just the means to do that in their vicinity.

Some music had been playing on stage since none were utilizing the space until Ishtar had to perform alongside the remainder of the drama club, constantly switching up as to provide those interested in dancing with a variety of rhythms to lose themselves in. She hinted at the idea by letting her bright ruby eyes flicker across the scene, then back to her beloved where they gazed deeply into her own. “How about we take off to some exercise on the dancefloor to get the blood flowing?”

A warm smile formed upon her features at that proposition. She could never truly reach her lover’s level of talent without years of practice, but what little the red head had been privy to, including improvisation, that much was on the menu at least. Speaking of menu, finishing such a draining task had Ryu propose something else before they even departed from the great many paintings before them. “We could top it off with a bite to eat. What do you think?”

Ishtar smiled at Ryu commented that she wanted just to be near Ishtar. It was a great feeling to be a pair of souls that wanted nothing more than remain in tight orbit with each other. Eventually the pair would have to be separate that night, as the blue haired girl would still have to participate in the play later that night. But that was later, for now the pair would have most of the rest of the day together and for Ishtar that was all that mattered. They began to stroll around the immediate area, as Ryu and Ishtar began to look for some inspiration, as the wandered the grounds of the celebration this day.

The sound of music came from the stage nearby. Ishtar realized that later that day the drama club was going to perform their play. But until then there was a young woman playing the part of DJ as she played a variety of music for the other students dancing below. Ishtar could see her knight protector’s ruby eyes gave over the crowd before she met Ishtar’s own eyes in a deep and long as she made her proposal to the sapphire princess.

Ryu smile was that of a warm one as she explained that she would like to get something to eat afterwards. She had spent all that time serving out food and not having any. And the food smelled so good as well. Well that sounds lovely. May I then have this dance. Ishtar smiled warmly as she knew she could not offer her hand in public, knowing nods and smiles would have to do at the moment.

“Of course. It’ll be my pleasure.” Ryu offered her beloved an affirming nod before setting out for the dancefloor. Touching her lover came to mind, to at the very least hold hands until they reached the place, but refrained from doing so lest one of the attending Prefects got them into more trouble than such contact was worth it in public. Not a great many students were dancing, however, quite a few spent time breezing through whatever the festival had on offer rather than display their more or less refined talents for everyone to see, but for once Ryu decided to try.

Some contemporary tracks had been found amongst the more tender symphonies that were befitting of such an occasion and when the two finally arrived, one of the latter began to resonate off the premises. Slow paced and gentle offered an excuse to be a little more intimate than usual. Soon the busty red head turned to face Ishtar with large, lustrous eyes, downright beaming at the beautiful actress whose performance had to wait until later that day.

She eased along her charming flank with the palm of a hand and gently secured the charming princess in a delicate hold whereas the other fell down on her shoulder, letting it entwine against the graceful woman Ryu had the pleasure to call her own. Swaying lightly to the soft tunes in the background the formidable knight relied on the lead and experience of her partner still, but there was no lack of encouragement to entertain Ishtar in this manner.