Threadfall in winter were such an interesting thing. In a way, the fact that some of the Thread could freeze if temperatures were right was a useful aspect. But the weather had its drawbacks. H'rik has spent the early morning checking up on a rider whose poorly-maintained gloves had given him frostbite during the previous day's 'fall. Needing space to clear his head, Weyrleader and dragon are out at the crater lake, Wendryth wearing only his riding straps, while H'rik is bundled up in a heavy coat, gloves, and scarf. The freezing cold is not enough to deter the pair from taking a rambling walk around the edge of the lake, where some ice lingers. The place is beautiful and serene, their footsteps the only sound in the morning air.

An icy lake is just the place to cool a certain casanova blue's ardor, especially if his rider doesn't have time to deal with the effects of yet another young green taking to the skies. Zaria doesn't like denying her amorous blue, but recently, he would chase a green a day if she let him, and who has time for that? So as the bright indigo hide of Azrith catches the weak wintery sun when he blinks in from between, the blue gives a frustrated bugle towards Wendryth as he wings down for a swift landing. Zaria takes no time in dismounting from her blue's neck, pulling the straps with her to the ground. The blue wastes little time in hop-skipping and diving into the icy lake. For her part, the Arroyo wingleader offers a sheepish wave in the Weyrleader's direction.

« LO! AZRITH! » Wendryth is totally happy to see the blue, regardless of his frustrated state. Though, he's not diving in to join his fellow in the lake. He's content to watch from the shore, big eyes slowly blinking. « AH, YOU'VE COME HERE FOR A SWIM! » Oblivious to the reason, or just polite? Hard to tell. H'rik seems a little baffled by the sudden arrival, and the sheepish wave from Zaria, but he gives a friendly wave of his own and carries on towards the Wingleader. "Morning, Zaria." The sentence seems to linger, as if he was going to ask what's up but decided not to. Instead, he watches her with a curious expression as he approaches.

« Oh, I had a much more enjoyable pasttime in mind, but mine thinks it better to give other males a shot occasionally, » Azrith replies smoothly as he swims under the glassy surface, only coming up for a breath when he's far from land. Zaria's cheeks are reddened from the cold thankfully hiding any blush of embaressement. "Morning Sir, I don't mean to intrude. Just trying to find a quiet place to spend a candlemark or so," she says with a hitch of her head back in the blue's direction significantly. "Are you out here escaping the sands for a bit? Those eggs should hatch soon, shouldn't they?"

Wendryth gets it. « YOU ARE A NOBLE DRAGON, AZRITH! » The bronze declares, his wings half opening to emphasise the statement. H'rik's face above the loops of his blue scarf is tinged with pink from the cold's touch. "We're of a similar mind," the man smiles, not sounding at all bothered about his solitude (Wendryth excepted) being interrupted. There's a small chuckle when Zaria queries the reason for his visit here. "A little of that, I suppose. And I'm hoping it'll be any time soon, the hatching." A pause for thought follows, his gaze wandering off across the lake. "Some days I wonder if we should do what Southern did, get another gold in. I don't know if it's sustainable with the losses from Threadfall." Ah, he's in that mood.

« I keep saying that, but no one seems to believe me… » Azrith trails off as he sinks once more beneath the water. Clad in her own riding leathers, the collar pulled up to give her face some protection, hands thrust deep into her pockets. "Well a hatching will definitely bolster spirits in the cold of winter. Although I bet a gold egg would have bolstered them more. It's been awhile since an Igen queen hatched huh? I know it hasn't happened in the turns I've been here." Her shoulders shrugs idly, before she tilts her head to one side, "Are we really hurting that much for clutches? I mean, Southern I could understand with just one queen. But Arroyo is doing well after the last class graduated and bolstered our numbers."

« THEN I SHALL TELL THEM! » Wendryth pledges. After all, not only is Azrith noble, but he is also a leader, his rider picked by H'rik to lead an entire Wing against Thread. So in his eyes, the best of the best. The bronze is still watching from the shore as he stands at rest near H'rik as the man chats with Zaria. A sigh releases some tension from H'rik's shoulders, his attention coming back to Zaria with an apologetic look for treating her as a sounding board. "No, we haven't had a gold egg since before Wendryth hatched…at least five Turns ago." He probably should know better exactly when, but here we are. Zaria's question of whether they're hurting for clutches makes him look faintly uncomfortable, but he does reply. "We're fifteen Turns into the Pass…from what the records say, Threadfalls get heavier and more frequent as you get towards the middle of a Pass. I'm just…worried about what we've got ahead. Even if it might not even be my problem, then." His voice is a little tight, but he's being open with his concerns.

Sufficiently cooled off, Azrith slinks out of the water, claws crunching through the ice around the perimeter before he shakes himself off, well away from the riders and bronze dragons cause he's polite like that. Zaria raises a brow in H'rik's direction, "Well, you would think when we have need of more golds, ours will produce them. Maybe if we had another right now, we might have over population problems. I think we need to trust that our queens have it all well in hand for now…or in talon?" Zaria chuckles nervously with another shrug of her shoulders, "And you're right, it may not be your problem then, but you wouldn't be a good leader if you didn't think of the future at least a little bit." The bluerider points out with a bob of her head as Azrith slinks up behind his rider and whuffles at her ginger hair affectionately.

It's always good to get another person's perspective, and H'rik considers Zaria's input with a deep thoughtfulness evident in in the creasing of his forehead, and the far-off look in his eyes. "It's a good point." He still doesn't seem entirely at ease about this issue that's apparently been rattling around in his head for a while. "Yeah. Trying to future proof, I guess." There's a hollow laugh, before he turns a smile towards Zaria. "Then again, anything I do now could be completely undone by the next Weyrleader. So maybe I shouldn't try too hard?" He can find some amusement in the situation, however dry his tone may be. Wendryth looks pleased that Azrith is joining them, though he continues to stand like a great bronze statue. « The greens are such nimble maidens, are they not? » His thoughts have turned to the ladies, apparently.

"Nah, I don't think you're the type to shirk your duties," Zaria remarks, canting her head to one side to regard the Weyrleader with a small smirk curling over lips. "And Wendryth doesn't seem the type neither. Inaction now becase of tomorrow's uncertainty doesn't make a good Weyrleader either. And besides, there's always the constant of the goldriders. I can't see Nasrin or Diem allowing a new Weyrleader to come in and completely upend things." The bluerider has always been a glass half-full kind of girl, it in her nature. Preening out his great whorl-patterned wingsails, Azrith rumbles huskily, like a low chuckle almost as he flicks his tail idly. « Oh indeed. And with so many new ones going up for the first time…How's a dragon to resist the call of a fresh maid, new to passion and need? No, you can keep your golden ladies, a green lass will have all the fun without any massy entanglements. » It's clear he means eggs and all the care that comes with them.

H'rik gives Zaria a long, amused look. "You've got the measure of us," he admits, laughing. He does seem more at ease now, as he finds the chat turning more light-hearted through Zaria's efforts. "Yeah, they're a force to be reckoned with, those two. Not that I can be ungrateful, given how much they've helped out a startled young Weyrleader." His good humour is well and truly back, his hands shoving a bit deeper into the pockets of his heavy coat. "Arroyo's still treating you okay? I haven't had any rumblings reach me, so I'm guessing folks are happy." Wendryth's head, when golds are brought up, turns in the direction of the Weyr. « A green is a fine one to woo, but to court a gold is something indeed! My eggs shall be hatching soon - 'tis of great importance that I provide for them. Soon, I shall turn them again, to assist the lady Zsaviranth. » A devoted father through and through.

Even though she doesn't know how she does it, Zaria seems to be good at putting people at ease. Her grin deepens a bit as she can see signs of his mood shifting, her own posture relaxing in kind. "Arroyo's great. No complaints there. The grumbling has mostly died down indeed. The new riders are settling in, although some of the greenriders are having…intense first proddy experiences and their inexperience shows, so I'm erring on the side of caution and grounding them as soon as I catch a glow. Which Azrith is great with detecting." She turns to put her hand on the blue's muzzle, his energy a lot more calm now that he's had his dip to cool off. « And that is why you were hatched bronze and I, blue. Have fun with your eggs, the greens keep me plenty busy. » Zaria rolls her eyes a little as she hears her blue's side of the conversation.

There's a real sense of relief that Zaria's dealing with such things. Thank Faranth for Azrith's keen sense! "Glad to hear it's all working out. I probably should get a female Wingsecond to, uh, have those kinds of talks." He does look a touch awkward about that. Wendryth's body language is shifting, and though the bronze remains still, he seems poised to leap aloft, as if energy is building in his muscles. « Aye, our greens should miss you dearly if you were bronze! And my eggs would miss me - indeed, I should be wending my way home to see to them! » The mental prod reaches out to H'rik, who huffs a sigh, though he's smiling as he explains it to Zaria. "Wendryth's reminding me that we have eggs to attend to. Did you want to come back with to the Weyr or…stay a little longer?"

"Might be a good idea if you aren't comfortable having those kinds of talks with the new greenriders," Zaria replies with a vague wave of her hand, "Although, most of them seem to be pretty aware of what's going on, which just means Vosji's done her job well." Someone has had to learn a lot about proddiness, both in riders and dragons, in her turns rinding a randy blue, and she's learned how to put this to good use finally. Azrith warbles jovially with a flutter of brightly patterned wingsails, « Aye, just doing my part to keep up the morale of the population at large. » He swivels his head back to his rider to see if they are heading back or not, but Zaria shakes her head, "I'll head back in just a little bit…just to make sure…" she trails off with another affectionate rub of the bright blue's cheek, before offering a casual salute in H'rik's direction. "Clear skies Weyrleader, and pass on my compliments to Wendryth on what is sure to be a wonderful clutch."

"Thank goodness for Vosji," H'rik says, truly grateful for the experienced Weyrlingmaster. Wendryth's mental feeling is amused, despite his distraction as DUTY calls. H'rik touches fingers to temple, his salute just as casual as Zaria's, before he climbs nimbly to Wendy's neck. "Clear skies!" Wendryth's bugle is as much to announce his departure as to thank Zaria for her compliment, and the pair take off to wing their way Weyr-wards.