It's before dawn, but a Weyrleader's work is never done. For once, it's not pre-dawn drills though - Whirlwind are probably glad for the break. No, H'rik has had a different duty to attend to today. Not so much a duty as…a quest. A very important quest - or so Wendryth has labelled it such! The bronze has been conspiciously absent from Igen so far this morning, and comes flying back in with the sandstorm that's on its way. He soars in to the hatching grounds, wings angling to allow him to land a respectful distance from Zsaviranth and their clutch. H'rik dismounts by sliding down Wendy's foreleg, shedding his clothing as quickly as he can - he looks very warm and sweaty, and not just from the heat of the sands. He runs a hand through sweaty hair, pushing it away from a slightly red face, and then starts opening one of the pouches on Wendryth;s straps. The bronze croons a merry greeting to his gold, gaze on her, then on the eggs.

Zsaviranth has grown used to Wendryth's arrival upon the sand where the eggs rest, therefore she isn't surprised to see him during random hours of the day. The bronze will usually check in after drills or PT when she's typically mounding sand or hosting egg touchings with candidate and weyrling staff. « Diem. » Gentle autumn spice wafts into the goldrider's senses as a sign that she needs to get up. Yes, the Weyrwoman is curled up on her cot fast asleep as it is pre dawn and she's showing no signs of rousing. « H'rik is here. » She snorts awake and rolls onto her back, dragging the very light afghan blanket closer to her chin. "Who?" she rasps, sleepy. « H'rik. » Still foggy, Diem rubs her eyes and yaaaawns in an attempt to actually wake up and function enough to meet with the Weyrleader. Thankfully, this isn't the first time he's seen her in pajamas.

With his proud survey of the eggs done, and his entrance well and truly made, Wendryth bespeaks Zsaviranth. « WE HAVE COMPLETED YOUR QUEST! » Well, H'rik mostly, since Wendy can't exactly go handing over marks for things. At least he keeps his mind voice just to the gold - likely it's the last thing Diem needs in her head when she's just waking up. H'rik carefully pulls out something wrapped reasonably small, wrapped up neatly. He's seen Diem this early and in this state before, but he's still polite enough not to stare at her in her cot. "Sorry for the early call. Uh, hopefully this'll make up for it." He approaches with the parcel, taking his time to give the Weyrwoman a chance to come to. Wendy steps closer to the eggs, lowering his nose to gently breathe air over one at the edge of the clutch.

Zsaviranth rumbles her response and is rather impressed with the result of the completed quest. Diem, however, is still rubbing her eyes and lying on her cot. Tawny eyes blink a few times and she tilts her head back to view H'rik standing there upside down with something in hand. "That doesn't look like klah." is her feeble attempt at pre dawn humor. Still, she rolls onto her stomach and sinks the side of her face into the fluffy pillow as she mumbles something that sounds like 'thank you.' The small wrapped parcel is fumbled open and she perks up when she sees the pastry that's been dipped in yellowfruit glaze. "Breakfast!" Muffled into the pillow, that. « Thank you, Wendryth. She is pleased. » Which means Zsaviranth is pleased. Which means Igen is pleased.

"I'm afraid not," H'rik confirms. He'll stay silent as she takes it, standing there with only a hint of awkwardness, mixed with hopeful expectation. Will the pastries be acceptable? Apparently so, even if the response is muffled by the pillow. Now he allows himself a small smile, eyes flicking sideways, towards the clutch. "Direct from Ista." Wendryth manages to restrain himself from a triumphant bugle (Faranth knows the sleepy Weyr doesn't need that!), but he does pull himself up to his tallest, wings half-opening. « I AM MOST GLAD! WE SHOULD VISIT ISTA, PERHAPS, AFTER OUR CHILDREN HAVE HATCHED? » Visiting the more tropical Weyr has been a pleasant experience for him, apparently! "Would you like me to get some klah brought here?" H'rik says, collecting himself and looking more business-like as he turns back to Diem.

« Yes. We like Ista. » Zsaviranth rests on the sand with her front legs crossed neatly in front of her as Wendryth puffs up with pride. Quest: accomplished. It's only a matter of time before the next task is bestowed upon him — probably when he needs something to do other than sitting and reciting poetry to her. "Ohh, I didn't think you'd actually go." Diem says as she sits up on the cot. Both arms lift over her head and streeetch over mussed hair falling loose from bun she went to sleep with. "Hopefully you didn't have to put anything off just to get pastries." There might be a tinge of guilt in her tone (she really ought to know by now that Wendryth takes questing very seriously~). Another yawn escapes and she motions to a vacant chair should H'rik want to sit down for a spell. "Klah would be perfect right about now. And, no, you don't have to fetch it from High Reaches." More humor there.

« IT AND SOUTHERN ARE ALIKE, » is Wendryth's comment on Ista - the bronze does rather enjoy visiting Tsiroth's Weyr. « I SHOULD LIKE TO SWIM IN THE OCEAN THERE, WHEN TIME ALLOWS ME! » Then a thought occurs to the bronze, and he adds: « THE BARRACKS - ONE OF THE CANDIDATES ACCEPTED MY QUEST TO ENHANCE ITS BEAUTY WITH SOUTHERN'S FOLIAGE! » What follows is an image of the poor Igen candidate barracks, decked out with a host of Southern plants. And some small, scuttling black eight-legged things here and there among the leaves, too! H'rik grins, a little bashful about skipping out of Igen to go fetching things from Ista. "Nah. Whirlwind got a break, so I doubt they'll be quick to complain." He'll slip into the indicated chair, relaxing into it and resting his elbows on his knees, eyes sparkling with amusement. "I think it'd be cold when it gets here. I'll have Wendryth get someone to fetch some klah." Some unlikely Whirlie isn't going to get a full lie-in today - but such is life! He peers at the bronze as he delivers the request before looking over a few more of the eggs. "Candidates behaving themselves around the eggs?"

There is a rumble after Wendryth mentions Tsiroth's Weyr, which reminds her of the Weyrleader Igen's goldriders were previously discussing. She says nothing of Va'os, but does seem generally amused at the idea of the candidate barracks being turned into a jungle. « Did they decorate with colorful flowers? Southern has beautiful flora. » Her eyes whirl blue-green at the imagery being shared and she passes along some of it to Diem, who happens to be sitting up in the cot now with her legs over the side. The goldrider's bare feet are now planted on the ground and she nods, "They seem to be." Yawned, that. Sorry. "We're close to the final stretch now." A hand lifts to scratch an itch on her arm. "I would like to visit Mayte and Amani at Southern sometime after the hatching. Is that something you're interested in? I'm dragging Nasrin with me, too, of course."

Flowers! « AH YES! THERE WERE MANY OF THOSE! » The images Wendryth is sharing have come from H'rik's visit to the barracks, their perspective makes that obvious. Now, it's an image of some purple flowers that the bronze shares with Zsaviranth, as well as some smaller, bright blues ones that accompany a length of vines. « IT IS FINE< IS IT NOT? » Oh, he sounds very pleased about this turn of events, even if not all the candidates are as much a fan! H'rik's summons have worked, and a younger member of Whirlwind comes trotting in, bleary-eyed, with a tray bearing a kettle of klah and two mugs. "It always seems to go so quickly," H'rik muses, as he accepts the tray with a 'thank you' to his wingrider. The lad heads off, no doubt to go and get some klah of his own, poor thing. If H'rik is excited at the prospect of visiting Southern and meeting up with Va'os again, he hides it well, only the spark in his eyes evidence of his emotions. "Oh, definitely," he says calmly, pouring two mugs and offering one to Diem bow she's sat upright. "Do they seem to be coping well?" He asks of the two goldriders, looking curiously at Diem.

Ohhhh. Zsaviranth approves of the purple flowers especially — that is Diem's favorite color, which means that the gold likes it too. « Everything except the insects. Why are are insects in the barracks? » Does he want Cremla to have a heart attack? « I am not pleased with them. » More than likely she is feeding off of her lifemate's extreme disapproval of the eight legged freaks— err, bugs. Diem is very grateful for the poured mug of klah and gladly accepts when it is offered to her. "That's what I'd like to find out. I haven't written Mayte in sevens, and I've only spoken to Amani the last time she was visiting Igen." She siiips some klah next. "And since I haven't been to Southern in Turns, I thought Nasrin and I would make a day trip."

Wendryth has no strong feelings about the spinners - but he does pick up on the dislike of them from the gold. « AH - » He tries to erase them from the images he's showing. « THEY TRAVELLED A GREAT DISTANCE WITH THE PLANTS! » That's the truth as he knows it! « BRAVE ADVENTURERS, TO COME SO FAR! » Is he defending them? Inadvertently, perhaps! H'rik sips from his mug, straightening up in the chair. "Ah." He considers the situation over at Southern, thinking over what he's heard of the goings-on there. "They've had a lot on their plate, far as I know. That storm, and someone mentioned there's refugees living in the weyrling barracks, or something like that. Must be a hassle when there's only two of them." He looks sympathetic. "If you'd like me and Wendryth to come, we'd be glad to." His gaze is distant now, as he ponders things.

Diem blinks at H'rik while holding the mug of klah in hand. Her cheekbones turn slightly red when she realizes how much of the news she's missed while being committed to the sands and eggs. "Faranth." The mug is set down on a nearby end table before Diem rubs her eyes once again and then moves to her temples. "Why didn't anyone tell me it was that bad? No wonder Mayte hasn't written me! She's had her hands full with everything. I heard the storm they endured was bad, but I had no idea how bad…" Tugging at the leather tie in her hair, she pulls it free and allows her dark hair to cascade over her shoulders before running her hands through the tresses. "I feel like I'm in a bubble when I'm sitting here."

Whoops - H'rik looks guilty. His mug is clutched with both hands. "Ah - sorry. I thought Mayte or Amani had let one of you know but…" Apparently not. Not that Igen could probably do a lot about Southern's current events. "I don't know all the details, so a visit there to see what's going on would be good for me, too. You know how rumours can go once they've been passed through a few people…" He clears his throat when Diem releases her hair, looking over at the eggs and their parents for a moment. "I don't envy you the job. At least it won't be much longer." Then it's allll on the weyrlingmasters!

There really isn't anything Diem can do at this point but to write Southern's leadership and express her concern. Whether or not Igen can offer aid will be up to the rest of the Weyr's leadership and will be discussed in an administrative meeting should it be listed on the docket. She scrubs hands down her face once again before snagging her mug of klah and a yellowfruit pastry from its packaging. "I will get in touch with the weyrwomen." Now she really wants to visit the area if the conditions allow her to. Still, it's something she'll have to focus on after the hatching. Now she casts her gaze out over the eggs while taking a bite of pastry. "Mmmmn." Some klah is sipped next. "You think you can get some fish from Tillek for dinner?" There is a spark of amusement in her eyes when she returns her gaze to H'rik.

The difficult conflict of looking after one's on Weyr, while offering support to another: H'rik has a troubled look in his eyes as he considers it. "Let me know if I can help," he says, still feeling that twinge of guilt for keeping it from Diem. Her comment about Tillek lifts his spirits some at least. "A fishing trip for Wendy, huh?" More relaxed now, he'll stay on the sands with Diem and finish his klah, before the things he has to do cannot be avoided any longer. Wendryth will stay longer, ever the protective father.