You want what? [Egg Hunt]

[weetia]

J'lin was relaxing with a cup of klah after several hours of tedious work flying all over the Weyr. He had been instructed by the wingleader to do a spot check on straps, and had been from weyr to weyr inspecting their wingriders' equipment. He had to wake several up despite the late hour, and to argue with another who felt that his plans to make repairs later that day should excuse the loose stitches on his harness. What if there had been an emergency, and the wing had been needed? Several days had already passed since the damage, so it should have already been fixed.

He watched, amused as the stonesmith stood up on the table, and only vaguely listened to his announcement before Portenth suddenly spoke up.

I want one the bronze announced, and J'lin started.

You...want one, his rider returned, confused. You want a fire lizard egg? Do they even Impress to dragons? He asked, bewildered. Is that possible?

I want one for you, the bronze clarified. It would help you wash me, and you would be able to use it to send messages so that we would not have to make trips out of the Weyr. And so that you could stay in our weyr with me instead of going around to talk to other riders.

I would have to take care of the rascal, too, J'lin pointed out, amused now. Wouldn't that take some of my attention away from you?

I could share with a litle lizard, Portenth answered, a little stiffly. Besides, the little humans would probably enjoy helping you with it.

They enjoy helping me take care of you, too, his rider pointed out, before standing up. But if you want me to get a fire lizard, I will. They can be useful, and I guess they're pretty charming as well. Maybe it would nap with you, too. The bronze was always complaining when he woke up with noone in the Weyr.

J'lin stretched a little, taking his empty cup of klah to be washed. Where would a golden fire lizard put her eggs, he wondered. Surely she would be sensible enough not to risk the gold dragon's wrath by putting them with the dragon eggs in the Hatching grounds, which would otherwise be the perfect place.

Warm and dark, probably soft, J'lin mused. At this time of year, the stoves and ovens would be in constant use. Too hot, definitely. The linen closets right off the kitchen that the cooks used to store tablecloths, cleaning rags, and such? They might be warm enough, in their close proximity to the stoves. Or in with the glows? That would definitely be warm enough, though getting the eggs out would be a hassle.

J'lin looked down at his thick riding gloves, strapped to his belt, and shrugged. He could certainly handle that. But he would check the linen closets first. He peeked in the first door, the closest to the gathering hall, and the least likely in his opinion. The tablecloths and towels were all stacked neatly and the whole closet was clearly visible in the light from the hall. No eggs here, and J'lin shrugged. There was another little door closer to the kitchen that the workers kept their oven mitts and dishcloths in. He had done his fair share of kitchen duty as a candidate and weyrling, and that closet had never been as well organized, or as well lit.

J'lin peeked around the corner, saw no one near that closet, and walked right up to it, casually. For a moment he felt almost...mischievious, which was rare for him, and the bronzerider smiled a little as he opened the door and peeked in. It was certainly as disorganized as he remembered. Candidates on chore-duty shoved their oven mitts back into the closet haphazardly as they left the area as quickly as they could, and J'lin began delicately moving one piece of still warm fabric at a time, checking under them. No, no, and J'lin had made a nice neat pile of mitts with nothing hidden under or behind them. There, farther back, though he saw something odd. Was that mitt...inflated?

[Sher]

When the mitt is disturbed, it becomes clear there is definitely something inside it. Something that smells sour. Something disgustingly slimy and squishy. J'lin has discovered...

An extremely rotten redfruit! Congratulations!

It's likely that it was stuffed in there as a prank, or perhaps a not-so-bright drudge stashed it for later consumption and simply forgot about it. For a long time.

The oven mitt with the icky fruit is not the only thing out of place. The question is, will it be seen...?

[weetia]

J'lin scowled at the rotten fruit. Ok, now either way he was going to clean out this closet, and then he was going to track down the candidate master. Leaving food to go bad attracted bugs, and could be getting the disgusting and dangerous things on the mitts that would be used to handle people's food. He began methodically cleaning out the closet even though he now doubted finding an egg in here.

He pulled out everything that had been under the mitt first, dropping those cloths on the floor to be cleaned, and began straightening the other two shelves to make sure there were no other nasty surprises. After that, he would wash his hands and go check the glows.

[Sher]

The second shelf is in even worse condition than the first, with the clean rags- properly stacked, once upon a time- jumbled around oddly in an almost swirled fashion. It seems strange that clean rags should smell like the oil used on dragons, whers, and firelizards alike; though the scent isn't very strong, it's almost certain to be recognized by the dragonrider.

[weetia]

J'lin wrinkled his nose at the smell of oil, and smiled a little. Well, at least a fire lizard had curled up in here for a nap, even if there wasn't an egg in here. He slowed down a little, pulling the rags out carefully one at a time. He folded each one neatly, so that at least he would have made the closet neater even if he didn't find anything pleasant.

[Sher]

It is good that J'lin is being so careful: nestled under a wadded-up (and slightly crusty) cloth, something eye-catching is now partially exposed!

((PM sent!))

[weetia]

J'lin stared into the closet at the odd-looking thing. The egg was orange and purple, almost painful to look at. You're sure I need an egg? he asked Portenth. I mean, I could walk away now, or give it to someone... He was mostly teasing, but if Portenth changed his mind, J'lin would cheerfully give the egg away.

I'm sure, Portenth said. You found one, then?

I found one, J'lin confirmed, as he began thinking hard about how to transport the egg back to his weyr, and what he would need to do for it there. Deciding, he sent a candidate he saw leaving the kitchen back in to get him one of the ceramic bowls. While waiting, J'lin collected several of the cloths that he had decided needed cleaning anyway, and when the bowl was brought back, he set the thick mitts down to cushion the delicate egg, which he transferred carefully. At the avarice in the candidate's eyes, J'lin helpfully suggest checking covered glow boxes in warm rooms.

"Just make sure you get some help moving it, if you find one," He warned the kid. Starting a slow, careful stroll back to the bowl, J'lin reminded Portenth that he would need to take the egg straight back to their weyr. He was already planning a trip out for a bit of sand, and trying to figure out how often he would need to change out the warm coal he would put under the sand.

In almost no time, the bronzerider was setting the egg up in a corner of his room, and putting straps on his bronze for a trip down to the river bank. The sand would have a different consistency than the Hatching Grounds, but it shouldn't matter. Now it would just be a matter of waiting, and J'lin could certainly handle that.