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To learn of Antara's fate had been one surprise, but to discover that he had a son by her was another surprise all together. There was so much that he had missed! G'non kicked himself for missing out on so much, but the old bluerider thought of the situation that had been presented to him as a second chance of sorts. If his attention was wanted, of course. He wasn't going to force himself upon T'rel if he wasn't wanted. That wouldn't be fair to him. Just more aggravation, really, and he didn't want that.

G'non had been recuperating from a Threadscore to one of his thighs. He had been pretty much bound to his weyr and wherever Torvarth could drop him off. Thankfully. If he had to spend his entire recovery time in the healer's quarters he probably would have gone a bit mad. For him, his weyr was the source of all comfort, solace, and respite. Everything he enjoyed most was there, and everything was exactly as he liked it. Plus, he didn't want to be fussed over all the time. A check up with the healers gave him the okay to be able to get around, so long as he didn't overdo it. No sprinting, no heavy lifting, and he was to keep his can on hand until he felt he didn't need it any longer. Those he could do.

With this new freedom, G'non was wanting to do a bit of walking around, to stretch his legs and get a lungful of fresh air. Besides, Little Wing always had liked taking getting a ride when he went out walking. So, with his little golden companion perched neatly on his shoulders, her hind feet hooked into his collar and her forefeet on top of his head, G'non went on his walk. It wasn't just a bit of a jaunt around the Weyr. He wanted to visit T'rel. After T'rel's visit to his weyr, he had thought over a possible timeline and came to a reasonable conclusion in his mind of when things played out. T'rel was his son, beyond a shadow of a doubt in his mind. The bluerider just hoped that he was in and in a visiting mood. With a helpful point in the right direction, it wasn't too long before G'non ended up on T'rel's ledge, standing at his doorway. "Knock, knock," He called in, leaning forward on his cane with his hands folded on the handle. "Anyone home?" Little Wing added a bright chirp of her own. She had tagged along too!

Ooh, that tone didn't sound too promising. Perhaps T'rel was having a bad day. Maybe a pleasant, er, hopefully pleasant visit would lighten his mood. If not, G'non didn't mind lending his ear if he needed to vent or something. "Thank you." The bluerider said upon being given admittance to the wingleader's weyr. The gold flit fluttered her wings and hopped up to be fully sitting upon the crown of her person's head. New places were always exciting, especially with her person in tow.

"I was hoping to have a bit of a visit with you, maybe some chatting. Just to check in and get to know you a bit more," G'non said moving in to stand a short distance away from T'rel. From this distance, he could definitely a bits of Antara in him. It was in his nose, his forehead, his ears. "I brought Little Wing here. She needed to get out as much as I did." The flit sat up on her haunches with a beat of her wings, giving a short series of chirps before returning all four feet to the crown of G'non's head. It was relatively easy to keep her grip what with how thick his hair was. The rider gave a hum. "You mind having a talk with me? I think that there are some things we probably ought to talk about."

Oh, that felt good, getting grimaced at just from being near the younger man. G'non took a small, polite step back. The question posed of him caused him to freeze. He stood stock still for a moment as if he had suddenly become stone. The tone of the posed question wasn't so bad, so much as the question itself. Ouch. "Would you fault an old harper for wanting to get to know the son he never knew he had?" His volume trailed off to a stunned silence when T'rel's attention shifted to the golden flit perched on top of his head. That smile...

Little Wing practically preened at the respectful, pleasant greeting. She liked this fellow already! Ooh! And an offer of food! Now he was definitely on the fast track to find himself among her favorite people. She shifted her gaze from T'rel to where he gestured, a bowl of meat scraps and another new friend! Seeming to crouch almost in a feline manner, she waggled her little rear before springing from the top of G'non's head, causing it to ruffle up a bit in her departure. She glided over to briefly land on T'rel's shoulder before fluttering over to where Harper and the bowl of food was. It smelled really good. She chirruped at Harper as she folded her wings neatly upon her back.

"You have her smile. Antara's smile..." G'non said with a little sigh, a fond expression trying to take hold of his features, but when T'rel's full attention returned and that smile disappeared, he shook his head, clearing his throat. He reached a hand up to comb his fingers through his hair to get it to behave again. "I disagree." He began, dropping his hand again. "I think we ought to at least touch on you being my son. I don't want anything from you. I just want to get to know you. I want to clear the air. I can only imagine what you must be thinking." Probably not much in his favor, if the tone, grimacing, and frowning were any indication.

"Again, I disagree." G'non began, winding up for his response. "After you and your friend left my weyr, I got to thinking about Antara and my time back in the Harper Hall. She and I had been together for a good, long while. Heh, one of the meanest flute and pipe players in all of Fort if you ask me, but she was a lovely singer too." He shook his head to keep himself from getting too far off track. "I believe you are my son. Two months before I was searched, she and I got intimate. Yes, a green had been rising, but we had been ahead of her. Our coming together hadn't been flight lust. We were close and spent a good deal of our time together. She was one of my best friends. Heh. Around two months later I was searched by an Istan search pair. I hadn't been entirely sure about whether or not to go. I wasn't one hundred percent on leaving everyone behind, but Antara encouraged me to go. She said that I ought to go because it was something new and exciting. It was a chance to go someplace I had never been before. I finally decided and agreed to go. I was to write her a letter after impressing, because she was absolutely certain that I'd have a dragon in no time, and she would come join me. Er, after training and graduating to a fully fledged rider, of course. By my figuring, she was two months along with you, but hadn't found out yet." The bluerider brought up a hand to rub a finger over his brow. "I don't know why she didn't just write when she found out. Maybe she wanted to surprise me or," He shook his head. "I don't know. I'm not about to claim to know everything about the minds of women. Six, seven months later, you were born." G'non paused, lowering his hand and sort of refocused his gaze upon T'rel from having been looking into space to recall the timeline that he had figured. "I planned on marrying Antara. I know that we were faithful to each other. I think, no, I know that your my and Antara's son."

He gave a sniff and straightened himself. Having lain out his timeline, or part of it. A good chunk of it anyway. His expression shifted towards indignation and a touch of anger. "They were wrong to do that to you. They had no right to trick you for their gain and I think you were in the right to send them off. Now, I have no reason to lie to you. I don't gain any increased standing or what have you from being your father. I have my Torvarth and I'm perfectly fine in the Wing I'm in. I work well with them and I have friends there." G'non grew quiet and his face relaxed, his tone softening. "Look, I know I've never been there for you before, I never had a chance to really, but I'd just like the opportunity to be able to be part of your life now. It doesn't even have to be a big part." G'non shifted his weight to be more fully on his uninjured leg with a sigh. "Of course, you'd have to believe what I'm telling you, but that's for you to sort out. What do you have to say about what I've said?"

G'non regarded the bronzerider when he crossed his arms and took on a look of disinterest as he laid out the timeline. There were familiar signs of deception. Antara had never been a very good liar either and her 'tells' were pretty much the same. The flaring of the nostrils, fidgeting hands, smiles when smiles weren't appropriate. He could practically see her trying to not give away that she had hidden his guitar somewhere to play around with him. It was cute. It didn't take much to get her to crack, but the little games they played were always fun. T'rel's tells were the same as hers, or at least a close enough approximation to remind him of her.

When T'rel spoke, the older man quieted, listening intently. He was so sorry to hear that she had had such a tough time with the pregnancy. Had he known, he would have gone to help her, be there for her. Shards, he probably would have abandoned his being a candidate to be by her side if he knew she was in such a bad way. He didn't know though. He never got any word. T'rel's speculation of why Antara herself couldn't have written him seemed a fair one. But to not get any word from her brother was enough to make a little flare of anger tickle the back of his mind. What was his problem? It seemed he just never warmed up to him. Even still, he had a right to know that Antara hadn't been doing well and that he had a son by her! He had the right to know she had passed away.

The bluerider shook his head. "Because Antara and I agreed that I'd send word after I Impressed and finished my training. We had agreed that once I was a fully fledged rider, I'd write and she'd come to Ista. We were going to get married and she was going to be my weyrmate. We had it all planned out. But I impressed, I trained, I graduated. I got myself a weyr and made it all nice and homey. I wrote and waited. I wrote and waited, and waited, and waited. I held on to what we had promised each other. You might think me a dimglow for waiting, but I had no doubt in my mind that I would hear from her. Or that she would surprise me sometime, just show up all smiles and warmth and beauty and music." G'non rubbed his jaw absently, a distant, dreamy, remotely sorrowful expression taking hold of his features. "I was stupid for nothing thinking at some point at least, 'Hey, something's gotta be wrong. I should have heard from her.' But I didn't. I waited and hoped, expecting something from her. Anything, but nothing ever came."

"Terei was saying those things?" G'non snorted derisively. "He never did seem to care for me. I tried to be nice and everything." The more T'rel said of his uncle/foster father, the more anger roiled in the older rider's gut. The picture was all too clear in his mind. Antara's brother had been destroying all the letters he had been sending. Burning them up. Watching them blacken and fold in upon themselves, knowing that they were from him and willfully kept them from his son. He simply went on slandering him to Tarel. The bluerider slammed his cane on the floor. "Everything he had said was a lie! Had I known about you, I would have gone to get you as fast as Torvarth could have carried me! I would have brought you here to live with me in Ista. I would have jumped at the chance to be there for you. I loved Antara and I wouldn't have just left you there with Terei had I known."

At T'rel's hesitation, the older rider closed the distance between them, stopping an arm's distance away. He reached out to place a hand on T'rel's shoulder. "Hey...Don't drag yourself downs with 'what if's. You didn't know and Terei hadn't let you know." He dropped his hand down back to the handle of his cane. "Yes. I would have absolutely come for you. You're my son...I'm just sorry to have not known of you sooner."

Ah, there was a bit of a smile. Not a very big one, but at the very least it was something. There was a hope in him that said it'd grow and warm over time, so he was content to receive the small smile that he had earned.

T'rel's smile and his attempt to make light of the situation did quell the churning anger that was washing G'non's mind. The older rider made a sound that was something between a grunt and a chuckle. "I imagine you would want that. But what's done is done. I'll have to make a point to write Terei a strongly worded letter, or see about swinging by Fort sometime soonish."

It was G'non's turn to smile and he nodded slowly. "Aye, it you have. Those are things to ponder over, but not to the point of not enjoying what there is now. Look, boy, we can take it slow to sort of get used to each other, but I do want to be part of your life."

Over from the table, Little Wing had eaten her fill and had debated on attempting to engage in play with Harper. A full belly had sapped most of her energy, however, so her attention when back to the people. The little queen had moved to the edge of the table, wiggled her butt as she prepared to take off, and sprang from the table with a leap. A few beats of her wings, she glided over to land heavily upon T'rel's head, giving a slow, content chirrup upon doing so.

"Heh. I imagine the little miss there would also like getting to know you better. She quickly comes to adore those who spoil her and she has a favoritism towards menfolk, regardless of species." Yes, she got on fine with females, but she definitely preferred the company of men.