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Shifting her gaze between her husband and the young man, Io quirked her brow and reached out to rub his back, giving a comforting, encouraging squeeze to his shoulder. She was aware of the depth of their relationship and was there for the fallout of the perceived drifting apart.

G'non reached up to place a hand upon Io's, returning the squeeze. "Mind taking Iona inside or to the dining hall? I think I need to talk to the boy in private..." He asked in a soft whisper.

Giving her nod of silent agreement, she looked to Iona with a big smile, sweeping her arms open. "Come on, m'love! Want grab a warm drink and then see if Little Wing can catch any minnows in one of the creeks?" At the mention of her name, the gold flit took to the air, doing a few circles overhead, before landing on Io's shoulder with a chirrup. The youngster was suitably enchanted by the idea and slid down off of Torvarth's forelimb to run into her mother's arm. "Yes, yes. yes! Do you think they'll have spiced cider? Little Wing, you excited to fish?" She happily chattered on to her mother and her father's flit as Io carried the two of them off.

Waving the girls off before accepting his guitar from Tarel, he motioned for the boy to follow him inside. "I'd like to think so, though a former teacher or two may have said that I had my moments. Sometimes I got a bit distracted, sidetracked, or a little too keen on trying to show off. I worked and studied hard though. Hadn't expected that rider to pick me out of a crowd, but he did." He drew a spare chair to be positioned nearer to the fireplace before taking a seat in the chair that had been there. The fire crackled low in the stone hearth. It was enough to keep the weyr comfortable. His damp clothes were spread out on the stones along one side, drying by the heat of the fire. "Have a seat lad." Having arranged himself in his chair, he set strumming a few chords and bars of music, almost as if he were deciding on what to play. He settled on a tune he used to play a good bit with Antara's accompaniment. Or he accompanied her. "I did know her. We were in the same apprentice group and she was quite a dear friend and companion."

His strumming slowed when Tarel spoke of the situation around Antara's passing and, of course, Terei's reaction after the fact. G'non looked thoughtfully into the fire as he picked back up the base. "I'm sorry to hear that. Terei was never the most...He..." Oh, he had such words for and about that man. "He doesn't deserve the gem that his wife is, to put it mildly." His mood darkened at recalling Terei as he had been when he, himself had been in Fort. "He never liked me. Not one bit."

G'non sniffed at the questions floated his way. Blinking to break his thoughtful trance from the flickering flames, he refocused his attention on the teen across from him, scanning his face as his eyes readjusted to the relative dim compared to the flames themselves. He had her ticks, her tells. Judging by the time frame...And it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to see the similarity in their hair color and texture...Well, damn. "I can. We were very close, your mother and I. Dear friends, confidants...She had a great laugh and such a sharp wit. Really a beautiful, wonderful person. I swear put on this planet to counter the bitter nastiness that is her brother. It really is a blow that she went as she did...I had no idea..." Continuing his playing, he looked down to watch the vibrating of the strings. "Did Terei ever say anything about your dad?"

Of course he did. Of course! He couldn't be surprised with this news. Inhaling deeply, the candidatemaster exhaled slowly through his nose. "You'd have loved her. She always had an easy way about her. Mm. Dunno how she'd react to your pranking, but I bet she'd have loved to see you here." G'non absently raked his upper teeth over his lower lip as he considered what to say next. "Did you ever see any letters written to your mom? Were there any around at all?"

"If that is indeed the case, then I don't blame you. If there is ever a person in the whole of Pern who deserves to get even a little of what he gives out, it'd be Terei."

That b*****d burned them?! Well, that explains so damn much! His irritation and stewing anger caused him to strike a sour note. G'non silenced the complaining strings with a hand pressed against the neck of the guitar. "Sorry," He murmured before beginning a new song. "Tarel...I wrote to your mother. Every sevendays, I'd write. When I was in Fort, before I left, we were dating...Actively so. I had no idea that she..." He had no idea that she had gotten pregnant, but the timeline lined up too well.

"A grossly exaggerated story. I got Searched and impressed at the first clutch I stood for. I did my damnedest to keep in contact with her. I wrote to keep her updated on what I was doing, how Torvarth was growing and learning, anything and everything I could think of. I wrote how much I missed her, how I looked forward to seeing her when my training and duties slacked. I tried to figure plans to have her come join me." He sniffed before snorting at the thought of Terei burning his letters. "Terei never liked me though. Dunno if it was because I never paid him any mind, if it was because I didn't whither under his glares, or if it was because of all the time your mother and I spent together. Damn him for what he did. If he had any lick of decency he could have kept the letters then given them to you. Put them in a box someplace for you to find. I don't know. But, just destroying everything I sent...b*****d." G'non grumbled to himself bitterly as he played to try to soothe his roiling anger.

After a few moments of deep breathing, he felt suitably calm to resume talking. He didn't want to get worked up enough to risk yelling. His true anger was directed towards Terei, not the boy sitting across from him. "What do you think or feel about all this? That I'm your dad and the whole thing?"

The bluerider gave the boy ample time to sort through his thoughts, quietly playing whatever tune that came to mind and occasionally stopping to prod the fire or toss another little bit of kindling on to keep it going. It was a lot to process so he wasn't going to rush him. Besides, the quiet gave him a chance to sort of nonchalantly look over Tarel's features while playing his guitar, searching for hints of himself, for hints of Antara. When he did speak again, G'non looked to him more directly. His answer brought an amused chuckle from the rider. Pausing his playing, he reached out a hand to clasp and shake the offered hand. "I've seen and heard of worse. Don't worry too much about it, but do try to be more careful in the future. As candidatemaster, I've dealt with my share of pranks and such from the kids I've had to teach and train."

He expected the following question, Giving a thoughtful hum as he released his grasp on Tarel's hand, he leaned back to consider his own answer. He was already a dad, so it wasn't exactly a new experience for him, but he hadn't been expecting to be parent of a teenager for a good handful of Turns yet. He laughed softly to himself and shook his head. "I have to say, I've always wondered after having a son too. I'm sorry to have missed out on so much of your life so far, but, if you'll have me, I wouldn't mind being around for the rest of it. Besides, I bet Iona will be tickled to have a big brother."

"Well, I suppose appearances must be kept." He said with an amused and resigned nod. "I'll leave it up to you whom you decide to tell your peersof our relation. If you'd like to at all, or let it all come out in time. Whatever works for me."

G'non rested his free hand on the side of his guitar, pausing his playing for a moment. "Yes," He said matter of factually. He tittered, gently tapping the guitar. "She'd get a kick out of it, plus I could only imagine the stories and things you could bring into her life." He shook his head. "Io is a wonderful woman, very supportive. I know she'll be happy to welcome you to the family. She's always said how she'd fancy expanding the family, so now's as fine an opportunity as anything."