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On any given day, if you made a bet that at that particular moment, Ista's Weyrsecond was hard at work, holed up in his weyr or else running drills, you'd usually get to keep you marks. But not today. R'yn had flat out kicked him out of his study, saying he had to get some fresh air or he was transferred (a favorite threat of his, it seemed. And if T'nus ever got belligerent enough to -jokingly- declare that he didn't want to stay in this stupid Weyr anyway, and challenged him to do it, it became 'and keep Lavi here!')

With nothing else to do on his day off, T'nus did what any father would, and went to look for Navi. And yet, the three-turn old was already fast asleep in the creche where his mother had dropped him off that morning, much to T'nus's disappointment. He went to bother Lavi instead, but with the hatching so soon, she had her hands full with the candidates and he was shooed away.

And so, T'nus sat on the beach, head in hands, starring at his dragon as they tried to brainstorm for something to do. But so far he was running a blank.
You could bathe me? Azimuth suggested.
Do you need to be bathed? he asked, looking up. Usually he was good at keeping up with those things.
Not particularly. he admitted, and T'nus put his head back on his hands, silent.

Taking a break from work might be relaxing for others, but it was even more stressful for him. There were so many things still to do! And sitting out here wasn't solving any of them. T'nus spent most of his time working when he was just a wingleader. Now, when it felt like the weight of the Weyr was crushing in on him, it was last time he wanted to take time off.

He closed his eyes and lay back on the sand. His back did hurt. He nustled it into the ground, the warm sand easing the tension in his shoulders better than any massage. Maybe they were right after all...

And yet, just as he was starting to relax, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He sat up quickly, wondering if he was needed somewhere. But it was just a young boy, not much older than Navi. "Oh, who's this?" he said to himself. Tarel.. Hn. Must be a common name. But he didn't remember any weyrbrats called that. Was he new? Here for the hatching? Sibling of a candidate, perhaps? "Oh, um. Sure. What do you want to play?" he said. After all, he had nothing better to do. T'nus stood up and brushed the sand from his pants legs. He studied the boy. Clearly not from here. He looked around. "Where are your parents?" he asked him.

"Okay.." T'nus said, not sure what he was talking about, mostly, but nodding along. "G'non, hmm?" he asked. That was odd, T'nus didn't remember him having a son that age. Wasn't he a bit old for children? He must be his fosterer.

T'nus smiled. "Alright I won't tell." he said. He could see why G'non wouldn't want him wandering around on his own, but it was a shame to keep a child cooped up on a day like this. Surely he wouldn't mind, so long as T'nus kept an eye on him.

T'nus sighed at the offer to play tag. Childen were indefatigable, it seemed, but that was not so for adult. Shells, he was exhausted. He was much happier with the suggestion of staying right where they were and playing in the sand. T'nus eagerly sat back down. "Alright, you bury me." he said, stretching out his legs. "I'll help." He began to pile sand absently over his legs while he listened.

Harper? Wasn't that the name of T'rel's firelizard too? Well, he supposed it was a rather obvious name for a blue, after all. Perhaps that was why the boy had taken such an irrational dislike to him. He knew how much children hated to have their ideas stolen, even if they weren't the first to come up with them. He was more interested in the previous statement, "Oh, so you were at Fort, then?" he said with a smile. "I used to come from Fort. You're right, there's not a lot of sand there!"

Make 'Rel go away, huh? T'nus grinned. "Good boy." he said, ruffling his hair. "That's the spirit." Now if only Navi could act more like that! Instead his son was all over the ex-harper, and why? Because he was teaching him to play guitar? "But why does T'rel need to go away then, hm? It seems to me you two are awfully alike."

What had happened?! Tarel had been playing contentedly and quietly on the floor of the weyr. The boy had seemed absolutely wrapped up in the little game or world he had created. G'non had been on high alert for nigh a sevenday now and his sleep schedule was definitely suffering from having to keep an energetic, talkative, bubbly five turn old cooped up and kept on the down low. With Tarel being so wrapped up in his little game, the bluerider had closed his eyes to "rest them" and in no time at all he crashed into a sound doze. How long had he been out?! How far could have Tarel gotten? The bluerider hoped not very far. There was too much wrong that could happen without someone keeping an eye out. Being constantly alert was just exhausting. He was just one man. Yes, Torvarth and Little Wing did help as best they could.

With hair all tousled from his nap, G'non had headed out as fast as he could, his mind reeling. Where was there that the young Tarel would be interested in visiting? What all would he be saying if he struck up a conversation with anyone? What if he ran into T'rel?! What if he got into trouble? What if he went to play on the beach or in the shallows and he gets sucked out by the tide or a strong wave?! He'd drown! G'non had come to understand that the boy had NO experience swimming. At least, no meaningful swimming experience that could be of any real use to him. He had to hurry! He had to find him! G'non debated on calling out to the boy, but worried that doing so might unintentionally attract T'rel's attention if he was around to hear his carrying on. No. Best to play that safe. Just keep an eye out and be alert.

Making his way down towards the beach, the bluerider squinted in the sun and made out the shape of a young boy with hair falling to his cheeks with an adult man. Who? G'non briskly made his way nearer. Weyrsecond T'nus. Ah. Oh. Oh dear. That...probably wasn't good. Probably. Maybe. Probably. Ugh. He could only imagine what sort of conversation might have been going on. The bluerider wasn't unaware of the difficulty between T'rel and T'nus. Once he was near enough that he didn't have to shout, he spoke. "Weyrsecond, I apologize." He planted himself at the boy's side and placed a hand on Tarel's shoulder.

G'non looked down to the boy with a stern expression. "You're in trouble, boy."

"It's my first time in a Weyr!" Tarel informed T'nus excitedly. "Do you like living here? I wanna live here too! Can I live here?" His eyes widened in surprise. "Really? A bronze?! Can I see him? I rode a bronze here! I did! I told Papa about it. His name was Yanith! He told me so!" He paused in his excited retelling to nod. "He did! He told me so. So I gotta... Papa's nice--" another pause. The boy's eyes widened comically as brown eyes landed on the approaching G'non.

"He doesn't look nice now," he assessed, placing a hand on T'nus' leg for comfort. "The timer's gone!" he announced. "Gone, he left! He was there, and then he was gone." His description of having seen a dragonrider fly between was childish, but accurate.

"Not in trouble, Papa," the five turn old corrected his father with a shake of the head. "Nope! I was good, huh, 'Nus? We're friends! I was good, Papa. Not in trouble."

When Tarel revealed the name of the dragon that had taken him, T'nus smiled triumphantly.
Azimuth- he said at once, but before he could even finish his request, the bronze responded.
I'm sorry, T'nus. I know of no dragon named Yanith. he said.

When G'non came to scold him, T'nus glanced down. "Well, ah.. He was being good." T'nus mumbled, feeling like he had to come to Tarel's defence. Especially after he hugged onto his leg for comfort. T'nus was always a sucker for kids.

As he listened to G'non's explanation, T'nus folded his arms, nodding along. But he waited until G'non had put his hands over Tarel's ears before he spoke.

"Do you mean to tell me that a child just appeared in your weyr, and you didn't see fit to tell anyone about it?" he whispered harshly. "You-" T'nus was about to say more, but he stopped himself short the moment G'non dropped his hands from Tarel's ears. He sighed heavily, composing himself. "You're damn right it was a bad call." He leaned in and whispered, "Close is not safe." He shook his head. "Especially not for T'rel." T'nus stepped back and glanced down. It was getting difficult to discuss this around Tarel without letting him on to anything, so T'nus turned to his dragon.

At his call, Azimuth came to land next to them by the shore. T'nus looked at Tarel, who was still oblivious, it seemed, and smiled. "You wanted to meet my dragon right? Here he is. His name is Azi! You want to play with him? You two can play tag." he offered. To his dragon he said:
Sorry, Azi. You think you can distract him for a little while?
I can hunt herd beasts and wild boars, I should be able to catch a child of his size. Az said, his eyes flashing competitively. Apparently he took his games of tag very seriously.

Once those two had gone off. T'nus turned back to G'non. What were they talking about again...? Oh right, T'rel. "Shells.. Does he know?" T'nus asked, suddenly, as the thought occured to him.

T'nus sighed. Azimuth, I think you'd better go ahead and call the weyrleader now. he said.
Gareth says the weyrleader is sleeping. Should I wake him?
Um.. no. Actually, ask Calith if Ticene can come instead. He decided, she might actually have a better idea of what to do, anyway.

"See, I was good!" Tarel blew a raspberry at G'non in triumpth. "I was good! Toldya! T'nus told you, too." He removed himself from T'nus and went to hug G'non around the knees. "Papa, don't be mad at me," he said, eyes widening innocently in order to convince his father not to be angry. "Please? And you wanna play?"

He squirmed slightly in attempt to remove G'non's hands from his ears. He wanted to hear, too! What were they saying? His eyes widened when G'non let him go. "Oooh," he exclaimed, pointing at T'nus. "You said a bad word!" He glanced at G'non, as if expecting the man to inflict punishment. Then he glanced about excitedly when the man offered to let him play with his dragon. "Really?" he asked. "Hi Azi!" The five turn old ran over to the bronze, attaching to one of Azimuth's legs. "I'm Tarel! Wanna play? You're really big! Really, really big!" He beamed up at the dragon, then--seemed to be distracted by the approaching woman.

Tarel had a habit of needing to introduce himself to everyone he met. He left Azimuth's side, running to Ticene instead. "Hi!" he cried, waving at her excitedly. "I'm Tarel! Wanna play with me and Azi?"

"I'm sure he was." The bluerider stated in a tone that was vaguely flat. Sure. In all likelihood, Tarel had been behaving nicely for T'nus, but that didn't change the fact that he had been disobeyed. He gave an unimpressed look at the raspberry blown at him, but gave a sigh at the hug around his knees. He ruffled the boy's hair. "I need to talk with T'nus, but you can play, alright?"

G'non looked to the bronzerider. "Hey, I own up to the fact that my actions weren't strictly adherent to whatever protocol there is for this sort of thing, but this doesn't exactly happen every day! And watch your tongue in front of the boy. He doesn't need to hear that stuff." G'non said sternly, folding his arms over his chest. He sniffed and angled his head at T'nus. "Besides, it isn't like he's just any child, T'nus. He's my son."

The elder rider looked towards Azimuth's arrival. "Tarel, stick close to Azimuth."

When T'nus' attention refocused on himself, G'non shook his head. "No. Not so far as I know. It's my understanding that T'rel has been held up over in the Hold helping out there. I've being doing my best to try to keep things on the down low in the chance that T'rel is around or does come back. Torvarth has been keeping an eye out for any coming and going by way of Zelith, but he hasn't been seeing him."

His attention drifted from the weyrsecond to the approaching figure. Weyrwoman Ticene. He dropped his folded arms and straightened up some. G'non spared T'nus a glance at her inquiry. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words that were going to form froze on his tongue at Tarel's dashing over and introducing himself. The bluerider sighed and directed his focus to the Weyrwoman. "This is Tarel. He was dropped off at my weyr about a sevenday ago in the middle of the night by a Timer. He was taken from his home in Fort late at night by some bronzerider with a dragon by the name of Yanith and given the instruction to get rid of T'rel. Someone is trying to kill T'rel using Tarel. He's been staying with me and I've been doing my best to try to get as much info as I can from him. He's five turns old and excited by this place, but he's given up some information. Nothing like 'why'. I don't know if the man who took him would tell him such a thing." He paused for a moment.

"I've already been made aware of my gross failing to bring this to your or the wingleader's attention. I am sorry..." What could he really say? His mind had been reeling. But besides that, he was able to interact with his son as a small boy. A chance he had missed out on the way things had played out as they had. Perhaps it was foolish and selfish, but there was joy and pride he felt in seeing Tarel's little mannerisms and amusement in seeing aspects of his dear Antara in the boy's behavior and his smile. Sentimental, maybe, but it was those things that he wouldn't truly regret. At least so long as he was able to keep anything from happening to T'rel. That's what he had been trying to do. That's all he had been trying to do all damned sevenday.