Found!

[Owain(#32501)]

it\'s one of those warm and pleasant autumn evenings, clear and just past sunset. Fireflies spark here and there among the thatching of the houses and so forth.

Just now, approaching the crossroads from the south, there appears to be a Beorning-- except he is not so tall, and darker than what they usually are. Still, he is dressed as one, with felt boots and the like. Owain of Bree carries a tall walking-stick as he goes, frowning a bit as if lost in thought.

Gidon is coming along the road from the north - a creel of fish slung over one shoulder the pole having been abandoned beside the pool. The boy is wearing an oversize cloak but it is thrown back for the evening being warmer than he had expected - and the rain having blown away. Perhaps the man will recognize the cloak - once, it was his.

Gidon\'s hair is damp, and curling at the edges, and his left arm doesn\'t seem to swing quite with the ease of the other as he walks. He isn\'t looking at anything at all, particularly, only the road before his feet.

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain glances vaguely at Gidon as he walks. And then a moment later he glances back. He slows down gradually, a furrow in his brow. Now he is stopped entirely, just staring at Gidon with his brow deeply furrowed.

The boy has not been paying attention Owain\'s footsteps make a dull background accompaniment to whatever his thoughts are - and it is a few minutes after the man has stopped that the cessation of the sound trickles into consciousness. Gidon looks up, absently, and stops dead still in the middle of the road. He stares back at the man, unable to say a word.

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain swallows. \"It\'s not--\" he starts, \"--you\'re not. You look like--\" He takes a deep breath and then, quieter, \"--Gidon?\"

Still frozen, the boy simply stares. Then he nods, once, jerkily. \"...Da? I - \"

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain hesitates, a flash of discomfort on his face, and then he crosses the distance between them and enfolds Gidon in a firm embrace. He doesn\'t say anything, but his breathing is agitated.

Gidon stiffens a little, then with an incoherent mumble, hugs his father with his right arm as if he will never let him go burying his face in the older man\'s shoulder. The left arm comes up in the hug also, but not far, and not strongly. After a minute, Gidon says something into Owain\'s shirt.

[Owain(#32501)]

Gidon can\'t see Owain\'s expression and it is likely just as well. He swallows again and pats the boy\'s back before holding him even tighter. \"What\'re you doing here, lad?\" he asks, perhaps a touch distressed in this question.

The boy struggles to free his face, looking up, but he can\'t see much from this angle. \"Was lookin\' for you,\" he says simply. \"You never come home.\" He doesn\'t hear the distress, or see the expression - all of Brev\'s warnings melt away as if they had never been.

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain releases Gidon, stepping back only a little and tightening his hand about his stave. \"It was dangerous,\" he says, and there is clear affection mixed with a slight undertone of discomfort. \"I meant to send word.\"

Gidon smiles happily up at him. \"I know,\" he says. \"But I found you.\" The fish have slipped part way down his back, and the cord they are threaded on bites into the boy\'s neck he reaches up to resettle it, and his smile widens. \"Caught all these t\'day,\" he says. \"Gonna sell \'em .... Da, where /were/ you?\"

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain starts to give a half of a smile when Gidon speaks of the fish which fades again at the question. \"Well here, eventually,\" he answers gruffly. He reaches out then and claps a hand on his son\'s right shoulder. \"I knew you\'d be well. You\'ve eaten supper, then? Do you have a room?\"

There is a faint shadow of question at the evasion, but it too vanishes. Gidon nods eagerly. \"Me an\' Brev, we\'re stayin\' at that Inn down there. I sell \'em my fish, an\' stuff.\"

[Owain(#32501)]

\"Good thinking, Gidon,\" Owain says, and there is something guilty about his eyes. \"These folks, they don\'t have much care for hunting. It\'s hard going without the fishing, it is. Would you---\" he stops, and then more clearly he asks, \"Who\'s Brev?\"

\"Hm?\" Gidon\'s face is flushed and happy at the compliment. \"Brev? He\'s this feller come along, wantin\' you t\'guide \'im to th\'Last Bridge. I remembered all you said, so I took \'em m\'self. Then...\" he shrugs. \"Said I could come with \'em, so I done.\" A pause then, \"Would I what?\"

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain rocks back on his heels, folding his arms about himself as Gidon speaks. \"Aye,\" he says awkwardly. \"I can see where\'s you\'d do that. Rough going for you, I see.\" Another thick pause ensues. \"Well, I was going to say, I have a place, though I share it with another feller. Hadn\'t thought to set up a place for you-- I mean, our house back home was good for...\" he trails off into mumbles. \"I meant to send word.\"

There is an uncertain pause. Gidon looks up at his father\'s face, the smallest of perplexed frowns moving his eyebrows, and then he glances towards the Inn. \"I - \" he starts, and then stops, and grasps what he can understand - or what he can bear to. \"You ain\'t got room?\"

[Owain(#32501)]

The silence lengthens yet again as Owain looks agonizingly down at his son. \"I can make room,\" he says at last. \"I weren\'t going to stay here for long but it\'s been too long.\" His voice goes husky at the very end. \"Gidon... we come this far, we can go on.\"

The frown grows a little as the boy tries to understand what the man means. And for some reason, he himself doesn\'t even know why, he hesitates instead of leaping at the chance to move his room to his father\'s. \"I got a place,\" he says slowly, \"If your friend don\'... \" And then there is a leap of hope in his eyes. \"We goin\' home?\"

[Owain(#32501)]

Owain nods once and doesn\'t bother arguing against where Gidon stays. \"No, not yet, Gidon. To go on, I meant. Keep on.\" He gestures eastwards.

\"But...\" Gidon looks eastwards, and then down at the ground. He is silent for a minute, for two, then with a slight effort smiles again, and says, \"At least I found you.\"

[Owain(#32501)]

\"Yeh,\" Owain says thickly, folding his arms and looking down again. \"I couldn\'t come back yet, but I was coming.\"

\"But why...\" Gidon bites off the words and substitutes them. \"Will you come an\' eat with me?\" he asks.

[Owain(#32501)]

\"I\'ve been looking fer your mam\'s family,\" Owain says, still looking down. \"They ain\'t here.\"

[Nob(#16122)->Nob] Theoden [Fally] <#15851> pages from: Theoden\'s Personal Chambers <#7134> in Rohan: Edoras

The boy looks suddenly interested. \"Mum?\" he asks. \"I din\'t know she was from here... Is this where you met her?\"

\"No...\" Owain shakes his head. \"Yes, let\'s go eat.\" He turns about and starts walking toward town, shoulders hunched.