When Daynoren returned to his room, he came with an entourage. Catame and Tantra didn't have anywhere to be until the dinner and the first meeting, since their ride back to the weyr wasn't coming until after the dragonets would be ushered off to bed, and Frux wasn't meeting his parents until evening, either. So they came back to the bonding complex along the same path Daynoren had taken to get to the city, in the first place. Day was in no hurry, keeping to a slow walk and soaking up the sunshine, while Cat hung happily on his arm, Tantra walking close to his side and Frux walking opposite, on the older Danui's other side. It really was how they always walked, when all four of them were together, though whether or not Catame was actually in physical contact varied.

Despite having held up the bulk of the conversation at lunch, Catame somehow was finding more to chatter about, and Tantra had opened up some to contribute, as she usually did towards the end of their meals together. Frux even had a few things to say, usually filling in whenever the bonded pair had fallen silent. Daynoren had the strong suspicion that the older Light was helping him out: he had hardly had to say anything of his own, other than polite and interested-sounding comments to the younger pair, which was exactly what suited him. If he wasn't sure it would have been met with scorn, whether real or feigned, Day would have thanked the dragon.

All things considered, it was a rather pleasant meal, and since he didn't have to think up anything clever to say, Daynoren was content to bask in the affection of his brother and simply be for a while. His worry that he'd been "loosing" Cat faded whenever he actually had the boy around, and Tantra and Frux were good company. He'd never before actually felt the need for friends until he found out what it was like to be without people who knew him and enjoyed his presence for most of the time. It wasn't an experience he found he enjoyed, as it tended to promote spats of self-pity-- which Daynoren utterly despised, and avoided at all costs, though it wasn't always easy-- and loneliness-- which was almost as bad.

But for the afternoon, at least, things would be good, and with Catame's cheer, Tantra's shy smiles, and Frux's witty comments to buoy him, he could almost feel all right about that night's meeting with the dragonets. Catame loved him, no matter what, and that was enough to sustain him even if he was still alone by midsummer's nice. Besides, if Catame loved him, maybe someone else would, too.

That was the mind-set he was in as the foursome descended the stairs and crossed the lawn to the complex doors. It shattered into confusion, however, as they walked inside from the sunlight, entering the bonding complex entryway. Forming up from the shadows as Daynoren's eyes adjusted to the differing light, he was approached by a tall figure in black and midnight blue from head to toe, interrupted only by the pale angles of a familiar face and silver-gilt hair making an erie sort of halo above it, reflecting the sunlight streaming into the comparatively dim corridor. Shadowed, green eyes passed over all four, and thin lips quirked a hesitant smile. Daynoren was completely taken aback.

"Father?" he managed to say to the last person he had expected to see, miles from home, in the middle of a dragon city, and standing in the bonding complex, much less obviously there to see the sons he rarely spoke to.

Catame was less dumbfounded. "Daddy!" he exclaimed, dropping his brother's arm and darting forward to hug around the startled Darkil Danui's waist. Tantra hung back, half-hiding behind Day and Frux, and Darkil himself managed to at least rest his hands on his younger son's shoulders and continue to smile nervously.

"Hello," he said softly, one word at a time. "Daynoren. Catame." Tantra and Frux just got a nod, as Darkil obviously didn't know their names.

As Catame didn't seem to want to let go of his father, and neither of the dragons were volunteering anything, it fell on Daynoren to make an appropriate response. He failed at the 'appropriate' part. "What are you doing here?" he blurted, then felt his face flush at the abrupt ingratitude of the question. Dana would have been furious with him, probably even have sent him away. Darkil merely ducked his head shyly, or maybe ashamedly, and didn't even seem to notice the rudeness.

"I couldn't make Catame's-- bonding," he explained, hesitating over the last word as if uncertain of it, and his eyes flicked to Tantra, who shrank a little with nervousness. He continued somewhat haltingly, as if without some familiar familial scene to play out, he wasn't entirely sure what to say. "It simply came up to quickly. So. I thought I might... come to yours, Daynoren."

"You wanted to come," Daynoren repeated blankly, receiving a simple nod for his words. "The... bonding isn't for another few days, Father," he managed, trying to pull himself together. "We're to meet the dragonets each night for the next three, before then."

"I know. I thought... I might come for those, too. If you do not mind."

Actually, Daynoren did mind. He wasn't at all pleased with the idea of quite possibly make a fool out of himself all over again, only now also in front of his father. However, the pleading look Catame shot him over one shoulder and Darkil's own hesitantly hopeful expression were not to be denied, so he swallowed his protest, smothered a sigh, and nodded. "If you wish it, Father."

Darkil smiled a bit more fully, encouraged by the agreement. "Good... thank you." Still discomfitted by Catame's continued physical contact, Darkil patted the boy's curly hair, and finally Cat released him.

"Oh, Father, you have to meet Tantra!" he exclaimed, and Tantra ducked down a little further. Daynoren was absently surprised that her fear wasn't bothering Cat yet; the boy seemed to be ignoring it completely, doggedly determined to please Darkil.

"Tantra," Darkil repeated. "Your dragon."

"Tantra, come out and meet my father," Catame insisted, "It's all right." He coaxed the painfully shy dragonet out from behind Daynoren's dubious protection and immediately set upon introductions for both dragons.

While Frux pulled off the kind of bow Daynoren favored, himself, all cool politeness and courtly grace, Daynoren fell silent again, mind whirling unhappily. All of the doubt and fears of that morning were crowding in the back of Daynoren's thoughts again, only now they were compounded by the fact that he would probably be disappointing Darkil as well as himself. As long as the man had stayed aloof, he could have ignored him, not worried about what he might be thinking about everything, or about what poison Dana had been telling him. He had one last weapon in his meager arsenal to change Darkil's mind, and even though it grated on him to use it, he was desperate to bring back normal, understandable reality, which was full of Darkil's distance and disdain towards his sons, rather than this new and startling interest he was trying to take.

"Father," he interjected into he next moment of wordless time, "Father, you do know that I might well not find a bond, don't you? None of the dragons might decide they like me that much."

"Nonsense," Darkil said simply and with absolute confidence, for once in his life. Daynoren's hopes for freedom vanished. "Of course you will. Dana has been telling me that you've been getting along wonderfully with the dragons, in your classes. How would this be any different?"

Not feeling at all as confident as his father-- a novel experience, and not one he thought he would care to repeat-- Daynoren shrugged wordlessly. Catame smiled brightly at him, all but radiating confidence in him, as well, and Tantra nuzzled into her bond's side. Even Frux seemed to look smug, as if he expected things to work out perfectly-- or as if he knew something the rest didn't, an expression he tried to don fairly often. It was a habit Daynoren had, as well.

Quelling another sigh, Day dredged up a cool and collected smile for everyone there, even his father. "If you say so, Father," he answered with his usual outward calm. "Will you be coming with us to my room?" For an instant, the thought of spending another four or five hours in his son's company plainly pained Darkil, and Daynoren felt a little steadier. That was more like what he remembered of the man, and it let him add smoothly, "Or shall we expect you after dinner?"

"After dinner," Darkil said with no small relief. Catame looked rather unhappy at the thought, but their father was plowing on: "I only arrived this morning, and I hope to investigate the libraries here...."

Definitely more like the father Daynoren remembered. "We will see you then, then," was all he said, freeing Darkil to escape to the books he was happiest with, and Daynoren to escape back to his rooms in the hopes that Catame and the dragons could restore his peace about bonding before the meeting itself came around.