What an intriguing creature he had so found himself in the company off this afternoon. So often those visions that danced behind his eyes showed him but mere glimpses of a being. Snapshots of a life and personality within a space in time in which their fate and his own might so intersect or indeed their very destinies crossed into the path of one of the precious few he so watched over in this life. This young woman was very much the later. One destined to but briefly have her fate intercede with Aiden's own in yet another of Risque's more twisted games and yet- he had been unwinding that vampiric womens reptilian coils for years, lingering within the shadows so out off her reach while he repaired the beings she broke or indeed- shielded them from her entirely when the opportunity arose. Perhaps, within the woman before him, that vampiress was so destined to achieve but another life bound to her control and yet, even if it was not within his own fate to prevent it, he would hardly allow Risque a prize so easily won as that. Even if the striking girl before him was destined not to believe his words or the warning they carried. In the very least, that fate that awaited her would not come as a true surprise and yet- perhaps she might realise to late his own intentions to warn her. Such a game this was to play- and quite the player Harley might yet prove to be. Her tongue as quick as her mind. The woman so seizing upon his own words if only to shape them into something very near an innuendo. Ah, but how he enjoyed such boldness! How rare a find among the women of today whom so often paled to those he had known in the past when the world was young and a woman so required a certain amount of....fire, to carve her place within the world. Matteo so inclined to consider yet again just how well his newest companion would have done in times since passed when the world could be won by those bold enough to take it. The Frenchman so allowing that easy chuckle to fall from his lips, his head nodded smoothly as those accented lyrics found her once more.

"Oui, all night long and well into the dawn if given the chance."

Ah, but she was not the only one whom might play with words so well. Matteo more then content to engage the striking woman in a game off her own making as she seemed to further consider his own assertion that his views upon the world might surely be too many and to varied to hear all at once. The raven-haired girl so suddenly declaring he might have far more to say once he had so been inflicted with her art. Such a confident thing she was. How well that would come to serve her in time and yet too, the near ancient Fae could so hardly help but wonder just which part of the life she had already led had crafted and shaped that very brashness to her personality. Harley was, he had decided, near akin to a coal drawn from a fire- capable of sparking into flame at any moment and so deceptively able to burn. How he near pitied any man who had already tried to entice her. A woman such as this required an entirely unique approach he was assured. Matteo, as always, so refusing to allow but even a hint of such thought to play upon his features or indeed allow any indication of that which he had already seen to find his words. The Frenchman allowing his silverd gaze to meet her own with clear intrigue.

"Perhaps as you inflict your masterpiece I shall inflict my words. In the least we shall both be entertained, no?"

That easy simper so found his lips once more. The Frenchman so eternally a good-natured being in every sense of the word and one so hardly prone to short temper or irritation. The past twenty or so years of raising Aiden had seen to that. The boy capable of driving him to near distraction on some occasions. That sudden query off his own ethnicity, however, was entirely surprising. It had been rather a long time since he had so heard the term 'Frenchie' in any sense. That flicker of amusement touched his features once more before her demand to know the meaning of 'Cherie' so prompted that soft chuckle again. My, but she was an inquisitive one. The Fae so pausing to ponder the question as if it required some great manner of thought. Matteo nothing if not a showman in every sense of the word.

"I am French, yes. My home is in France still. I am merely visiting this city today. As for Cherie, it is a term of endearment, from the old world. It means 'darling'."

A singular silver eye rose just so, those words near teasing once more as if so playfully daring the woman challenge such ideals or his use of that very word. His attention lingering upon her then as she regaled him the tale of the 'hipster' whom had chosen to have a singular word tattooed to his arm. The young woman insisting it was these sort of profound ideas that were invented for her own annoyance, her eyes rolling with that near dramatic sigh.

"Ah, Mon Cherie- the world is made of people who think they have profound ideas. That is why such women as you exist. Who else would tell them they are a, how you say... la idiot?"

That impish grin so danced readily upon his lips yet again, that very term of endearment once more returned to his words if only to tease at her just a little more. Matteo nothing if not the very epitome of Fae in every sense of the word. The Frenchman quite assured Harley was not at all the sort of person to suffer fools in any sense, nor would she fear telling such 'profound' men what she thought of their ideas. How entertaining it would be to see.. The young woman batted her eyes towards him then in a fashion they both knew to be jest, querying whether or not he might present a challenge where others had failed. His own head shaking just so as he reached for that book she offered.

"I should not disappoint a lady in such a fashion. I bring you challenge, though it is not the kind you think. As for my name, I fear it is not Francias- but Matteo."

Just what exactly such words meant to remained to be seen, Matteo leaning over the table to examine those works as he offered them. His gaze lingering on those well crafted pictures. Her talent truly clear. In the least he so hardly feared for just what she might ink upon his own skin. The woman as bold in her art as she was in her nature. The Frenchman leaning upward from that table then to answer that very query about his own tattooed status. Matteo effortlessly peeling that shirt from his fit figure then. The Fae so hardly oblivious to the fashion her eyes lingered or the manner in which her words faltered just so and yet, in this, he made no effort to tease at her further. A simple, knowing simper touching his features but fleetingly as she slipped from her stool to wander towards him and better examine that ink that already lined his skin. Her comment upon his fine.....tattoos seeing the return of that chuckle as it hummed within his chest.

"Thank you. Both of them were done by good artists. I am sure the third will be as such too."

He had already foreseen it, after all. His faith in her talents readily assured. The young woman hurriedly attempting for that professional air once more before asking after the names she had found nestled within those works. The girl so clearly knowing just where to look as so few did. His head nodded then as turned to face her once more, Matteo leaning back against the bench near casually once more before answering that query.

"You have a good eye. My sons. Aiden, is my youngest- he just turned thirty one and Dorian, my eldest, is is five hundred and sixty three this year."

That Matteo himself so hardly looked a day over twenty five so surely informed the woman before him that he was hardly human in any sense. The very age of his eldest son perhaps affording her but some knowledge of just how aged he was in turn. Matteo so suggesting his feet would surely be the ideal place for that newest tattoo. The woman promising that world class treatment before near bristling at the very suggestion she might not be skilled enough. Ah, but she was competitive perhaps? Harley biting back with that veritable challenge in her eyes then. The Frenchman more then content to meet her gaze levelly. Did he care to find out?

"I think I'd quite like to, yes."

She could surely take from such words whatever she might desire. The age old Fae so readily taking up that unspoken challenge if only so he might see just how much weight the raven-haired woman might put behind her words. After all, they too would surely be tested in time even if she so hardly knew it. Why not test her but a little himself? That ever impish grin lingering upon his features still as she asked after his feet in those ever-sarcastic tones that had come to define the quick-witted woman in a manner he found wholly refreshing. Her company decidedly enjoyable for the challenge she provided him alone. If that vampiric woman so believed this one would break easily she was sorely mistaken. How glorious. Matteo shifted but slightly then, one long limb folding over the other as he continued to lean back against that counter in jeans alone.

"It is not my god complex that such a tattoo is for- but that of another. It shall annoy him thoroughly when he sees it and for that alone I am willing to suffer those needles. He thinks he has won- but he is wrong."

Just what exactly such words might mean remained to be seen. Matteo decidedly prone to speaking in just such a way as to provide enough information to inspire curiosity and yet not nearly enough to sate that thirst for answers all at once. How it drove Dorian and Aiden and Alexander mad all at once! That very challenge Harley's next words offered hardly missed, the Fae's arms folding across his chest in that moment as he eyed his companion. Those teasing words parting his lips once more

"How good I am at sitting still, I think, shall depend on how good your hands are, Mon Cherie. This numbing cream though, does it work? I suppose I shall make use of it if your offering."

How very....painful this was about to be. The near ancient Fae's features frowning but slightly at this visions he had already seen of what was to come his head shaking slightly then before he so abruptly asked after his companions feelings on cats. A question that was, perhaps far more critical then she knew. Matteo following her gesture towards the puppy sleeping on the far side of the room. Her answer not quite as he had anticipated. Perhaps this would prove more a challenge then he had so originally believed. A part of him almost inclined to.....pity the girl for what she was about to suffer at the hands of others and yet, he quite suspected pity was not an emotion a woman like this so desired for anyone. The Fae's features...softening slightly then, though whether she perceived that ever so subtle shift remained to be seen.

"Do you know why I like cat's? Some of the best people I have ever known have been cats and yet more then that I find their very natures appealing. They are stubborn, proud and independant. They cannot ever be truly controlled even if they allow their master to believe it so. They only give love when it is earned. They respect when respect is given. They feign that they do not understand loyalty but it is a lie. I believe it is so that cats understand loyalty far better than many and yet it is so rarely offered people believe it does not exist. A cat does not forget a wrong done to it will always seek revenge. I do not think you can ever truly tame a cat- not really. The strongest of them have....unbreakable wills. You should remember these things. Perhaps they will mean something to you one day soon."

She would not understand, how could she? Yet, perhaps one day, she might remember but even some of those words and find purpose within herself and her new life. A struggle though it would surely be. How tragic it would be to lose a woman like this to her own self-doubt. Surely.....surely she was strong enough. Matteo shifted then to lean away from the bench and slip his shirt back over his head and across his figure, concealing his physique beneath.

"How would you like me then?"

That grin that found his lips once more so readily gave way to his own awareness of that innuendo in turn. His head nodded then towards that chair in the back of the store, those accented lyrics parting his lips a final time. Still, he could so hardly help but consider such a lovely, dark haired, violet eyed woman would look decidedly good nestled amongst snow-white sheets. Hmm- an intriguing thought.

"....for the tattoo, of course."


m a t t e o
it's tough to be a god