He could so hardly help that taint of amusement that lingered upon his features in the moments that followed Aiden's near-yawning embrace of the outside of his vast, rolling estate grounds. For all his sons ability to conceal those emotions and indeed, for that habit Aiden so possessed of affording him little more than a series of grunts that were better suited to morse code the Frenchman could so near effortlessly spy that wariness that seemed to ensnare the other man all the same. Aiden eyed those lazy, slow moving dairy cattle with a clear apprehension of sorts. This, Matteo suspected, was the first time his city-dwelling adopted child had ever seen a cow outside of those pictures that decorated a milk cartoon. That very explanation of just what those cattle were used for and indeed, the farming purposes behind much of his land only seemed to prompt that further look of curiosity upon Aiden's features. Such a city boy he was! How different it might have once been had he seen but even one chance to so remove Aiden from the clutches of that vampire woman in a way that did not so ultimately lead to his demise. How easy it would have been to teach a ten year old Aiden how to feed those chickens and ducks, how to move the cattle from one pasture to another and how to ride those countless horses across those pea-green fields and forest trails that surrounded them. It would hardly have taken Aiden long to get a taste for that outdoor life, for raising those animals and crops and selling that produce. An interest that would eventually have taken him to college for those degrees in business and agriculture and one day so seen Matteo hand that very property and all it's workings to his younger son. Dorian, after all, would never be capable of running Chambord. Business was not his elder son's skill, nor did Dorian have the time when a country so depended upon him. Aiden however, would have near flourished here- once.

How those very thoughts had a habit of tormenting him! Those very visions he had once seen so continued to dance near teasingly within his mind with that plethora of possibility. He both relished and loathed that very affinity he had been beset with all at once. How many times had he saved his own life or that of another by seeing that impending danger and yet at what price had it truly come? How difficult it was to allow some tragedy or another to befall a being when it could have been prevented. How many times had Aiden's begging for him to take him away so stabbed at his heart until that ache was almost to much to bear? To attempt to explain the workings of fate to a desperately unhappy child was a near impossible task, to continue to try to reassure him of the life he would one day have when still in the grips of that women's clutches, he knew, was little true comfort and how he loathed to do it. How it tore at him every, single time he could not take the boy with him only to be assaulted by vision upon vision of those chances they might have that next time- only to later see some terrible end to that very plan. How much he hidden from Aiden and the world at large of the horrors he saw each and every day so dance behind his eyes. How little he suspected Aiden realised how desperately much it had pained him everytime he need leave him behind. Nor how much it still did, even after all those years, even after that little boy had become a man. Not a day went by that he did not think of Aiden in some fashion. How he longed to give him everything he deserved in this world. Yet- the possibility existed still. Aiden could still have that life. Matteo so allowed that simper of sorts to find his features at his own internal thoughts, those very worries hardly allowed to trespass upon his features, that warm simper still upon them as that soft chuckled hummed from within his throat at Aiden's continued wariness of those cows and the mans sudden concern for him.

Matteo leaned easily away from the fence as they continued along that pasture, his hands tucked into his jeans pockets as he wandered, Aiden perhaps not entirely wrong to concern himself with Matteo's own safety amongst that Hunter army he had been conscripted into. He was hardly oblivious to those challenges he was about to be faced with. His very species so sure to prompt that discord from the rest of the unit. A disdain even Alexander's leadership would not truly be able to shield him from. It had been years since he had dealt with military men, the world had long since ceased to stage wars in the way it had and as such Matteo's own service amongst those ranks had dwindled with Alexander's own lack of involvement. The Macedonian King, for all his brilliance in strategy, held little interest in a war not fought on the back of his beloved horses. A part of the Frenchman near relished that challenge and yet for all his impish nature and jovial demeanor he was hardly a fool in any sense.

"You may tell it to me all the same, Mon Amie. I will not have an easy time of it. Many of the men that make up its ranks are aged, prejudice runs deeply in the Hunter-breed, they will see me as undeserving of rank let alone life itself by way of my species- though for the most part I will see their assaults coming. There exists one man amongst their ranks though whom will pose a problem to me. He possess an affinity that prevents my own. If he should chose to find disdain with me I may not see it coming. If it should please you though- I do not see my own death any time soon. I will be fine."

That warm simper found his lips once more, that grin flashed effortlessly and easily towards the other man as they kept on and passed those stables bustling with activity and horses. Their proximity to that nearby river readily prompted the ire of a passing mother goose, that bird hissing angrily only to be rewarded with that near subtle growl from Aiden's own throat. Matteo so allowing both eyes to lift in a momentary surprise.

"I do not think, Aidun, that the goose is a terribly great threat."

The amusement within his words was entirely clear, Matteo struggling to hold back that chuckle that threatened all the same as he led the way across those manicured lawns and down to that white painted shed so neatly situated on the banks of the river. A boathouse that had ceased to contain a boat for several centuries. Matteo so having converted that space to hold those far more enticing vehicles. That shed door was easily rolled aside to reveal that collection of trail bikes, Matteo easily tossing Aiden that pair of riding gloves before slipping his own into place. If they were going to go into town they might as well enjoy it. The Frenchman pausing only to offer those specs to the man beside him. Tetradore's sound of appraisal met with that sudden insistence his Kawasaki could do double. Matteo scoffing in near the same moment, that ready tease lacing those accented words.

"Kawasaki my ass. The City Boy talks a big game about his city bike. We will see who keeps up with who. Oh, Herbert! Hors du chemin! (Out of the way!)"

The excitable Corgi had only just managed to reach that shed, its rounded rear wiggling in delight at having found the boys once more, Matteo's attempt to dismiss him met with that excitable yap as he tangled himself beneath the feet of both men before bounding out onto the grass as they wheeled those chosen bikes outside. The French Fae swung one leg easily over his own bike, that machine roaring into life beneath him before Aiden's bike revved it's own engine a moment later. It had been a few weeks since he had last taken one of those bikes out and yet that grin on Aiden's face was the true reward of that endeavor all the same. Hmmm, it had taken him only an hour or so to earn that smile. How pleasant. His voice, this time, was raised above those roaring motors.

"Head straight back the way we came, if we cut across the front lawn we'll hit the main driveway, dead straight for over half a mile it is, we'll see how fast we can get these to go on there, then we'll hit those trails in the forest. Don't worry about the grass- I can grow more of that. Ah, Aidun, keep an eye on that gauge too-"

His hand reached to point towards the center of the bike then, those trail bikes, like most trail bikes, lacking any gauge at all. The gesture entirely designed to merely have Aiden glance downward. Matteo taking that singular opportunity to slam on that accelerator, that gravel flying out behind the wheel of that bike as it shot forward to leave the Werepanther in that cloud of dust. All these years and Aiden still fell for that! Matteo aware of the other man close behind him all the same and Herbert, some distance back, frantically running after the pair. That speeding bike was piloted effortlessly across that open space, that manicured grass obliterated into muddy streaks beneath those tires as Matteo shot across that stable block and onto the first open field beside the cow pasture. Those roaring bikes spooked the cattle into lumbering across the field to avoid them. Aiden's bike very near drawing level with his own on that flat pasture. Hmm. Perhaps the boy was better then he'd anticipated. His own bike was shifted up another gear in an effort to bring himself back into that lead, the pair swinging onto that dead straight gravel driveway that led down to the front gates. This the perfect opportunity to see how much speed that machine could really gather. Matteo so barely having the chance to shift gears once more when Aiden's bike all but shot passed him.

"Incroyable!"

That French phrase was near forced from his lips. The Fae taking off after the WereKing, that near endless driveway allowing those bikes to gather only more and more speed, Matteo at last managing to draw level with Aiden once more until those bikes were neck and neck in a race to the end of the drive. Those closed gates, eventually, bound to force them to stop and yet one or the other would have to slow down first. Matteo near content to see just how far he could push his companion in that game of 'chicken'. His own bike sped up slightly more, this close to the fastest he had ever pushed it and yet Aiden hardly seemed to be backing down in turn, Matteo daring to cast him a fleeting look. He was going to stop, right? Those gates drew closer and closer. Matteo's own nerve ever so slightly beginning to waver, another glance cast back toward aiden, that gate mere feet away.

"Merde!"
(Fuck!)

That French word, he knew, even Aiden would recognise. Matteo slamming on that break in those last few moments as he hauled that bike sideways in the skidding halt that sent gravel sliding in every direction. Aiden sure to break almost a moment later and yet the Panther had held on just that second longer. Matteo's hands thrown upward in that gesture of defeat as Aiden's bike swung to a halt beside his own. Matteo reached over to afford the other man that playful shove, that laughter on his own lips as that grin adorned them, his words near breathless as he swept that hair from his face.

"You, Mon Amie, have balls of steel. Les chiens ne font pas de chats. Ah, but do not get too cocky, we have a trail to survive yet. C'mon Scoundrel."

Matteo's feet lifted from the ground once more,the Frenchman hardly translating those French words as that laughter fell from him again, the bike sent flying forward again and to the left beside that fence, his pace, this time, slower then that earlier race up the drive if only so Aiden could follow. Those flat open grounds afforded a near sensational view of the Chateau itself as they drove further out onto that estate and down those rolling green hills towards the beginning of that dirt bike trail. Matteo's bike slowed once more as he paused at the beginning of that dirt track that disappeared down into the trees.

"The track is fairly easy for the first mile, a couple of turns, remember this is dirt, the bike will skid so compensate for it- there are four or five jumps before a damn big ramp you'll need to hit hard to clear the river. After that the track becomes a little more, how you say, intense. You ready?"

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