Tetradore's hand slipped from under the covers, reaching for that gift Matteo had taunted him with. His fingers were met with nothing but air, that box carefully kept out of his grip. His hand turned, palm upwards as if waiting for Matteo to place the box within, only to be greeted with nothing but air. It was with a disgruntled noise that the Were-King admitted defeat, folding down the covers with an irritable huff and a single utterance of failure. At the very least, the fire that had blossomed to life anew in the hearth kept the room warm. A yawn crossed his lips as Tetradore shifted to a seated position, leaning heavily against the plush pillows and the headboard behind him. He took the present handed to him with a soft sigh, the man clearly not yet certain if this was worth waking for. The chuckle of amusement upon Matteo's lips was hardly ignored, the Frenchman's idle comment rewarded him with a glare of Tetradore's own emerald eyes. "It's morning." He responded gruffly as if that explained every facet of his less than enthusiastic mood at the present hour. His very species, after all, tended to be nocturnal - much less the very activities that occurred within his business during the evening hours that required his presence.

Regardless of the fact that Tetradore very much wanted to be asleep, his fingers lightly toyed with the edges of the wrapped present in his hands. The decorative paper was torn away with care only to reveal a rather peculiar leather book. He turned it over in his hands, the nondescript cover hardly gave way the contents and yet...Tetradore was caught off guard by the crisp, blank pages. His eyebrows rose as his thumb quickly flipped through them, only to land on the front page - one that held a singular picture. It baffled him, why Matteo might think he would appreciate a photo of the very room they sat in when compared to all the other things they had already done on his first day. Why not a photo of the candy store? Or one overlooking that quaint little town or...Chambord or...something? It was...well, less than marvelous. Even so, it was one of the few gifts he would be given today. He doubted anyone at the Ark would make the effort to wish him a Happy Birthday, not that many knew of today's significance in the first place. His sister, he knew, would forget today too. For that alone, the least Tetradore could do was to offer some show of appreciation - hesitant and uncertain though it was as he placed the book on top of the comforter beside him.

His eyebrows rose ever so slightly at Matteo's insistence that he failed to comprehend the gift in its entirety. What was there to understand? It was a book. That held pictures. And it had a picture in it. "If you insist..." Tetradore mumbled with a clear hint of dubiousness. He knew, naturally, that Matteo had veiled his words with care. The fae had a tendency to enjoy tormenting others with dissatisfied curiosity. Unfortunately for him, Tetradore had long since discovered a unique ability to simply...not care about any particular thing until Matteo too was ready to reveal those enigmas. The photo album was forgotten of just as quickly as Tetradore inquired for Matteo's plans for the day, readily anticipating that the fae hardly intended to let him bask in the comfort of those sheets for the entire morning. Then again, he suspected his faux father had plans for them for every day he was within the country. It was a shame this vacation would be so fleeting. He could hardly help the roll of his eyes at the impish look upon Matteo's features and yet, he didn't make an effort to ruin the Frenchman's lackadaisical position upon his bed either.

The very mention of breakfast however, was enough to cause a soft grumble within his stomach. Food sounded...particularly delicious at the moment - the rest of those plans, however, were not nearly as enticing. He was certain Matteo was putting him to work for the day with all that teleportation the fae clearly intended to put him through. What a...wonderful way to spend his birthday. Still, his lips parted at the very mention of a cheese dinner, only for that comment to be cut short by the fae's sudden declaration that he would add those extra little flourishes to Tetradore's favorite dish. A roguish grin crossed his features and yet, it was fleeting as Matteo flawlessly moved on to an...inquiry. Tetradore didn't like the sound of that. It was clear Matteo had worded such a concern with care, though why, he hadn't the slightest of ideas. The corner of his lips twitched downwards and yet, the Were-King hardly inquired after it. Rather, it was the mention of Paris tomorrow and some...Arc that prompted any words from the man. "Woo...an Arc." He commented with faux enthusiasm. Why he might care for this tourist site, he hadn't the slightest idea and yet, he had no reason to doubt Matteo...yet.

For several moments that silence between the two men persisted and yet, Tetradore was not hard pressed to break it either. How many evenings had they spent in comfortable silence whilst he had so battled his own fears? Whilst he sought to find some clarity in the insanity of his childhood? There was a certain comfort, by this time, to be had in Matteo's mere presence. The sudden announcement of breakfast, however, was enough to produce a small shift from the Were-King as he tossed back those blankets, accepting that sleep would be denied to him for some time. "Try not to have such a god damned huge house." He muttered in retort to the comment of getting lost, even though Tetradore knew well Matteo would already be gone before those words even left his lips. He sighed as he pulled himself from the bed, meandering towards the closet where the contents of his luggage had been stowed and hung. It hardly took the Were-King long to find a shirt and pull jeans over his figure, the man was hardly one to dwell on fashion greatly, those clothes he owned had been picked out an purchased by someone else just as they too had been packed by someone else. It was only once he was fully dressed that he left the comfort of his own room, the stark white chateau was, admittedly, easier to navigate in the daylight, albeit only slightly.

He made his way down the stairs, moving with ease towards the dining table only to be presented with...balloons? An almost baffled look crossed his features as Tetradore stared at the table set before him and yet, before he could fully comprehend the party he was seeing, that little cinnamon roll near exploded into the room with excitement. His emerald eyes stared blankly down at the small dog, simply watching as Herbert wiggled at him, with such ferocity that the creature quite near lost his balance, falling over onto his back like a turtle. A distinctly unimpressed look crossed Tetradore's features as his gaze turned upwards towards Matteo, his thoughts upon the fae's guard dog strikingly clear. He hardly moved as Matteo crossed the room, lifting the dog back up onto its feet only for the hound to abruptly dart about as if he had far more excitement then he could contain. "I think he's broken," Tetradore commented as his gaze followed the cinnamon roll on his rocketship antics. A small grunt left his lips at Matteo's assurance that it was entirely his fault that Herbert was so...enthusiastic this morning and yet, he could hardly deny his amusement at the dog's betrayal in the event of Alexander's visiting.

Matteo's brief gesture turned his gaze back towards the breakfast table filled to the brim with far more food then he could ever possibly eat. A small simper crossed his features as Maria rushed forward, his own thanks given for both those birthday wishes and the breakfast feast in front of him. He settled at the table, immediately reaching for several pancakes before collecting a piece of sausage and a spoonful of hashbrowns. It was during the pouring of the pancake syrup that Matteo's voice distracted him from breakfast, his head tilted to the side in consideration for a moment at the question he was presented with. "Japan. It was...exhausting though." Those far distances, or bringing large items with him, tended to tire him far more than localized uses of his affinity and yet, Tetradore could not deny that he was curious of all that he was apparently missing of his own abilities. "What more is there?" He inquired as he stabbed his fork into those pieces of pancakes he had cut, already placing that delicious cake-like syrup-covered food into his mouth.

aiden tetradore