There was a decided pleasure, of sorts, in so reminiscing upon those days long past. Even if such days had been decidedly more within the past then Matteo himself had truly recalled and yet- such was hardly unusual. The Frenchman was nothing if not prone to forget time and the hold it placed upon all things around him. While his own memory was surely impressive in every regard he so hardly held even but a candle to Alexander's own. The Hunters ability to recall time, place and detail was beyond that of any man he had ever known or indeed likely ever would. Matteo so hardly questioning his dearest companions insistence of the year they had last celebrated a thanksgiving. His own memory further jolted by those very words. Ah, but how he remembered those two sisters! And their Father. The man all but convinced Matteo himself was the devil so designed to lead his daughters to wreck and ruin while looking upon Alexander as their veritabel saviour all at once. Poor fellow. How decidedly disappointed he had surely been when Alex had proven no less flighty then himself. Still, such memories so easily pressed that simper to his lips all the same. Any further talk of the old days halted by the arrival of Sebastian and Dorian in turn. Matteo offering that pilfered brandy glass back to Alexander before embracing his son and affording Sebastian that handshake. Dorian seeming to marvel at that golden place setting. One Alexander seemed to feel he might have used even without his sons preference. That impishness so returned to the Frenchmans features then as he regarded his dearest companion. One finger shaken but lightly at the Hunter as those teasing words left his lips.

"Ah, but as I recall, Mon Amie, history speaks well of your fondness for gold in turn. Only one of us in this room sacked Persapolis."

That easy chuckle so hummed within his throat. Matteo knowing well that tale of the Persian Capital, it's wealth and the very lengths Alexander had once gone too for that same golden colour that adorned their table now. His own attention shifted but readily to Sebastian then. The decidedly ancient Fae more then content to offer to boost the salaries of the vampires house staff for this very evening and the service they had so provided- with the position of their master all the same. Sebastian quick to insist he was hardly opposed, even if the Englishman's features appeared somewhat...conflicted all the same. Subtle though such an expression was. Curious fellow. That conversation of horses and his sons own efforts to master those higher movements abruptly shifted toward dinner once more as Dorian so queried that extra place setting. The boy as astute and observant as always it seemed and yet, Matteo so merely allowed that shrug of sorts to touch his shoulders as if she a thing was hardly concerning in any fashion. The Frenchman offering that mention that another member of their family had been invited to join them tonight. One whom was already several minutes late and yet whose arrival seemed near timed with that query in turn as the sound of someone at the door so echoed throughout that house. Matteo content to rise from his chair then with the insistence he would answer the door himself.

That near baffled look upon Dorian's own features had been nothing short of expected, Sebastian in turn appearing decidedly quizzical. Indeed, if what he had seen of the future so proved correct, Sebastian was so destined to find his introduction of Aiden nothing short of distasteful and yet- there was a but a reason in all he did. Even if those around him were so destined in turn not to understand. This very evening as important for himself as it was for Aiden and Dorian in turn. How very much so depended upon this very relationship so fostered tonight and how little they realised it. The Frenchman moved easily through that elaborate home and into the hall before reaching for the door to open it. Aiden, for once, appearing decidedly neat and tidy. That haircut he had all but forced upon the boy in Paris a significant improvement (in his opinion) even if that unruly hair had already begun to grow out once more. Matteo moving to embrace the younger man all the same as Aiden returned that very gesture. How good it was, after all this time, to so finally have both his boys within the same room. That tug of emotion more profound then he had anticipated and yet, as he so often did, such a thing was easily concealed beneath that warm grin and near teasing words upon his younger sons lateness to that very event. Aiden quick, as always, to return that friendly fire.

"If I did not show up you would still be asleep. I know it. I have never known anyone with such an ability to remain in bed as you. Come on."

His head gestured easily towards that living room then. Matteo content to lead the way back through that opulent entrance and back towards the rest of their family for those very introductions that were surely long overdue. It was to Alexander he so directed Aiden first. The ages-old Hunter something of a Patriarch of that eclectic group of beings and one he knew Aiden had long since held at least some interest in meeting. After all, until this very moment Alexander had been little more then a figure within those bedtime stories he had once told a very young Were boy. Those stories of battles and grandeur and glory hardly as embellished as he knew Aiden believed they were. Alexander too, he knew, holding more interest then he so often displayed in meeting the boy Matteo had spoken off for so many years with such fondness. It was only once the pair had exchanged that greeting that he so introduced Sebastian. His vampiric son-in-law nothing short of the epitome of manners. Aiden in turn so insisting Matteo spoke highly of Sebastian. That touch of amusement finding the Frenchmans own lips before he so guided Aiden toward Dorian for that most significant meeting. His own words chosen with a distinct amount of care- despite the flare for the dramatic that found them in turn. That soft insistence that Aiden was Dorian's brother prompting a near plethora of emotion to flicker across his elder sons features before that very shock so rendered him near mute.

How readily that look of confusion upon Dorian's face so....tugged at him. Even despite Matteo's refusal to show it. How much he might have desired to introduce the pair sooner then this and yet....the time had not been right. Not until now. Even if he was assured that room near judged him for it. Sebastian, in particular, seemed to have all but mastered a barely concealed glare. Dorian's features little more then shocked. Aiden so readily putting together those pieces to realise all-too-quickly that he had not told them of his arrival tonight. Alexander appearing nothing short of intrigued by the entire affair. Aiden the first to round upon him with that ready exclamation and far more open glare then Dorian or Sebastian would surely dare. That very boldness, he knew, sure to prompt only further bafflement upon Dorian's part in turn. A faint hint of amusement so found the fae's features once more and yet he so merely allowed his shoulders to lift in a good-natured shrug of sorts.

"I am telling them now. Now, later, earlier- it is all the same. One way or another they know now."

It was not all the same and how well he surely knew it! Yet, for now, that very explanation of why he had waited so very long to make those introductions was surely hardly needed. Dorian seeming to recover in that same moment to offer his hand to his brother, along with that warm grin and an apology of sorts that Aiden was quick to dismiss. Aiden, he knew, likely to be all but assaulted with a plethora of questions tonight. Dorian already beginning to offer them before suddenly asking after those drinks. It was Sebastian's well placed words, however, that so readily drew the Frenchmans attention in that moment. The displeasure concealed so effortlessly beneath that polite comment hardly missed. The Englishman more then well-practiced in such an art and yet Matteo so hardly found himself perturbed. Those words uttered quietly to the vampire alone.

"There is a reason for this, even if you do not understand it yet. I will have the whisky too, while you have it out, thank you."

His own silvered gaze flickered to meet Sebastian's own in that moment. His son-in-law, he knew, merely protecting his husband. Matteo so hardly finding disdain in that. Those final words were offered far more loudly to the room at large as Dorian saw to preparing those very drinks and Aiden sought to offer at least some explanation for his own existence- one that paled, desperately so, from the very depths of the true story off the WereKings life and yet in this he so hardly found any need to disagree with his son. Here and now was hardly the time for the whole truth of the Panther's upbringing. There would be time for such things later. Plenty of time. Matteo reached then for that offered drink- only for Aiden to near round upon him again with just what he had meant with his earlier words. The Frenchman content to take that sip off his drink, as his to consider those very words a moment longer before offering that near sheepish look.

"What do you mean what did I do? Who is to say I did anything? I may see the ways of fate but I do not control it. I- why do you all look at me like this!? Sacrebleu!"

His free hand was thrown upwards in that mocked gesture of flamboyance so akin to his culture. Each of the men in that room content to stare at him all the same. His features shifted to a near dubious look as he regarded them. Alexander, perhaps, the only one with but any knowledge of the truth depth of how long it had taken to align those very stars and bring each being in this room here safely today. The smugness upon the Hunters features at so seeing him ensnared by those very looks from the boys decidedly...annoying. His head so shook once more all the same. Matteo leaning back against that table then, one leg folding over the other. His drink lifted to his lips again and yet, this time, it seemed, he was inclined to offer but some answers.

"When Dorian first came to this city he was found by Samantha who....happened to be walking through the park that Dorian had....happened to run too after escaping his captors. One of which happened to have left the door to the building they were keeping him in unlocked. Do you remember, Aiden, the room mate Samantha spoke of so fondly?"

Matteo's hand lifted then to gesture toward Dorian. That understanding readily seeming to dawn upon the Monarch's features in turn before the Frenchman continued.

"Do you remember the boyfriend Samantha spoke off so often Dorian? The one whose pants you were given to wear when you had no other clothing?"

His head, this time, nodded back toward Aiden. The pair, so amusingly, having often happened to miss each other by mere seconds on occasion as they came in and out of the apartment Samantha and Dorian had lived in and Aiden in turn had owned.

"You owe Sebastian a great deal of thanks too, Aidun. After Samantha left, Dorian was in your apartment alone. It only took him a week to flood the laundry, break the kitchen, lose power to part of the apartment and become entrapped in the living room by a rogue cricket. Sebastian fixed a lot of the apartment for you. Dorian, Aidun is also the Alpha that your friend Raven speaks off, the Ark you went to that night to pick Samantha up is Aidun's home."

If that look of shock upon Dorian's features had been notable before it had become decidedly significant now. Matteo content to pause if only to allow Sebastian, Dorian and Aiden in turn to come to terms with those very events that had 'happened' to cause them all to come so close to meeting already. The Frenchman having chosen such words with care and so offered in a fashion that omitted any mention of himself or any involvement he may or may not have had in any such things.

"I think it is time we all found somewhere to sit, dinner is just about ready. I think it- Alexander!"
It was, perhaps, Matteo's own turn to round upon another now. The Frenchman near pivoting in place to warily eye the Hunter whom stood near innocently across the room. One hand gesturing to that dinner table and the singular plate that had been pushed no more than an inch from its place.

"You touched my plate, didn't you? You are dangerously close, Mon amie, to getting the parts of the turkey no one else wants. You may all sit at this table but you may not touch a single thing until I have put it all out. I am looking at you Aidun and you Alexander."

His gaze shifted but briefly from the Were to the Hunter and back again. Matteo leaning away from that table then to head back toward that kitchen. The Frenchman disappearing but briefly only for his head to reappear a moment later back around that door to assure no one had attempted to pilfer any food just yet....


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