The rain continued to pour down, persistent and unrelenting in its continued sodden assault of the French countryside. It had rained for days on end now. That once welcome wetness had became a veritable deluge. One that threatened the very stability of more than one of the Frenchmans winter crops. The carrots and green onions had been saved, those beetroots and chard were all but hanging in the balance. One more day of rain and they would be written completely off. It was hardly a loss Matteo couldn't afford and yet a loss was a loss all the same. Weather, even in this day and age, still held a mastery of sorts over farming that he both marvelled at and abhorred all at once. With the coming of winter in turn had come the start of that cold and flu season- a good portion of his staff already rendered to their beds in the wake of that yearly pandemic. Between the rain and sickness productivity was already lower then he desired and yet, he supposed, there was little to be done for it. Matteo shifted backward, his figure leaning into the warmth of that white couch. His gaze shifted upward from those numbers upon the paper in front of him that rested upon the coffee table to eye the television screen. Aiden had progressed significantly further in that game then the last time he had looked. While Matteo had taken up that couch, his son had chosen to sprawl himself in a beanbag at the foot of it, Aiden having positioned that beanbag just so as to have the perfect angle for the television and fireplace both, his sons bare feet stretched out atop that plush carpet to linger as close to that fireplace as he dared allow them.

It was a decidedly rare moment of peace for them both. Aiden had been more than willing to take up that offer to....take a break from his life within the city for a few days. The WereKing having arrived several days before and yet that deluge of rain, it seemed, had arrived with him. Aiden, all the same, so hardly seemed bothered by it. His son eternally content to lie in front of any fireplace he could find with as many requests for hot chocolate as Matteo would allow him to indulge in. The pair having spent the better part of those days engaged within those games and movies they both enjoyed. It was...good to see Aiden relax, at last.The very strain of the life his son lived so tending to take its toll on the boy. Aiden having a habit of sleeping for hours on end when so finally afforded the safety of that French Chateau. Matteo, more often than not, simply content to allow him. The Frenchman, in turn, equally as inclined to relax when he had his son home with him.

With several days of rest so finally having been caught up upon, Aiden had taken to those playstation games for the afternoon. Matteo merely content in the boys company as his feet lifted to rest on the coffee table beside those displeasing numbers, a cup of coffee readily summoned to his own hand. How pleasant it was to be within the snug warmth of his home and away from the wind and the rain that tore at the earth outside.

"There is a secret passage behind that wall, you can get a map piece from the chest down there, oui."

His free hand gestured loosely to that screen as Aiden's avatar change direction to begin searching for that hidden stairway, the Frenchman curious to see whether or not his son was ready for that robotic monster set to leap from the depths when a singular knock at that living room door drew his attention away from the screen. Gregory stepped hurriedly within the room then. That aged warlock clearing his throat with the clear intent of attempting to force Aiden to pause his game. Matteo inclined to believe Gregory was nothing but hopeful in that endeavour as he glanced expectantly at his manservant. I have had word from Jerard in the fields, sir. The Northern creek has flooded and breached the stone wall. The creek has flooded the beetroot field, the men have managed to divert it but the water has broken the fence on our neighbours side as well. Next doors goats have gotten into the field and...consumed a large portion of the crop we managed to save from the water. A soft groan rose easily within the Frenchmans throat, Matteo sighing loudly as he returned that coffee to the table with no small measure of reluctance.

"Can any of the crop be saved?"

He had hardly bothered to peer into the future of that crop, after all, he had expected to see little other than rain. His foresight might surely have at least prevented this and yet really he supposed it was far too late for such things now. Gregory shook his head. No Sir, the goats have eaten anything of value and they are still there. Matteo's own features frowned readily then. Still there?

"Why didn't Jerard chase them back?"
Jerard has taken ill sir, as have two of his men, the men we have left are securing the river bank further down, there is no one left to chase the goats back.
"Thank you, Gregory."
May I suggest something, sir?
"I suspect you would suggest it whether I permitted it or not, so oui, go ahead."
Raincoats.

That vaguest hint of a simper so managed to find the ancient warlocks lips then as Matteo's own gaze rolled, the Fae waving his arm in dismissal at the man. His silver gaze shifted from that rain outside, to that roaring fire and back to Aiden once more. This veritable change in their afternoon plans so unlikely to thrill the Panther in any sense and yet two sets of hands, in this, were surely better than one.

"Oh Aiiiiiidun."

That near suspicious look he was rewarded with so readily coaxed that simper to his own features. Aiden, he suspected, had paid more attention to that conversation then he had let on. The other man continuing to tap at those buttons on the controller all the same. The Frenchman moved to rise languidly from the couch then even despite his own distinct preference to remain upon it.

"Perhaps, Mon Fils, you might like to assist me in exploring the, ah, how you say, uncharted wilds of the outdoors, eh? It is far more fun than the game."

How he so hardly needed to look at Aiden's face to see that dubiousness upon it! Matteo already making his way toward the side door that led onto the verandah and down the stairs to the gardens and farm outside, that rain jacket so easily summoned. The Frenchman paused upon that threshold then, that door slightly ajar, that rain already beginning to blow inward and against his arm. How truly...inclement the weather was. That rain cold agianst his skin. Aiden, sill nestled within that bean bag had hardly moved from his place in front of the fire. Matteo, this time, ao allowing one eye to raise.

"Do you know, Aidun, back in my day, sons rushed to help their Fathers in the fields? Especially when their Father's bought them cars for their birthdays...."

That amusement dance readily upon his lips then, Matteo so hardly above guilting the boy into rising from that place in front of the fire as that second rain jacket was smoothly summoned to his hand and held out for Aiden to take from him as he no doubt rose to storm passed in swearing irritation. Ah! But such were the joys of life.

"Oh don't grumble at me. Its just a little shower!"

c'est dur d'être un dieu.