It was entirely foolish really, the amount of pleasure the near ancient creature so took in coaxing even one smile to that boys lips. Aiden had, in his comparatively short life, never truly been given many reasons to smile about anything and as such it had become the Frenchmans unintended mission, in a sense, to bring some measure of happiness to the man each time he came. It hardly mattered how small or fleeting the gesture, only that he managed to coax it into existence. As if he feared, somehow, that Aiden might very well forget how to smile without that occasional prompting. He could hardly remember just how that small child had become so decidedly important to him and yet, since the night they had met near twenty years ago, since that very first moment- Aiden had meant something. Perhaps it had been the loss of his own son those many years before, perhaps that tender-heart of his had been feeling especially softened that night and yet it hardly mattered now. He had been unable to leave that boy. Not when he could see what that future held for him in the embrace of that woman whose name Matteo could barely bring himself to say. As if even the thought of it was vile.

He had lived longer than most. Far longer. He had seen every world war and battle in between, before and after and yet, in all those years, in all that time, he had never hated another quite as much as he hated that vampire woman. The potency of it shocked even him and yet that loathing ran so deeply within him it was like a venom to his own veins. How any being could lay hands upon a child as she had done, let alone when Aiden had become old enough to be of interest in other ways, he hardly knew. Even now the thoughts sickened him, deeply so. The closer he had become to Aiden the more he had felt those blows in turn until it was as if every wound and word and action sliced into some part of himself in turn, even if he so refused to allow it to show in front of the boy. Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, he had come to pick up the metaphorical pieces each and every time. Trying desperately to glue them back together into some semblance of a being Risque was content to break again and again each time he did. Matteo so simply refusing to believe that some part of Aiden could not be salvaged each time. Somehow- despite it all- something of the boy had been preserved. She had not managed to destroy him entirely and how he thanked God for that. Aiden was stronger then she was- even if he did not believe it. Matteo believed it for him.

An oddly satisfied simper found his features as the young man collapsed onto the chair beside him with that Batna in hand, the Frenchman allowing his own silvered gaze to roll in good-nature as Aiden tucked into that candy. Those sweet treats a simple joy and yet one that never failed to work all the same. The panthers stomach always having maintained a great functionality. His own fingers extended forward to pour those drinks then, the label upon the bottle easily capturing his interest as that soft snort of amusement left him. Matteo affording his companion that singular memory of the children's movie Aiden had once deemed his favourite. That very videotape still within Matteo's own home. That soft assurance from Aiden himself that he hardly remembered that movie brought little more then that wry grin to the Fae's own lips. He was, perhaps, hardly surprised by such an admittance. The mind so having a way of shutting off those more painful memories if only to make remembering bearable at all and yet the Fae allowed that raise of his eyes once more.

"Sacré bleu! You only forced me to watch it ten times. I am assured I knew every song and every line of that movie as well as you did. A DVD version of it surely exists by now. You should show it to Tobias. He would take great pleasure in it."

That simper found his lips once more only moments before that alcohol did. The inquiry of that story was hardly surprising in any real sense. Never yet had a visit between them passed in which Aiden did not ask for one. Matteo paused in the consumption of that drink to consider which tale he might offer before settling upon on of the more recent of his scandals and the introduction of his behind to most of Puerto Rico and the world at large. It was rare, in every sense, for anyone to so get the better of him and yet he hardly held any vehemence for the woman who had. The Frenchman clearly amused in every sense. That tale halted only once at the surprising taste of that sweet liquor to afford that inquiry of where it had come from. He would have to find more of this.

One eye arched upward at Aiden's assurance the drink had been a gift, an extra it seemed, thrown in for good measure in response to the theft of a boat and an unpaid bill. Matteo allowing that soft chuckle to rise within his own throat. The days had long since passed in which he might have made any attempt to explain the ills of stealing. To attempt to instill such lessons in Aiden would have been a waste of time and breath- not when he needed such things to survive. Matteo long ago having turned a blind eye to such ideals in a way he would hardly have done with any other child. Rather, the Frenchman found his own amusement in that tale.

"It seems to me as if such a yacht was a wise investment on your part then. It was worth it, I think, for this drink."

That glass was lifted to his lips once more, the Fae continuing with his own tale then. Aiden's own enjoyment of it decidedly clear. Truly it was as if both Aiden and Alexander and even Dorian enjoyed seeing him bested on occasion. The WereKing's insistence he should have seen it coming only furthering the grin upon his own lips.

"Ah, Mon Anime, one would think. Yet, it seems I spend to much time worrying about the business of others rather then my own. It was, in the least, rather a good picture I suppose."

Only Matteo, it seemed, could find delight in his own scandle with the assurance at least his ass had looked decidedly good in those very pictures. That chuckle joining Aiden's own in that moment before the Frenchman lent further back in that sofa, making himself all the more comfortable as he finished that first glass. He reached for the bottle a second time then, refilling that cup before those accented words lef this lips once more. Offering Aiden that update of sorts within his own existence. That mention of Dorian content to play havoc with those emotions he rarely allowed others to view in any true sense before inquiring after Aiden's change in living arrangements- even if he had seen, to an extent- the events that had allowed the man to arrive here.

It was Aiden, however, whom was perhaps unwilling to allow him to shift so easily from that topic off his son and the measure of consternation he found within it. Those emerald eyes were near firm upon him as matteo's own head tilted toward the man beside him to afford the Panther that momentary look of surprise. How often had he used such a tactic on Aiden himself to have the boy speak about those very things he often desired to and yet struggled to offer freely? Such tactics turned effortlessly back upon himself! That soft sound of amusement leaving him once more.

"When did you grow up?"

He offered simply, that jest clear all the same as that soft sigh parted his lips. He hardly intended to allow Aiden to escape without discussing his own life and yet for a few moments at least the Frenchman was content to indulge in that inquiry. His free hand lifted to toy with that silver chain about his neck, those long fingers running absentmindedly down it and to the crucifix at the end. A habit the age-old man had always possessed when he was affording anything true thought.

"I had hoped, when he was freed of that Palace that we might spend some time together. Yet he was destined to meet Sebastian from the beginning and I feared my interference might afflict the outcome of that so I held back a little longer. When he learned who I was to him we begun to rebuild that relationship but we are both...awkward with one another and trying to pry him away from Sebastian is like drawing blood from a stone. After the wedding he will be gone for sme weeks on his honeymoon. I had considered that perhaps, after that, I might find some activity we might share. I thought I might teach him to drive. That seems a suitable father-son activity."

God but he was hopeless at this! As if he hardly knew just how to go about spending time with his own son. At least, when he could be pried away from Sebastian and yet too, that very time Matteo knew they needed was something the Frenchman near feared all at once. His silver gaze turned back to Aiden once more.

"In truth I desire time with him and yet all at once I fear what he might ask me when we are alone. Even when I see those questions coming I am not always prepared for them."

His shoulders lifted once more in that simple shrug, as if to make light of those very words, as if that very fear had not weighed upon him in some measure. In those twenty years he had shared with Aiden a part of him was still unwilling to burden the other man with his problems- even if to hear of them might draw Aiden's mind from his own. A part of Matteo still very much that parent attempting to shield his child from the worries of the world. He had, after all, seen Aiden as his own for so very long. Even if he hardly voiced it. Another sip of that drink taken then. The Frenchman capable of drinking extensively when the mood should take him.

"With the wedding soon and the honeymoon right after it will be a month or two before I need work out how to go about it all the same. Hardly a worry for tonight. Although this two months of free time I have found myself with has had me consider other things. I have a proposition for you, Aiden one I best offer before I enjoy to much of this drink."


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