That very silence that seemed to follow in the wake of that offer that had so long ago been promised and so finally been put forward seemed to be near deafening. It was not as if he had not anticipated this very reaction to some degree and yet that near noncommittal grunt only further served to punctuate that pregnant pause. He had not truly expected Aiden to leap at the chance to return home with him as he might have done as a child. The boy, especially in his late teenage years, had become decidedly introverted when it came to any true expression of emotion and yet frankly Matteo was hardly assured which he preferred on some occasions. Those dramatic outbursts where each and every emotion seemed to ricochet about the room- or this walled silence. He knew how much Aiden concealed within himself and in that he could hardly blame him. It was a method of protection. A shield from her. Aiden's mind a singular place she could not touch and as such the man had learned to retreat to it whenever he was presented with a situation or emotion he remained unsure of or insecure over handling. Yet too, the Frenchman had learned equally long ago to circumnavigate those metaphorical walls Aiden threw upward. That firm utterance of the man's name holding that desired effect in so drawing those emerald eyes towards him in that unspoken demand for his attention.

Aiden had so eternally preferred logic to sentiment, especially in his later years. Matteo remaining as distinctly unflustered and eternally patient as always as he simply presented those very reasons why that trip was now possible when it had not been before. He knew what Aiden feared, to believe the man had outgrown that fear in the same manner he had outgrown a set of clothes would be a notion of foolishness Matteo refused to subscribe too. Even now, even in her absence, that woman still had a hold of sorts over him- and how Matteo loathed it. How painfully those memories of Aiden near begging him to please take him home seemed to surface. The Frenchman distinctly careful not to allow that emotion to eclipse him now even if it simmered so dangerously beneath the surface. Aiden had not been the only one who cried on those nights. Even if he had never let the boy see. Matteo as determined then as he was now to provide a source of strength for the Werecat. Something or someone that could be relied on when all else failed. In this Matteo simply refused to falter.

It was that insistence that he would watch that future that seemed, at last, to prompt some measure of vocalization from the disgruntled Panther. How very like his teenage years this was! Matteo so hardly having forgotten the days he was greeted with this very brooding being. One capable of reverting to a shouting, door-slamming fiend within a near heartbeat. The French Fae assured he would not return to those hormonal, emotional years for love nor money. Yet somehow they had survived them. They always did. His own words fell silent then, allowing Aiden those further moments to consider the choice he had been presented with. Matteo wholly aware that the man might yet choose not to return with him. The Frenchman near surprised by how very much the idea of that so seemed to hurt. Even if he knew readily such a choice was hardly personal in any sense. He had longed to have Aiden with him for years. Matteo determined not to waste this opportunity they were presented with here and now. Aiden, regardless of what he might believe, needed that escape as much as he ever had. Even if only to know it existed as a possibility- a home he could come back to whenever he needed. A place he was wanted.

That near flippant agreement that he would subject himself to that holiday readily invoked that relief within the Frenchman, even if that mere quirk off his lip was all he offered in response. Matteo so struggling to prevent that amusement from finding his features at that entirely teenage manner in which Aiden so seemed determined to pretend as if he had hardly given that decision much thought, nor that he might yet prove nervous about that very holiday in some sense. Matteo content to respect that unspoken desire not to make a terribly large deal over that acceptance as his head simply nodded.

"Good. I shall look forward to having you. I'll take care of the documentation and passports. You need only concern yourself with packing. That does not mean bringing only two or three shirts and interchanging them either, Aiden. You need to bring clothes for every day. Plus everything else you need. Get a bag, Aiden."

The Panther was offered a near pointed look in that moment, even if Matteo long since suspected the man had outgrown those teenage habits of wearing the same shirt twice. The Frenchman having eternally strove to instill some manner of dress sense in his companion- even if a t-shirt and jeans seemed to be the only thing Aiden would ever wear. Then again, if the Were still enjoyed his showers as much as he always had he suspected Aiden was more than capable of existing in only two or three outfits. Still, he could hardly help that near parental need to...parent in that moment. That sudden mention once more off his son's wedding was nothing short of a distraction, or at least, an attempt to be one. Aiden making that subtle attempt to direct that conversation away from himself, Matteo merely allowing that silence to exist for a moment longer, one that effortlessly conveyed that assurance he knew exactly what the panther was doing and yet, for tonight, he would allow him to get away with not speaking off those deeper emotions that afflicted him. Matteo leaning further back into that couch before effortlessly picking up that thread of conversation he was offered. His gaze drifting from those striking emerald eyes and back to his own drink as he picked it up once more.

"I met Raven once myself at Dorian's home. In fact I quite think she didn't like me. As impossible as that sounds."

That simper easily found his lips once more, that soft chuckle echoing within his throat as another sip of that drink was taken. Matteo pondering that woman for several moments longer before dismissing the thought, one finger idly tracing the lip of that glass as he regarded his companion again.

"Your Tobias has a....lot of energy though, Mon Amie. Excitable fellow. Although it is your newest friend I find the most intriguing. Though friend is perhaps not the right word. Your peace treaty, with the Horse Boy, was a curious move and yet it was an intelligent one."

He could hardly deny the sense he saw in Aiden's plan. Such a move one even he himself had not anticipated and yet he could hardly deny the logic behind it. In the very least he understood just why the Panther had made such a move and yet he readily suspected even Aiden did not appreciate how sound such a decision surely was.

"Did you know Frost is the mount of my companion Alexander? The pair have been working together for some time now and if the future remains as I see it, such a combination will prove significant. You must say nothing, for Frost does not know and Alexander has not yet made any final choices but Alexander is set to become High Commander of the Hunter Cavalry Unit. If such a plan comes to fruition he will be one of the most significant Hunters of our time- and with a ready made army at his disposal. Frost, in turn, will rise in those ranks with him as his horse. The deal you made that day was a truly good one."

Even if it would never be needed- of that Matteo was sure. Even despite his companions continued planning for his veritable demise at the hands of that vampire woman he could see no future in which Aiden met such a fate. In each and every future he outlived that vampire and in that alone Matteo took a significant satisfaction. That grin touching his lips momentarily before his gaze returned to Aiden in full, that striking silver meeting that emerald green. Something near impish finding that gaze then.

"I think too, I should like to see this teleportation of yours, Mon Amie. I have only seen you do it in visions and I will not lie- I am intrigued to see it. My little boy, all grown up and teleporting on his own."

Those final words were spoken in a decidedly teasing tone, Matteo 's tongue poking teasingly toward Aiden then as another chuckle rose easily to his lips. How much he enjoyed Aiden's company. How much he had missed it and too- how forward he looked to having the man to himself for a week.



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