That the young woman before him had hardly anticipated his presence was clear enough. Raven glancing upward in surprise at his approach and too- those offered words upon the recipe he suspected she had been staring out without truly seeing for some time. Ah, for all the years he had lived some things never changed. A woman's worry for her lover was sure as the pages of history reported it to be. In this however, Matteo said little. Rather, the Fae was content to merely make himself comfortable against that countertop as Raven closed the book and pulled it into her lap. She remembered him, it seemed and yet Matteo was assured he was of a decently memorable character to begin with. That very query on why he was here prompting a surprise of sorts to flicker across his eternally youthful features before that tendril of amusement seemed to find him all at once. Why was he here? Had he not asked himself that very question but a million times throughout his own life? The truth off his presence here today might surely bring her little comfort and as such, the Frenchman hardly chose to reveal such a thing- at least not in its entirety. His own accented words so easily parted his lips then.

"I was in the neighbourhood. I have known Tetradore for a little while, I thought I might, how you say, drop in."

That soft simper so found his lips once more, Matteo seeing little need to elaborate on the notion that 'a little while' was over twenty years. The less whom knew off the depth off his relationship with the emerald-eyed panther the better, even if they were of the trustworthy kind as the woman before him. That story was surely one for Tetradore alone to tell, if he chose too. Raven, he suspected, knew little of the truth of her Alpha's past. Such memories hardly his own to share. That worry that lined the young woman's features however hardly seemed to lessen, her thoughts once more surely returned to her mate and missing Alpha. Matteo offering that simple truth that they would not be home for either lunch or dinner- not today in the least- and she hardly need fret over what meal to prepare. Raven inclined to admit what he had already suspected- those attempts at considering a meal no more then a ploy of sorts to try and focus her mind upon away from those thoughts that turned within it. There was a sweetness, of sorts, to that very worry. Even if he had seen it but a million times before throughout the course off his terribly long life. How fortunate one must be in this world to have another worry over them in such a fashion. Tobias and Tetradore both so clearly holding meaning to the curly haired woman. To hold meaning to another in turn so surely a wonderful thing. That sudden query on whether or not he might like her to cook for him so prompting the lift of a singular silver eye. That soft chuckle humming within his throat then and yet that good-natured simper so hardly faltered.

"You wish to cook for me, Mademoiselle? Such a role is normally my own. I cannot recall the last time a woman cooked for me, other then my Housekeeper. I see no reason not to take up your offer, what are we to have?"

That distraction, in the least, might prove useful for the woman if nothing else. Matteo knowing little of Raven's skill (or lack of) within the kitchen. A part of the Fae decidedly curious of just what this outcome might so prove to be. The Frenchman seating himself upon that stool beside the counter then. His features inclined to frown once more as Raven so anxiously seemed to fiddle with her fingers in a nervous habit of sorts.

"Ah, Raven, why do you do that with your hands?"

His head nodded but briefly towards the woman's hands in that moment as she continued to clap and unclasp them before seeking that very assurance her mate and Alpha would be alright. Matteo so momentarily considering his own words in that moment. How easy it would be to so merely lie to the woman to assuage those fears and yet, if that future he had seen was true- and indeed he knew it was- then both tetradore and Tobias would be alright- in time. The effects off this very night sure to distress them both and yet- both would overcome them even if, at first, they might so surely struggle all the same. Matteo's head nodded gently.

"It will, as they say, all come out in the wash, Mon Amie. They will both come home to you- there is no question in that."

That, after all, was a truth he knew in every sense. Matteo reached for that very cookbook then, the Frenchman resting it upon the counter before him only to turn over those first few pages with intrigue. It had been...centuries since he had used a cookbook. How very nostalgic this was. Matteo lifting that silver gaze to Raven then.

"I think it is good you are getting all this practice worrying in. It will serve you well when you become a parent...."


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