The young woman's insistence that today was an 'odd' day to drop in so prompted little more from the ancient fae then that warm simper as he regarded her. Ah, but only if she knew of all the oddities of the world and how very often an 'odd' timing was so hardly that at all- but rather a matter of destiny so unfolding. There was little that occured in the world without meaning or purpose, even if, at times, he so disagreed with that purpose all the same. After all, the smallest moment in time, the simplest of choices, that fleeting hesitation- each of those moments so shaped and mapped the future in one way or another. His very curse perhaps- that ability to see those choices before they unfolded if only so the possibility of 'maybe' might forever dangle out off his reach with every ability to grasp it and yet two thousand years of life had taught him readily that there was a price to be charged for every change he might make to the course of history. Tonight would be no less. Raven was fortunate in her ignorance of what the future held for his son and Tobias. Sometimes, surely, that ignorance truly could hold within it a bliss of sorts. Even if Raven would surely disagree. Matteo content to dismiss such idealistic and frivolous thoughts lest he find himself lost within them as was his want on occasion. The Fae instead so taking up that seat beside the young woman he had charged himself with watching over in Aiden and Tobias' absence. His attention turned toward that cookbook she was trying, and failing, to read. Matteo hardly daring to consider was foolish notions of cooking that book might present. Raven's very offer to make him something, however, so prompted that glimpse of surprise to his features. How long it had been since a woman had offered to cook for him! The idea of grilled cheese rather novel. His silver gaze lifting toward her then.

"I should hardly like to see you go to any great deal of trouble, Mon Cherie. The grilled cheese will be fine, although I must query you on what cheese you intend to use first, I.....fear I am quite partial to some cheese and decidedly against others."

Was he too not permitted his quirks? His very age had surely permitted him the development of several of them in his time. His near obsession with quality cheese perhaps far more notable then his tendency to sleep with his arms above his head in a fashion Alexander still so eternally found amusing despite the numerous years in which the pair had shared sleeping quarters or the bed itself. Such thoughts upon the matter of cheese however were hardly inclined to last long. Raven steadily becoming only more anxious as those thoughts off her mate and Alpha only seemed to further plague her thoughts. The woman so curiously beginning to fiddle with her fingers. Matteo's gaze shifted downward to eye that curious habit before querying its very presence. That vaguest touch of red so illuminating the ancient Fae's gaze affording but some glimpse off his own power at play in those moments that followed. Today, after all, he need surely keep one eye in the present and another in the future. Matteo so unwilling to cease that near eternal watch he kept over his youngest son and yet too, it was so hardly difficult to allow that power to extend toward the woman beside him and peer into the depths of what the future before her held as she spoke of her past in turn. That insistence that she might be forbidden from defending herself in the wake of assault prompting that frown to his features. If they, those whom had come against her, had been determined to beat her regardless of her actions then why did she not defend all the same? Had she believed some compliance might lessen her suffering? How curious that in a world so rich in physical courage that moral courage seemed so very rare. Raven, he suspected, once such creature as to be befit of moral courage- even if she did not truly recognise it. Matteo so allowed his own hand to reach forward then, resting upon her own to force her to cease that action and meet his own gaze.

"There is nothing here to fear petit loup, you freed yourself of those bindings long ago and I think it better to be a lion for a day then a sheep for your whole life."

Whether or not she would understand those words so remained to be seen. Matteo, perhaps, offering some manner of reassurance that little harm would come to her today and that the harm she had once caused in her escape from that life had surely been justified . Yet, he offered no such translation here and now. Raven, he was assured, capable of thinking upon such words for herself. That warm simper offered once more before his hand lifted from her own and his attention returned to that cookbook in the wake of that assurance Tetradore and Tobias would return to her. Matteo so affording that knowledge in turn of what else he had seen lingering within the woman's more immediate future if only to draw her thoughts away from her mate and Alpha. Children. That very utterance seeming to have a near profound effect on the woman. Raven's features rapidly paling as she all but gripped that counter in an effort to stay upright. Matteo content to continue to flip through the pages of that book. Tetradore and Tobias sure to reach that gas station shortly. Yes. Good. That stuttering from Raven so suddenly seemed to force the ancient Fae's thoughts back into the present. Matteo, for all the very stress his words had so apparently prompted, remaining decidedly unconcerned. At least seemingly so. That soft chuckle rising within his throat then as those accented words parted his lips.

"Your child will be just fine, Raven. It will be a an uncomplicated pregnancy, an uneventful birth and a healthy baby. I intended to tease you and suggest Tobias would not be the Father, but I saw you fainting entirely if I had told you that. So I refrained."

The future sight was, on occasion, decidedly useful for assessing those very reactions. Matteo, for all his love of teasing, unwilling to case the girl near so much distress she passed out altogether. Those words wholly sincere now. That warm simper finding him again.

"Children are a wonderful blessing, Raven. You are very lucky to have such a thing in your future. All will be well- I promise."


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