It was almost intriguing, in a fashion, the manner in which the young man before him seemed to ponder his own relationship with the young woman in his pack. A woman Matteo himself had found to be a critical, judgemental creature in her own right and yet too- he suspected Raven held her own reasons for being as such. Still, she was the only consistent female presence within Aiden's life outside that vampire woman and truly, the Frenchman found himself almost curious of just how Aiden might hold that very relationship- given his tumultuous past with one particular female. He had once feared greatly for the fashion in which Aiden might come to associate women. After all, for all Aiden had suffered physically he had surely suffered all the more mentally and in ways that did not always present themselves clearly or indeed, did not present themselves at all until years later. He had been concerned, once, that Aiden might come to see all women as some sort of enemy, as something to fear or worse- something to act violently towards in an effort to keep them at arms length in some desperate bid for protection.

Yet, somehow, despite it at all, that very care he had for Raven was clear, that very thought he gave that conversation alone a clear display of the very fact that despite his lack of understanding of the girl- he still considered her. Somewhere along the way, somehow, that vampiric woman had failed to shatter Aiden's own moral compass, his ability to care, to empathize- even to love. Though Matteo had long since suspected the boy might forever struggle in that singular pursuit of that emotion, at least when it came to relationships. Still, there was a simple manner of pride to see the man Aiden had become. He was not like her. Whether that morality and empathy had remained intact through Matteo's own efforts to raise the boy or those values had forever remained unbroken he hardly knew, perhaps it hardly mattered. It was a victory all the same and a truly precious one at that. Even if he hardly spoke allowed of those very thoughts.

That soft shrug he was offered so managed to prompt that small simper to his lips once more as Aiden simply professed that Raven's attitude surely depended upon the day. The hispanic fellow proceeding to warn him that the woman would no doubt afford him the full measure off her thoughts on himself in turn were she capable of finding time alone with him. Matteo allowing that chuckle to fall from his lips then as he regarded his companion- another sip of that drink taken as one finger continued to trace idly around that rim in an action near absent-minded. Even despite the amusement that seemed to find his features. Matteo the very sort of being wholly capable of finding some measure of amusement in near any situation even if he so often hardly voiced just what about it seemed to intrigue him.

"I shall do my best to avoid so ever being alone with her and yet, I fear this is the way of women. Women are not like men, they do not simply say what it is that gives them grief. They are strange creatures, Aidun. They are never obvious, even when they think they are being so and if one ever gets you alone you can be assured she is going to tell you all manner of things you likely do not want to hear. It will probably be a list of all the things you have done wrong. They never forget. It is some sort of superpower they share. Yet I continue to desire them."

His gaze flickered sideways to meet the emerald of his companions own, that grin dancing upon his features as that laughter came once more. This, it seemed, an offhandedly offered attempt at life advice and yet one day, somehow, Aiden would discover it all the same when he met the right sort of woman whom might yet inspire some desire in him to begin that relationship. For now however, the Frenchman was content to shift that conversation toward those more prominent topics, largely that very peace treaty Aiden had formed some weeks ago with none other then Alexander's own steed. How curious it was, the manner in which fate had chosen to align such souls, Matteo quick to dismiss such thoughts lest he find himself pondering the very ideals of fate once more. A topic he was prone to find distress in if he allowed it to consume him. The Frenchman instead offering his support of that very relationship Aiden had attempted to foster, his companion seeming to find little more then some manner of discord at the mention of Frost. Matteo hardly unaware of just why that mention off his fellow Were might yet prompt such a reaction from his companion and yet it was one he hardly chose to entertain this evening. After all, even he did not fully understand the ways of fate nor why after so, so long Aiden continued to be denied that very freedom Frost had found in turn. If there was any way to give to Aiden that very thing then he would surely have done it in a mere heartbeat. How it still pained him, after all these years, those things he could not do for that boy he loved so dearly. Matteo commenting instead simply upon the sense of that treaty.

One Aiden seemed to recognise with that same despondent, adolescent muttering he had been presenting the world at large for years. Matteo's own eyes rolling softly once more and yet, he knew readily that Aiden did indeed understand the value of a companion whom might yet rally the Council to his side. In all those futures he could see, in all those ways he saw that battle- Frost did not fail Aiden in even one. A curious 'friendship' but a valuable one. Matteo, as always, hardly choosing to speak upon those things he knew. The man instead far more intrigued to talk of those things he knew would please the boy beside him far more and indeed prompted his own interest. That teleportation. A ready tease upon his lips as he offered it, his tongue poked from between them in a juvenile fashion and yet one that earned him that very shove in return. That glass in his hand was easily drained off its contents before being placed upon the table. Matteo rising from that chair then only to disappear. His form so reappeared upon the other side of the room and beside Aiden's desk, that rubber ball held within his hand. Matteo inclined to simply test Aiden's affinity in that moment. The very idea behind that 'game' of sorts no sooner having left his lips then that ball was tossed toward the far wall. Aiden afforded little chance to form any sort of argument against it.

The silver off his own gaze lingered with a clear intrigue upon the younger man, Matteo watching the rise of those shadows before they seemed to envelope his companion. Aiden reappearing with his back to that far wall but a second later, that ball snatched from the air just before it hit the ground. Matteo's fingers fiddling absentmindedly with that chain and crucifix about his neck once more, that chain rabbit about one finger over and over in some representation of the thought that traced his mind. His head nodded at last in a clear gesture of approval.

"It is not perfect but the foundation is there. Your positioning was good, your balance was good, your speed needs work but it seems you require these shadows to consume you first. I have every belief that can happen faster with practice. It has been a long, long time since i have seen a Masquér. A shade. A Shadow Jumper."

Along time indeed. That warm simper so readily spread across his lips again as he regarded the man. Matteo unable to help that curiosity for the limitations and extensions off that very affinity if only so he might compare it to his own. Aiden appearing almost sheepish in that moment as he admitted he had not tried going anywhere outside the city. Matteo's hands thrown upward in that playful gesture of exasperation. That French accent decidedly strong in that moment.

"Ah, Sacreblue! The boy does not try!"

Still, that very insistence he could do what Matteo could not- that he could carry people and large objects was a truly fascinating discovery. Aiden so declaring he was not as good as Matteo himself, not yet. The Frenchman's head merely shaking and yet that grin hardly faltered. Was this not the way of evolution? Was not the son supposed to prove greater then the Father? At least in the metaphorical sense. Aiden could already do what he could not. There teleportation abilities different and yet cut from that same mould. Matteo barely given a moment to consider it before that ball was tossed toward Aiden's desk. The Frenchman's figure abruptly disappeared once more. Matteo reappearing in that second after to be seated upon the desk itself, one leg folded over the other, his hands resting either side off his seated figure with that ball so balanced neatly upon one shoe. Both eyes lifted in that moment in a clear display off his own distinct showmanship in this. Someone, it seemed, was inclined to show off. Matteo disappearing again only to reappring before Aiden now, his hand so rested on the man's shoulder in that single moment of simple affection.

"I have had more than two thousand years to master it but you? You will still be better."

That ball was abruptly thrown over his shoulder then and toward Aiden's bed, the very angle of that throw far more challenging then the location. Matteo folding his arms across his chest as he leant back against that wardrobe now- waiting to see the outcome off this newest test. Aiden's skills, his potential, was already greater- even if he himself did not see it yet. To carry an object as significant as his car was one thing, to carry living people over an unlimited distance was an another. A skill of supreme level- though one he chose not yet to mention. Matteo speaking once Aiden had reappered once more. The ancient Fae appearing near pensive.

"There is much I can teach you in this, if you desire to learn it. My teleportation is, at its core, a weapon. It kills those I move with me. Your's is something else. Though I think I understand it. You require these shadows, yes? Hmm. Perhaps it is so I have an idea."

His gaze lingered upon Aiden once more, the Frenchman keeping one eye on that ball all the same just in case the man should choose to toss it before gesturing to the other side of the room and the couch they had been seated on once before.

"Aidun, can you teleport me back to where we sat before? It does not have to be on the couch if you cannot manage that yet, near it will do. I desire to see something."


m a t t e o
tread where mortals have not trod