"Ah, Mon Amie, do not fuss, let me see it."

Matteo crouched easily beside Tobias within the sand then, that dark eyed boy watching him with some mix of wariness and curiosity. Tobias, in that moment, reminding him decidedly so of a wild colt so contemplating the first touch of a human hand. The younger man seeming to waver between allowing that touch, pulling away and making some effort to strike at him. Matteo ever watchful of that hand that rested in the boys lap. Partial shifting was quote the talent, one few Were's ever mastered. After all, it required a truly extensive amount of control, the very sort of control one such as Tobias would appear, at first glance, to lack much of any yet appearance it seemed were deceiving. The Frenchman unwilling to allow himself to be deceived into having himself slashed open by those hidden claws. His first touch was tentative and much akin to the way he had touched Aiden as a child when the boy was still terrified of him and so trapped in that world of pain and anguish Matteo had so eventually tried to soothe as best he could. That touch was fleeting, his fingertips barely tracing Tobias' shoulder before withdrawing in some effort to gauge the Leopard's reaction. Tobias, for now, merely inclined to glance toward him before staring back into the darkness that had taken his companion from him with a look so forlorn even the near ancient Fae was inclined to feel that ache within his own heart.

"He will be alright, Young One. Do not fret. This is going to sting a little but you will feel better I promise."

His hand reached more boldly this time to rest upon the boys mauled shoulder, his affinity for restoration rushing to his command then. Vampire bite were always more difficult to heal then anything else, as if corruption itself so seemed to be infused within those wounds and yet it was not beyond his powers. That skin and flesh and sinew rapidly begun to heal as Tobias flinched in surprise more then pain. The Were boy's own healing beginning to assist quickly now, that wound bound to be little more than a scar by the time they reached the Ark once more and yet whether or not that scar would ever heal without more of his assistance remained to be seen. Those lines of pain that had previously marred the younger man's features all but vanishing as Tobias inspected that healed shoulder curiously. Matteo reached into his back pocket then, plucking that cloth from within it as he began to wipe that blood from the boy. His son's best friend and by that connection alone another being who fell beneath his own protection of sorts.

"Do you know why this wound was so bad, Mon Amie? Darcy is what they call an 'Excalibur' vampire. He has no venom, instead he has double the amount of fangs. Vampires like Darcy have trouble feeding normally, their fangs tend to harmoeeahage any vein they touch because they are large, doubled and more designed for tearing. They struggle to leave victims alive if they bite within the neck in the least- but they excel at acts of war. While they cannot feed as efficiently as other vampires they can maul like nothing else. Their bite is particularly painful. Alexander used to call them Ravagers. Some think they are more.....prone to aggression and territoriality as well. Personally i think that is all vampires. You are not listening to me at all are you...."

Tobias' gaze had hardly wavered from that darkness once more. At least until that question was posed to him. That shaggy haired boy turning to stare at him wordlessly for several moments before shaking his head. Matteo merely allowing his eyes to roll before he rose to his feet, his hand offered to Tobias then to help the boy up in turn before directing him toward that passenger seat. The leopard all but scrambling hurriedly into that car. Matteo so barely saving that grilled cheese sandwich resting upon that seat from being sat on before it was handed to the boy in turn. Tobias content to eye that offered food with bafflement.

"Your mate made it for you, she is worried about you."

That such a meal had been Matteo's alone was so surely hardly important here and now. The Frenchman instead content to assure Tobias that Raven had made it especially for him. The boy seeming delighted by the idea as the Fae so shifted that car into drive. He had always wanted to see what this car could do. Aiden, he was sure, unlikely to permit him to drive it under most circumstances and yet surely this was permissible. His foot easily found that accelerator, that car responding obediently as it rolled smoothly forward, picking up speed so effortlessly it was nearly a marvel. Hmmm. This was a good car. Matteo urging it just that little bit faster and faster again as he eyed those curious buttons within the center console. Tobias abruptly pausing in the consumption of that sandwich.

"You are...supposed to stay....on the....road.
"What?"
"Tetra always says....we must.....stay on....road. Fancy Friend is not....on the road."

Matteo glanced readily up from that console only to discover that car was indeed no longer on the road but rather racing effortlessly over the sand beside it. Hmmm. Perhaps he would not disclose such a thing to Aiden. Matteo assured that road had move of its own accord as he so piloted that car back onto the black tar itself. Tobias appearing mildly concerned. That very look one Matteo knew all too well. No one in the world, it seemed, willing to undergo his driving unless forced too. That car so beginning to consume those miles rapidly all the same before Tobias spoke once more.

"Are we....going home?"
"Yes. Tetradore is going to....a bar first. He will be home after that. We will take a slightly different road home just so Darcy does not see us. You should get back to the Ark about a half hour after he does. I'll make sure of it/ He will be glad to see you."
"Is....Tetra....hurt?"
"A little bit, he will be alright though. He's very strong."
"Will you fix....Tetra too?"
"Yes."
"Is he....mad with.....me?"
"No Tobi, he's not mad at you he's mad.....at himself. He shouldn't be mad at himself either, though he will not believe it even when I tell him so. He is...stubborn."
"It hurts."
"What, hurts? Your shoulder?"

His silver gaze glanced briefly from that road ahead and toward Tobias then. The boys features contorted into a distinct frown, as if those very emotions he so desperately tried to express were something of a struggle. His head shaking vehemently as Matteo's own features frowned in inquisitiveness before the deviant so lifted his hand to rest against his chest. The Frenchman's own features softening readily. Ah, but that was a pain he knew very well. One even those with eloquent words so struggled to describe. One he had felt since the moment Aiden had first allowed him to touch him all those years ago and one that burned as strongly even now. How much he desired, desperately so, to taken Aiden away from it all. How much he desired to bring an end to Darcy and....that woman.

"That pain, Mon Jeune, is....the price for love. It is the price we pay for loving anything or anyone. That is why it hurts so much. Though I think, perhaps, it is worth it all the same. Come now, we have a very long drive, we don't you pick the music?"

That very suggestion along with that reassurance they were going to Aiden seemed to brighten the boy once more. Tobias leaning eagerly forward to begin to flick through those stations only to settle on the very sort of music he distinctly remembered Aiden adoring in his younger years. Well- at least he so knew the words.

"You are bad at...this."
"At what?"
"The...the....driving."
"Mon Amie, if you desire to walk I can still permit it. That's what I thought."







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