Welcome to Gaia! ::

The text had Mathias already altering his afternoon plans for the day the instant he got it, not that it was a massive change, but his cousin was correct in the fact that, it was indeed an offer he could not refuse. Well, would not really. He could refuse it, but doing so without a legitimate - "I am dying" - level of excuse wouldn't cut it and the damage it would do to their long and delightful almost sibling like relationship wasn't worth the shirting of his schedule to go and... get what essentially amounted to a lecture from his little sister.

If he'd HAD a little sister.

But Delilah essentially filled the role in his life without actually filing it and there was very little the man wouldn't do for his cousin. In all honesty part of his crusade against their Uncle Ned was in no small part carrying out the blood feud she was unable to.

But that was neither here nor there.

Be there in eight. had been his reply, and so he walked into the bistro a few minutes shy of ten minutes after sending it, and made his way over to his cousin's seat, slipping into the seat across from her and leaning back, wearing his usual "I was going to go scout the city" attire of a comfy pair of jeans, an unmarked t-shirt, and his usual jacket.

"To what do I owe the honor of this lunch invite?" He asked. Knowing full well that she would tell him what he was in trouble for and better to not give her extra ammunition by guessing.

"Well I scrubbed the heck out of the wall at Uncle Ned's new place - so I was hoping that one wouldn't count," Mathias ticked off on his hand raising his index finger. "And, look - the thing at the hospital sorted its self out..." He added his middle finger to showcase two incidents. "So really that one shouldn't be held against me anyway. The paintings all ended up back on the wall, even if they were routine tat..."

He sighed and reached out to pick up his drink, sipping it slowly before putting it back down.

"So I'm going to guess the first one, because Ned loves to give me guff even if I do come back and clean up," He said with a huff. "Though that was more for his night manager than him, she didn't deserve to deal with his bull..."

Presented with photo evidence of his... meltdown... Mathias had the decency to squirm uncomfortably in his chair. He could already feel the flustered blush rising and he lowered his head to cough into his hand, knowing full well that he was just stalling to avoid answering her question, because in truth it - wasn't - hard.

For anyone but him.

"I mean, that is..." He started, stopped himself, and took a breath, trying to find the words that weren't immediately defensive because this was Delilah and she had probably gone through hell after that article had been posted just trying to defend him.

"I might have, allowed my personal bias to get in the way of ensuring the family's interests," He offered. "Kids in the pediatric ward had a blast though..."

Not that that really mattered - because of course the papers only wanted to highlight the fact that "the black sheep" was up to antics and that was more attention that he really liked. "But, yes, I..." he motioned at the picture and expressed in a single four letter word just how badly he messed up. "...up, and I'm sorry, especially after your dad went to bat for me to go in the first place. I should have thought how that would have reflected on you guys."

The words were a verbal slap. Much like the other night with another woman whom he had attempted to apologize to, he physically winced. Yes, it was a low-blow, but one he knew he deserved. Richard had put his faith in Mathias for his experience on the matter, and had trusted him enough to have him go alone as the family rep. It should have been an easy - go and smile, shake hands, take pictures, bore the press sort of deal.

Instead he'd made an a** of himself, and by proxy, the man whom out of all of his "uncles" he most respected and admired. He would have to make it up to the man somehow - in his own way - a fitting apology that would take time for him to figure out how to do - but he'd do it.

His hand reached out and gently rested on one of hers, giving it a light squeeze. He could see the tired, knew she had to be burning the candle at both ends and the middle too.

"Nope, that's me to a t," Mathias offered in a soft tone. "No thoughts, head empty."

The memetic statement was not given in his normal tone of voice, but something pitched slightly off to make it sound like a cartoon character who was "slow."

"That makes me a himbo right?" he asked, trying to get her to smirk or laugh a bit, giving her a distraction. "Its so hard keeping up with you kids these days."

Thinking back to the photos made him grimace slightly, and he sighed, reaching up, he rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and shook his head slowly.

"Honestly?" He started, taking a moment to eat the crow now rather than later. "They weren't that bad. I mean, they looked alright, but you could tell they were school projects of people working themselves to make a deadline. But no, plenty of people seemed to like them enough to fight me over it - mostly staff."

:"One of them called me blind, which amuses me," He said gently. "But, eh, like I said, I sorted it out and let it go as a wash - doesn't save me from making page 15 in the paper but hey..."

He did have a heart - a surprisingly large one, if given the chance to use it. But, it also meant he would go to battle for things as a matter of principle, even if he knew it was a losing one.

Especially if he knew it was a losing one.

"I'll freely admit that I... pitched a Uncle Ned level fit where it wasn't needed."

"Upset enough to call and verify that I was in fact, who I said I was, and represented the family," He let out a huff. "Which, thankfully whoever answered the phone that day at the White Building had an updated list or I'm sure I would have been politely escorted out of the building."

"As to her well," he gave a shrug. "I think she was a nurse, or some sort of physical therapist - she talked about having an appointment and..." He waved a hand. "I didn't really pay too much attention - she was quite the Pollyanna though, kept pointing out the upside and good in everything in the paintings."

He made a face then. "But yes, I am aware - and glad to be done with it all, it's bad enough meeting what deadlines I have as it is."

"Sadly, not nearly as many as I'd like," Mathias said with a sigh. "That is to say, none, currently. And I'm pretty sure the last person who got my number..."

His phone buzzed as he spoke and he froze for a second, fishing it out of his jacket to squint at it in what was probably a bit more energy than a text would normally warrant, only to be followed by a grunt and look of raw, pure disappointment as he slipped it back into his pocket.

"Spam," He muttered, before shaking his head. "Anyway - I'm between projects - at least major ones."

"Though I did meet a fellow at the gym the other day and the thought came to me," He said tapping the table with his finger. "What's your over-under on a pet friendly gym?"