TCC: Matteo

Name: Matteo
Occupation: Guard
Age: 795 (appears 22)
Height/Weight: 5'8 / 150lbs
Species: Shishi
Birthday: April 4th
Blood Type: O

Personality:
✔ Patient - Matteo's spent a lot of his time waiting and it's something he is accustomed to. Not that he particularly likes it, but it's a skill he finds an asset to himself.
✔ Observant - Along with his patience, Matteo's learned to watch people's behaviours and notice small things over time. Not that he understands all of it, but nothing rarely ever gets past his eyes.
✔ Loyal - Not only to his master, but to those who have gained his hard-earned trust and respect will find Matteo is a stubbornly loyal companion - even if they may be wrong or even a bit evil.

✘ Narrow-minded - Though he's patient and observant, Matteo has never had to deal with having to consider other people's points of view. In his mind, the world works in a very logical and lawful way and anything that strays from his view of those rules seems odd, irregular and wary-worthy.
✘ Socially Inept - Until now, he's never had to deal with inter-personal relationships or had to care about the effect his actions or words have on other beings. He also has problems reading situations differently than he should which leads to reactions by him that may seem over the top or just outright weird.
✘ Overprotective Tendencies - This comes hand-in-hand with his loyalty and social awkwardness. Because of his lack of skill in reading situations in a proper light, he may seem overly sensitive to things that may not appear threatening to his master and may need a kick in the butt for him to relax.

History:

Matteo was created as a set like all Stone Lions are. His partner and him were made as small statuettes out of stone by a simple artisan in China. They gained consciousness as they were given their last touches - the heart and love put into the pieces of artwork assured that. Matteo and his partner loved watching the human world in their unmoving forms, content with guarding their creator until they were sold.

It was when Marco Polo travelled to China when their allegiance was forced to change by the payment of coins. It was the first time Matteo felt somewhat unhappy, having unknowingly come to love his creator like a part of his family. This feeling though, faded with time as they were distracted with the new lands they travelled on their way back to Venice. It was an adventure, and somehow he felt excited as he listened and observed the foreigners that carried them.

One night, the caravan was ambushed for the merchandise that it was carrying. Matteo's power was never strong and his bond with his master never formed - he could not act and instead watched as the escorts defended their merchandise. A bandit reached out for the pair of stone lions, determined to get something for their trouble. As he grabbed onto Matteo's partner, everything seemed to slow. A scuffle started and the man was pushed down. The statue was flung away in the fray and hit a nearby boulder, shattering into pieces. Before he could act, he had lost his only friend in the world and their cub.

Matteo made it back to Venice in one piece, however to collectors who knew anything about their trade, he was now worthless without his partner. No one would pay much for him and he was treated much like a space-filler. For the next long while of his 795 years of life was spent watching the everyday life of humans. It was dreary; dull routines everyday. Loneliness became a permanent guest within his heart and it made him feel numb. The disappointment in himself in not even being able to protect his life-partner struck fear into his very being that he was not even worthy as a guardian. Somehow...he wished one day one of the younger patrons of the store he resided in would knock him off the shelf and end his existence in this world.

Eventually, a young boy ran into the old store. From what he could hear, Matteo knew that the boy had come across some birthday money and wanted to look for something cool. It was strange - most children wanted toys and sweets...but by the look of this one, he was different. He was bookish, but his dirtied hands show hard work and strength even by that young age. His name, was Matteo Valente (we shall refer to the boy as 'Matt' to prevent confusion), son of a local blacksmith who seemed to be apprenticing for the trade as well. Though he took more notice to the boy, Matteo never hoped or bothered to think he would be bought that day. But the boy...he stared right into his eyes and said: "I want this one!"

The boy kept Matteo on his desk throughout his life and treated him with utmost care...as if he was a real living breathing being. It wasn't as if he had no friends - Matt's friends would constantly come over and he would always show off his odd lion statue - though they were never allowed to touch of course. Matteo was present at every important life event of his master's life and even chipped a few times in incidents where his protection was necessary. He never let the boy wonder reasonably though, that he was indeed a sentient being.

As days rolled by and Matt grew older and his health declined, Matteo's protection could no longer benefit him. He knew humans age and die, but he had never mourned another death like he did when Matt passed in his sleep. That night was the first night he was able to pull himself out of the statue. Matt's son held his hand asleep, having been exhausted from the struggle to save his father's health. Matteo put his large mane'd head on the bed and sat beside the man until sunrise.

Though he was taken care of by Matt's grandson who he was left with, generations and generations passed and the meaning and significance of his existence was soon forgotten...and he was put up for sale in an antique shop yet again. No one cared enough, even with how old he was and how well-preserved he might have been. Matt's descendants have taken upon themselves to touch up and re-carve his physique as they were artisans and never thought of trying to sell him until later generations, and that just made him worthless to collectors even more.

He'd have another chance though...because yet another young person walked into the shop where he laid waiting for his end and looked right into his tired stone eyes. He wouldn't appear for this young lady until she took up a room at The Clover Club. She reminded him of Matt and how lovingly he had taken care of him during his life...Matteo knew that there was something wrong with the place and he was not going to sit idly this time - he was going to do this right.

"My name is..." He said when he was finally able to meet her. He had forgotten what his real name was, but it took no longer than a second to decide on a new one. "My name is Matteo."


Likes/Dislikes:
❤ His ball
❤ Napping
❤ Seeing his master happy (though he would never admit to something so silly)
❤ Max

♡ People who think they know everything (lol what a hypocrite...)
♡ Water
♡ Death
♡ Max threatening to play baseball with his statue.


Additional Facts
• That bell of his is silent. It may seem to serve no purpose, but its his 'chain' to his statuette that keeps him in this tangible world.
• He doesn't actually want to protect the whole inn per say; he took on the job to access more resources he could use to protect his master and have a viable reason to check up on her often without seeming like a bothering guest.
• He's probably one of the weaker Shishi in existence, but he is trying to make up for it by training his physical body.
• Doesn't like to be in his lion form even though it's more comfortable for him - it's just too big and he doesn't want to accidentally knock things over (he stands at around 5ft at the shoulder in this form. A rather large beast). That and his large protruding fangs tend to frighten more people than he'd care to.

Preferred Role Play Methods: Para or Script is fine with me! Though I tend to forget to check chat, so Notes, Skype, MSN or Forums are the best way for me; if you want to use those to remind me to check chat, that works too ;D