Julian St. Clair

The nickname struck her, but made her smile go from barely-there to full-blown. “ Oh - I - Thank you ! ” Trying to not come off as shocked at the openness, she went with it and held out her own hands, fingertips perfectly manicured to be glittery orange and black. “ But I just recently did mine, for the holiday and everything. ” Still Water was very liberal when it came to their dress code; Selene always had the most fun with her nails thanks to her job there. “ I will definitely take you up on that offer when the time comes, though. I change nail polish colors like people change socks. ” Her laughter was gentle, a little bashful, but genuine.

“Of course,” He told her with a smile, taking her in his and looking at her nails. “Did you do these?” Julian asked her, not bothering to hide how he was impressed, as he gave the back of hand a light kiss. “You’ve got a real talent there, love,” He told her honestly. Julian knew he was over the top, but being a man whom had lived many centuries over, he had long stopped carrying what other people thought of his many eccentricities. “Please do. And you’re welcome to redo mine whenever you like as well.”

“You might like it because people are making dumb decisions and dying because they’re slightly dumb?” When he said that he was always working, she smiled. She knew that to be true in the few months that she’d actually been in his life. She rested her head on his shoulder when he joined her back on the couch. “Can I tell you something?” she asked, almost hesitantly because she wasn’t sure that her outlook on being a succubus had been great before, but because it was something that she shared with her father, she didn’t mind. “I don’t know how well being what I am fits me, but being here with you, finally having someone that can share their wisdom with me? That is like me that whole long life thing doesn’t seem as bad.” She laughed a little at the thought she had. “I almost rhymed. Life doesn’t seem as bad as long as I have my dad.” She laughed a little harder at the corny words. “I’m glad you want to be because believe me…I need all the guidance I can get. I lived a very sheltered and very…uncultured life,” she admitted.  Kenzie laughed at his words about her other family. “They don’t want anything to do with me without mom so they’re never going to be visiting. Especially if the “spawn of satan” found her dad…that just means you’re satan in their eyes.” She knew that they’d never get past what she was to get to know her and they’d known her for almost thirty years. There was always a block and they could never fully love her because they fear or detested or hated her. Her laugh then was loud, very unladylike and probably one of the loudest sounds that Kenzie had ever made. This was how she knew she was comfortable here. She could burst into laughter, small tears coming from the corners of her eyes. It was different actually hearing the things she thought but could never say. “This is definitely a different world for me. Being able to hear the things I could never say actually said out loud.”

“Of course you can, kiddo,” he said, turning towards on the couch as if to give her his full attention. “And you will always have me. I promise you. I will always be here for you, for as long you need.” Julian wasn’t a man who promised many things, but now that Kenzie was in his life, he didn’t have to even hesitate. No matter what happened, he wasn’t leaving his little girl. Not again. “I’ve heard that one before,” Julian muttered, shaking his head at the thought as he wrapped an arm around her and gave her a little squeeze. “Those people? They’re not family, okay? All the family you need are right here with you. Welcome to your new world then. Where you my little one, are rich with money and with love, and can make as many offensive jokes as you like. I’m like a black daddy warbucks only less bald,” He joked, smiling over at his daughter with his eyes as he watched her throw her head back and just laugh. That was all he had ever wanted for her. To just be able to be herself.

Caitlin’s gaze dropped down to his arm as he held it out to her. Touched by the gesture she looped her arm through his, “Thank you”, she muttered softly. Keeping her gaze down she began to walk with him in the direction of her work stepping out of the cluster of people around her before she spoke again. “Do you guys do this every full moon”?

“Anytime,” He told her with a soft smile as he lead her through the crowd and towards her place of work. “Pretty much, yeah. The full moon is hard on enough people as is. So, we try to cheer people up, help them to enjoy the parts of themselves they have been taught to hate. That kind of thing.”

“No offense, Gramps, but I kind of don’t want to be like you in that aspect. I know that eventually I won’t be the same as I am right now but I don’t think I would be able to live in a world where I no longer felt like change was possible. That’s just not… me, you know?” She asked even though it was almost rhetorical. But she didn’t get centuries like Julian had. She had to think of the fact that one day she would be there and the next, she could be six feet under. She didn’t have that luxury. Though, the term luxury was almost debatable given how he spoke. “What’s the difference?” she asked genuinely. A gasp left her as she placed her hand on her chest, “How dare you question my matchmaking skills! I’m basically a romantic genius and let me tell you, I will find you the perfect lady friend. I’ll even plan your dates all you’d have to do is show up and use this charm you’ve mentioned having. Just you wait, this’ll be cake.”

He knew his words sounded harsh and he didn’t mean to bother the little brunette with them, but there were too many people he had taken in and chose to look after to let another incident happen in Saints & Sinners. Many saw it as a business, but to him, it was home. It was the one place supernaturals could be themselves, declared or not. And he wasn’t about to put people he trusted at risk, no matter how much he cared for Sophie.

“I never said I don’t think change is possible. I can now sit next to you in the same restaurant or seat on the bus after all. I just don’t believe it will happen in your lifetime. And I have fought in too many wars and experienced too much loss to blindly race into another. So, ‘no offense’, niña, but I wouldn’t right off how I am as such a bad thing. You could learn a thing or two,” He told her with a simple shrug as they walked. Julian hadn’t made it to the age he was now by sitting on his hands and doing nothing. He may have lived for centuries, but he wasn’t technically immortal. Wounds that hurt her could still hurt him. He knew he didn’t come across as much of a fighter these days as he once had, but Julian could die tomorrow if he truly wanted to just give up. “Please. Go right ahead,” He chuckled, amused to see what she came up with.

She shook her head with a laugh. “I don’t, not at all.” Jasmine grinned at his words. She was definitely not opposed to him finding more things to ruin. “I’m most definitely not going to complain if you do. I’ll add it to the list, see just how many things you can ruin for me.” Jasmine definitely wasn’t going to turn that down. She actually found it fun, being reminded of him just by every day means like pot racks. She looked up at him with a smile as he pulled her closer. “Sounds good to me. Even if I have somehow done this mystery thing before, would it be better to pretend I haven’t?”

“Don’t tempt me, or before you know it, I’ll ruin the whole world for you,” He teased, giving her a forehead a light kiss, not bothering to move away from her at the present moment, arms still wrapped around her waist. “Don’t pretend. And I’m sure I can find some first of yours for us to do. Now, me on the other hand, might be much harder,” He joked.

“Guessing I probably won’t be the last either. I mean there’s going to be plenty of people after me who don’t know your story and haven’t bothered to ask. Doesn’t mean it’s right tho.” She commented softly. “That works. You know how much I love surprises.” Rubbing her hands together in ancipatoon while she waited for her tea to be done. “Have you? What made you go back to Julian then? Also please tell me what your favorite name over the years has been.” She asked, she rested her head on her hands. “I don’t know. Loves? You never really talk about them. Although I wouldn’t mind also hearing about these enemies one day.”

“Definitely not. And no it’s not right, but it is what it is. People look at the world through the lens of the experiences they’ve lived. Knowledge can change that, but not always for the better. Ignorance can often be a hindrance, but it can also be bliss. Funny how the world works like that,” Julian mused as he slide the tea cup over to her, before pouring his own. “Julian was never mine to start. The first name I remember going by was Mosi. But, who knows. There might have been one before that. Juliano was someone who had paid a great sum of money to have me work on his plantation in Spain. Julian I took from him after he passed away under unique circumstances. It’s represents a vow I made to myself long ago to never let anyone else own or control me for as I long as I shall live,” He explained, taking a sip of his own tea as he joined her in the seat beside her. “No. I’m afraid I don’t. There have been five. But, they all ended tragically all the same,” He explained. 

Julian often found himself wandering around the club’s floor as the partying was at it’s high, making the rounds to make sure everyone was having fun as the night progressed. But, as he did, he accidentally bumped into another man’s shoulder, turning to apologize when he recognized the familiar face. “Sorry- Alexander Matheson, is that you?”

Following him throughout the house, they stopped when they got into the kitchen. Even though they were far enough away she could still hear the faint sounds of the party going on in the house. Taking a seat on the bar stool at his offer, she rested her arms on the counter. “It’s nothing trust me. Thank you for opening the door because honestly after I acted like an ass turning the full moon I’m not sure I would have.” She admitted honestly. She was thankful that he had welcomed her in and that he’d even wanted to speak to her after everything. “I mean I have a lot of questions so where do you want to start?” She asked playfully. Tapping her fingers on the table while she debated what tea she wanted and she made a hmmm sound. “Do you have peach or mint? Either one of those would be fine.” Figuring that he would have at least one of the two. “So two things here for topic of discussion. Your name? Which you’ve already told me some about.” Looking down for a moment, she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Or you can tell me some of the stories of those you’ve met. I don’t care who just anyone.” 

“It’s nothing, love. You’re not the first person whose made that mistake with me,” He gave her a simple shrug as if to say it is what it is. Ignorance was something he was all too used to and nothing to fret over in his book. “I have both. How about I surprise you?” He told her with a warm smile as he pulled out the peach tea leaves as he let the water boil. Listening to her questions before giving her a quiet nod. “I have had many names over the years. So, I guess it would depend on which time period you would like me to start with? And as for those I’ve met- again, you’re talking about 500 years here. So, it all depends on what you would like to hear? Friendships? Comrades? Loves? Enemies?”

Nina’s fingers traced over his shoulders and down his arms teasingly as they danced. No matter how many years passed, she would be so swept up in her banter with Julian that she sometimes forgot that despite the successes they’d found, some things hadn’t healed. She never found his body disgusting or deformed, but not many were comfortable with seeing someone’s history violently engraved on their skin. Those people didn’t even have the horrific memories of the scars’ creation like Julian did. That was something she would never understand the same way he did. It was something they could never share, no matter the memories they made together or centuries of endeavours. 

Her lips pressed against his cheek; a gesture of knowing she wouldn’t relate and wouldn’t understand all the same. But that she would always accept him and always want for him the way they did. “Oh, hush, and let me live out this fantasy tonight,” she whispered, but her tone wasn’t as teasing and playful as it was before. Julian’s past always angered and saddened her. He was a beautiful man who experience humanity at its most heinous and he was her closest friend– and nothing she could say would be right for this. She pulled away and offered a weak smile before blinking and changing her tone completely. “If you don’t want to show off tonight, then let’s talk about why I’m here: I simply cannot stand the teasing any longer. Tell me about your daughter.”

Julian found a frown tugging at the corner of his lips as he watched the look he knew all too well pass across his dear friend’s face. He knew she didn’t judge him. She would never judge him, but he also hated watching her become sad over something long in the past. Cupping her face in his hands, he met her gaze. “As you wish,” He told her with a small smile, kissing her forehead gently as if a reminder that it was okay. His scars were but a reminder to him of everything he had endured. Everything he had ever fought for. “What would you like to know about her?” He asked softly, the corner of his lips tilting up lightly at the thought of Kenzie.

“Well, for starters, my best friend Bebe. She lives with me so she would have told me by now if some ‘charming’ man had tried to get with her - also you’d be in my house so if a pretty girl ever steers you towards it, that’s when you gotta jet. And, I mean, there’s Astrid Reyes, Olivia Pierce, Logan from Procaffination - who may be single but I already have a dude for her!” She expressed since playing matchmaker had and always would be her favorite hobby. “See, that’s a lot harder than what I asked. But maybe we can figure out a key word or something if this ever happens,” she suggested with a tiny shrug.

Rolling her eyes, she groaned, “I guess but it’s going to be fully against my will because I didn’t expect this to be turned against me.” His words were something that she actually expected since it was something she’d heard far too often from her parents growing up. Even now that they were miles away they would lecture her on this subject. “Maybe but I guess that’s what comes with a new generation, a new hope for something different,” she commented since she truly did see things that way. In one shape or another. Even as he spoke, Sophie only welcomed it with silence as she allowed her hand to weave through her dark hair, “So, you’re not lonely?” She asked him genuinely, looking at him as she waited for an answer. “I guess when you put it that way then it’s a possibility. I’ll keep you updated on my quest for one but I still think I’d make a perfect assistant in helping you find yours,” she pressed, nudging him gently. 

He let out a low laugh as Sophie began to list off her friends. “I’ve known Astrid and Liv when they were young girls and as for Bebe and Logan? I think you’re good,” He told her with a simple shrug.”Not particularly. I like to keep Saints & Sinners as a safe space of sorts. Arrest people outside of it as much as you want. But, if you try to drag one of my patrons out in handcuffs, I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with the not so nice version of me.” He had already witnessed the Armstrong’s father being killed inside and, after that, he had decided no one would deal out the law but him in his establishment. Even if the government said otherwise.

“What can I say, I’m a man of my age?” He chuckled, giving her a knowing look. “It comes with every generations,” He said with another shrug. “I was once like you, you know? Fired up, ready to change the world. And one day, you will be me.” Someone who still believed in change, but that fire that had once burned so bright, slowly dimming. Someone who was less rash and more wise, he supposed. He paused thinking over her question, before answering her honestly, “No. I’m not lonely. Just alone.” He used to be lonely. He used to surrounded himself in a sea of people just to drowned out his own thoughts. But, now? Now, he didn’t quite mind it. He had a daughter, he had fallen in love over five times over, and he had experience what the world had to offer over five times over. Julian couldn’t be lonely. Not when he was constantly surrounded by such vibrant people. No, now Julian was simply tired. “You’re welcome to try. But, it’s a matter of how well you would do,” Julian teased, giving him a playful nudge back as he spoke.

“I just don’t think there’s anything I could say that would make you self-conscious in the least,” Tegan said honestly. He always seemed to be so unflappable. He was sure of himself, yes, but he had weaknesses just like everyone else. Whatever they were, however, they’d never made themselves known to her. And she surely wasn’t going to make a feeble comment about his well-coiffed persona, not when there was nothing to say about it. “I want so much for it. I want a pop-up club, maybe, or a formal dining room or a banquet hall. I want desserts, delicious little pastries that draw people in.  But I want too much. I can’t make all of these things happen.” 

“I think I might be too old for that, I’m afraid,” He let out a soft chuckle as he looked over at her. Julian had weaknesses that was for sure. But, they were people he loved, memories he was adamant to protect- things that made him embarrassed on the other hand seemed slim to few. “Maybe eventually. But, for now, what do all those things have in common? To be draw in? To be the place everyone wants to hang out it? Maybe start there?”

“She’s… shy? That never happens. What did you do to her?” She asked cheekily, never having heard of that before. Then again, she didn’t know many other succubi or incubi either  despite being older than nearly all of them and generally made a point not to be. Too many cooks in the kitchen and “apparently” she got… “pissy” if she wasn’t the centre of attention in a crowded room. Plus, add in the fact she wasn’t exactly happy to know she had potentialy dozens of other siblings and thus dozens of other people to share her father’s time with once she found him. She wasn’t about that. Oh god and that was just the succubi siblings, how many vampires had he made? “How old is she?” 

“It wasn’t me. It was her mother actually,” He said with a little shrug, not taking credit for any part of the wonderful woman Kenzie had become, seeing that he had barely been part of the young girl’s life growing up. “In her late twenties. Around twenty-eight or something?” He said with a simple shrug. “So practically an infant to someone like me I’m afraid.”

“I don’t mind. Some day I’ll start teasing you back,” she said. It was nice to be here, in this small town. Tegan was beginning to form some sort of routine around people she’d known for decades, more than a century, even. “I think I’m going to try something new this time— surprise me.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his comment. Julian had been on this Earth for much longer than she had, and yet—  “You know how rare it is for me to take advice. I wouldn’t have listened even if you had told me.”

“Some day, huh? I wonder what century we’ll be in then,” He mused, flashing her a knowing smile as he began to mix up a drink for her, adding a few drops of blood to it, before sliding it across the table for the vampire to taste. “Let me know what you think,” He told her with a playful wink a he moved to make one of his own. “I know. Which is why I held back till now,” He chuckled, shaking his head ever so slightly as he looked over at her. “So- about this business of yours? Why is it not easy exactly?”

She lifted her gaze from her cell phone then as she offered the man a smile, “Good,” she spoke with confidence then as her eyes shifted back to the phone. “All the other things are almost self explanatory; you can’t make out with any of my close friends, you can’t let me get kicked out of your club - like I get that I’m a handful but I only do things for the greater good, I promise.” She’d never been kicked out of anywhere but Sophie liked to cover her bases.

“Well add this to the list because this is a no downer free zone as of right now,” she insisted with a small shake of the head, genuinely wanting the man beside her to one day be more positive but that was easier said than done for someone that had seen everything in most history books. “I mean, it’s worked but I also now feel like I need to help you sort out your crap because you don’t deserve that. You’re old and old people should be happy for even making it to old age.” Extreme old age in his case despite the youthful appearance. “I’m not?” She asked, rubbing at her cheek for a second. “I don’t think epic love stories are even a thing in this day and age. Nobody bothers with romantics anymore and like…. it’s basically all I’ve ever wanted. —Oh my god. Okay, listen, as long as you don’t go full psycho dad, I guess I can allow it. But there’s lines, Mister! Lines!” She made a line with her hand in one swift motion.

“And who exactly are your close friends? Because I might have already broken that rule,” He chuckled.”Only if you can’t arrest anyone in my club,” He told her with a simple shrug, the corner of his lips tilting up ever so slightly as he looked over at her.

“Does that mean with you too?” He pointed out, giving her a knowing smile. “Kids these days,” He chuckled, shaking his head as she told him she wanted to help him. “You all think you can change the world, don’t you?” But, to be fair, at one point in time, he used to be the same. “There is nothing to help me with, Chickadee. I don’t regret the life I have lived. I have loved and I have lost. I have see the whole world ten times over and I have experienced it’s tragedies. But, just because I can feel sadness, doesn’t mean that I’m not also happy,” He told her with a shrug. “You’d be wrong about that,” He said simply. “Love stories haven’t ended. People only believe that they have because they idolize a sugarcoated past. And fine. I won’t go ‘overboard’ whatever that means,” He chuckled.

Kenzie nodded at his question of if there had been five of them. There definitely had been. “There have been. I’m not sure why. The acting leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s stupid funny.” Or at least she thought so. “Every single one of them. Multiple times actually. At first, I thought that they were silly so I didn’t watch, but then I watched and they were but in the absolute best way possible.” She smiled as he said she wouldn’t have to watch alone. It meant the world to her that she didn’t have to go it alone. It actually meant a lot to her that she didn’t have to be alone in general. “That’s the best way to watch!” she said excitedly. “You don’t? What do you do when you’re not working?” she asked. Though she knew that her life wasn’t exactly a glamorous one so most people had better things to do than just watch nerdy things on tv in their free time. Kenzie snorted as she laughed. “I couldn’t do that…If I had I’m sure Chad and Brad would have told on me and Uncle Paul and Aunt Susan wold have gotten upset. Her cousins were the only people she hung to with there for a while and they were weird and slightly prejudice. But I would watch car chases with you. But betting on the white guy…I’m guessing you win a lot.”

“I imagine I’m going to hate this, but we’ll have to see won’t we,” He told her teasingly, pouring some popcorn kernels into his popcorn machine. “I’m always working,” He told her with a simple shrug, giving her a wise smile, as he moved back over to the couch as he waited for the popcorn to finish popping. “I’ve been all around the world more times than one could count. I’ve seen the seven wonders of the world and some of it’s biggest disasters. I’ve done just about every bucket list item one could imagine and more some. So now? When I’m not at the club, I’m hosting after parties, networking, and sitting here, drinking tea, as I watch the rest of the world go on without me,” He said quietly. He had lived over 5 impossibly long lives over. And when he had gotten to meet half of the people, some only wished they could have at their dinner table, TV just seemed like a bit of a let down. “But, now, I guess I get to be a dad. I never got to be one before, so thank you for giving me the best experiences I could have ever hoped for in the entire time that I’ve been here,” He told her honestly. “Your ‘white’ family aren’t welcome here. I hope you know,” He told her as he heard her talk about her other family. It almost sounded like that popular wizard book all the kids these days had been going on about. The one where the kid got locked up in a cupboard or something. “Rule number one of living in this household? We never bet on the white guy. They already have enough hand outs as is,” He told her with a little chuckle.

“It’s simply so tiresome having to trademark all of my witty remarks as soon as they pass my lips,” she said, feigning a distressed sigh as she effortlessly floated through the spin, curling back into his arms easily. She missed rightful banter– these days, it was easy to be adored but men tried less, in her opinion. They’d be too in awe of the fucking Instagram model girl in front of them who holy shit, she has a brain too? It made her shudder to think about. She needed a more regular dose of Julian, she decided. She laughed easily at his comment. “Pure Seduction? And what romantic novel model will be on the cover with a name like that?” Her hands slid up over her pectorals and to his shoulders. She tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow. “Maybe you could be? Shirtless, on horseback? What do you say, St. Clair?”

“You and wanting to get me shirtless,” He chuckled, rolling his eyes at that as they swayed to the beat. “I say if anyone is deserving of the cover of your own self help book, it would be you,” He pointed out giving her another little spin before returning her to his side. “Anyhow, we both know scars and fiction don’t mix,” He gave her a shrug as he spoke. He was far from ashamed of his body, often wandering around the club shirtless on any given night. But, he had a working man’s physique. Half of the scars had healed over through the years due to his many sexual endeavors, but a few had always been just a bit too deep.