The act becomes the art of growing up

[julien_thorn]

Julien spent the early evening organizing his workroom and unpacking the last of their boxes. Julien and Eden had been entirely domestic for the past week, and other than meeting with Logan to discuss the events in the city during their absence, neither had been out of the other's sight for longer than a few moments. Tonight, however, he could

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[julien_thorn]

Julien turned his back deliberately to Reggie's art, smiling at the way Reggie has phrased his inquiry. He stepped forward, taking Reggie's hand again and squeezing gently. Julien almost felt bad for intruding - a Toreador's inspiration was sacred, after all, and so he decides to keep this visit brief.

"You were working, and I distracted you. Forgive me. Can we sit somewhere for just a few minutes? I wanted to tell you about something curious that happened in Paris."

[blindkohler]

Reggie smiles, Julien being drawn to distraction by his work more than made up for the momentary interruption. But Julien seems intent on taking care of what he'd come for, so Reggie takes his hand and leads him into the back room.

"I don't have any lights set up back here, you'll have to forgive me. I don't entertain often." He led Julien by the hand to his bed, letting Julien sit first before sitting beside him, putting one hand on Julien's shoulder, encouraging him to speak. He seemed almost flustered, bothered by some occurrence in France, and Reggie couldn't imagine what might have happened that would concern him.

"Do tell, Julien, I'm all ears. Is everything alright?"

[julien_thorn]

"Do tell, Julien, I'm all ears. Is everything alright?" "Everything's fine. And don't worry about the light - I can see just fine." Julien crosses his legs, pausing to tuck his bangs behind his ear. He takes a breath, pausing for a moment before just deciding to launch into it

[blindkohler]

Reggie reached for his cigarettes on reflex, the crackle of burning clove and the sweet flavor on the paper was soothing to him. And Julien, despite his reassurances that nothing was wrong, had a lilt to his voice that indicated that something was wrong, or at least, something was different. And now Julien was telling him that this strange tone of voice had to do with Ryan, and Reggie began to worry. So he lit a cigarette, took a long drag.

He nodded as Julien spoke, tsking softly at the idea of unscrupulous customs officials, always poking around. He sympathized, and his worry shifted slightly, now worried that something had happened that Ryan hadn't told him about, some kind of fleeting disaster.

"He Awed them, completely naturally and without prompting from any of us."Reggie couldn't quite keep his mouth from opening in slight shock, though he recovered quickly. He hadn't lived for eighty-some-odd years by being so easily caught off guard

[julien_thorn]

Uncomfortable wasn't the word for what Julien felt while watching Reggie digest the information provided to him. He folded his hands, resisting the urge to crack his knuckles, and waited out the pause. How would he have felt if Luka had manifested Auspex instead of Presence? Julien could only imagine.

"That is something."

"Yes, well... It's certainly interesting - anomalous, even. Ryan doesn't much contact with me or my son, and to my knowledge we're the only two who use it with any regularity. Ryan doesn't know - I don't think Remy knew what had happened, either, but there was no mistaking it."

Julien reached out again, laying one hand on Reggie's wrist and squeezing lightly. "Is there anything I can do? I can imagine how strange it would be, and I know you aren't a fan of Presence anyway. But if it's any consolation, I think he will be a quick learner. He has a lot of natural charisma. All in all, an excellent choice for a ghoul - though I never doubted that."