#and we'll be seeing him again in Barking Harker with some secrets of his own

[see-arcane]

If in your opinion Jonathan is bi who do you think among the guys would he be most possibly attracted to? Surely not Dracula!

Dracula and the Brides/Stoker's vampires in general seem to have an automatic Voluptuous 'You Find Me Attractive Despite Being Creeped Out' trick going on with them, so any spontaneous feelings of 'ooh~ vampire sexy~' throughout the novel have to be taken with a grain of salt. Especially with Dracula, considering...you know. The everything.

Regrettably, I do have to give the undead bastard some points for charisma when he's actually trying to put the effort in. Jonathan did seem genuinely interested in Old Man Dracula's storytelling even after alarm bells started ringing. But any twinges he might have felt were way too tainted with artificial attraction to count as real sparks, period.*

*Though I do think the vampires' sexy spell is only effective on those whose sexualities/preferences are open to said attraction in the first place. Dracula couldn't have left Jonathan ~all in a sea of wonders~ if he wasn't into men in general. But moving on.

As to who among the Suitors Three Jonathan might find appealing, Quincey is the best bet. They were knife buds! Violent vengeance pals! Jonathan probably spent whatever time he wasn't with Mina or sharpening the kukri getting some manfully mansome sparring time in with Mr. Morris. Much to Jack's lasting distress.

However, my money for the guy he might have had a proper 😳 reaction to doesn't even get to show up in the novel! He got cut from the main story with "Dracula's Guest," and didn't even get a name! A petty officer among soldiers coming to the rescue:

[Insert an already 👀 scene with Dracula the Wolf laying on top of Jonathan and licking his neck after saving his ass from a village of vampires here.]

The soldiers come to take him back to civilization. A trigger happy fellow pulls the trigger too soon, almost shoots Jonathan, but...

I saw one of the horsemen (soldiers by their caps and their long military cloaks) raise his carbine and take aim. A companion knocked up his arm, and I heard the ball whizz over my head.

Always felt this implied said companion was the PO. So, rescue number one.

As they drew nearer I tried to move, but was powerless, although I could see and hear all that went on around me. Two or three of the soldiers jumped from their horses and knelt beside me. One of them raised my head, and placed his hand over my heart.

“Good news, comrades!” he cried. “His heart still beats!”

2. Fellas...

Most of the soldiers start panicking, rightly suspecting vampire business. They fret about whether Jonathan might turn, but:

“There was blood on the broken marble,” another said after a pause—“the lightning never brought that there. And for him—is he safe? Look at his throat! See, comrades, the wolf has been lying on him and keeping his blood warm.”

The officer looked at my throat and replied:

“He is all right; the skin is not pierced. What does it all mean? We should never have found him but for the yelping of the wolf.”

3. Our guy the Petty Officer is covering for him from minute one. Yes, covering. There is absolutely a mark--if a near imperceptible one. (Like Lucy's 'pinprick.') And he's too blood-loss woozy for a drink not to have happened.

The soldiers are understandably still antsy. Not the PO, though.

“What became of it?” asked the man who was holding up my head, and who seemed the least panic-stricken of the party, for his hands were steady and without tremor. On his sleeve was the chevron of a petty officer.

“It went to its home,” answered the man, whose long face was pallid, and who actually shook with terror as he glanced around him fearfully. “There are graves enough there in which it may lie. Come, comrades—come quickly! Let us leave this cursed spot.”

The officer raised me to a sitting posture, as he uttered a word of command; then several men placed me upon a horse. He sprang to the saddle behind me, took me in his arms, gave the word to advance; and, turning our faces away from the cypresses, we rode away in swift, military order.

4. F-Fellas...fellas is it--

As yet my tongue refused its office, and I was perforce silent. I must have fallen asleep; for the next thing I remembered was finding myself standing up, supported by a soldier on each side of me. It was almost broad daylight, and to the north a red streak of sunlight was reflected, like a path of blood, over the waste of snow. The officer was telling the men to say nothing of what they had seen, except that they found an English stranger, guarded by a large dog.

5. Fellas is it gay to fall asleep in the arms of your rescuer while riding horseback and then waking up to hear him ordering his buddies to cover for you and say you definitely weren't getting tasted by a vampire to keep you out of trouble, asking for a friend--

“Dog! that was no dog,” cut in the man who had exhibited such fear. “I think I know a wolf when I see one.”

The young officer answered calmly: “I said a dog.”

“Dog!” reiterated the other ironically. It was evident that his courage was rising with the sun; and, pointing to me, he said, “Look at his throat. Is that the work of a dog, master?”

Instinctively I raised my hand to my throat, and as I touched it I cried out in pain. The men crowded round to look, some stooping down from their saddles; and again there came the calm voice of the young officer:

“A dog, as I said. If aught else were said we should only be laughed at.”

6. Petty Officer Be-Chill still covering for this pretty stray Englishman who clearly got vamp-snacked. For reasons.

I was then mounted behind a trooper, and we rode on into the suburbs of Munich. Here we came across a stray carriage, into which I was lifted, and it was driven off to the Quatre Saisons—the young officer accompanying me, whilst a trooper followed with his horse, and the others rode off to their barracks.

7. Nameless PO, probably: Do not worry swooning solicitor vampire bait man, I will accompany you back to your lodgings. Do you need help getting over the threshold? I could lift you again.

Fast forward to the hotel, and...Jonathan. Buddy.

The officer saluted me and was turning to withdraw, when I recognised his purpose, and insisted that he should come to my rooms. Over a glass of wine I warmly thanked him and his brave comrades for saving me. He replied simply that he was more than glad, and that Herr Delbrück had at the first taken steps to make all the searching party pleased; at which ambiguous utterance the maître d’hôtel smiled, while the officer pleaded duty and withdrew.

8. Jonathan, inviting his rescuer to his room for wine and gratitude: Thank you c:

Nameless PO: No problem. ...So is there a Mrs. Solicitor--

Herr Delbrück, mood killer extraordinaire, apparently invited himself into Jonathan's room to watch these guys drink wine together: ;) ;) ;)

Nameless PO, ducking out of the room: oh hey wow look at the time need to go do soldier things bye

Jonathan: :c ?

Oh, Nameless Petty Officer. What fun the speculation would have been if you were thrown to the Dracula Daily crowd from the start. As it stands, he exists outside of the 'official' start of Jonathan's travel journal entries, so he lives in a limbo outside the book/only in Jonathan's potential memory.

(But then, all of the above is moot anyway, as Jonathan is more Mina-romantic/Mina-sexual than anything else. Even if someone he found hot did want to take things further, Jonathan is a Mina First, Foremost, and Always kind of guy. No permission from her = No exploring his English countryside, The End.)