White Beards

And Johan slid into a booth and beckoned Bernie to slide in beside him, which Bernie did. But then Bernie was surprised that Hans slid in beside him—leaving the other bench free. The three of them were wedged together like sardines in a tin. And although Bernie found this strange, he also found it very comforting. And Johan and Hans seemed to find it very pleasant too. They had their arms around Bernie and were hugging him and saying very comforting things to him.

Bernie had not had anyone pay attention to him—focus on him—since Klaus had died. And he found himself opening up to these two very nice white-bearded gentlemen and talking of things he’d never talked to anyone before. This included the nature of his relationship with Klaus.

Johan and Hans were very interested to hear of this—and they were smiling and Bernie could almost feel them trembling in pleasure of how good Klaus had been to him.

“We can be very nice, too,” Johan said in a low, hoarse voice. “I think we could be as nice and comforting to you as your good friend Klaus was.”

“Yes, I quite agree,” Hans agreed. “Would you like that, Bernard?” Hans squeezed Bernie close to him in assurance and affection.