Unimportant.

- sufficiently soaked in water, Bernard tries to unlatch the imp.

"Was zum Teufel ist lost mir dir?! Aussteigen!" He sounds... Not happy.

His head is pushed forward a bit at the impact of the grapple. If he didn't know any better, he'd think this frickin' imp was trying to kill him.

"What– Man! Get the fuck off– shit!" In the struggle to get the imp off his head, Bernard is rolled into the shallow end of the pond. His ass and legs -

- these cabins?" Smooth. Bernie. Smooth.

- like that anyways– if that's what you're referring to."

It they were talking about the same thing, then Bernard always preferred company. Besides, having been a night worker for some time, he developed a sort of dependency on getting off with others. Plus, he got paid for it.

"S-so, where are -

"Ah. Uh. Okay." He still didn't really get the joke, but that was probably a later thing. Besides. Bernie is tidy, and unless he does have "snacks"... Oh.

".....ah." The presumably oblivious German clears his throat, "Y-yeah. I will clean up, no worries. I don't... Plan on doing uh. Anything -

Tummy ache..

Uni has a bladder infection, but he’s energetic and eating well, so I’m relieved. I hope he gets better soon

- about that. Sheiße this is weird." Rubbing his hands on his face and groaning out a meek "am I doing okay so far?"

- Deutschland. My mom died while she gave birth to me and my dad, I never knew a thing about him. So I was left with my Tante."

A pause. A long pause, when he said that. His Tante, meaning aunt, must have been very dear to him if he suddenly stopped in his tracks just by mentioning her.

"..Sorry -

"The beginning.. uh. Hm. Um." He glanced to the ground, composing himself. "Don't jump to conclusions but ah. I grew up in Germany– which in my.. Era or whatever," This multiverse thing was still confusing to him, "Hitler had taken over.

So. I grew up in uhm... A small rural-ish town in West -

- me– drug wise, I mean. If that's what you're getting at.

It's hard to fuel an addiction when your dealer has his throat torn out."

After letting that slip out casually as can be, he yawned and stretched his arms up. Clearly he could use an A-frame cabin with a comfy bed. And camera.

"Cameras..? Like– in every room?" This was leading to an obvious 'like, the bathroom too?' type of question. It wouldn't be the first time that Bernard has been monitored like this. But, with the hospitality of his host, it felt rude to throw a fit over this one detail.

"I don't have anything on -

- Roman's call.

"Where, uh, where is it? I don't remember seeing an A-thing cabin. Just a plane." He lifts his foot off from the table, assuming they're going to head out and tour him around.

"Oh, I didn't know this was a vacation on top of a... Uh." Damn. He should have just stopped at 'vacation' because now he can't think of anything else witty to say. "Whatever."

The fire still crackled dimly while they chatted. Bernard was comfy on the couch, but ready to head to the cabin at -

"I wish someone would............

Maybe I shouldn't say that. Nevermind."

- cushion of the couch.

"....Well. Erm. Anyways. As I was saying, I suppose I should have thought it out more before I uh, made the trek up here."

"Maybe that's what I wished to find when I went up North.

But- ah. I don't know. It's hard to say that I have found it. I mean- you are great company- er, a great host. Uh. I mean that you're nice."

He fumbled that, closing his eyes and sighing through his nose as he rests his back on the -

- to the imp, if he wants to make the river-experience stressful. Oh, the possibilities...

@businessesimp.bsky.social

Him again? How many arguments must they have until they either fight to the death, or make amends?

Well anyways. There's Bernard, sitting by the river he often broods by. It seems... Like it might not be a good time to wreak havoc upon Bernard today. But that's just up -

- for Bernard, being homeless and all. But it was much more preferable than, well, this.

He sighs.

- saw you across the street. It was scary, running out of food, because you risked going outside. Sometimes, people are more... Scary than the- er, infected. But we've already established that, I think."

He says this with a melancholic frown. God. Everything used to be normal. Maybe not good -

"That sounds like how it happened in the cities. Except, everyone immediately took to their own.

I remember, not a week after, houses were boarded up and they had painted signs on the walls. They often said something like "looters will be shot". But a lot of the time, they shot you if they -

- stolen.

A little one arm hug, with the other arm carefully wrapped around the painting as if it were a baby.

"Danke schön, lieber Freund. I will... Find a way to keep it safe with me. Though, it may be a bit hard to do so. It's bound to catch people's eyes." Snickering. He's smart. He won't let it get -

- out for any signs of corruption or malice in the wolverine dragon mix. Roman's generosity is nothing more than extraordinary, but it doesn't make Bernard trust him completely. As he said before, Roman is still powerful and has an upper hand in everything regarding their situation.

- extra mouths to feed seems stressful." He looks back to literally five minutes ago when he downed to bowls of soup, "Or... Er. Uh. Well. Whatever."

The man means well. He would help out if he could, but he's too shy to ask. And frankly, he's still in the state of survival where he's watching -

"Maybe you need a friend to stay here and help out. Do you have anyone who might have survived who could stay here?"

He doesn't want to impose Roman by presenting him as an option. That would be rude considering the favors Roman has already done for him.

"But at the same time. Maybe not. Having -

What...

Woah.

Bernard's speechless. The unfortunate thing is that. Well. Having no home, it's hard to hang that up to a wall and regularly admire it.

He needs to stop picking at his nails.

They're so short. Unsightly and ugly, another imperfection that he so badly needs to fix.