The young woman crept in, her bare feet silently pressing against the tile floor. The stag had known of her presence for a while now, but chose not to speak of it. Jergens was oblivious, although he had never been observant to begin with, and mentally fretting over his boss didn’t help any. The woman snuck up to him, bent over, and leapt up onto his back.

“Tag! Yer it!” she screamed, encircling her arms around him. Jergens hollered in surprise and sprang away from her, much to her disappointment. “Who the Hell are you?!” he gasped, putting a hand to his chest. The woman cocked her head and looked down at Bartleby, who was breathing quite nicely now. “Humm… He sleeps so much…” she grabbed his arm and wiggled it back and forth. “Faaaiiith… wake up…” she mumbled, too softly for Jergens to hear. The stag cleared his throat and spoke. “Lady Bartleby, please don’t do that.” He muttered in masked annoyance.

Nippers stood and turned to the stag. “Oh! Hello-…” Jergens saw that her eyes flicked up to the pictogram floating atop the stag’s head for a few moments, as if regarding it. She continued, “…Do you know why Faith is sleeping so much?” she smiled sweetly. The stag glared at her silently, a sign that she was not wanted. After a few moments Nippers seemed to get the idea. Reluctantly, she left, politely closing that door behind her, leaving an irked stag and a confused (but amused) young man.

After a little while, the stag spoke again. “You have questions.” It wasn’t a question; it was just a passing comment, as casual as remarking on the weather. Jergens’s head was swimming with questions, and he was grateful for the opportunity to have them answered. “Who was that just now?” he asked the stag. “Lady Bartleby, or Nippers Bartleby if you prefer, she is Master Bartleby’s older sister.” The stag said, lifting a hoof and licking at it in mild boredom.

Jergens was silent before finally asking, “What’s yer name?” the deer looked at him in mild surprise and lowered his head at him, fully displaying the bright symbol atop his head.

“This…” he said, “…Is my name.” Jergens reached over and touched it. It was a circular symbol, with various shapes and lines going through it. His hand found nothing solid; it just went right through it. “How do I say it?” he asked dumbly. A deep chuckle emanated from the stag, a low, rumbling sound that shook the very room.

“Boy, you are not from here, are you?” he asked, still chuckling. Jergens shook his head. “My name is much different from a human’s, for it cannot be ‘said’. It can only be understood.” he explained, making Jergens only even more confused. “Then how do I address you?” he asked. The stag nodded to the door. “Did you see how the Lady greeted me? She just looked at my name. That is how I know you want to talk to me.” Jergens was still confused, and the stag saw this. He sighed and explained further,

“Spoken names are very dangerous among us deer and all other animals. If I were to have a name, a spoken name, then I could be tracked down and killed easily. We animals have no security in homes and police like you humans do. Rather, our security is in our names.” He sat down, his shaggy belly resting against the ground. Jergens pondered this over for a moment before a sudden realization came to him. “But I can still see it…” he said, “If I just memorized yer name, wouldn’t I just be able to pick you out in a crowd with no trouble?”

The stag smiled at this, good humor flickering in his eyes. His pictogram suddenly vanished into the air, much to Jergens’s surprise. “We have ways of dealing with that.” He said as the symbol reappeared into its comfortable spot.

It was at this point that Bartleby began to stir. His eyes fluttered open as he sat up, holding his head in mild pain. “Uh… Malware? Are you here?” he mumbled, a bit groggy from the rest. The deer sighed and stood up, regarding Jergens with mild amusement. “Of course, if you prefer names that are said rather than seen, you may call me Malware.” With this, he walked over and looked over his Master, sniffing him with interest.

“Are you feeling alright, Master?” he muttered as he looked him over. Bartleby just nodded and pushed him away. “I’m fine, Malware, I’ve done it before.” He said as he stood up on rather shaky feet. The stag snorted in disapproval and turned away from him. Bartleby saw Jergens and walked over to him, a blush of embarrassment creeping to his face.

“Um, I guess I owe you my thanks…” he mumbled awkwardly, not really making any eye contact. The red-head just grinned. "Don't mention it, Faith." he said. Bartleby froze and glared at him.

"What did you call me?"

"Yer name."

"I'm your Master. You call me by Master!"

"No, I much prefer Faith. It's cuter."

Bartleby, his face carrying a much different tint than it usually did, stormed out of the room without another word.

And that is how Jergens came to calling him Faith.

----
Magical chapter of exposition is over naow... *sigh*
By the way, sorry for the lame as hell name. Seriously... Malware? Gawd, I'm awful at this x3