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.
-EQUIPPED
