The night after the meeting, Morgan stepped through his boyfriend's doorway with a big, freshly caught fish in his maw. He was visibly tired, not only from the physical labor of picking up litter or fishing but from having to speak in front of a large crowd for so long. After all that, the only things on his mind that were relaxation, and...

"Vigenere."

The samoyed's tail wagged around as he sensed his partner. "Wha' a day itsh been. Hope I did w'll enough." With such a large object filling his mouth, Morgan found himself having trouble with speaking properly for the time being. He closed the door with his tail and took off his bracers, setting them unceremoniously on the floor. He finally dropped the fish on the nearest table, then took a deep breath before speaking. "How's my Captain? I brought us something to eat."

Vigenere's smile worked like a charm. All the samoyed needed to hear was a little reassurance after everything that happened, and his boyfriend was the one he trusted most to be supportive. He let out a sigh of relief as he got closer to him, leaning in close to look into his eyes. "Thanks so much." He almost felt himself slipping into an exhausted trance as his gaze stayed on his partner's face, but he snapped himself out of it at the yellow feline's words.

"Oh," he whispered, turning back to look at the fish. "I can keep it frozen for now, then." The samoyed was more than tempted to have a bite of fish for himself, but he held himself back for Vigenere. His calm breath led the water out of his bracers and around the fish, levitating it before freezing into a makeshift icebox. He smiled wide, then took a step into the next room over to relax.

Finding a suitable cushion to rest on, the canine lied down and stared at his boyfriend. "Maybe we can lie down and talk, my Vigenere." Even if he hadn't quite learned every social cue in the book just yet, he could at least tell that something was on the cat's mind. His ears twitched as he asked, "Has your day been alright?"

Morgan sighed out alongside Vigenere as the smaller male joined him. The relief he felt was only short-lived; before he knew it, the yellow cat was asking him a legitimate question. The samoyed almost coughed before thinking of his answer.

"Vigenere, my Vigenere..." He bumped his nose against the Captain's head, looking at his eyes even though they were facing the floor. "The names were a way... a way of thanking you." He didn't quite know how else to word it, but he hoped it was good enough. "But I didn't do this all just for you. There's more to it than that." He lightly tapped the felines's back with his tail and nuzzled his neck to show he didn't mean any offense. Whispering, he continued, "Tanglewood needs a fighting force. You remember how things were before, right? How isolated things felt? If we were attacked by another group, I don't think all of us would have made it."

Morgan suddenly rolled over onto his back, looking at a now upside-down Vigenere. "Ever since the fight in the swamp, I thought you'd be a good fit for our warriors. You have experience... but you're cute, too." He smiled wide and wagged his tail, putting a paw on his belly to invite his boyfriend to lie on top of him for comfort if he wished. He lied in silence for a bit to gather himself. "I hope the changes didn't make your day worse..." He thought back to the beach cleanup. Had Vigenere been holding his thoughts and feelings in the whole time?

"Vigenere, I don't know what 'biased' means," the samoyed muttered. "But I'm glad you told me what you were thinking." Some part of him did feel a little hurt that his partner was not a fan of how he did things, but at least everything was clear to him now. "You'll make a fine Captain. You've got more experience than a lot of the other Tanglers, you know." He gave the feline a wink, letting his tongue hang out a little.

Morgan's tail wagged hard at the sound of his boyfriend's purr. "Mmm... My Vigenere, that feels really nice..." The familiar sound was music to the dog's ears; every time he heard it, he felt a particularly deep warmth course through his body. Basking in the intoxicating feeling, he let out a low groan of satisfaction as he drifted off.

...

Some time later, the samoyed's eyes flew open as he rolled over to stand back up. "I almost forgot...!" He headed back to the door, sticking his muzzle into one of his bracers to pull out a small bottle. He walked back to Vigenere, refreezing the fish container as he passed by it.

"I found this on the beach," Morgan whispered, setting the bottle down on the floor by his partner. He put his teeth around the cork and pulled it out, then pulled out what appeared to be a small note. "I thought it'd be nice to open it with you, my Vigenere." He rolled the note open and blinked as he attempted to scan over the text, but tilted his head in confusion.

"Vigenere... does any of this make sense to you?" None of the letters on the sheet formed actual words; the only thing that made sense was a ∅ symbol plastered at the top. "I don't recognize any of these 'words'."

"Qlza os ocbj td gbp hnnpc cie qvfwpq. Ftvrqtdr, nsp jcdp zuy, rnnspecyr vn wtgnwp os wtgnwp, scwwf btxfywq jces tizo."

"I see... the words you just said are just as long as the words on here." That much made sense to Morgan at the very least, but he still couldn't quite help feeling confused. "What's 'encrypted' mean?" As he spoke, he tried using the word's context to come up with a vague idea of its meaning in his head. Of course, he didn't at all mind a nice excuse to hear the cat's sweet voice some more - especially if he was going to learn something from him too.

The feline's mention of what sounded like his own name was surprising to the samoyed. "'Vigenere cipher?'" His tail wagged around a few times as he listened again. "So Atbash is a cipher too? I see..." Everything he was hearing was brand new to him, yet somehow he didn't find himself feeling nervous; perhaps his boyfriend's presence helped ease him into the ideas he presented. A cipher, a key, the ø symbol... he could only wonder how exactly one could use them to decode a secret message.

The samoyed could hardly contain his excitement as his boyfriend finally read through the text. "I wonder what it means," he whispered, trying not to interrupt. "Drop by drop... I'll have to remember that." He nuzzled behind one of Vigenere's ears, giving him a brief lick before examining the old paper once more.

Morgan's expression changed to one of determination. "Vigenere, won't you teach me your cipher? It could be useful, I think." Without even waiting for a response, he leaned forward and tried to give his partner some long licks up and down the front of his muzzle. The more they talked about the cipher, the more he thought of his boyfriend, and the more he thought of his boyfriend, the more affectionate he became. The cycle only broke when he remembered he had just asked a question; he pulled back and looked awkwardly at the nearest wall.