As he listened to the feline's explanation, Morgan's expression changed to a disgusted grimace, then to a curious frown, and finally to a rather embarrassed and aroused samoyed smile. He felt like his world had changed somehow - or at least, his earlier mental images of Vigenere seemed to make more sense. He was unsure of what to think of all of it, so he gave his partner some licks on the muzzle again. "I think I understand, my Vigenere." He looked straight down for a moment before raising his head to stare into the cat's eyes.

"Thanks for telling me this. I..." The dog could barely bring himself to continue. "I... well... I wouldn't mind trying some of these things with you." His eyes widened as he spoke, and he felt every last bit of his face turn a warm red. "Not here, I mean! Er, some other time. And only if you'd want to." Morgan let out a fake cough and looked away, taking a bit to think of what to say next. "For now, we should just rest together for a little bit. We're almost home." He tried his best to relax after speaking, leaning lightly against his partner as he closed his eyes.

...

The canine awoke with a yawn, feeling rejuvenated in the warm water of the pond. He prodded at Vigenere with his nose and licked him once, sitting back up at last. The sun still seemed to indicate that it was morning, so he smiled. "I think it's about time to go back to town. We've made good time, my Vigenere." He hopped out of the pond and pulled the excess water off of himself, taking a few steps in the direction of the swamp.

"I guess I never answered your question from before. I just find water to be easier to control if I breathe in different ways." He pulled a stream of water out of one of his bracers with relative ease, taking a sharp breath to make it whip a nearby tree. "It's only really tiring if I have to do a lot of work at a time. If I've done something with water enough times before, I don't need to breathe as much if I do it again."

Wagging his tail as he put the water back, Morgan took another step toward the swamp. "We should take our first steps back into territory together." As he spoke, his expression turned to one of confusion. "Actually, that reminds me - Vigenere, what can I call you now? You're not just my ally or my comrade anymore, right?"

(OOC - Morgan's suggestion in paragraph 2 shouldn't actually happen unless it's only "offscreen"/implied like Vig's explanation. Just wanted to make that clear if it wasn't obvious already)

Link to return thread here

(The end)