Ever since Vigenere had started chaperoning him, Morgan felt much more relaxed and safe. The majority of town was still crawling with ghosts, but the companionship of the Captain was reassuring, especially after his fierceness at the sight of Atbash. The samoyed slept soundly knowing his boyfriend was there to watch over him, but he couldn't shake off his idle worries. The thoughts ate away at him during the day, and as he slept they crept into the corners of his dreams, hidden but still very much present. Yet, the warmth his lover provided was enough for him to resist his despair. No matter how doubtful he was of his comrades' survival, Vigenere appeared in his dreams as a beacon of the love and hope he held.

The General stirred as he sensed a vague change in his beloved savannah's aura. It was coupled by a second aura - one that was foreign, yet carried many elements not unlike Vigenere's. The samoyed forced himself to get up, creeping out of bed and out toward where his boyfriend was. He stifled a gasp; he had not yet seen a single peaceful spirit yet, but this one did not seem to have any intent to attack anyone. The fact that the feline recognized them by sight was even more alarming, but Morgan kept quiet to let things play out.

A friendly name, he concluded.

But the positivity of the moment was not to last. Vigenere clearly struggled to speak out of what appeared to be disbelief. His ragged appearance greatly contrasted the almost overly-perfect apparition; if the spirit wasn't someone already familiar to the Captain, the canine would have figured she was trying to taunt him somehow. He wanted to say something - to do something - but he had a feeling that Vigenere wouldn't want him to see him so disheveled.

His boyfriend cried next, and choked out some illuminating words to the spirit. It did not take long for the samoyed to put the tear-filled statements together in his mind, and what little cheer was left in his expression vanished altogether. The ghost looked nothing like Vigenere or his family members, so she had to be someone who was at least as important to him as Morgan was, if not more so. It explained everything; it explained why he was so anxious about his first meeting with Atbash, why he had so much rage toward Caesar, why he cried in his room alone so many months back... it explained why he was protecting Morgan at that very moment. She was more than just some comrade to Vigenere, or he would have treated her like any Tangler. No...



Finally, a few words escaped his maw, and he dropped to the ground as his legs gave out. He remembered his broken, half-sentient words from so long before: The words were what first brought the couple together physically, and they were what that started their relationship in the first place. Yet, the state of things seemed to contradict them, making them seem so hollow, so empty. He felt awful, inadequate - he was just a failed replacement for the woman who Vigenere truly loved, and he could do nothing to fix it. The Captain himself was doing just as badly; his regret, his sadness, and his futile attempts to move on had risen to the surface.

Morgan could barely find anything to say, the confusing, deep negativity getting to him in his tired, groggy state. Taking a deep breath, he finally chose the first word that came to mind: He pushed himself up with all his might, then took one step, then another, and then another until he was just behind his boyfriend. He kept moving forward, stopping just beside him. His fluffy, bright cream fur pushed up against the unkempt yellow fur of the feline, spreading his warmth.