[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme looked over at Kato, who she couldn't really blame for listening in on their conversation. After all, what else did he have to do? "So what did she say about Desta?" she asked the prince, "are you still having nightmares about the first time you had to break the news?" Also, wasn't Desta with the queen now, doing some kind of lesson? A part of Umeme wondered if that lesson had anything to do with not what Kato was told it would be about.

---

Delano was a little surprised when Lina forced her head underneath his, but he didn't fight her when she did that. He rather felt glad that she still felt that it was more comforting for her to be with him than without. "I- I know I can't convince you otherwise," he relented, "and I know that it will be dangerous... but I think you're making it sound much worse than it will be."

Slowly rubbing his head against hers, he decided to add, "Kato and I will talk to the king about this. If he will decide that it will be too dangerous for me to do anything... then I guess I won't." He hoped that having Lina hear that there was still a possibility that he won't do anything would calm her down even more. Deciding that now was as good of a time as any to end this argument, he motioned with his head at the cave entrance. "Let's go outside, huh? The others are there as well."

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato rubbed the back of his head with his paw as he recalled what it was like when he and Desta revealed their relationship to his parents. They were still adolescents at the time, and it actually happened about a week before the prince first met Muroki and Delano. "Our parents are friends so my mother has known Desta since she was a cub." he said. "She was delighted when we told her. In an incredibly embarrassing way..."

Either way, the important thing about the day they told his parents was that the two approved of them being together. Kato just wished he could say the same thing about Desta's parents... "I don't need to have nightmares about it, because she makes sure to give both of us constant reminders..." He then added, hoping to keep his mind from less pleasant things.

●●●●●●●●●●

If anything, hearing Delano say that he wouldn't argue with the king should he forbid him from taking any part in this ambush (that is, if he would even approve of the idea to begin with) was the first thing Lina has heard in this entire conversation that actually offered some reassurance. She'd considered asking Kato's father to not allow him to participate but worried that her mate might disobey and follow them or do something even more dangerous.

As such, hearing him say that he intended to respect the king's decision on the matter was exactly what she needed. Surely the older lion wouldn't even consider letting someone who was injured to such an extent join, and should that not be the case it wasn't supposed to be difficult to convince him otherwise. "Alright..." she finally answered, pulling her head away from Delano's and standing up. Going to the waterhole where Akili and the others were sounded nice.

[DGFone]

Umeme could very well relate to being constantly embarrassed like that. "Guess in some ways, the king and queen are very similar to my own parents, right?" She grinned and winked at Muroki. "We still try to avoid them for the most part, for obvious reasons."

While hers and Lina's parents have gotten much better in terms of the teasing, Umeme and Muroki still didn't visit them as often as they perhaps should for this reason. Although, for obvious reasons, her parents had stopped by very recently after they heard about the fight, and Umeme was sure that they would stop by again soon, just to check up on them. The fact that she wasn't annoyed by this thought said a lot about how much less they teased now.

---

Glad that the conversation was over, Delano followed Lina out of the cave and to the waterhole where the others were. He could see that the three cubs were all playing together in the shallows, while it looked like Umeme and Muroki were talking with Kato about something. Feeling like it might be rude to interrupt them, he sat down a little ways to the side and chose to watch the cubs for now, mostly because his conversation with Lina still weighed heavily on his mind.

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato chuckled to himself at what Unene wss saying. "Well, that's your choice." As embarrassing as his mother's behavior often was, he kind of appreciated the teasings over the attitude Desta's parents often displayed when they weren't simply ignoring him. At least his parents approved of him and his love interest being together... Sometimes the embarrassment was something to take comfort it, at least for him.

Muroki smiled. "Umeme's parents can be a little difficult to handle in that regard..." he said jokingly. But he got along with both of them really well, and he still hasn't forgotten the way they've treated him as part of the family from the very start. "Well, her mother's mostly he one who does the talking, but it's not like Moto does much to stop her..." The older lion probably liked to enjoy the show.

Lina meanwhile was content to settle down next to Delano and keep an eye on Akili as he played in the water with his cousins. He seemed as happy as always, and that was enough to make his mother smile to herself. Her conversation with her mate was still stuck in her head, but watching their son's antics helped her distract herself from her thoughts.

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned at what Muroki told Kato. "That's because dad knows that he is not allowed to cross the line," she teased, "you can learn a lot from him." She was of course only teasing him: in her opinion, Muroki already knew when he should listen to her and when he shouldn't, as seen how he didn't try to argue when Umeme chose to end their day out early. While he hadn't said anything about it, she was able to see that he didn't seem to like the idea.

Noticing Lina and Delano sit down nearby, she was glad to see them outside, for a part of her wondered why they had gone off to the side somewhere, while leaving Akili with Kato. Turning her attention back to the prince, she then asked, "speaking of parents, have you got a chance yet to really talk with them?" There had already been a couple of times when they were all in the same location, so Umeme was sure that Kato had at least met them before.

Watching Akili play in the water wasn't enough for Delano to distract himself from his thoughts, and he found himself glancing every now and then at Kato. As soon as he got the chance, he wanted to ask the prince to talk to the king. The sooner they had a plan, he felt, the easier he would be able to relax and not feel helpless to the world around him.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki shot his mate a playful glare in response to her teasing. He certainly didn't feel like someone who didn't know when he was about to cross he line. He would have given an example as to why he wasn't, but Kato was right there. Besides, it was clear from her tone that she didn't seriously mean that. "Of course, dear." he then said with a grin, feeling he might as well return the favor by sticking to his approach earlier that morning where he should simply agree with everything she said.

Kato slightly shook his head. "Not really..." he said. "I've met them on several occasion, but we've never really talked to one another." But the older couple seemed very nice from what he's seen so far, and he somewhat envied Muroki for having such in-laws. It definitely didn't seem as though either Delano or his brother had any problems getting along with both of them.

[DGFone]

Umeme shrugged, figuring as much. "Well, if you ever feel like it, I am sure that they won't mind getting to know you better." She chose to ignore Muroki for now, for if he felt like it would be better for him to just do what she tells him to, then she won't mind that. As for Kato, from what he had told them about him having to deal with Desta's parents, Umeme got the impression that they didn't exactly get along all that well. It was odd that that would be the case for the prince of all lions, but the world was strange like that.

A somewhat awkward silence filled the area as no one said anything else, and Umeme chose to watch the cubs a bit more. The three of them looked like they were getting tired from running around in the water all the time, but it didn't mean that they were ready to quit just yet, just that their movements were slower and a little rougher.

Nearby, Delano decided that now was as good of a time to talk as any. Quickly glancing nervously at Lina, he moved over to the prince and asked quietly, "Hey Kato, do you think we can talk with your father with... well, what we discussed in the morning..?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato offered Umeme a smile and nodded. "Sure, Umeme, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." Her parents were definitely not unpleasant to be around from what he's seen, and the way their two son in laws seemed fond of them (teasing aside) had to mean something. Besides, if not for the sake of getting to know someone else, let alone the parents of one of his friends, talking to the pair was bound to be amusing to some degree as well.

His ears twitching ever so slightly, the prince looked at Delano over his shoulder. He immediately understood what Muroki's brother was getting at. "Dad's most likely not home by now." Being the king, his father was usually out. Kato knew more than well, seeing how he would often tag along. "If he's not back in the den I don't think going around looking for him would be very ideal for you." he replied quietly. "But we can talk to him in the evening when he gets back."

[DGFone]

Umeme, who hadn't heard what Kato and Delano had talked about in the morning, was curious as to what they might need to talk about, but chose not to ask. If her brother in law felt like it was something they ought to know about, he wouldn't have spoken so cryptically, so Umeme chose to ignore it. Her attention back to the cubs, she grinned at how Marini was able to hold her own despite Ubawa and Akili teaming up on her.

Not wanting to wait for the evening, Delano let out an agitated sigh before nodding and returning to Lina's side. Without knowing what to do, he felt so... helpless, and combined with the fact that he was still healing and very much vulnerable, he hated the feeling. Not only was he unable to help out should something happen, he wasn't even sure if something will happen in the first place or not.

[TheWhistlerify]

It was bound to not be much longer until the cubs would eventually grow tired of running about in the water where their movements required a lot more energy. Marini was the first one to step out of the water, seeing how continuing to play when it was too difficult was no fun and, with their main target now gone, Ubawa and Akili were quick to follow. They'd stayed in there for quite a while so it was no wonder how tired they were.

Despite being exhausted, Marini smiled broadly as she ran over to her parents, who welcomed her and her brother as affectionately as always while Akili went over to his own parents to rest as well. "You sure look tired." said Muroki with a chuckle as he nuzzled the two of them.

"Yeah!" And since they'd both played so much, that could only mean one thing.

"Ubawa, you sure do seem too tired to try to run off now." said their father as he grabbed his son between his paws and began to clean him. Having the cub resist kind of made it fun.