[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Grinning at his mate, Delano let off some pressure to allow her to at least slowly escape from his pin. "So you know... I think it just might be better if I do even the odds just a bit," he commented, "so you might umm..." he winked at Lina, "want to start running..." This time, he completely got off his mate to allow her to get up ant try to "escape".

Purposely waiting for Lina to get a lead on him, Delano found it amusing that Akili started to complain that he was letting her go. "Aww, it's more fun that way," he explained, just as he tore off after Lina. Sure, she was the one who did most of the hunting in the family, but he was no slouch when it came to running either. Gaining on his mate, he could hear her laugh and then quickly realize that he wasn't exactly playing around. Well, he was, but unlike Akili, he could actually pose a real challenge to her, and this time, she really did have to run as fast as she could should she even have a chance to escape. "Come on, Lina! Is that all you got?" Delano teased as he gained on her, "I'm gaining!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Truth be told, Lina realized what was going to happen way before he gave her that handsome grin of his (even after all of their time together, it still gave her stomach butterflies). So, as soon as he fully stepped off of her, she immediately accepted his little challenge and got up, running away from her mate and son. Sure enough, Delano soon started giving chase while Akili, who sounded rather excited about seeing both of his parents run at full speed, would probably soon complain and ask his father why he hadn't been given some time to climb onto his head, where he too would have enjoyed the thrill of the chase.

Nevertheless, aside from Delano's teasing and boasting, Lina could also hear the sound of their son's laughter as he followed them both at his own pace. She continued evading Delano for as long as she could but the two of them eventually ended up rolling over in a heap as he pounced at her. Once again, the male came out on top. It would be amusing and ironic if it were to be the other way around... Giggling, the lioness embraced her mate softly and nuzzled his mane, deciding to enjoy the closeness until their cub would catch up and interrupt them.

[DGFone]

Catching up to his mate, Delano grinned as he pounced on her, sending them rolling all over each other until they finally came to a stop, with him triumphant on top of her. "So who's the bigger one now?" he teased, smiling proudly only to have her reach up and nuzzle him.

Calming down from the embrace, Delano returned the gesture, forgetting that they wouldn't be able to enjoy the moment for long. Sure enough, it only felt like he had just pinned Lina before Akili came running over, already complaining loudly that they were nuzzling again instead of playing. Letting Lina go, Delano grumbled playfully. "So, shall we go again?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Purring happily at the warmth of Delano's soft fur and mane, Lina quickly forgot where they were and lost her sense of time, which made it not at all surprising when it ended up looking as if only a few seconds had passed until Akili interrupted them, even if it wasn't actually that short a period of time. Whenever this happened Lina found herself more and more annoyed with having to move away from her mate, which was why it kept becoming harder to do just that. They definitely needed to find some time for themselves...

Slowly getting up as their tender moment was forced to end by their own son (with a very disappointed look on her face), Lina nodded in approval. Running so fast was definitely a great way for the two of them to also blow off some steam, even if they weren't cubs anymore. "Take him with you this time." she suggested, chuckling as Akili immediately tried to climb onto his father's head upon arriving. Sure, it would mean no pouncing and / or rolling over because the cub could get easily get hurt as a result, but Delano knew that. With that taken care of, Lina grinned playfully and then took off again.

[DGFone]

Delano grinned back at Lina as she took off, leaving him behind to pick up the cub. "Whatever you say, Lina," he muttered and got down so that Akili can get on his head. "Okay, Akili, hold on tight!" Once he was certain that their son wasn't going to fall off, he too began to run, slowly picking up speed to catch up to Lina.

While he didn't bolt off as he normally would, so that he won't accidently shake Akili off even with the cub holding onto his mane, he still was ever so slowly beginning to gain on Lina. With the cub hollering on top of him out of sheer delight, Delano urged himself on even faster, both to get to Lina quicker, as well as because of some unashamed showing off to the cub.

Once he was very close, it took a lot of restraint not to jump on Lina again as he did before. The thought of letting Akili do the tagging crossed his mind, but he abandoned the idea, knowing it would be too dangerous. Instead, while it did take him a few tries, he managed to finally nudge his mate with a paw, letting her know that he caught her. She gave up the chase and slowed to a stop, with Delano stopping by her side as well, both of them breathing heavily from the exertion.

From on top of his head, Delano could hear Akili also breathing heavily, which struck him as amusing. "Why are you so tired?" he teased, "was it really that hard to scream from up there?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Akili was very much excited when his mother asked his father to take him and even more excited when Delano agreed to the idea and allowed him to climb onto his head. This wasn't the first time his father ran while carrying him but that didn't make it any less exhilarating. Quite the contrary - the little cub found the ride as thrilling as the previous time and he didn't bother to keep quiet about it. He didn't know what made him enjoy it more - the fact that they were going at an incredible speed or the fact that Lina was unable to outrun them. Yes, she was definitely going to pay for cheating. She was no match for them!

While he was quite disappointed that it was all over once they came to a halt, Akili was still feeling rather pumped from the thrill of the chase so he was able to not feel too upset about the fact that they weren't going at full speed anymore. When his father teased him, he frowned and hopped down, looking up at the lion and puffing out his chest. "No!" Hard? For him? Nothing was hard for him! Such insolence! The cub then growled in an anything-but-threatening manner and pounced upwards, barely grabbing onto the tip of Delano's muzzle with his forepaws before losing his grip and falling onto his back in a silly looking manner.

[DGFone]

Delano glanced at Lina and rolled his eyes at Akili's antics. "Right, well, someone isn't riding on my head anymore" he commented, making himself use the same tone as when he would scold Akili for misbehaving, but winking at Lina to show her that he was only joking around. "If you want to run that fast again, you will have to do so yourself."

He could only grin as the cub immediately let go of his muzzle to start complaining rather loudly about that. Sure, it was fun, but he would also have to be really careful not to push it too far and actually make Akili think that he was being serious. But until then... "What do you think, Lina? Do you think he's big enough to start running after us properly? He still looks a little on the small side..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina found it impossible not to giggle to herself as she realized what her mate was doing. He would often aim for Akili's cubbish pride whenever he teased him and, being the father, he was usually rather successful in his endeavors. It was always adorable and amusing when Akili tried to defend his honor, and the way he was already complaining about not being small and wanting to ride on his father's back or head again in the future was quite entertaining.

"Yeah, he does seem rather tiny... she commented, chuckling as the cub whined in protest and then pounced at her leg, nibbling on one of her paws. "But I suppose I could take you for an occassional spin."

"But dad's faster!"

[DGFone]

Delano had to struggle very hard not to burst out laughing. Doing so would spoil everything and inform Akili of what they were up to, so it was up to him to keep pretending to be disappointed if he could get the most enjoyment out of this. "I'm faster? Of course I'm faster! You will have to run harder then," he retorted, "either that, or you will have to get used to being slow until you will get bigger and faster. Which, I might add, might take a while. Not even your cousins are old enough yet."

He could see Lina also struggling not to laugh, and that was almost enough to make him lose control as well. Normally, he would have glared at her, but he knew her enough to know that doing so would only guarantee that she would burst, so he refrained from showing anything that could tell her that he was noticing how hard it was for her, and instead concentrated on keeping himself from laughing. And Akili still had no idea that this was all a joke...

[TheWhistlerify]

As bad as Lina was feeling (sort of) for poking fun at Akili; their tiny, helpless and incredibly adorable fuzzy maraca, she and Delano just couldn't help themselves. The cub's cuteness was just too much to handle whenever he had that grumpy frown on his little face, not to mention that he was making it all the more amusing with the way he kept complaining. She could already see how it would be because it already was like that. Akili, along with looking up to his father, was also very competitive with the lion, which was often displayed by harmless racing or an occasional wrestle. His mother was certain that, the bigger their son would get, the more eager he'd be to try and impress them.

The lioness couldn't prevent herself from interrupting Akili in the middle of another rant by picking him up by the scruff. He began to squirm about restlessly, much to her further amusement. "Let me go! I'm going to show you my speed!" he exclaimed, continuing his efforts despite their fruitlessness.

"After your bath." mumbled his mother as she held onto him. "Mind you, though, I'll have to bathe you again if you run around too much..."