[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Letting out his own chuckle, Delano allowed himself to get lost in Lina's embrace. "Just don't get too eager, or it won't be as nice at the end," he teased, "but yeah... I can't wait myself." He looked up in search of the sun, wondering how much time was left in the day. There wasn't too much.

"Think we should also go back into the den and go to sleep ourselves?" A part of him wanted to stay up and still enjoy the rest of the day with Lina, even if they weren't exactly doing a whole lot. So with this in mind, he quickly added, "or, we can stay up until after the sun sets." As he said this, he chose this as the better idea. They were going to let Akili sleep in anyways after today, so there wasn't going to be a hurry to get up the next morning. Therefore, there was no reason for them to rush back in just now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was obviously finding it rather difficult to listen to her mate's remark and not get too worked up. Well, she wasn't bouncing all over the place like an eager little cub, but she was excited about getting to spend some well deserved time with Delano. "Well..." she looked up at the sky, smiling. "We can stay here a little longer." Why not if they could? Tomorrow they were going to have to pick Akili up somewhere around this time of the evening, so they might as well get to enjoy the calmer feel of the evening now. It felt like a nice introduction to the day they were going to spend the following morning.

[DGFone]

Feeling glad that Lina chose to also stay up longer, Delano settled down more comfortably next to her and allowed himself to be content with just watching the world around them. After all the hectic past few days, it felt really nice to slow down for now, something that he realized he found himself thinking rather often lately. It was almost as though he was not realizing when things weren't necessarily slow and easy until they were not, and he would feel their absence.

He could feel Lina resting next to him as well as they let the day slowly ebb away, watching as the sun began its slow descent towards the ground. After some time, with the air around them noticeably darker, the glowing orb finally disappeared beneath the horizon, and yet, Delano still didn't feel like going back into the den. It simply felt too nice out here to do that now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was more than content with just lying by Delano's side and watching the sun set. Despite being almost completely dark, it wasn't cold outside just yet. There were warm evenings like that from time to time, as rare as they were, but the lioness knew that these often led to unusually cold nights, as if to make up for them. That, of course, wasn't much of a problem. They had a den to sleep in and, should the wind blow directly inside, an inner, smaller and cozier den for extra protection from the cold. The temperatures during the hours they spent sleeping was never something they had to worry about.

Because she was in no hurry to get back inside, seeing how Akili was already fast asleep inside the safety of their home, Lina remained in her comfortable position next to her mate even after the sun had finished setting. It was impossible to tell how much time had gone by (not a lot, though), but she eventually began to feel a little uncomfortable as the air and wind around them began to get colder. "I think that's our cue." she said, standing up as the breeze became a little harsher. Yeah, there was no doubt that they'd stayed outside for as long as they could.

[DGFone]

Even though she spoke softly, Lina just about startled Delano when she spoke, and it took him some time to find his voice. "Oh, uh, yeah, I guess it is." Getting up slowly, he let out a tired yawn as he waited for Lina to also rise up so that they can walk back into the den together.

Going inside, Akili was still sleeping quietly where they had left him earlier. Not wanting to wake their son up, the two adults lay down next to the cub silently, taking their usual positions in order for sleep. Placing a paw around his mate's body, Delano allowed himself to drift off, eager for the next day when he would be able to spend entirely with Lina.

[TheWhistlerify]

With Delano up on his paws and also ready to head back into the den and call it a night, Lina went ahead and walked back inside alongside her mate. The two of them went ahead and entered the smaller, inner den where, surely enough, Akili was fast asleep. The little cub was still pretty much in the exact same spot where his parents had left him earlier, in a not so different adorably curled up hairball position. Quietly settling down next to their son so to not accidentally wake him up, Lina gently brought Akili over and settled him down between her paws and the one Delano hadn't wrapped around her and also went to sleep.

~

The following morning, she found herself being woken up as a result of Delano nudging her awake. The sound of their son running about and making noise made her realize that, no matter how tired the cub was, she was just really good at sleeping in. Perhaps too good... Akili sounded rather normal, which was an indication that his father hasn't told him that he'd be spending the day with his grandparents. The little hairball was sure to become more excited at the revelation... "Good morning..." said the lioness softly as she licked her mate across his muzzle and stood up, stretching her numb legs as Akili bounced over and pounced on her.

[DGFone]

When Delano came back from his early morning run, both Lina and Akili were still asleep. However, he must have accidentally made too much noise or otherwise disturbed the cub because just as he was about to go back to a nice nap besides his mate, Akili woke up and began to move about as he usually does. Deciding to ignore the fluff ball for now, Delano tried to get his nap in, but the cub must have decided otherwise, already eager for another day of play and adventure.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Delano sat up and began to nudge Lina awake. If Akili wouldn't let him sleep, then now was a time as any to wake his mate up. They did agree yesterday that they would let Akili sleep in as much as he wanted to anyways, rather than how much Lina wanted. "Lina? Lina, wake up. Your son's calling." At the back of his mind, he wondered if he should tell Akili of their plan for today or not. But as Lina began to stir and groan from being woken up, he already figured that he hadn't told Akili anything yet, and Lina was waking up anyways. So might as well just go ahead and make it a surprise for the cub then. Akili shouldn't mind too much.

[TheWhistlerify]

Being woken up by somebody else was never all that enjoyable. It was also something Lina experienced on an almost daily basis, being the sleeping in heavy sleeper that she was. But, despite being in a not fully awake, grumpy state of mind, the lioness found it impossible not to smile broadly as her cub greeted her with his tiny displays of affection. Seeing Akili happy like that (something which happened rather often) always brought a smile to her face, and she soon completely forgot that small headache of wanting to go back to sleep.

"Good morning to you too, Akili." she said, chuckling as she gave the little hairball an affectionate lick (but not in a way that could be interpreted as the beginning of a bath, of course). "Did you sleep well?" As if in response, the cub rushed over to his father and rubbed against one of his legs, seeing how Delano was no longer trying to go back to sleep. She wondered whether they should tell him that he would be spending the day with his grandparents but decided against it. Their son already looked fully recharged and ready to unleash his fury on some random cricket as it was. "Come on, let's go outside." Akili squealed in delight and immediately ran in the direction of the den, causing his mother to giggle.

[DGFone]

Watching just how quickly Akili had rushed out the den, Delano felt very glad that he wasn't going to have to watch over the cub today. What happened to the tired fuzzy maraca that was content to sleep away for half the day yesterday? Still, he couldn't help but grin at all the energy Akili displayed.

Walking with Lina outside, letting out a long yawn due to the nap that he wasn't able to get. As their son ran over again, eager for a game as always, Delano thought now was a good a time as any to say what he and Lina had planned. "Hey, Akili, how would you like to spend today with your grandparents?" he asked, "you know how they always complain that we don't bring you over often enough, so your mother and I thought that perhaps today would be a good day to do so." There really wasn't any reason why he had to tell their son that the real reason was that he and Lina simply wanted a day for themselves. For all Akili knows, they actually wanted to bring him over to his grandparents.

[TheWhistlerify]

Once they got outside, the first thing Lina saw was the rather common sight of her and Delano's son chasing a grasshopper about (although, sometimes, he'd choose other insects as his prey). The spectacle brought a smile to her muzzle, even if the way the cub was now once again full of energy could often be a not so welcome situation if his parents were in an exact opposite position. She was about to ask her mate when they should break the news to Akili about where he was going to be for the majority of the day, but he beat her to it by calling the little ball of fluff over and just telling him.

It's not like there was any significance to choosing how long to keep it a surprise from the cub, so the lioness made no attempt to prevent her mate from talking. As was to be expected, Akili literally exploded with excitement once his fsther gave him the option to choose (or the illusion of free choice, at least) to go spend the day with his grandparents. Well, that seemed to settle it. "They'll be delighted to see you." she said, giggling as her son tried climbing onto Delano's head, obviously eager to get going. His mother went ahead and helped him out a little by nudging his cute little butt upwards with her nose.

With their son well settled on his father's head, the couple began to make its way in the direction of the den Lina's parents lived in. While Akili was constantly expressing his enthusiasm about not only seeing his grandparents but getting to spend an entire day with them, his parents were more busy fantasizing about having the day for themselves. Just the two of them, alone...