[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

As soon as they walked past Lina, Delano allowed himself to drop away from Muroki's side, groaning from the ache in his legs. Even though he had hardly walked anywhere, it still felt like he had run for the entire day as fast as he could, and it felt really good to lie down by Lina's side. He curled his legs beneath his body to get a little bit more comfortable, and decided that he wasn't going to go anywhere any time soon.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how Muroki went over Umeme and lay down next to her. His brother really did look completely worn out, and Delano hoped that he won't try to keep himself awake again any time soon.

Umeme waited for Muroki to get over to her, and while she was about to ask him what had happened with him and Delano, but as soon as she saw just how tired he looked, she decided not to press the matter for now. Sure enough, as her mate lay down besides her, it looked like he was already about to fall asleep just like that, so she figured that she might as well wait until later to find out what had happened. Content to continue watching over the cubs, Umeme placed a paw around her mate's body as she felt his breathing slow down as he slumbered off.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki, slowly walking the remaining distance to his mate, immediately lay down next to the lioness upon arriving at her side. The idea of sleep was now well planted in his mind, and he couldn't stop himself from yawning as he got more comfortable next to Umeme. The cubs now nothing but a blur, he brought his head closer to hers as he felt her paw rest over his back, purring softly to himself while slowly drifting off to sleep.

Meanwhile, next to Delano while the cubs carried on with their silly game, Lina silently watched her sister's mate as he settled down next to her, going to sleep right away. Still very much confused, she looked at her mate. "Is he alright?" she asked quietly. Getting some sleep was always good for you, she believed, so having her brother in law get some rest seemed like a good sign. Still, if Delano wouldn't mind saying, she wanted to know if something was wrong with his brother.

[DGFone]

Seeing, as well as feeling, Muroki finally get some much needed rest made Umeme feel a lot better. While a part of her wished that she had known what was wrong with him, and that it was her that got to fix it, the fact that he looked a lot better now (except that he was very much tired) meant that she didn't have to worry about him for now. She couldn't help but grin as he purred gently, and knew that it was only a matter of time before the normal Muroki would show up again.

Trying to ignore his aching legs, Delano looked up at Lina. "Yeah, he's going to be all right now," he told her, "he... he forced himself to stay awake because he was afraid of another attack. Now that he's willing to rest, I think he'll be all right." Strictly speaking, Delano didn't really want to talk about what happened just now, but Lina should get at least some sort of answer form him.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina listened attentively as Delano briefly explained the situation regarding his brother's unlikely attitude and behavior. She had to admit, though, while this paranoia and constant tenseness didn't suit her brother in law at all, that nobody could really blame him for being so shaken up. He'd almost been killed (and not for the first time in his life, too). "I see... Well, I'm sure it'll be fine." she said softly. Not to mention that the thought of Sanders going after his cubs while he couldn't do anything about it must have made the experience even more dreadful... But this was Muroki they were talking about. He would be fine. He always pulled through.

[DGFone]

Delano wasn't sure if Lina simply told that to herself of if she had really believed it, but he wasn't planning on telling her how scared he got at seeing his brother in such a state. Muroki had always been for him the big brother who he always went to when he asked for help... or even when he didn't ask for it. So for their situations to be revered, it had felt very strange, as well as quite scary, to say the least.

Settling down and leaning back against Lina, Delano was glad that he had been able to help Muroki so quickly. For if it had taken longer, it could have easily gone wrong otherwise. Most likely, Delano felt like he would have given up, not because he was too lazy to help, but because he would have gotten too frightened to continue. Although now, with Muroki resting calmly next to Umeme, Delano felt like if he would need to, he will be able to do this again. But what he really was hoping for was that Muroki was very much better and wouldn't need help again.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina gently rested her head against Delano, feeling content about not saying anything else and just watching their son playing with his cousin. The trio was still just as caught up in their game as usual and completely oblivious to the fact that everything was far from okay around them. As much as she was often dumbstruck by the innocence these cubs had, she also envied them for being able to remain so carefree at such a time. Not that she was complaining, though. Seeing how young they all were, it would be for the best if they continued to feel as if they were still in a normal environment.

Muroki seemed very much unaware of the loud noise they were making, though, continuing to slumber like a rock next to her sister. There were mornings where Akili would wake his mother up that made her wish she could sleep like that as well, but she wasn't forgetting just how exhausted her brother in law was. Back when his brother had had these nightmares, at least he managed to get short sleeps every now and then, but Muroki had kept himself awake for 2 nights...

While Lina was certain that Delano's brother refusing to sleep won't happen a second time, seeing how he now understood just how simple it was for them to watch over Marini and Ubawa for him, she still wasn't entirely calm down about this, even if she was trying to reassure herself that there was nothing else to worry about. Muroki forcing himself to stay awake was clearly the result of very serious trauma and paranoia. Who was to guarantee that a proper sleep would make all of that go away?

[DGFone]

Glancing up at Lina, Delano could see that she didn't seem to be completely convinced that everything would be fine. He nuzzled her gently, because he too was still afraid, with very much the same reasons as to what caused Muroki to behave like this. After all, hadn't he complained to the king about this lion who, as far as he could tell, was still alive?

Delano looked over at his brother, seeing that while Muroki looked like he was sleeping peacefully, it didn't actually mean that Muroki was actually going to allow himself to get better. Then a thought crossed his mind that made him shudder in fright. While lately, his nightmares have been getting better, if they came back, Delano wouldn't help but wonder if he might start acting like that.

Not enjoying the thought, Delano settled closer to Lina, and lifted one of her paws before placing it down around him. It did improve his mood slightly, but he still felt rather shaken up by his talk with his brother.

[TheWhistlerify]

Still watching their son and his cousins, seeing how it was impossible to stare at the joyous little hairballs without having some of their happiness rub off on her, Lina couldn't help but chuckle slightly to herself when Delano cutely used his muzzle to lift up one of her paws so that it slid down onto his backs. Sometimes, when Akili was either cold or trying to get their attention, he'd try forcing his way underneath their paws. The sight of the little cub trying to lift a paw that was clearly heavier than he was was always adorable and, even if his father didn't have the same size problem, the lioness couldn't help but be reminded of these occasions.

Despite the cuteness of it all, Lina was still able to tell that her mate wasn't very calm, clearly because he was worried about his brother. Yes, Muroki did go to sleep, which was a good thing, but Delano was obviously worried about what would happen once he woke up. "Hey, you know what I was thinking?" she asked softly, licking his cheek. "When this is all over, the two of us could go away for a few days to catch a break."

The thought of possibly taking Akili along on such a "vacation" had occurred to her, seeing how their son would probably be excited to see new places, but the cub was too young to travel very far at the moment. In her opinion, at least. "Doesn't that sound nice?" She knew that now was definitely not the time to kick back and relax, but perhaps the thought of something like this would help him feel more optimistic.

[DGFone]

Delano looked up at Lina, right away seeing that she was trying to distract him from his thoughts. While the idea of taking a few days off really sounded like a nice idea, he couldn't see himself willing to do that any time soon. As much as he hated to admit it, but a lot of him was afraid of the very same things that had kept Muroki awake.

"I... I don't know, Lina," he finally replied, "it does sound nice, but I don't know if it will be a good idea to do so..." Should he tell her about the lion who could still pose a danger to them? It would explain to her why exactly Muroki had acted the way he did, but Delano didn't want Lina get scared over it as well.

He clutched onto the paw that he had wrapped himself around with. "I do want to do that, I really do, but I just don't know if we will be able to do that any time soon." Not sure if he wanted to tell her about that lion, he really didn't want Lina to think that he was saying no because he didn't want to spend time with her.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina chuckled, licking her mate once across his muzzle. "Of course not, silly." she said quietly, smiling at the lion. Then, clearly unaware of the still possible threat, she carried on. "You still need to recover, and I think it wouldn't be wise to do so just after moving back into our own den with Akili either." It might be confusing for the cub to go back to the home he was used to and then immediately stay with his grandparents while his mother and father disappeared to who knew where. Then there was also having to make sure that Muroki's head wasn't going to go back up into the clouds again.