[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Engrossed as he was by the food, Delano didn't pay much attention to Lina or the cubs as he ate, feeling his hunger slowly go away. He finished the meat that Lina brought over quickly, but chose to wait some time to eat more. He settled down next to Lina, feeling much better than before. "Not much daylight left," he commented, "we'll have to go in soon." A part of him didn't want to end today, especially because of how well the day was compared to before, and he was somewhat afraid of tomorrow returning to being bad again.

Umeme grinned at Muroki, licking him gently across the muzzle. "Then why so gloomy? We'll go in very soon, okay? Just finish up the meat fist," she motioned at the remains next to Muroki, "then you'll be able to sleep for as long as you'll like. I won't even wake you up in the morning if that's what you'll like."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina chuckled to herself, licking Delano's muzzle in order to clean off a small reminder of the fact that he'd just practically dug into a slice of meat. He must have missed that on his own. "There's always tomorrow." she said cheerfully, unable to think of a reason for the following day to not be just as good or even better. From the way things looked, they'd be able to return home as soon as her mate's injuries fully healed.

His ears slightly twitching as Umeme licked him across his muzzle, Muroki gave a slight nod before resuming his meal, once again at his own, slow pace. Although he wasn't making any vocal response to what his mate was saying, he was thinking about her words as he chewed slowly. His body really wouldn't mind sleeping through the entire night and even all the way into the afternoon, but he knew that it wasn't really an option. Somehow had to be awake... What if something would happen?

[DGFone]

Delano shrugged, leaning his head on Lina's shoulder. "Well, if you say so," he muttered, not really feeling it. Sure, today was much better, but he didn't want to simply believe that tomorrow would also prove to be as good as today was. And in the end, he would rather be pleasantly surprised again rather than to be disappointed by believing ahead of time that there was nothing to worry about. By this time, Akili had also finished eating and ran back to them, no doubt happy to be with both of his parents again. Snuggling down in between their paws, the cub certainly looked like he was ready for the night.

Watching over Muroki, Umeme couldn't help but get the feeling that something was still off with her mate. "Muroki,"she said gently, "there's nothing to worry about. You just need to get some more rest, that's all." She nuzzled him, hoping that he was listening to her. "I don't want you to stay awake if you're still tired. I can watch over the cubs you know, and... well, this place is guarded day and night anyways. So why worry?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina would have playfully told Delano that it wouldn't hurt him to be just a little bit more positive about things but decided against it. She's said it to him plenty of times before and perhaps he just wasn't all too confident about that yet, so why push him into it and keep bugging him? He was bound to realize that things were looking up sooner or later. As their son rushed back over to them, his mother found it impossible not to giggle. Akili definitely looked like he'd just had a very hurried meal, no doubt because of how hungry he'd been. "Akili, look at your muzzle..." she said with a soft sigh, giving his tiny face a few licks to clean it. Just like his father...

Why worry, his mate was asking? How could Umeme feel so secure simply because the royal den was guarded day and night? They didn't know any of these guards. Heck, the Chief of Police had turned out to be a bloodthirsty killer. Twice! Who was to guarantee that no guard was some double agent or whatever? "No, you go to sleep." he said quietly. "I'll do it, it's fine..." Letting out a loud yawn, his attention was soon caught by their son and daughter, who ran over to the two of them in as usually loud a manner. Not that it bothered him. As a matter of fact, he felt quite happy to have them show up.

[DGFone]

Delano could tell that Lina still felt that he was taking things too grumpily, but didn't bother too try to continue to fail at explaining that he wasn't too keen on placing all of his bets on a better tomorrow. As his mate started to clean their son from his meal, Delano simply decided to wait for her to finish and for them to decide to call it a night. There wasn't anything else to do, really...

Umeme didn't know whether to be glad that Muroki was choosing to rest some more, or be frustrated due to how against the idea he sounded. She was still deciding when Marini and Ubawa ran over, done with a long day of play. Grinning at just how tired the two looked, Umeme decided that now was a good of a time to retire for the night as any. "Alright, now that we're all here, how about we go in?" Looking over the two cubs, she decided that they would need to be cleaned, but she can do that when they will settle down inside the cave.

[TheWhistlerify]

Having bathed Akili just earlier, there really was not much Lina needed to do before her son was once again up to her regular standards in terms of being clean. He was just so adorable, being so tiny, that it would be a lie to say that she didn't sometimes prolong his baths just because she enjoyed the closeness with the cub. "Alright, Akili, it's time to call it a night." He definitely seemed like he wouldn't mind just falling asleep right away as soon as they went inside.

Chuckling ever so slightly to himself as their son and daughter sleepily sat down in front of him and his mate, Muroki briefly ruffled Ubawa's head with one of his paws. "Had fun?" he asked quietly, feeling a soft purr begin to rumble in his throat when Marini rubbed herself against his chest.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy!" said the little cub, yawning as she looked up at her father with her eyes wide open. Sometimes the little ones complained about the silliest things. If they were tired, for example, why not just lie down and go to sleep?

"Then let's go inside." said the lion as he let out a yawn of his own. To Umeme, it was probably obvious that her mate was far more exhausted than their cubs.

[DGFone]

Among those who were rather excited to go to sleep, Delano was not going to argue. Just because he was doubtful that the next day was going to be good didn't mean that he wasn't looking forwards to getting a good night's sleep, or at least, to try to. He was still feeling very tired, and Lina waking him up didn't help at all. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea," he muttered through his own yawn. Trying to stand up, he remembered that he wasn't capable of walking yet as his legs didn't even try to hold up his wight, so Delano had to wait for Lina to aid him up, feeling rather embarrassed about it.

Umeme, meanwhile, couldn't help but grin to herself as she detected just how tired Muroki was. Perhaps, he would simply sleep in for long enough that he would realize how foolish he was behaving and that they weren't in any real danger. Gathering their two cubs together, they went inside to a nice looking spot inside and settled down for the night. Resting her head in Muroki's mane, Umeme was certain that all he needed was a bit more rest to get over his paranoia.

[TheWhistlerify]

Getting up and stretching her legs, Lina gently picked Akili up by the scruff upon noticing that the cub was sleepy enough to just fall asleep where he was before offering Delano her side for him to lean against. With both her cub and mate secured, in a manner of speaking, she began to slowly walk back into the den, already fantasizing about how nice it would be to get some sleep. With their son already bathed and clean, there was nothing else she needed to do before calling it a night. So, upon reaching the spot they usually slept in, the lioness settled down and placed Akili between her paws. She gave her mate a goodnight lick across his muzzle before positioning her head comfortably in his mane.

Muroki quietly followed Umeme inside as their cubs ran closely behind, once again finding it impossible to hold back a yawn as he lay down next to her. Smiling a small smile as he felt his mate's head against his own, he gently got a hold of Marini and pulled her closer, starting to bathe her as she let out a sleepy, adorable mewl. Ubawa was always more problematic in that regard so he might as well give him time to fall asleep before cleaning him as well. That is, unless Umeme was already planning to give their son a bath herself.

[DGFone]

Still feeling very tired, Delano just about didn't notice Lina's lick as he was already well on the way to falling asleep as he was. So even without any sort of reply, he was snoring quietly very soon after settling down in the cave, his worries forgotten for now.

Knowing that their cubs needed to be cleaned, Umeme immediately began to give Marini a bath as soon as they found a place to spend the night at. Continuing until she decided that their daughter was clean enough, Umeme deposited the cub in between her and Muroki before picking Ubawa up to do the same. To her surprise, or perhaps because he was too sleepy to do so, he didn't complain as she began to run her tongue across his back, although he did occasionally try to slip away, much to her amusement. Finishing him up as well, Umeme let him free when she was satisfied with her handiwork. "There, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" she teased, and also placed him down "Goodnight you two." Draping a paw around Muroki, she closed her eyes, grinning as right as she did so, she saw that he was already fast asleep, no doubt too tired to have remained awake for long.

[TheWhistlerify]

The last thing Muroki recalled was starting to give his daughter a bath. Next thing he knew, he was sleepily peeking through partially shut eyes and looking at the entrance of the cave, noticing faint traces of orange light coming from outside. The sun was just beginning to rise by the looks of it and it took the lion a few seconds of just lying there to come to the realization that he'd fallen asleep.

Quickly looking down at his paws and noticing that Marini wasn't there, he looked over at Umeme and saw the cub in question slumbering peacefully between her mother's paws. His mate clearly took her to finish the bath he'd started. It seemed as though he'd slept despite having not had the intention to. As a matter of fact, he was thinking that the best solution would be to sleep during the days from now on...

Cursing quietly under his breath, the agitated male stood up and walked outside. Considering how they were looking at him oddly, it must have been clear to the two guards at the entrance from the way Muroki walked that he didn't bother to so much as stretch his legs after getting up. He paid no attention to the two and was about to go to the nearest waterhole before realizing that, if he were to head for some water, he would be as useful as if he was still asleep. Groaning in annoyance, he went back inside.