[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano felt himself turn red. "They forced me to run," he grinned slightly, putting on a playful frown. "In a race." Now that he said it out loud, Delano knew how lame it sounded. "It was hard you know, and it hurt. I finished last, and and I was really tired and sore in the end." He stretched a limb out in front of Lina to show her that it was still not in the best of conditions. "I didn't want to run, you know. I wanted to be able to spend tomorrow with you and not have to rest all the time."

Umeme shrugged. "I guess if he doesn't feel comfortable coming here, we can visit him, right?" she thought about it, "we can make him less lonely, and he won't have to go anywhere where he will feel uncomfortable." The sound of living alone still left her feeling somewhat unnerved, though. "But I think you're right, though - I think we should try and get him to move somewhere closer."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina's expression remained blank for a few seconds after Delano told him that they forced him to run and then she suddenly began laughing. "That's it? They forced you to run in a race?" not only was it not half as bad as what they used to do as cubs, it was not even ten percent as bad. Chuckling, she gently brought his sore paw over and licked it like a mother would lick her cub's gash in order to make the cub feel better. When he told her that he didn't want to run so that he would be able to spend the day with her she stopped chuckling, "Really? That's so sweet!" she nuzzled him and then looked at him with big glassy eyes that carried an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I laughed..."

Muroki nodded with a smile, "Yeah, maybe as the time passes he will feel more comfortable about coming here. Until then I wouldn't mind keeping him company from time to time. In fact I promised him I'll come back again sometime soon, but don't worry, he's really friendly and I'm sure he'll be happy to meet you." Hatari / Gakuru was going to perhaps be a little nervous about the fact that he told anyone about him, but he would probably realize that he could trust Umeme soon enough.

[DGFone]

Delano grinned at Lina. "Nah, it's alright. It is rather silly, to be afraid of races, you know... Besides, I made sure that they only got me to run once. So tomorrow, we can still do whatever we want." He nuzzled her back, not caring if she laughed at his expense. At that moment, he realized just how late it was getting, but didn't feel like going into the den with Lina yet.

Umeme grinned. "Well, I am sure that I won't mind meeting him either," she said, "it's not often you meet a new lion. I know we live in a kingdom full of us, but when was the last time you saw someone who wasn't related to us?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled and returned Delano's nuzzle. "It may be silly, but I still think it's sweet." she went ahead and gave him a long and loving lick across his muzzle. "Doing whatever we want tomorrow sounds great." she was more curious about what Amuza and Shrike would behave like though.

Muroki thought about what Umeme said for a moment. "Well, actually, all the time..." he saw Umeme raise an eyebrow at him and chuckled. "I mean, aside from your family and Kasi's I see lions I don't know all the time... I never really talked to any of them, like, at all..." now that he was thinking about it, trying to make some friends wouldn't have been a bad idea at all.

[DGFone]

Delano nodded. "Yeah, it does sound great." He leaned against Lina, not wanting to say anything, and to simply stay next to her. "We will think of what to do tomorrow, but until then, I can wait." He reached out and wrapped a paw around Lina as he liked to do, resting his head against hers.

Umeme grinned back. "Exactly. You never talk to them. Might as well not even see them, as far a you are concerned. So that lion you found, I think it will be a good idea to pay him a visit again." She gently nudged Muroki with a paw. "What do you say?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled and leaned against Delano, rubbing her head against his when he wrapped his paw around her. She never told him, but she loved it when he did that. It made her feel secure, even though there never was any real danger around them. "I think I can wait too." she rested her head on the paw he wrapped around her and let out a happy sigh.

Muroki said, "Well, like I already said, I told him that I'll come back again soon. He seemed quite happy when I said it." he grabbed the paw Umeme was using to nudge him with his own paw and gently pulled her closer, grinning at her as he did. "But never mind that, we'll do that tomorrow. Anything we can do now?" he noticed that it was getting late, "Even though it's quite dark already?"

[DGFone]

Delano rested against Lina, letting time move by slowly. Eventually, they will have to go into the den and go to sleep, but he didn't want to go yet, and he knew that Lina didn't either. He edged closer to her as the air became colder, and her body heat became more and more comfortable.

Umeme allowed Muroki to pull her closer to him, only resisting enough so that she won't fall past him. She thought about what they can do, also noticing how it was getting late. "We can always go into the den," she said, "but I would like to stay up for some more time, if you don't mind."

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though Delano wasn't able to shield Lina from the cold air he still made it far more bearable. Being a male, he was slightly larger than she was, and he was probably warming her more than she was warming him. Sometime she felt a little bad about it, because he was there embracing her from the cold wind while keeping himself exposed. "We can go inside if you're cold..." she said, looking at him with her ears flat against her head.

Muroki liked the idea of going into the den where it was more comfortable and cozier. "No, I don't mind that at all." he released her paw with a smile and they both walked inside the den. He didn't really know what Umeme wanted to stay up for, but it didn't matter at all as long as he was by her side. He wouldn't even mind lying around all day and doing nothing if they were together.

[DGFone]

Delano looked at the den hesitantly. He was getting more and more cold, but he still wanted to remain here with Lina, where it was just the two of them. "No, let's stay here for now," he said, "I'll be alright." As he said this, he pressed himself a bit harder against her. Sure, it was very cold, but he enjoyed sitting here with her.

Umeme followed Muroki inside the den, and lay down next to him. She patted down his mane, making it fluffier than normal so that she can rest her head on it. When it was to her liking, she placed her head on it, grinning as she saw Muroki looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "What? You're mane's comfortable," she muttered playfully.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina looked at Delano worriedly, "Are you sure?" it wasn't like it was raining or anything that might make it that cold to the point of putting Delano at risk of falling ill, but she still didn't like the way he forced himself to stay outside in the cold. She went ahead and embraced him with both of her paws, hoping to make him feel as warm as possible.

Muroki raised an eyebrow at Umeme with a grin as she began patting his mane and customizing it to her liking. He never minded the way she used his mane as a pillow, in fact it made him feel good that he was making her feel comfortable. "My mane and I are yours and are always at your service." he said with a chuckle, wrapping a paw around her and resting his head on top of hers. "Everything for the most amazing lioness in the world."