[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano calmed down a little in Muroki's embrace, enough to at least stop his tears from flowing. "I... I tried talking to Hatari just now," he explained, "I don't know if I can forgive him like you can... and I still see him all the time in my nightmares... but, if you really want to let him go, I don't... I won't stop you." It was the only thing he really knew how to say about this matter. He so far wasn't able to agree with his brother about Hatari, but he certainly didn't want to let it form a rift between them as it almost did.

"I just want to be normal again," he added after a period of silence. "I can hardly take... this anymore... What would I give for a normal night's rest..." Despite how badly he was feeling, he somehow found it possible to let out a small chuckle. "You never know what you take for granted until you don't have it anymore."

Separating himself away from his brother, Delano returned to Lina's side and lay down again. He stared at the dark floor next to his head, waiting for sleep to overtake him once more.

[TheWhistlerify]

At first Muroki wanted to find out more about Delano's conversation with Hatari, but it seemed like asking his brother for details would only make him more upset so he decided against it despite his curiosity. It's not like knowing what exactly they'd talked about would somehow change the situation for the better. "Thank you." he said, glad to hear that he was going to have his brother support despite Delano's still present grudge for Hatari.

"Everytjing will be back to normal, just like it did last time. You'll see." he continued, walking over to Delano as he lay down next to his mate. "And there's no need for you to be afraid of Hatari..." He hoped, while Delano might find it difficult to take Hatari's word for it, that he at least would believe him. "Trust me. He won't hurt you. Goodnight." Smiling, he made his way back over to Umeme and took his place by her side, chuckling as she suddenly moved her head and placed it back in his mane in her sleep.

[DGFone]

While it did feel like he had to wait forever, Delano did managed to fall asleep again, if only for a little while. Again, his nightmares returned causing him to whimper and move about in his sleep. In his head, he heard someone calling out his name repeatedly, until he finally started to wake up and realized that Lina was calling out to him, trying to wake him up from the nightmare.

He opened his eyes, breathing heavily from the dream. "L-Lina?" He glanced around the den with his eyes. It was early morning, with the sun's light just beginning to enter the den. The king and queen were already up, and were busy waking Muroki and Umeme up.

Sitting up, Delano rubbed his eyes to try and wake up. He felt like had gotten no rest at all, and felt like he was about to collapse at any moment. Ever so slowly, his breathing returned to normal, although he his mood wasn't much better.

[TheWhistlerify]

As restless as Lina knew Delano was, she knew it would be better for him to wake up by having her interrupt his nghtmare rather than by waiting until he woke up screaming again. "Hey..." she said quietly, giving him a lick accross his muzzle and rubbing her head against his. Her mate looked so exhausted from his lack of a proper rest that she actually felt a little bad about having slept through the whole night. It was kind of annoying that she couldn't do much in order to help him or to at least lighten up his mood.

Muroki soon found himself being woken up by the king and the queen, just like the previous morning. Once the royal couple was certain that he and Umeme were awake they left the two of them alone, walking outside. "Good morning." said Muroki as he surpressed a yawn with his paw. Looking over in Delano's direction, he could tell that his brother had had yet another nightmare. While this wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, at least his conversation with Delano yesterday had made him somewhat more optimistic.

[DGFone]

Delano smiled a little at the lick he got. "Hey, Lina," he replied quietly. "Listen... I didn't get to sleep very well, so I'm feeling very tired." He didn't need to look at himself to know that he didn't look very well either. He could feel his fur sticking up at various places, due to neglecting to take care of it combined with roughing it up from moving in his sleep. "But..." he added with some hesitation, "I don't know if I want to go back to sleep... I'll only get the nightmares again..." Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted the queen looking at him with a concerned look, causing him to suddenly feel rather ashamed. His ears dropped on his head and he tried to hide behind Lina. He remained there until the king and queen left outside.

Umeme yawned loudly, grinning. "Morning Muroki, how was your night?" She thought she remembered having to readjust her head so that his mane was more comfortable, but she wasn't sure if she just imagined it or not. She followed Muroki's gaze onto Delano and Lina. Not knowing that they had talked during the night, she said, "listen, Muroki. I want you to spend at least part of the day with Delano. I know I asked you to do it yesterday, but I'll let that slide. Also, it's so that I will be able to talk alone with Lina, so in case you're wondering."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but sigh. She couldn't understand exactly how Delano was feeling, but she did know that his nightmares were giving him a horrible time. Still, hearing Delano say that made her worry even more. "Delano... The little amount of sleep you do get isn't enough..." she said, nuzzling him. "I know what you're thinking, but you just not sleep alltogether..." She wasn't going to say it, but her mate looked like a complete mess.

When Umeme told him that she'd like him to spend some of the day with his brother he went ahead and told her about their conversation in the middle of the night. However, when she told him that it was also so that she could speak to her sister, he decided to just go along with it. "Alright." he said with a smile. Since the king was gone, there was no way for him to know what was going to happen today. In Hatari's regard, that is.

[DGFone]

Delano looked down at the floor, feeling bad once more. "But Lina," he tried to argue, "I can't just lie about all day! And..." he looked at her sheepishly, "while I still get the nightmares, having you next to me at least helps me fall asleep, and I don't want to keep you stuck to one spot just because... because I can't even succeed in getting enough sleep. I don't want to make you suffer just because I am."

Letting out a very frustrated sigh, he allowed himself to collapse on the floor. "You can go if you want," he told Lina bitterly, "I'll be right here." He rolled onto his side and covered his eyes with a paw in order to block out the increasing light. Lina was right, he really needed to get more rest, but now even just getting sleep in felt like hard work!

Umeme gave Muroki a quick lick across his muzzle. "You do that. It won't hurt the two of you if you fix this little problem. Look, I know that Hatari is a touchy subject for him, but if he's to get better-" she motioned at Delano, "then the less stress he has to deal with, the better. Especially if it comes from his own family." She gave Muroki an encouraging grin. "But I know that you will solve this very quickly. You're Muroki, after all."

[TheWhistlerify]

"Delano, we've been through this already..." said Lina with a smile as she lay down next to her mate, snuggling up against him. "Being here for you is not a burden and I'm definitely not suffering." she assured him, placing her head on top of his. "I'm more than happy to help you, even if it does mean staying in one spot all the time..." She hoped he'd understand that because the last thing he needed was another source of stress or feelings of guilt.

Muroki smiled sheepishly when Umeme licked his muzzle. Even though it definitely wasn't her first time doing that, he still ended up grinning foolishly like he'd used to back when they first started seeing each other every now and then. "He seemd to be feeling a little better after we talked last night," he said, "but I suppose it won't hurt to make sure that he realizes there's no hard feelings between us." Chuckling, he got up while returning the gesture with a lick of his own. "So I'll see you later then?"

[DGFone]

Despite the fact that part of him wanted Lina to leave, Delano did feel somewhat better when she lay down next to him, with her head covering his. "Lina, it's just..." he didn't really know what he wanted to say, so he fell silent. Beneath his paw, he closed his eyes, figuring that he should at least try to get some more sleep rather than fight it. After all, it was what he needed to get done the most right now.

Umeme looked at Delano and Lina again, and saw that it looked like Delano was going to fall asleep again. "Muroki, wait just a moment," she got up and walked back to him. "Let's wait until he's asleep. Then I'll be able to take Lina aside." She paused, frowning. "But someone will need to watch over him." She looked back at her mate. "Can you do that?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina waited for Delano to keep talking, but when he didn't she didn't push him into it. If he did have something to say then he would say it, she figured. Right then it seemed like Delano was listening to her advice and giving sleep another go. While it might not necessarily be pleasant for Delano, these little slices of sleep were going to be more useful than no sleep at all. She licked him behind the ear once, where she knew he was a little ticklish, before resting her head down close to his.

Muroki came to a halt, briefly looking at Umeme as he did. Delano did seem much calmer with Lina at his side, which meant that he'll be able to fall asleep more quickly that way. "Of course I can do that." he said, giving his mate a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I wasn't planning to just leave him on his own." Doing that would obviously be a very, very bad idea.