[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme laughed when she was able to tell that Muroki was joking. "For someone who has been begging me for cubs for so long, you really do change your mind quickly." She stuck her tongue out again at him. "But like it or not, you're stuck with me for the time being when the cubs are inside of me and driving me insane, and you will help me raise them properly." She grinned wickedly. "Or else!"

---

Unlike the first time Delano wanted to grab a nap, this time he was even able to fall asleep without starting to snore. No that he was able to tell, except for that when he finally woke up again, Lina was still by his side and staring at him. He didn't know if she had stared at him the entire time, or only now that he had fidgeted as he woke up, but he smiled back at her when he saw that she was looking at him again.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki grinned. He knew she was kidding and that she knew how much he still wanted and was looking forward to having these cubs with her. "Have no fear, fair lady." he said with a chuckle. "I'm not going anywhere. If anything, you're stuck with me." It was true, in a way. Sometimes she'd get snnoyed by how frequently he asked her whether she was feeling alright or something else of the sort. "You really did make me beg for a long time, didn't you?" Still grinning, he playfully pinned her onto her back. "That was awfully cruel of you."

~~~

Lina had fallen asleep as well at some point but she woke up again before Delano did. When he opened his eyes and looked at her she smiled happily, giving him a quick nuzzle. "Slept well?" she asked, knowing that even napping all day wouldn't prevent him from sleeping like a log during the night. They were already into the evening by the time he woke up. "Do you think we should start going back now?"

[DGFone]

Umeme let out a surprised yelp when she found herself pinned to the ground. "What did you expect?" she teased back. "That I simply bow down to your every will and wish? Of course I had to make you beg!" She lifted her head and kissed him. "It wouldn't be fun otherwise," she whispered, "and very, very boring."

---

Delano looked around, noting how much the time had changed. "Yeah, I slept well," he admitted, "and yeah, we should head back now. Hopefully Umeme and Muroki are not waiting for us somewhere." If they were waiting for him and Lina, he would feel very bad for holding them up, so he hoped that they knew better than to wait.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki frowned playfully at his mate's question. "Of course I wasn't." he said, smiling happily when she kissed him. "I suppose it would have been boring in hindsight." he said, grinning teasily at her. If anything, waiting so long made it worth it in the end even more. The lion gently wrapped his paws around his mate as he lay down next to her, smiling all the while. "It was worth the wait." He was sure that the birth of their cubs would be worth the wait as well, despite all the difficulties that would come with the responsibility.

~~~

Lina smiled, giving her mate another loving nuzzle. "Yeah, hopefully they're not." she said, waiting for him to rise to his paws before standing up as well. "Remind me to run away from you and leave you in the dust more often." she added somewhat flirtatiously, rubbing her head against his as they began to make their way back towards their new den.

[DGFone]

Umeme laughed again. "We'll see what you will say when I will almost smash your head into a rock for waking me up too early very soon." She might be joking about it now, but she knew that she would need to really watch her emotions and make sure that she wouldn't accidently harm Muroki further on in the near future.

---

Delano nearly stumbled when Lina rubbed her head on his before he was ready, but he regained his balance with a silly grin. "What? Oh, yeah, I can do that," he said, feeling himself starting to turn red again, "but uh... you do know that I don't like being in second place, so that might be harder for you than you think..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled somewhat nervously. "That's why I don't wake you up anymore." The best option was to let her wake up on her own and they both knew it. "But, um... You won't really do that, will you?" he asked, his ears dropping against his head. That sounded quite painful to him, and he's almost had his shoulder torn off twice!

~~~

Lina couldn't help but giggle when Delano lost his balance. The silly grin on his face was very much like the ones he'd given her back when they'd just started seeing each other. She still remembered those times, it almost felt like they'd occurred yesterday. "Really?" she asked with a teasing grin. "Because I kept you in the dust long enough this time if you ask me..." She licked his cheek, smiling. "You're not in a that much better shape as you think."

[DGFone]

Noticing that Muroki didn't exactly get the joke, Umeme licked him across his muzzle. "Of course I wouldn't do that, honey," she told him softly, "why would I?" She nuzzled him, making sure that he got the point across that she wouldn't actually do anything like that. She only separated after he had started purring.

---

Delano looked at the ground, feeling himself starting to turn red all over again. "Yeah, I really need to work on that," he admitted, "because... it really was hard keeping up with you today." He looked back up at Lina, again with a foolish grin. "Guess you'll do everything you can to make sure that I won't be able to simply outrun you again like before." He gave her a lick before motioning with his head. "Come on, let's go home."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki allowed a small smile to briefly form on his muzzle when Umene licked him. "I dunno..." he admitted somewhat sheepishly. "Your hormones sound intimidating..." he chuckled, purring when his mate nuzzled him. He did of course realize that he might have over reacted, so he decided to let the matter drop until it would maybe become painful. Hopefully it wouldn't. "Would you like to start heading back?" he asked, grinning at her. "I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

~~~

Lina giggled, licking her mate back. "Yeah, you could use some more work." she said teasingly. "I'll obviously make sure to give you a hard time, but I'll definitely let you catch up to me as well..." she doubted Delano would fail to catch her drift, but had a feeling that he would. The two continued making their way home and Lina continued to smile all the way.

[DGFone]

Standing up, Umeme nodded. "As much as I really don't want to have you worry constantly about me," she told her mate, "I am going to let it slide this time because I agree with you." She waited for him to join her before the two of them began to walk back to their den. "I do have to wonder though, after all of this will be through, which one of us will feel like we suffered more?" She gave Muroki a quick lick. "Because you're already complaining, dear, and we still got a long way to go."

---

Delano did catch her drift, and he felt himself almost lose his balance again. "Lina! Don't tease me like that!" He playfully nudged her side before hopping aside before she could return her own prod at him. "If you keep on doing that, you'll soon come to regret it. You don't want to know what I'll do!" He grinned at her, purposely using the same threat which he used on her during their chase.

[TheWhistlerify]

Smiling, Muroki stood up one joined his mate as the two of them began to make their way back. He gave her a playful frown, chuckling when she licked him. "The only thing I'm complaining about is this unbearable wait." he said with a grin. "I haven't complained about having to hunt often, mostly on my own, for example, and I'm not going to either. If anything, Mrs. I can't stay in the den, I think this will be harder for you..." He gave her a somewhat teasing lick behind her ear, still grinning.

~~~

Lina giggled. She was clearly enjoying herself. "Of course I'll tease you, honey!" she said, coming closer and licking him across his muzzle. "And I think I actually do want to know what you'll do..." she added with a flirtatious grin, not passing up on the opportunity to tease him again. "So I'm going to keep this up for... Forever, probably." She licked him again, giggling once more.