[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano absolutely hated feeling how Akili trembled as he reached out for his son. He kept his head down so that Akili could walk over to it, moving as little as possible so that he wouldn't scare his son even more. Eventually, he felt the cub begin to calm down, which helped his own fears as well.

He was able to smile slightly at Lina when she nuzzled him before moving on to their son. Hearing Akili purr shortly afterwards brought great joy to him, but he still felt a lot of uncertainties about how long this might last. Not willing to make any sudden movements that would scare Akili again, Delano closed his eyes and lowered his head on the ground. Being awake for half the night again didn't help his fatigue, and catching up on sleep now was a good of a time as any.

[TheWhistlerify]

Noticing Akili purr like that, especially after the fright he'd experienced because of his father nightmare, brought great joy to Lina as well. She continued to gently nuzzle her son, glad not only that he was calmer now but also that he hadn't been accidentally hurt. Because of his very small size, Delano's unintantional squeeze could have even had fatal results... Realizing that both her mate and son had dozed off, she decided she might as well give their cub a bath. Doing so while he slept was certainly easier than when he was awake, and his mother doubted he'd wake up easily after the restless night he'd had. Slowly picking Akili up and placing him between her own paws, she began to clean him.

[DGFone]

When Delano woke up some time later, he was able to hear the soft voices of his aunt and uncle talknig to Lina. Immediately, he grew afraid of what they might be talking about, so he pretended to still be asleep so that he can listen in to what they were talking about.

Sure enough, he heard them discussing something, and he heard his name a few times, but he wasn't able to hear well enough as to what exactly they were talknig about. The sun was also starting to feel very hot, which told him that it was most likely mid-day by now. Letting out a weak cough, he decided to stop pretending to be asleep and slowly lifted his head. "H-hey, Lina. What's going on?" He looked around, and saw that Lina was indeed sitting next to Laini and Dakari.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, on the contrary to Delano's prediction, saw no reason to tell anybody about the incident of the previous night. Doing so would achieve nothing but more unnecessary stress for her mate, not to mention that Akili would have a harder time forgetting about it all if everyone around him started talking about it. But his aunt and uncle had been quite confused to find him sleeping out of the den, so she did have to come up with some explanation to that, telling the older lion and lioness that he'd simply decided to get some more sleep outside.

Smiling, she walked over.to her mate and gave him a quick nuzzle. "Not much." she said softly.

His aunt also walked over to him. "How are you feeling now, Delano?" she asked, hoping that her nephew wasn't as exhausted as he'd been yesterday and that he'd managed to get some sleep.

[DGFone]

Glancing between his aunt and uncle, Delano wasn't sure how much they knew about what had happened during the night. She didn't sound like she knew, mostly sounding worried because no doubt finding him asleep out here instead of in the den was not something one normally did. As much as he wanted to tell her the truth, he was in no mood to explain to anyone else about what had happened, so instead he simply muttered, "I'm alright I guess. Still not... not back to normal yet."

He didn't want to flat out lie to his aunt and uncle, whom he now saw as replacements for his parents, but he didn't want to tell enough to cause them to worry - or even potentially contradict whatever Lina did or did not say. That's why he settled on this vague statement that he hoped won't rouse to much suspicion. He then returned Lina's nuzzle, glad that she was no longer yelling at him for something that he had no control over.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini had to admit that, while her nephew didn't look as if everything was okay just yet, he did look as if he was no longer as tired as he'd been yesterday. So even if he wasn't completely back to normal just yet, it was still far better than nothing. "That's lovely to hear." she said, smiling as Delano and Lina nuzzled each other. "I think that all you need is a little bit more sleep and you'll be as good as knew. Tell you what, how about we'll keep an eye on Akili for today so that you can get some more rest?" The cub in question and Nyoka were nearby playing with Kasi, who semed as if he was barely able to keep up with both of them at the same time.

[DGFone]

Still feeling rather tired, Delano liked the sound of being able to rest for some time longer. "Yeah... that would be nice," he said, smiling a little at his aunt. He wasn't sure even if she knew that he didn't get to sleep for the entire night, but either way, if she was offering him the opportunity to rest right now, he was going to take it.

Much to the other's amusement, he lay down again right where he was, not even bothering to get back inside the den to catch up on sleep. Glancing up at Lina briefly, he quickly added, "I'll see you later today then?" Almost not waiting for a reply, he closed his eyes and very soon afterwards, was already snoring quietly.

[TheWhistlerify]

It was imossible for Lina not to giggle as Delano immediately fell asleep without giving her a chance to say anything in response. But she was glad that her mate had agreed to get some more rest. He definitely needed it. "Well, who am I to say no to a nap under the sun against my favorite pillow, huh?" she asked. Laini chuckled in response. "I mean, if you're sure you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Akili..."

"Don't mention it! Kasi's doing fine with both of them!" Actually, her older son looked as if the two cubs were brutally mauling him. She giggled. "Don't worry about it."

Spoiler: show

Guarding 'till 01:00

[DGFone]

Dakari grinned at Lina, nodding at her to show that he also didn't mind her resting on Delano. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye out on Akili and Nyoka. Kasi is going to help us as well." He glanced at his older son, who was on the ground, beneath both cubs. Dakari was confident that there would be no trouble at all with the cubs. But just to make sure that Lina won't be worried, he also said, "should something happen that we will need your help, we will wake you up. But don't worry, I really don't think anything will happen. It's not like we don't know how to look after cubs." He said this with a slight smirk to his mate.

It didn't take long after he told Lina that everything would be fine before she lay her head on Delano's mane, and so Dakari and Laini left the pair to give them some space as they rested.

[TheWhistlerify]

Also looking over at Kasi, Lina giggled at the sight of Akili and Nyoka jumping, running and nibbling on prety much almost every bit of the poor young adult. Kasi was definitely great with cubs, even if he wasn't a father himself. Perhaps it was because of Nyoka that her cubhood friend seemed like such a natural at interracting with little fuzzballs. As Delano's aunt and uncle walked away, the lioness let out a relaxed sigh and positioned her head comfortably against her mate's mane. His warm fur and tbe sun aure made an incredible combination.