[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme nudged Muroki gently, knowing why he was looking rather nervous. "That is what you get for all of your... creative names you call our cubs," she teased her mate quietly, "I told you it would get you into trouble when they will finally meet Kato." As much as she enjoyed teasing him about it, the fact that Muroki would on occasion call Marini 'his little princess' was not something she found as annoying. In fact, Umeme found it cute in many ways.

Of course, now it was not in Muroki's favor that he does that. Then ironically, or more likely simply because they were dealing with cubs, Marini was busy chasing after Ubawa to get her revenge on him, meaning that her input to the conversation was completely forgotten.

Turning her attention back to Hatari, Umeme was rather interested to hear that Kato hadn't shown up yet. Well, he did have all of the training he had to go through, but Umeme had gotten the impression that the prince would visit Hatari on a fairly regular basis.

[TheWhistlerify]

As much as Muroki knew that his nickname for Marini was very silly, it was kind of true. His daughter really was like a little princess (not that they spoiled her or anything). He still needed to get back at Lina for that comment she'd made about how Kato would love to be 'his little princess' in order to assure her niece that her royal position was better than Kato's. Muroki still didn't know how, but he would find a way. Or maybe he wouldn't.

"Yeah, Kato comes over every once in a while." continued Hatari as Ubawa ran around him while being chased by his sister. "If he can." He also knew that the prince liked to spend most of his free time with Desta, so the frequency of his visists was never predictable. Akili meanwhile was tugging on the lion's ear. He stopped, however, when he saw how closely his cousins were running to him. So, the next time the two passed by, he pounced into the fray.

[DGFone]

In many many ways, it was very amusing to see Hatari try to hold a conversation while having his ear being gnawed on by Akili. Although, watching from nearby, Delano wasn't sure if it was entirely all amusing. He too was on an endless receiving end of having his ears chewed on, but there was always a problem of what will happen when Akili would start to develop actual sharp teeth... "Hey, Lina, I'm wondering. When Akili will grow some nice long fangs, will you let me set him lose on Hatari's head?"

While he was teasing, he still tried to make himself sound completely serious. Although, because of his personal issues with the other lion, pretending to want to hurt him was proving to be far easier than he would have necessarily liked...

With Umeme, she was glad to hear that even though the prince hadn't stopped by recently, that he still does. She was all to aware that along with all of his training and other duties, he also always talked about spending time with Desta, so if anything, coming over to visit Hatari just showed even more about how much of a caring lion he is.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina has never believed that she would one day see her own cub playing with the lion who'd tried to force her to mate with him and killed her in-laws. Even now she was having a hard time comprehending what she was looking at. But her reservations about this whole thing kept getting smaller. Looking at her mate, she raised an eyebrow. "Um... No, I don't think I will..." Delano's choice of words suggested that he was kidding, but he sure sounded as if he wasn't.

Meanwhile, Hatari couldn't help his eyes from darting upwards, where he could partially see Akili as the cub rested on his forehead again, happily nibbling away on his ear once more. "Are you enjoying yourself up there?" he asked, chuckling as the little ball of fluff's response was muffled entirely by the ear in his mouth. Deciding to take that as a positive answer, he left the hairball to his business.

[DGFone]

Delano was slightly caught off guard by how worried Lina sounded. Did she really think that he was being serious? "Lina... I was only kidding." He quickly shut his mouth and cringed away from her when she sent him a rather nasty glare, confirming that she at least partially didn't think that he was joking.

Watching as Akili chewed on Hatari's ear once more, Umeme began to giggle. "Akili! That's not a chew-toy! Leave poor Hatari's ear alone."

From on top of the lion's head, the cub let go, but not very willingly. He tried to complain that Delano allowed him to do it to his father all the time, which caused Umeme to chuckle even more.

"But Hatari's not your dad now, is he?" she replied back, "now be a good lad and don't chew on Hatari's ear." As if in reply, Akili jumped down in ambush at Marini who was running after Ubawa.

[TheWhistlerify]

Delano's reaction to her answer kind of did assure Lina that her mate really was only kidding about possibly attempting to hurt Hatari. She should have known as much, but his tone had kind of made him sound rather serious and, with how he still had his reservations about what was going on... No, Delano would never try to hurt Hatari. He probably knew what a dangerous idea that would be. "At least try to sound like it next time, please..." she said, dropping the glare and letting out a soft sigh.

Muroki meanwhile chuckled as Umeme told their nephew to leave Hatari's ear be. "Fun spoiler." he teased, obviously joking. While Hatari didn't seem to mind too much, it was true that he wasn't Akili's father. It was also possible that the lion actually did have a problem with what the cub was doing but simply didn't want to ruin the little guy's mood. However Akili soon distracted himself with his cousins, so no harm was done. Muroki gave his mate's ear a quick nibble, chuckling as she frowned playfully but nuzzled him in response.

Before they had a chance to get all caught up with one another, though, they heard Ubawa's groan of complaint followed by him telling them to not even start. It seemed as if their son never failed to notice it whenever they became affectionate towards one another, no matter how busy he was playing. But this allowed Marini to catch up to him, so he got what he deserved for interrupting his parents. Hatari, now free from the little trio, walked over to the pair and sat down next to them.

[DGFone]

Delano didn't know whether or not he should be glad or not that he had managed to sound serious so easily. On one paw, it meant that Lina completely bought it, which was what he was aiming to do, except that at the same time, she also bought it too much. If anything, this little joke of his only left him feeling rather ashamed of himself. "Hey, Lina... I didn't mean anything by it," he tired to say, but saw that she had already chosen to drop the subject entirely.

Umeme chose to ignore hers and Muroki's son when deciding to show her mate some affection this time around. Ubawa was always like this, and it was only a matter of him getting used to it: she wasn't going to change how she behaves around Muroki.

It didn't mean that she didn't see Hatari walk over to them as soon as he got the chance to. She found it very funny for some reason. "Found an opportunity to make a break for it?" she teased the other lion. "Don't tell me the mighty Hatari got bested by three cubs."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki, of course, had no intention of stopping what he and Umeme were doing simply because Ubawa was complaining. He complained about that sort of thing all the time. If anything, the cub's whining was like an encouragement to keep going. Their son would probably realize his place one day. If not - all the more fun for them to keep teasing him about it by constantly ignoring him all the time. There was also the whole aspect of being affectionate towards his mate because he wanted to be. They were married for crying out loud! Silly, sassy ball of fluff! Some nerve!

Noticing Hatari reposition himself next to them now that he had the chance to move, the two adults decided to slightly ease the pace of their displays of affection so that they could talk to the lion properly. Pausing their making out session for the time being, Umeme and Muroki were both satisfied with the way she simply rested her head on his shoulder and slightly leaned against him. It would have to do for now.

"Eh, well..." Hatari rubbed the back of his head with a paw, chuckling sheepishly. He has never considered himself as someone mighty, and the circumstances leading to his fighting abilities were definitely not a source of pride for him. "You could say that I have." Nevertheless, he understood the lioness's joke. The three cubs really were a pawful. But they were so cute at the same time.

[DGFone]

Umeme could understand why Hatari could feel overwhelmed by the cubs. "You really have to spend some time with them before you get used to it," she explained, "but they are very much worth it." Not even moments such as when Ubawa would constantly complain should Umeme and Muroki so much as even look at each other lovingly ruin the fact that having both him and Marini was a huge blessing. "You know... even though you just ran away from them, if you ever want us to come bye more often, just say so. You can even send us messages through Kato, I don't think he'll mind. It's really not that hard to get over here, especially now that the cubs are able to walk here on their own."

She didn't mean on their own as in without supervision, but that the cubs don't need to be carried here. They now have enough energy to walk here, spend the entire day playing, and then perhaps walk back, although for now, at least last time they came here, Lina and Delano chose to carry Akili back.

[TheWhistlerify]

While Hatari could easily see why Umeme believed he'd just attempted to flee from the cubs, the truth was that he simply wanted to position himself more.closely to his friends. The little hairballs would be able to use him as a playground just as effectively next to the adults, not to mention that it would probably be a matter of very little time before they hunted him down like the vicious predators they were.

The lion chuckled. "Yeah, they can be a bit overwhelming..." he admitted, watching as Ubawa and Akili chased Marini all over the place. "But I think I'm starting to get the hang of, well... this..." Truth be told, he'd greatly enjoyed the little ones' company the first time around, despite all he initial awkwardness. Having cubs around definitely added a very cheerful element to the normally lonely atmosphere of his isolated home - one that he greatly enjoyed and appreciated.

"The cubs have definitely taken quite a liking to you." said Muroki with a smile, wrapping a paw around Umeme. It was one of the things that surprised Hatari quite a bit, actually. He hadn't expected the three to grow so fond of him that quickly, if at all. As grateful as he was for still having Muroki and Umeme's company and the cubs' (as well as that of Delano and Lina, sort of), his past actions still troubled him greatly. If he hadn't been such a fool he would have been able to have a family too and... not live on his own outside the border like the outcast that he was.

Seeing Umeme and Muroki so close together always spurred a small sense of jealousy inside him. Not one of anger or anything, but the sort of desire to get to experience such emotional attachment himself. "Yeah, I guess they have." he said, looking at the two of them. "I suppose I could ask Kato to send you this way every once in a while." He chuckled, obviously kidding. With the cubs now no longer newborns, he had a feeling that the frequency of the visits would increase from now on.