[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

As much as Delano wanted to tell Lina the missing reason why he wasn't feeling well, he knew that he couldn't do that yet. However, he also knew that it meant that Lina had no idea why he was really feeling like this. To make things worse, because there was still that lion out there, Delano wasn't certain that he was going to get better like Lina was saying he would.

Not knowing how to express this without telling her what was going on, he simply didn't say anything as he tried to get comforted by Lina's nuzzling. However, he still felt rather upset, so he didn't want to get back to the others. It didn't help that as he would start to start calming down, he would remember again why he felt bad, and his depression would return.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, of course, unlike Delano, didn't have the same concerns and worries as he did. As a result, she really wasn't experiencing any difficulty in believing that everything would be alright in due time and in staying calm about the whole situation. In her perspective her mate was going to be completely back to normal in due time and, above all, their son wasn't going to grow up without a father. So was there really anything she needed to worry about? Well, there was this one thing, but she knew nothing of it.

[DGFone]

Closing his eyes, Delano allowed himself to try and relax from within Lina's embrace. Perhaps all he needed to do for now was to remain here, slightly away from the others, and simply wait for his emotions to go through him and finally simply leave him. Every now and then, he would still let out a small whimper, but for the most part, he didn't make any more noise as he fought internally with his mind.

At one point though, to his surprise, Delano felt Lina's tongue run over the top of his head. At first, he felt a pang of anger at her for interrupting his thoughts. "Lina-" He stopped, realizing that sure, she did distract him, but at the same time, it worked. She always knew how to make him feel better, and now was not an exception.

As he placed his head back down, she must have understood that he wasn't actually angry at her, for Delano felt her resume her grooming almost immediately. Even despite his bad mood, he had to admit that it did feel rather nice, and therefor was even helping him, if only slightly.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was very much satisfied, as always, with just lying closely to her mate in complete silence. The calmness of such situations was something she never ceased to enjoy. Although, it would be a lie to say that it wasn't somewhat ruined by Delano's occasional, faint whimper. Not ruined as in she couldn't enjoy the silence between them because she saw his distress as an interruption, but ruined as in the fact that it was impossible for her to relax if he wasn't able to do so as well. Him still being upset upset her too.

So, deciding she might as well not talk to him about things again, for she would probably not be able to think of anything to say that she hadn't already said earlier, the lioness figured that the least and probably best thing she could do at the moment was to remind him that she was there, and that she had no intention of leaving any time soon. So, remembering how it usually (always, to be precise), had a soothing effect on the lion, Lina began to gently groom his mane. It also made it more comfortable at the end of the day.

Slightly withdrawing her head as Delano started talking, slightly grumpily, she soon realized that he didn't mean it and was simply a little surprised at the sudden gesture, which must have interrupted his train of thought. Once his head was back down on the ground, she smiled and returned to what she was doing. If anything, it was also a good way to occupy herself and pass the time, not to mention that it really was her pleasure to display some affection and help her mate feel less tense while she was at it.

[DGFone]

Compared to just moments before, with Lina's help, Delano was able to finally calm down enough to start relaxing somewhat. Sure, he still felt quite bad, but as he closed his eyes, he no longer felt an urge to open them again to glare at the air in front of him because of his thoughts.

Kept passive by Lina's grooming, he felt himself start to feel drowsy. No doubt today's events had left him rather tired, and for that matter, sleep didn't seem like such a bad idea. Even as he was still wondering if it would be a smart idea to go to sleep in his bad mood, the fatigue took over and he finally did exactly that.

[TheWhistlerify]

Not paying much attention to the passage of time or to the cubs behind them (because she knew Umeme was keeping an eye on the trio in the meantime), Lina found herself giggling quietly when she noticed that Delano had fallen asleep. It wasn't her original intention, and might have been considered a pretty ambitious goal, but she'd take it. This was surely a sign that he was a lot calmer than just earlier and, whether she was to be given any credit for it or not, she was still happy with the new situation. Gently placing her head on top of her mate's, she purred softly as she closed her eyes and just rested there with him.

[DGFone]

As he slept, Delano found himself, to his great displeasure, to be in another nightmare. Again it involved this strange lion who had helped Sanders, most likely a direct result of his worries from when he was falling asleep, it didn't offer any help that he knew that he was in another bad dream, and that he knew why. Watching helplessly as the lion advanced towards his son, Delano tried to no avail to stop the lion. As the lion brought his clawed paws down on the helpless cub, Delano could only scream in rage and fear...

...and found himself being shaken furiously by Lina, who was looking at him with a very concerned face. Staring up at her, Delano looked around, to his great relief spotting Akili with his cousins. While seeing his son safe and sound brought great joy to him, Delano was still too frightened from his dream. Hugging Lina hard, he sobbed into her fur as he tried to remove the memories of what he just saw.

[TheWhistlerify]

It's not that Lina was expecting this or necessarily waiting for it to happen, but she wasn't surprised when Delano eventually began to show the signs that were common to when he was having another nightmare. Knowing that it would be for the better if she woke him up right away instead of waiting for him to wake up on his own and in a manner that would get the attention of the cubs as well as potentially scare them, she shook her mate awake. Looking at him in concern as he came to it, the lioness couldn't help but feel uneasy about how she was already so used to these nightmares of his and wasn't so much as slightly startled whenever one took place...

[DGFone]

With Lina holding on to Delano as his trembling slowly died off, he was finally able to calm down enough to talk again. Choosing to remain in her embrace, he nuzzled her slightly to try and convey to her at least some sign that he appreciated her helping him.

"I thought it would all be over now," he whispered somewhat bitterly, "why is it not?" Well, he did know one of the reasons, and now, more than ever, he wanted to tell Lina about that lion. At least then, she would understand why he wasn't doing so well, as well as explaining Muroki's strange behavior. But if Lina started to worry like that as well? Delano wasn't well enough yet to be of any help, and Muroki wasn't doing all that well either. If something were to happen to Lina... No, she must not know yet.

However, that conclusion still left Delano at the odd position of being able to partially able to explain what was happening to him, but with Lina not knowing about it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina returned her mate's nuzzle, feeling somewhat less uneasy at the little gesture that showed he was aware enough of her being there to help him, unlike previous times in the past where he had been almost impossible to talk to... "I don't know why it's not over, Delano..." she said quietly, licking him once across his muzzle. How could she know, though? In her perspective, there was absolutely no immediate threat to them anymore. As far as she was concerned, there was no reason for him to be having any more nightmares.