[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

As much as he wanted to tell his mate what was going on, Delano knew that he couldn't do that. So what was he supposed to say then? As he struggled to think of how to answer Lina without telling about this other lion, he finally figured it out after a few worried moments.

"It's just that... Sanders is gone. I would know... I killed him! And yet, I am still having these bad dreams, like... like he's taunting me despite being dead." As much as he didn't want to lie to Lina, saying this was came to Delano fairly easily because he initially did feel exactly like this. "It's going to take me time to heal up, I know, but this..." he let out a low groan, "...this I didn't expect... To have to stay away from my own son whenever I want to sleep!"

Feeling like he said enough, Delano shuddered slightly before edging himself closer to his mate. Looking up at her, he managed to even smile slightly at her. "Listen, Lina, I know that it must be hard on you right now... I just want you to know that... Well, I'm really grateful." He placed his head down on one of her paws, wanting to get some more rest, but at the same time, rather afraid to allow himself to fall asleep again.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina offered Delano a small smile in return, placing her head down closely to his on the ground. "You're welcome..." she said, licking his nose. "But like you said, he's dead and gone... So I'm sure your head will soon realize that he can't hurt Akili anymore and the nightmares will stop." It seemed reasonable enough to her seeing how her mate woke up from one of his nightmares screaming their son's name. Therefor it wasn't hard to figure out that his bad dreams revolved around the cub's safety.

Chuckling to herself, she gently nudged the lion's muzzle with her own. "You know what?" She never stopped doubting that him being unable to sleep next to their cub because of this was still one of the reasons he was upset, but he was awake now. "I think you and Akili could use some time together." If they couldn't even sleep next to one another, the least thing they could do was use the time they were awake to make up for that. "I'm sure one particular fuzzy maraca would really love that..."

[DGFone]

While Delano had begrudgingly resigned himself to needing to stay away from Akili at night, somewhere along the past couple of day,s he was already under the impression that it was a bad idea for him to be near his son at all. So when Lina suggested that he spend some time with Akili, he looked up at her, all hopeful, but also unsure. "You really think so?" he asked, causing his mate to chuckle at just how hopeful he sounded, "I'd sure love to, but I mean, it won't be... dangerous for him? I... I don't want anything to happen to him."

At the back of his mind, he was telling himself that since he was awake, then it should all be all right for him to hang out with Akili and to try and get some sort of a resemblance of normalcy back. But at the same time, a part of him was still not sure if it was a good idea or not, so he really needed to hear Lina say that it would be fine for Delano to even think of doing that.

[TheWhistlerify]

It was really impossible for Lina not to chuckle at the very hopeful look Delano gave her and at his tone. His expression was just like Akili's whenever he was in a similar position (under different circumstances, of course). The resemblance between her mate and cub never ceased to be adorable in her opinion. She wondered just how much alike the two of them will look when their son would grow older and eventually reach adulthood.

Girlish fantasies aside, the lioness nodded in approval. "Of course I think so." she said cheerfully, giving Delano a quick nuzzle. "He'll love it. You both will." Also, since his father was awake, Akili really shouldn't be in any sort of danger whatsoever. Looking over her shoulder, she giggled upon seeing that their son was still playing with his cousins. "Akili!" Upon hearing his name, the little hairball was soon running over to his parents, leaving Ubawa and Marini to play by themselves. Being quite occupied, though, they didn't seem to notice the younger cub had taken his leave.

Arriving next to the two adults, Akili didn't hesitate before affectionately brushing against his mother's chest, purring loudly as he was nuzzled tenderly by the lioness. Lina smiled warmly at the little cub as he then moved over to his father, practically disappearing inside his mane. "Don't get lost in there..." she said teasingly, licking her mate across his muzzle. "That's my thing..."

[DGFone]

"Hey champ! How's it going?" Delano grinned like a cub when Akili ran over to them and made his way into his mane. He was sure that it hadn't been all that long ago, but he was already unable to really say when was the last time he was able to hold his son, let alone let Akili ride on his mane like that. While it felt great to be interacting with his family like this again, he was all too aware that that wasn't necessarily a good thing: for it meant that he hadn't spent much quality time with Akili and Lina recently.

But now that he was with Lina and Akili, at least for now, it felt like all of Delano's worries had vanished. Almost out of instinct, he tried to get up so that he can give Akili a ride, only to be reminded very quickly why that wasn't the best of ideas as his sore legs just about refused to move. But when he will get better...

It also seamed like he wasn't the only one who missed these sill games, based on how Delano felt Akili was enjoying playing with his mane. While he couldn't see the cub, he was able to feel that even after a few moments, Lina was already going to have to spend quite some time grooming the mane if she wanted to have her pillow up to her standards again.

Keeping in mind not to accidentally crush Akili, Delano leaned his head over to give Lina a quick nuzzle. "You're right, Lina," he told her, "this was a good idea."

[TheWhistlerify]

If anything, Delano calling Akili champ only seem to inspire the cub further in his quest of ruining his mother's favorite pillow. The cub seemed to be very much enjoying messing about with his father's mane, and Lina was quickly able to tell, by the way he two looked, that this really was a good idea. It was obvious that the cub wasn't as excited about the mane as he was about interacting with his dad. "There's no reason why the two of you shouldn't be together during the day." she said, licking the lion across his muzzle as their son managed to clumsily climb onto her mate's head, where he soon settled down while beginning to tug on one of his ears.

[DGFone]

Delano was about to reply to Lina's comment about how he wasn't sure until now, except that he was interrupted as Akili decided to gnaw one of his ears off. Rolling his eyes playfully, Delano allowed the cub to continue to torture his ear. Compared to getting beat up by Sanders, the only occasional stab of pain from one of Akili's growing teeth wasn't anything to fuss about, and as long as it meant that he got to spend time with all three of them together...

Still, it didn't mean that he can't take the opportunity to poke fun at the situation. "As long as he doesn't decide to eat the rest of my head while he's at it," he commented to Lina, "do I really taste that good?" He was only teasing of course, but he was sure that when he was Akili's age, he had already gotten over the eating-his-parents stage. Or perhaps it was Akili's way of showing that he really missed playing around with Delano, something which the lion couldn't blame his son for.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina giggled to herself as Akili continued to joyfully chew on his father's ear, ignoring the lion's teasing question as to whether it was delicious. The cub may have been content playing only with his cousin and did not insist on sleeping next to Delano at night, which could show that he understood things weren't all too ordinary, but now his mother clearly saw just how much her son had missed this sort of basic interaction, despite the way he hasn't been demanding it because, perhaps, he was either worried and confused or, surprisingly, just being patient and waiting for some improvement or an opportunity like this. "I'm sure he'll show you mercy." she said teasingly, briefly ruffling Akili's "mane" with a paw.

[DGFone]

If Delano had actually doubted that Akili was going to be careful with his ear or other body part, then he would have already had his son get off. However, since he knew that Akili wasn't actually going to hurt him, he was fine with letting the cub play around at the top of his head. Especially since it was only a matter of time before Akili would get too big to play like this, Delano wanted to savior every moment he got like this.

Remembering something that Akili had done, Delano frowned when he couldn't remember exactly when it was. Was it before or after he killed Sanders that Akili had finally pinned Marini? He was certain it was after, but wasn't entirely sure. Well, anyways: "So tell me, Akili," he proceeded to ask, "did you manage to pin Marini again?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Still lying on top of his father's head, Akili finally let go of Delano's ear for the first time since he'd settled down in the adult lion's mane upon being asked whether he'd managed to pin his niece again after that historical occasion of success. "No..." he said, looking anything but upset about it. While he would be happy to get her a 2nd time, there was still the fact that he'd finally gotten it done once.

And, of course: "But Ubawa can't get her at all!" added the little cub with a proud smile spread across his muzzle. His cousin, who was older and slightly bigger, has yet been able to out-wrestle his own sister. "Only I could!" In a way, the fact that Akili had managed to do something another male cub hasn't, even if they were very close and not too competitive with one another, was even better than having gotten back at his niece for all the teasing she's given the two of them. Of course, since his little victory, Marini has gotten right back to her old ways, but come on; let's look on the really important stuff.