[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned back at Muroki, giving him a quick nuzzle when he informed her that she was successful in getting him to feel better. Especially with what Hatari then told him now, she knew that her mate was now in control of himself enough to be able to calm himself down when he find himself worrying too much. "If you ever find yourself losing yourself, remember that I am always here," she reassured him as she let go of their embrace.

It was good to hear from Hatari as well that Muroki would be all right. While her mate had been improving, Umeme did feel like he needed to hear from someone other than herself that he was capable of overcoming this. Plus, with Hatari calling it 'pointless paranoia', Umeme hoped that Muroki would understand better that he was worrying about things far more than their worth. However, from how Muroki looked like now, it seemed that he understood that as well.

---

Delano nodded at what Kato said, but wasn't really paying attention due to still thinking about how to go along ad do this. "I guess we'll need to wait for Muroki and Umeme to get back," he added after some time, "and... I guess we should all talk with your father. Figure out a plan."

A part of his mind was also distracted by the fact that, while still only recovering from his fight with Sanders, here he was, already talking with Kato about going after another lion who wanted to kill them. To say that Delano wanted all of this to finally be over was an understatement.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled warmly at Umeme, licking her across her forehead as he did. "I know." Her presence was something he was always aware of and appreciated, but he still enjoyed the reminder. "Thanks, Umeme..." She always knew just how to get him to feel better, even if only by a little bit. Hatari's words felt like a great reasurrance as well, seeing how it was really supportive to hear such things not only from his mate.

He gave Hatari a slight nod, silently thanking him for his support too. It was quite a big relief and help to see the former member of the underworld cope so well with everything. It made him want to get better even more quickly and was kind of reasurring by allowing him to see that it was possible. There was nothing getting too protective would benefit him in, which was why there really was no point in it.

●●●●●●●●●●

Kato really didn't know just how exactly Delano's brother was going to react to the idea except for that he wasn't going to like it. He felt certain that Delano would be keeping Lina in the dark about this, but what about Umeme? Surely if she knew she would also be against the idea, not to mention that it would be even harder for her to keep such information from her sister, especially because her brother-in-law was still hurt.

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned at Muroki, glad that he was okay again. With him not needing to be comforted again, she was able to return her attention back to Hatari. "So you mostly just hang around here then?" she asked the lion, "I know Kato likes to visit you in the mornings. But for how long does he usually stay for?" With Muroki now calm again, perhaps it would be a good idea to change subjects before his mood worsened again.

She doubted that it was for much time: the prince was back from his run early in the morning, so it's not like he was spending a lot of time talking. Perhaps he simply drops bye to give the news and then leaves immediately, which is what Umeme figured was most likely what the prince does.

---

Kato's silence wasn't exactly comforting to Delano. Either the prince was thinking hard on what to do, or the prince was just as clueless about it all as Delano was. Which considering how the conversation went, the latter was far more likely, and that thought wasn't helping.

Looking over at Lina, he felt glad that she was still asleep. Delano couldn't imagine having her wake up in the middle of the conversation and finding out about everything he had kept from her that way. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her about the plan they were coming up with, but to at least tell her finally about this lion... she had a right to know about what was going on. Delano glanced at Akili, knowing that the longer he put off telling Lina about the danger, the riskier it was for his son as well.

Well, for now all he needed to do was to wait for her to wake up. But Delano felt really bad knowing that once she did, he was about to really ruin her morning...

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari nodded his head. "Yeah, mostly around here." Except for when he went to hunt. "Like I usually do." It's not like he had any better place he could be at. "Kato's visits are often in the mornings, yes." he explained. "He drops by whenever he goes running. But sometimes he comes here in his spare time so he also stays longer."

Next to the two of them, Muroki soon found himself wondering whether Kato was worried about the risk of running into that lion on his won whenever he went running or came to visit Hatari. However, quickly realizing that he was about to do the exact same mistake again, he forced the thoughts out of his mind. "That wounds nice." he pointed out with a slight smile.

"I never mind the company." said Hatari

●●●●●●●●●●

Kato found himself simply staring at Muroki and Umeme's sleeping cubs between his paws, deep in his own thoughts. The longer they waited, the more likely Marini and Ubawa could be in danger. The same thing was true about their cousin who, as the prince looked in his direction, seemed to be in the process of waking up as he let out a slight mewl followed by a yawn before opening his eyes.

He was obviously oblivious to what Kato and his father had just talked about, and the prince couldn't help but feel somewhat envious of him because of that. But he also couldn't help himself from chuckling at the sleepy look on the cub's face. He was still as adoreable as ever. Noticing Delano was awake, he clumsily stood up and walked over to the lion, lying back down closely to his chest.

[DGFone]

Knowing that Hatari doesn't get to interact with others all that much, Umeme didn't find it at all unusual that he would mention the fact that he is lonely by some other means. "It was one of the reasons why we came here," she mentioned, "since we wanted to see how you were, but also because we know how much you enjoy it when we stop by."

Even from their short visit now, she was already getting the impression that Hatari enjoyed the fact that they came over, even if they did interrupt his sleep. He has plenty of time to do that later, once they leave, so he would much rather have them around than have more time to lie around and do nothing.

Umeme also remembered just how much Hatari liked it when they brought the cubs over. Perhaps now was too soon, and most likely, Muroki would object to it, but Umeme didn't see a reason why later on they won't be able to do that. "You know," she therefor added, "I think I know two cubs who would also like to see you sometime as well." This part she added with a grin.

---

As Akili unintentionally brought the conversation to a close, Delano looked down at his son as the cub settled down in between his paws. "Hey little guy," Delano greeted quietly with a smile, running a paw over the cub's head, "how are you this morning?"

Despite his own rather bad mood, Delano made sure not to sound like it around Akili. He really didn't want the cub to worry about him any more than he might possibly already be doing. At the back of his mind, Delano found himself wondering how much Akili knew about the fight, or more rather, because of how impossible it was to hide his wounds, if the cub knew something he might be better off not knowing about where they came from. Delano rather feared Akili finding out the truth at such a young age, and hoped that the cub didn't really notice anything yet, as unlikely as it was.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki, according the his mate's expectations, was indeed really against the idea of bringing the cubs over to see Hatari in the near future. This had nothing to do with being over paranoid but with the simple fact that taking the cubs out of the border when there was some crazy lion out to get them was just a dangerous thing to do. Once this whole thing was over, yes, but not yet.

Hatari, meanwhile, despite the blank expression on Muroki's face, knew exactly what Delano's brother was thinking. It was easy to guess and, to be honest, he shared his friend's opinion on he matter. "I would love to see them once this whole thing blows over." he said. Interacting with the duo of hairballs was quite fun. Marini was simply adoreable with the way she had her father's colors, and Ubawa acted like a very immature version of both of his parents.

●●●●●●●●●●

Akili purred softly at the feeling of his father's paw gently ruffling his head, looking up at the lion as he did. "I'm not little, dad." he said with a slight pout, failing to notice Kato chuckle to himself in response to his complaint. Little might not be the most suitable word. Tiny was far more fitting. It sounded sillier and cuter, too, but it was bound to make the little one even grumpier than Delano's current vocabulary.

As was to be expected, though, despite having just woken up and looking very much exhausted, the cub was full of energy and looking for a way to release some of it. "I'm thirsty, dad!" His cousins were still asleep, though, which was quite a shame. Playing with them was going to have to wait...

[DGFone]

Umeme nodded at what Hatari said. "Yeah, once this whole ordeal is over, I think it will be a nice thing..." Not only would the cubs do something they like, but Hatari would be less lonely as well. Plus the knowledge that they would only bring the cubs here when there was no danger to them, it would in a way be a final sign saying that it was all finally over. Ironically enough as well, despite not having cubs of his own, as well as what he did during his past, Hatari really knew how to interact with young cubs. "Hopefully, that will be very soon."

But that wasn't the case now, which was why the cubs were not here. However, while it meant that the cubs couldn't be here, Umeme and Muroki were more capable of looking after themselves, so there was no reason why they couldn't visit themselves. However, even though Umeme wasn't being as paranoid as Muroki, knowing that there was in the end a lion who wanted to cause them harm also left a hint of worry in her. Having this all be over would do all of them good.

---

Delano let out a small chuckle as Akili complained about being called little - it reminded him of himself when he was younger. Of course, always being slightly smaller than Muroki had something to do with it, just as Akili was always slightly smaller than Ubawa and Marini. And just like he was younger, Akili's mind would go all over the place, and now the cub was complaining about being thirsty.

Glancing over at Kato and rolling his eyes, Delano got up so that he can take the cub over to the waterhole. "Work, work," he muttered, exaggerating how annoyed he was. He didn't mind spending time with his son, true, but not exactly being able to walk did put a large limit on what he can do with the cub. "Alright, Akili, let's go." Allowing his son to take the lead, Delano limped out of the cave after him, making sure not to fall behind.

[TheWhistlerify]

Neither Hatari nor Muroki had so much as the slightest idea as to when this whole ordeal would come to an end. There really was no way to tell, but the two of them were obviously hoping for it to blow over as soon as possible. Once again, though, Delano's brother stopped thinking about it quickly so to not end up getting these even more negative thoughts into his head. It still sickened him that there were those out there who wouldn't mind and even wanted to hurt innocent cubs.

That suddenly got him thinking, though... Assuming that, hopefully, Hatari was unaware of Muroki and Delano's aunt being pregnant at he time... Has he ever killed a cub before? The former member of the underworld has changed now, yes, and yet Umeme's mate couldn't help but ask himself that question all of a sudden. At the same time, however, he really didn't want to find out the answer.

●●●●●●●●●●●

Kato wasn't as clueless as Delano's slight eyeroll suggested the older lion thought he was. He figured it would be much easier and better if he were to quickly take Akili to the waterhole himself, but at the same time he'd thought Muroki's brother would like to at least do something so simple on his own and that he wouldn't want the help. Well, one can be wrong about their assumptions. The prince also didn't want the cub to start questioning why his father couldn't take him out for just a few minutes in order to drink some water.

As Akili made his way towards the waterhole with his father following closely behind (he already knew the way by that point), he couldn't help but look around at the lion over his shoulders every once in a few seconds to make sure Delano was still coming along. "Dad, how come you can't walk any faster?" he asked at some point, his expression one of innocent confusion and curiosity.

[DGFone]

Watching Muroki, Umeme got the impression that her mate might soon start worrying again, so she edged close to his side so that she can distract him from that. Even then, he looked like he was able to calm himself down, but she chose to stay near him anyways, just in case.

Deciding that it might be better to do something other than to wait for another awkward conversation to start, she looked at Hatari and asked, "I know that we won't be able to go inside the kingdom, so I don't know if you think it's a good idea or not, but how much would you mind walking with us for a little while?" Obviously, if he will agree, they will stay close to the border, but even then, Hatari might be placed in a bad spot by not being allowed into the kingdom.

---

As he struggled to keep up with the already energetic cub, Delano almost missed the question that was directed at him. "What? Oh, uh-" He struggled to quickly come up with an excuse. Not only was the truth far too unsettling to tell, Delano even doubted that Akili would be able to understand it all in the first place. In the end, he basically found himself making stuff up right as he spoke. "Well, you know how sometimes you had where after you ran around too much after Ubawa and Marini, your legs would hurt the next day? ...Something like that, but on a larger scale." Smiling down at his son, Delano made an effort to show that it was nothing to pay attention to. "I'll be slow for a while, but that's all."

[TheWhistlerify]

Feeling Umeme inch closer to him did cause Muroki to snap out of his little daze, something he felt rather grateful for. "I wouldn't mind that at all." said Hatari, getting his attention. He wouldn't mind... what? "Walking sounds nice." Had Umeme suggested they went for a walk? He must have been really not paying attention these past few moments. "I could be doing that more often than I usually do." There wasn't a lot of sightseeing that could be done outside of the kingdom, but he personally didn't have a problem with that. Delano's brother, on the other paw, felt as if not just standing there would help him keep his mind off of things he didn't want to think about.

●●●●●●●●●●●

Slowing down a little, Akili gave his father a slow nod. "Okay..." He seemed to not be doubting the lion's words in the slightest. But, being such a young one, that really was to be expected when spoken to by one of his parents. He really could recall often waking up with sore legs in mornings following a day filled with running about, so what Delano said was quickly accepted by the cub because it cleared the confusion for him, seeing how it was a reason he was familiar with. It didn't strike him as odd how his father has had "sore legs" for a few days already. "But we'll be able to run and play again soon, right?" he asked, smiling hopefully.