[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme agreed with her mate. There was still plenty of time for them to teach their cubs everything they will need to know as adults, and she would much rather be watching over two happy cubs than two grouchy ones. "While they are still not drowning, I don't see why they can't have their fun." A part of her was wondering for how much longer the trio would stay in the water. Their chasing takes up a lot of energy, and running through water isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. It is different though, so perhaps that's enough for them to stay entertained.

---

Initially, Delano simply watched as Lina got up and left, initially feeling glad that the argument was over. But very quickly, he began to feel regret, not necessarily over what he said, because in the end, he had meant every word, but because he had hurt her feelings. "Lina, wait!"

Struggling to keep up, he moved as quickly as he could into the cave, where he found her laying on the ground, facing a wall. "Lina..." To say that he felt bad about this was an understatement. It hurt him to see her like this, especially because he was the cause of this. More than ever, Delano found himself wishing that he could get rid of this lion and have everything finally be over with.

Not knowing if he should come close to her or not, he stopped nearby but still some distance away from his mate. "Lina, I- I'm sorry," he said softly, "I didn't want to upset you..."

[TheWhistlerify]

As was to be expected, because of his smaller size, Akili was having a rather hard time keeping up with Marini and Ubawa. This was the case whenever the three of them played together but, inside water, the younger cub's smaller size made a lot more difference. "Akili sure is determined..." said Kato with a chuckle as he watched the hairball in question run around in the water. He sure was his father's son by the looks of it. Besides, as long as he was still having fun, there was nothing wrong with him trying his best to keep up.

●●●●●●●●●●

Lina either chose to ignore Delano when he called after her as she made her way into the royal den or didn't even notice what he was saying (the latter seemed more likely). Either way, her ears twitched ever so slightly when he sat down next to her and spoke up once more. "How can I not be upset about what you're going to do?" she asked quietly, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly as she continued staring at the wall. Her mate was way too determined to have his mind changed. If that was the case, then it would have been much better if he'd kept his crazy idea to himself...

[DGFone]

Umeme chuckled at Muroki's comment. "Of course he is." As if reading her mate's mind, she then added, "I do recall you telling me one time that being smaller, Delano would always make sure to get you. You really expect any different from his son?" She as also glad to see that for the most part, Ubawa and Marini were not overly using their size advantage on their cousin, but were not going especially easy on him either. Umeme knew that her's and Muroki's cubs were not the type to simply hand out victory to someone else: Akili had to earn them on his own.

---

Delano stared at Lina, feeling hurt by what she was saying. "I didn't... I din't want to give you another nasty surprise," he tried to explain, "I wanted you to know, so that.. so that it won't be like last time." Not even sure if Lina was going to allow him to, Delano came close to her, but still didn't reach out to contact her, as much as he wanted to. "I just want all of this to be over," he begged, "I don't want to love waiting for something else bad to happen... and I don't want Akili to live like that either."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki nodded, rubbing the back of his head with a paw as he did. "Yeah, he never let me get away with anything." he said with a chuckle of his own. He'd only been born just a little bit bigger than his brother, but that sure came into play in pretty much anything they did that was competitive in any way. "If anything, while he sometimes complained about things being not fair, I think he thoroughly enjoyed getting back at me or going for surprise attacks." At least that was a plus for being the smaller one. He still recalled his brother's satisfaction whenever he'd managed to pull off something sneaky.

●●●●●●●●●●

Lina wasn't exactly sure what was worse; being given another nasty surprise, as Delano called it, if something did go wrong, or having to worry about him like this. Either way, knowing that her mate was going to do something so dangerous made it impossible for her to calm down. The very knowledge that she might lose him for good was just too much. "And I don't want Akili to live without you..." she said softly, looking up at him for a brief moment before averting her gaze to the wall again. What was the point? Delano wasn't going to change his mind no matter what she said.

[DGFone]

Umeme tried to imagine Muroki and Delano playing as cubs, and while getting a perfect picture was rather hard, she was able to get the general idea rather easily. After all, she saw it just about every day with Ubawa and Marini, and especially when Akili was involved.

"It does make me wonder if Delano and Lina told Akili that eventually, he would get bigger than Marini," she said after a while, "because from the sound of it, I do think you rather enjoyed being the bigger one compared to your brother." She grinned, "but at least with Akili, that won't always be the case." There was always the question if Akili would grow bigger than Ubawa, but he would almost certainly get bigger than Marini.

---

Delano froze when Lina looked at him, what she said really hitting home. "I- I don't want that either..." he muttered quietly. Deciding he was unable to bear staying away from her any longer, he moved over and hugged her deeply, burying his muzzle into her fur. "Please, Lina, don't talk like that," he mumbled, "it's not going to be like with Sanders. With him, I really did rush blindly at him, and he could have easily killed me... not this time. I won't do that again." He desperately wanted her to understand that he was just as afraid of the risks as she was, just that he believed that not doing anything would be even worse.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki shrugged his shoulders. "They might have told him." he said. "But it's hard to tell because he would be just as determined to keep up otherwise." That sure sounded like his brother alright. Looking at his mate with a raised eyebrow, he grinned. "Well, you know I was always the quieter one..." he muttered sheepishly. "I needed something to give me an advantage..." When it came to playing with Delano, though, he'd been anything but reluctant. Still, they both used to enjoy their own games at the time.

●●●●●●●●●●

It really didn't make much of a difference to Lina just how cautious Delano was going to try to be this time or how much planning was going to go into this crazy idea. The risk would still exist, no matter how small, and that was more than enough to make her hate what he was planning to do. Of course he didn't want to die either, there was no doubt about that, but still... "I don't want you to do this..." she said quietly, inching closer to her mate and trying to draw some comfort from the contact between them.

[DGFone]

Umeme looked back at Muroki like he had just said something completely insane. "You? Quiet? Since when?" She giggled like he had said one of the funniest joked in the world, which in her eyes, he basically just did. "What have you done with the real Muroki, and where did you hide him?"

She playfully batted Muroki's nose with a paw. "I like you the way you are, so don't start thinking that changing will be a good idea." She did remember a time when Muroki was unusually quiet: when they had just first met and started to fall in love. Of course, then both of them were so nervous due to each other that neither of them were like they are now. For one matter, the quiet Muroki wasn't capable of the suave charm that he was now. "This does make me wonder how Ubawa will act like when he will meet his fist lioness. What a glorious day that will be." It will give her and Muroki the perfect opportunity for payback over all the times he got annoyed from their display of their love for each other.

---

The fact that Lina also moved closer to him brought some comfort to Delano. He was afraid that he was upsetting her enough that she didn't want to be near him, such as just now when she walked off on him. "I don't want to do it either," he admitted, and it was the truth. If there was any other option, he would have taken it. "Please, Lina, try to understand... I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it so that you won't have to live in fear any more. So that Akili will be able to play whenever and wherever he wants to without any danger..."

When he had gone after Sanders, a large part of his irrationality came from the fact that he wanted to get after the one responsible for the death of his parents. With this lion, there wasn't this personal connection to the ordeal, and he was able to think much clearer about it. "I discussed this with Kato all this morning. He also agrees that there are no better options. I won't do anything without the king's permission, Lina. It won't be just me..." He wanted to explain to her, that if anything, he would be safer going after the lion with a dedicated group than even here in the cave right now, but wasn't sure how.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't stop himself from grinning at his mate and putting a paw around her at her obviously not serious question. "I had to get rid of him so that I could have you all to myself..." he said slyly as he pulled the lioness closer and began to nibble on her neck, only to stop a second or so later upon hearing Kato clearing his throat. "Right, sorry..." Perhaps it was different when they were the only ones watching over the cubs, but they might as well not forget the prince was there and totally ignore him.

The very thought of what Ubawa would act like upon having his first crush made the lion chuckle in amusement. It sure sounded laughable, seeing him get all nervous and shy while getting the chance to tease him for constantly complaining and interrupting them when they were trying to have a moment for themselves. "I can picture it now." he said jokingly. Of course he couldn't. It almost sounded absurd with the way the cub was acting, even if he knew it was inevitable. But that only made him look forward to that day even more. "And it's magnificent."

••••••••••

Lina was fairly sure that she didn't want to not leave in fear anymore if the cost was not having Delano around. He could carry on trying to reassure her which, while she greatly appreciated his efforts and concern, wasn't going to change the fact that there was a chance that he wouldn't come back alive from this ambush he was thinking of setting up. Perhaps the king would simply not give his permission or, even better, carry out this plan without her mate's involvement because of his injuries? She could only hope as much...

[DGFone]

Umeme had also forgotten about Kato. So while Ubawa and Marini might complain when she and Muroki would get carried away, she never exactly let the cubs dictate how she can act around Muroki. So when her mate started to nibble on her neck like she enjoyed, she was going to let him continue until Kato chose to interrupt, most likely because he felt rather embarrassed to be next to them as they did that.

"Spoilsport," Umeme muttered under her breath, but in a joking tone. Muroki had already moved back, so the mood was ruined, most likely the prince's complete intention. Then again, getting all passionate right in front of him might not be the best thing to do either anyways.

---

Delano wasn't sure if Lina's silence was good news or bad. He wrapped a paw around her body and held her close as he tried to keep himself calm. "I'm not going to head off to my death," he told her, "don't talk like that..." What if Akili had heard them?

[TheWhistlerify]

It sure was difficult trying to picture what Ubawa would be like when he would get his first crush. That day was surely far away from them, even if it did already feel like their two cubs were growing up very quickly. "It sure will be very amusing when that happens." It was bound to feel a little weird, too. Muroki for one couldn't imagine giving his son advice about this sort of thing. He himself had been a nervous wreck when he'd just met Umeme.

"I think my mother waited for me to get to that stage since the moment I could talk..." said Kato with a chuckle. "She still doesn't leave me alone..."

●●●●●●●●●●

Lina was honestly starting to get a little tired and annoyed from hearing Delano constantly say the same things to her over and over again. "You can't know that!" she said, moving closer to him and resting forcing head under his chin. The more he kept trying to reassure her that nothing bad would happen, the more horrible it would be if he ended up being wrong.