[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled at Muroki's teasing. "You're right about that one! I really can't stand being cooped up in a den like that for too long." She stuck her tongue out at him again. "But you better hope that I will manage it, because it will be you who will be the very first one to suffer my wrath. And unlike anyone else, you won't have any sudden good reasons to be elsewhere."

Still giggling, she rubbed heir heads together. "You keep me calm, and I'll keep you calm. How's that for an arrangement?"

---

Delano felt as though if his head got any redder, it would catch on fire. "Lina! Come on! You'll be the death of me you know..." As they walked, he made sure to rub his side on hers. "I can only take so much you know... it's already hard enough as it is. With you being all... like this today."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki playfully raised an eyebrow at Umeme's "challenge". He hoped he knew that it was obvious that he'd be there to help her with anything, even being stuck inside their den. "It sounds like a wonderful arrangement." he said with a warm smile, rubbing her head against his in order to return the affection. "Even if you lose your temper at me," which he hoped she wouldn't, "I'll still stay by your side."

~~~

Lina smiled and purred as Delano rubbed his head against hers. She realized that her teasing was starting to become a little too much and decided to leave her mate be for the time being. "Okay, okay, I'll stop." she said apologetically. Still smiling, she gently licked him across his cheek before speaking in a somewhat shy tone as her cheeks turned a little red. "But, um... Thanks for today..." Her blush only intensified as she said this and she even had to stare at the ground after a few seconds because she was embarrassed.

[DGFone]

"Alright," Umeme agreed, "we have a deal. Besides, for all we know, this whole thing will be over before we know it without any problems." She did hope that it would in fact be like this, but realistically, she knew that the times to come will strain her relationship with Muroki, at least temporarily.

---

Delano felt himself also get embarrassed, but this time it seemed that it was less than Lina. "No problem, Lina," he said softly, "it was uh... it was great. You were awesome." He nuzzled her slowly. "Come on, let's go home." Gently nudging her along, the two of them continued to walk back to their den.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina's cheeks heated up even more at Delano's... comments. "Um... Thanks... So were you..." She started to purr when her mate nuzzled her and remained silent throughout the rest of their way home.
-
Two weeks passed without anything changing too drastically for the two of them. They continued to visit Umeme and Muroki often in order to see if they could use any help. After what had happened two weeks ago Lina sometimes felt like it was just like when they first started seeing each other all over again. She would occassionally sutter and blush when talking to Delano on her own. It's not that she had a problem with that; on the contrary. She felt a lot closer to him as well.

The lioness stirred a little and then opened her eyes, immediately recognizing the warm feeling of her mate's fur and mane. She raised her head from her paws, blushing upon realizing that he was already awake and staring at her. "Hey..." she said, a little quietly and timidly. His smile only got wider; he seemed to like it when she blushed.

~~~

Muroki meanwhile was just waking up as well. His body seemed to have learned not to stir too much while doing so because Umeme has somehow become a very light sleeper in the past few days. This also meant that moving from her side until she woke up on her own was out of the question. In addition to that, her stomach has gotten more swollen. If there was a chance of not noticing the fact that she was pregnsnt two weeks ago, it was impossible to miss it now. Smiling warmly at the sight of his mate as she slept, the lion remained where he was and closed his eyes, finding peace in his own thoughts.

[DGFone]

Having woken up before Lina, Delano didn't feel like walking out the den yet, so he settled to simply watching Lina continue sleeping. Eventually, she too woke up, and he couldn't help but smile at her when she looked up at him. "Hey," he replied, smiling even more as she looked down. Lina was so cute when she gets embarrassed like this...

"How are you feeling this morning?" He gently lifted her head with a paw in order to give her a kiss. "Want to pay Muroki and Umeme a visit? Or go and do something else?"

---

In Umeme's and Murki's den, the sleeping lioness began to stir as her slumber slowly came to an end. Lifting her head up to let out a loud yawn, she opened her eyes to see Muroki half asleep next to her. "Morning hun," she greeted, nuzziling him.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina's gaze dropped to her paws when Delano answered her, but a content purr began to rumble in her throat when he lifted her head with his paw and kissed her. "I'm fine..." she said with a small smile as she licked him across his muzzle, shuffling a bit closer to him. "I don't mind either way, really..." she said, still purring as she rested her head in her mate's mane. "Perhaps we could go take a walk by our waterhole first?" She was thirsty, and while it was true that there were closer waterholes she felt like going to their oasis.

~~~

Muroki wasn't really planning on doing anything or going anywhere, so he didn't really pay attention to how long it took until Umeme woke up because it didn't matter to him that much. "Good morning..." he said with a warm smile, fully opening his eyes and returning his mate's affection in the same manner. "How are you feeling?" She was about half way through her pregnancy, but it still felt like it would take forever for their cubs to be born.

[DGFone]

It took a few moments for Delano to realize what Lina wanted to do, but when he finally figured it out, he nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah, let's do that!" It had been a while since the two of them had been there, and he was rather excited to get there again. Helping Lina get up quicker, he just about dragged her out the den. "Come on, let's go!"

---

Umeme grinned as she placed her head on Muroki's mane. "Wouldn't mind sleeping in some more," she muttered, "especially since I have just this most comfortable of pillows to sleep on..." She wrapped a paw around Muroki in order to make sure that he wouldn't try running away or anything else that would compromise the comfort of his mane.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but chuckle when Delano became so enthusiastic about her idea, and even laughed when he literally dragged her outside. "Alright, alrght! Sheesh!" She exclaimed, playfully pushing him with her side as they got outside. After licking his cheek, she grinned and pushed him off his paws before breaking into a run in the direction of the waterhole. "Race ya there!" Yes, that was cheating, but she didn't care at all.

~~~

Muroki chuckled at his mate's response, smiling once again when she rested her head in his mane. "My mane and I are at your service." he said with a grin, taking the liberty of bathing her head and neck. Not that she needed any cleaning. "You can go back to sleep if you want." he added in between licks. "I don't plan on going anywhere." Unless she was hungry, that is.

[DGFone]

Delano let out a yelp of a combination of surprise and fright as he noticed the ground rushing towards his head from Lina's... attempt to get a head start. Hitting the ground hard, he let out a low groan before jumping back up to his feet. "Lina, come on! That's just unfair!"

He tore off after her, determined to win. If he can beat her at such a disadvantageous of a start, then Lina would never hear the end of his gloating. And even if he will lose, she wouldn't necessarily be able to argue that she was faster. So if anything, her tripping him was better for Delano. Still, it doesn't mean that he won't try to win. "You really are asking for it now, Lina! You better be able to outrun me or else!"

---

As good as the sound of going back to sleep was, Umeme didn't really feel like doing that. "I don't think I'll sleep," she replied, "but I will continue to use your mane for now, so either way, you are not moving anywhere." Smiling, she allowed her head to sink into his soft and warm fur.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina only laughed and continued running away from Delano. If anything, his complaining made the whole situation even more amusing. She wasn't doing this to outrun him as much as she was doing it to annoy him. "If you say so!" she taunted, running at full speed. Even if she wasn't faster than him, she should be able to reach their destination way ahead of him thanks to her head start.

However, after running about half of the way, Lina began to suddenly become tired. This confused her because she'd run much longer distance in the past without growing tired this quickly. At first she was going to just ignore it, but she came to a halt altogether when she suddenly felt sick and dizzy as well, almost as if she was about to throw up. It took her a few seconds to fully regain her balance and stop feeling dizzy, but she still felt very tired (and confused, mostly).

~~~

Muroki smiled, continuing to affectionately lick and occasionally to gently nibble on Umeme's ears. "No problem." While he didn't have any plans, there was no telling whether his mate would suddenly get some random idea. "So is there anything you'd like to do today?" He knew she hated being inside the den all day, so perhaps she would want to go for a walk or something.