[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano grinned foolishly as Lina walked inside their den, and then quickly followed her inside. "Aww, come on! What do you mean it's not enough?" Carefully, he set Akili on the den floor, letting their son to continue sleeping. "Something not good enough for you?" he asked playfully, "you've got some very high standards. You know there's no one else out there better than me!" Dropping his boasting guise, he took her into a deep hug. "But as long as you're here with me, I don't mind at all."

---

Topping over because of Muroki, Umeme found herself laughing from finding herself on the ground. "A little eager I see?" she teased, "we really have to wait until the cubs aren't around. What do you think they will react like if they wake up when we get a little... too carried away?" She gently pushed Muroki up and sat up herself, but still not wanting to simply end things there, brought her head towards his in a nuzzle. "But for now, I'll settle for this," she whispered, letting out a purr at the same time.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina would have gladly carried on with their little roleplay, having already thought of things she could possibly say, when Delano caused her to forget it all by embracing her. Feeling the warmth of his mane and fur, she let out a sigh of content and leaned against him while purring softly. They've been through so much together. Even when things had been relatively calm there were times where their relationship wasn't all filled with pleasantries. But they pulled through it all. A small smile found its way onto her muzzle as she raised her head from underneath her mate's chin and gently licked him on the cheek.

~ ~ ~

Still a little embarrassed at having caused the two of them to fall over like that, Muroki sat up to allow Umeme to do so as well. He had had no intention of getting too carried away a moment ago and she probably knew it. But he was a male and it showed, something his mate made sure to constantly remind him of and tease him about. "I don't know. But let's not get into a situation like that... Ever." Smiling warmly, he once again wrapped his forelegs around her and nuzzled her back, giving her neck and ears an occassional lick or nibble every now and then.

[DGFone]

Delano continued to hug Lina, except that there was a problem: he was still tired, and was now really beginning to feel his fatigue. Against his will, he broke off their embrace. "I don't really want to end this," he muttered apologetically, "but I'm feeling like I am ready to doze off right here..." He grinned at his mate sheepishly before leading Lina back inside the den next to Akili. Lying down next to his son, Delano placed a paw on Lina's shoulder as he closed his eye, eager to get a good night's rest.

---

Gigging again, Umeme nodded. "That will be so awkward. Imagine what Ubawa will say," generally, it was their son who found their affection to one another the most weird, but at the same time, he wasn't Marini, and if she saw her parents doing something that they don't want her to see... "Or Marini. Whatever she will come up with to say, she will make it very painful, and won't let us forget it."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina did feel a slight hint of disappointment when Delano ended their embrace, but there was no helping it. At some point they were going to have to go to sleep. Following her mate back inside, she lay down close to him, as always, purring happily as she felt his foreleg over her. Turning her attention to their cub, the lioness gently picked Akili up by the scruff and placed him down between her paws, smiling warmly as she began to gently bathe him. He hasn't had a bath that day so she might as well clean him up while he was sleeping rather than wait for the morning. Once she was done, she rested her head in Delano's mane and went to sleep.

~ ~ ~

Muroki almost ended up laughing as Umeme started trying to figure out what their cubs would say if they caught them, well... "They won't even know what we're doing." he said. "It will also depends on where they'll be standing in regard to-" he paused, his cheeks turning completely red as he coughed nervously a few times. "Er... Marini will probably stop asking us questions at some point but you know how she can be. If she's really curious, she'll ask someone else. I don't even want to imagine what'll happen if she tells your parents that she saw us, I dunno... Wrestling or something..."

[DGFone]

Umeme put on a face of horror. "Whatever she might think it is, I think you are underestimating how much trouble she can bring. Somehow, I don't think that we would be 'just wrestling'." She stuck her tongue out at Muroki. "I thought you knew her better than that." Shrugging, she gave him a quick lick before motioning at the den entrance. "Might be a good idea to head back inside. Wouldn't want to scare the cubs by being gone when they wake up, do we?"

Not to mention that it was getting late, so it would still be a good idea to get back inside just to go to sleep for the night. Umeme also knew that if they stayed up for too long, the next morning when the cubs would wake up ready for a day of play would be very painful.

[TheWhistlerify]

While Muroki didn't know how a cub as young as Marini could come to any conclusions by walking in on her parents, he made no comment when she teased him about how well he knew her daughter. He was well aware of just how much damage the little cub could cause, and his example of a possibility of what might happen had been rather random. He'd most likely be able to come up with something far worse if he thought about it some more. But it didn't matter since he had no intention of ever having one of their children see them doing, well, that.

As much as he didn't mind being affectionate towards his mate in front of others, more intimate moments were obviously to be kept, as their 'name' suggested, private. The lion nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go inside." He doubted the cubs would suddenly wake up, seeing how tired they were, but why risk it? Grinning, Muroki kissed Umeme again before standing up and walking back into the den.

[DGFone]

Following Muroki inside, Umeme gently scooped up her tow cubs and placed them next to her where they like to sleep before lying down beside them."Good night then, Muroki," she whispered to her mate as he lay down as well. While she didn't feel all that tired yet, she knew that sleep would come soon enough, and that she will need all the rest she can get considering just how much energy the two cubs demand out of her. Sometimes she really did envy Muroki, always thinking that he usually was the one to have the easier time, being a father.

Of course, whenever she brought this up, he always objected. Sometimes she agreed with him, sometimes not. As for now... now was a time for sleep. Closing her eyes, Umeme allowed herself to relax for the night.

[TheWhistlerify]

She has almost never woken up at such a late hour before. Well, late by her standards, but definitely not by her aunt's or anybody elses. The sun has already hidden, much to the little cub's annoyance, because she liked to watch the dawn. Pouting, Marini was about to just turn around and try to find something else to occupy herself with when something outside caught her attention. A butterfly! The expression on her tiny face lit up and she crouched, preparing to leap forward and give chase.

Her parents would be absolutely proud of her if she managed to actually touch a butterly (not catch it, though, because they'd both warned her how delicate the magnificent insects were). Marini pounced, but she never made it far because something was holding her down by her tail. Landing on her stomach with a quiet thud, she looked around and saw her father looking down at her with a slight frown on his face. "H-hey daddy..." she mumbled innocently, knowing that she was in trouble.

"Marini, what have I told you about leaving the den on your own?" he asked, not raising his voice but still sternly.

His daughter pinned her ears against her head. "I wanted to prove to you and mom that I could get the butterfly to play with me... she said quietly. "So that you'd see I could do it..."

Muroki knew more than well that Marini was aware that both she and her brother were not allowed to leave the den, or to go anywhere, really, on their own. But she was still a cub and could sometime have a very hard time holding back her enthusiasm. Regardless of that, he knew he had to make sure that she understood her error. "You know that could be dangerous, 'Rini, we've told you so many times."

"I know..." said she as she stared down at he ground in shame. "I just wanted to make you proud of me..." Instead of that, she'd done the exact oppossite. She hated it whenever one of her parents spoke to her that way. Even if her father wasn't yelling, she could sense the disappointment in his voice. "I'm sorry, daddy..."

"Try harder to control yourself next time." said Muroki, his expression softening as he released his daughter's tail and gave her a short, gentle nuzzle. "We don't want you to get hurt or lost. We'd have been worried sick if you weren't here when we woke up. When your mother wakes up I want you to apologize for the concern you could have made her go through and explain the lesson you've learned." The cub nodded her head slowly. "Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. Just make sure your mother knows that you know why what you were about to do was wrong." His daughter managed to find some comfort in his words. She smiled a small smile, giggling as her father licked her once and laughing uncontrollably when he gently pinned her onto her back and began to tickle her. She managed to escape and run outside, but he soon caught up to her and began to tickle her again.

[DGFone]

With the noise going on in the den, only to increase even more as Muroki ran after Marini, meant that Umeme woke up feeling rather annoyed. She would much rather sleep in even longer, but with everything going on outside, she simply couldn't get herself to get into a resting state anymore. "Oh, I am so going to murder that mate of mine..." she mumbled sleepily before slowly getting up. Ubawa was still sleeping next to her, causing Umeme to chuckle slightly, wondering how in the world her son could sleep through such a ruckus. Still, it did improve her mood somewhat.

Walking outside the den, she found Muroki busy... torturing Marini for a lack of a better word. She was screaming for him to let her escape as he was busy tickling her. "Muroki! What in the world are you doing to our daughter?" Though she tried to sound serious as well as even threatening, she doubted that the lion would be afraid of her, especially because she was failing at trying not to smile at the sight.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki showed Marini absolutely no mercy, continuing to tickle the cub as she helplessly squirmed about and tried to ask to he released in between her fits of laughter. When he found out that his mate was watching, he ceased what he was doing so that he could look at her with a sly grin. "Nothing, dear..." he said innocently, staring down at their daughter with a sort of "you better not say a thing" sort of look. "Isn't that right, 'Rini?"

Marini, however, saw the break from the tickling as a chance to make an escape. She quickly rolled onto her stomach and broke into a run in the direction of her mother, only to be almost immediately stopped by her father's paw. Once again finding herself on her back, the cub let out a somewhat startled giggle. This time, however, her father only licked her tiny head once before letting her go, almost laughing at the way she quickly took shelter behind her mother's legs.

"Daddy's being mean to me!" exclaimed the little cub, though it was rather obvious that she'd enjoyed their little game.

Spoiler: show

New chapter of "A Brotherly Bond" is also up. You'll never learn to follow a story without me telling you to, will you? And I think I've already given up on ever getting reviews from you...