[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano nodded slowly. "I know, I know. I'll be able to stay calm around him now." As long as Akili won't shy away from him, Delano figured that he would be fine. It's not that he wanted to blame his son for this, but he wasn't ready to tell yet if he would be able to keep his composure up if he came back and Akili would still cower away from him.

Walking onward, he hoped that their son wouldn't be afraid anymore. While Akili did allow Delano to embrace him just now, it still took very visible effort on the cub's part not to try to hide. But taking in Lina's words, Delano knew that he would also have to work hard to look alright for Akili so that the cub won't start feeling terrible as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

While Lina would have obviously preferred to have Delano put last night's incident behind him entirely, she knew more than well that her mate couldn't be blamed for needing more time and that this was a start and an improvement in comparison to before. It looked like she had nothing to complain about, especially in regard to how well their son was dealing with this whole situation. So far things were turning out much better than she'd oroginally expected.

Deciding that they've discussed the matter long enough, even if not as unpleasantly as before, Lina figured it was time to let the subject drop. There wasn't much they could do but wait and see how things would turn out anyway, it seemed. "So where are we going?" she asked, looking at Delano with a smile. It seemed as if he wasn't leading her anywhere in particular, but she still felt like asking

[DGFone]

Also wanting to take a break from everything that had happened, Delano was grateful that Lina chose to change the subject. He shrugged in reply, simply saying, "I don't know. Somewhere. Just felt like walking around after not doing so for a while..."

He still had a vague idea of how to get back to the den, so he didn't feel lost. Therefore, he didn't think that there was any reason to have to on purposely actually go anywhere. "As long as we come back before sunset, I don't think anyone will mind if we won't be there during the day."

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

WTF I didn't get an email that you replied

Lina slowly nodded and looked up at the sky. The day was more than half over, but they still had time until they'd have have to retrace their steps in order to get back to Dakari and Laini's den. Smiling, she turned her attention back to her mate. "I guess not." she said as a gentle breeze blew past them. Wheather-wise, it was a very fine day. "This is nice." After the fright of the night before, doing something as basic as taking a walk was very relaxing.

"Hey," she added all of a sudden, getting an idea, "do you maybe feel like going to our waterhole?" The last time they'd been there before she became pregnant, so it's definitely been a while. If she wasn't mistaken, they weren't too far away from its location.

[DGFone]

Delano stopped in his tracks. With all the things going through his mind, he had completely forgotten about the place, which was ironic in that they were indeed rather close to it. "Well, I err... uh, sure!" His stammering must have amused Lina, because she giggled, and then gave him a quick lick before taking charge and leading him in the right direction of their little oasis.

Quickly following his mate, he was quite eager to visit the place again. Even after all the time of not being here, the sentimental value of the waterhole did not diminish for him, and Delano wondered if it would even be a good idea to eventually show the place to Akili, or keep it a secret from their son.

[TheWhistlerify]

Giggling at her mate's stuttering, Lina gave him a quick lick before leading the way towards their special place. Aside from them, her sister, her brother-in-law and Kato and Desta, she doubted anybody knew it existed. She remembered the slight heitation she'd experienced upon deciding to show it to the prince because of the fear that the place would cease to be a secret. But Kato and Desta have been keeping quiet about it, and on the one time where she and Delano had stumbled upon the prince and his love interest there while intending to be alone wasn't bad at all because the the younger couple hadn't interrupted them and they, in turn, hadn't interrupted them.

So despite having more than just the two of them and Muroki and Umeme know, the small oasis was still a very private spot. When she and Delano got there they were plrased to find that there was nobody there. Kato's schedule often meant that he and Desta didn't have too much time to spend together, so the chances of seeing them there were low. As for Muroki and Umeme, Lina wondered when was the last time the two of them had been to the hidden waterhole. "Here we are..." The place was still as beautiful and peaceful as ever.

[DGFone]

Approaching the waterhole, Delano smiled at its sight. "It's... it looks better than I remember it," he said, his mood noticeably improving as he neared the water. Perhaps it was because he hadn't felt well these past days, but despite all the trees and rocks being where they were before, the place still looked... better.

Breaking into a slight job and overtaking Lina, he ran over to the water and straight into it. Enjoying the feeling of the refreshing water, he waited for Lina to join him before sitting down and relaxing near the shore, where the water still reached up only half way up to his shoulders. "We always say we need to get here more often, and then we always forget," he said, looking at Lina as though it was her fault, even though it really wasn't, "we really need to work on that."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina also smiled, unable to disagree with Delano's words. True, it was most likely because they haven't been there in a very long time already, but the place really did look far better than she remembered it. Every time they were there, she was reminded of the first time she and her mate had gone out together, and this time was no exception. She was so caught up in the memory that she only realized what Delano was doing one second before he leapt into he waterhole.

Laughing at his antics, the lioness went ahead and dove in as well. There was no doubt that coming there was a good idea - Delano looked as if he was feeling much better already. Chuckling, she joined the lion and the two of them settled down near the shore. "You're right, we should." she said, shufflng closer to him so that their sides were touching and rubbing her head against his. His mane was obviously wet, meaning that it wasn't warm and fluffy like it usually was. but it's not like she was about to take a nap soon.

Spoiler: show

I won't have time to make another post quickly enough, so go to sleep after you reply to this one.

[DGFone]

Letting Lina lean on him, Delano chose to remain where they were. While a part of him still wanted to keep moving, now a bigger part of him wanted to remain here at the oasis with Lina. While they can always go walking or running together again, he didn't want to risk it being another long while before they come back here. Not to mention that he liked where they were right now.

Except that there was one small problem with where they were. Sitting there and with Lina resting on him, Delano began to drift off slowly. A few times he caught himself, but then he really did fall asleep, only to topple over and wake up suddenly, gasping for air and choking from the water that he fell into. Next to him, Lina was busy laughing.

[TheWhistlerify]

Purring despite the lack of warmth she was used to from Delano's fur and mane, Lina continued to rest against her mate in the water. While it wasn't a very hot day, it still felt very nice and refreshing to be all wet and inside the waterhole like that, especially when considering how long it has been since the last time the two of them had last been to their little oasis. She couldn't remember just how much time has passed since then, but she did know that it's been way too long. Delano was right - they really did have to try to come there much more often.

Since she was so caught up in the moment, she only realized just how sleepy the lion at her side was when he really did fall asleep and toppled over, causing her to almost end up in the exact same position because she was leaning against him. But, being wide awake, she caught herselr in time end, as was to be expected, laughed at the sight of her mate. Getting her laughter under control, she embraced Delano tightly, giggling as she did. "I love you, you know that?" she asked, licking him lovingly.