[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano let out a depressed sigh, settling his head next to Lina's. "I know," he said quietly, "but it's just that... Akili doesn't even know they exist!" He never was able to get himself to tell their son that he really should have four grandparents, and as far as Delano was aware, neither had Lina. So as far as he could tell, Akili thought it normal that the cub only had two grandparents. "It's not fair... That we go and take him to the very lion who made sure that mom and dad are dead... it's... not fair."

He felt Lina place a paw on his head, causing him to smile slightly. Right now, she really did know how to make him better. "Thanks, Lina," he added, giving her a lick across her cheek before snuggling up next to her. At times like this, when he missed his parents a lot, Lina was a very close second to their comfort that had been torn away from him so suddenly.

[TheWhistlerify]

As much as Lina preferred to wait until the cubs got older befkre telling them about their other graneparents, she knew well enough that, sooner or later, the little ones would ask where Muroki and Delano's parents were. After all, they'd heard her and her sister call Moto and Fadhili 'dad' and 'mom' many times and they knew that their fathers were brothers. It could hit them at any given moment, really, and Lina didn't know what they would say to the cubs once it did. Were they too young to know what death was?

Deciding not to think about the matter too much, since it wasn't very important at the moment, the lioness purred softly as she felt her mate's tongue tenderly slide across her cheek. She allowed him to snuggle up closely to her, obviously not minding the extra closeness of their position.

[DGFone]

Wanting to take his thoughts away from his parents, Delano lay resting his head on Lina. However, try as he might, he simply couldn't get his mind off them. Feeling that remaining silent would only make him feel worse, he tried talking to Lina.

"You know, I think you would have also loved to see them," he said as he rubbed his head on her's, "but they were not like your parents. Mom and dad were more... subdued. I think they liked living alone." As he talked, Delano didn't know if it was making him feel better or worse. So he continued to talk, describing a bit more to her what they were like. "...As Muroki and I got older, they started to let us be by ourselves. It helped that we were the only lions in the area, so I think they felt that we wouldn't get into trouble." He frowned, knowing that it was also what lead to their deaths. "Sometimes other lions passed by the area, but we were mostly alone. So they felt safe to go and hunt together while Muroki and I simply passed the time without them... Might have been better if they didn't trust us so much."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but chuckle as Delano described his and Muroki's parents as more subdued than hers, rubbing her head against his as she did. Yes, her parents could be very embarrassing at times, but they were still her parents and she obviously loved them very much. Even though her mate hasn't told her much about his parents she still felt like meeting them. They were her in-laws, not to mention that anyone would have been thrilled to meet their own grandcub.

She often wondered how well she would have gotten along with the two of them, if at all, and what they would have thought of her and Umeme. True, since she never knew them it probably wasn't supposed to matter to her as much, but she still felt bad for having never gotten to even meet them. "Why is that?" she asked softly, resting her head beneath her mate's chin. "It wasn't their trust of you which got them killed. If anything, it saved you and Muroki's life..." She didn't want to imagine what would have happened had Delano and his brother been there when Sanders, Hatari and whoever else might have helped attacked heir parents.

[DGFone]

Delano hugged Lina tighter, starting to feel worse. Perhaps talking about his parents was not the best of ideas. "But... there would have been four of us. We could have fought back..." He then decided that he didn't want to talk anymore, so he left it at that.

Lina must have sensed his reservations, because she began to run a paw on top of his head slowly to try and calm his down. Delano closed his eyes, enjoying the contact, feeling glad that he had a mate like Lina who knew him well enough and often knew how to make him feel better.

[TheWhistlerify]

Realizing that her mate didn't want to talk about such a painful subject anymore, Lina decided to save whatever else she had to say to herself. She wasn't too fond talking about it very much either. True, she quite liked having Delano recall pleasant memories of his parents, but just talking about how they were dead served no purpose whatsoever. So, in more than one way, Lina was more than glad to let the matter drop.

Tenderly running her paw through his mane in an attempt to calm him down, Lina raised her head from its position underneath Delano's chin and rubbing it against his own. She licked him across his muzzle once, smiling as he began to purr in response. It wasn't a secret that she couldn't bring his parents back. Nobody could. But at least she could be there and take care of Delano in their place - even if she would never be able to replace them in his heart.

[DGFone]

Enjoying the affections Lina was showing to him, Delano began to purr and relax once more. Calming down, almost without meaning to, he felt himself begin to doze off again,. Except that this time, Lina was not going to let him fall asleep again, because right as Delano was about to actually fall asleep, he felt himself being shaken awake.

Blushing, he raised his head and shook it, trying to remove his drowsiness. "Sorry Lina," he mumbled, "I didn't mean to do that." He lowered his head back down, but made sure to keep his eyes open. Looking up, he saw that some time had passed since they had arrived to the waterhole, and that soon they will have to head back and pick Akili up.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hadn't it been for the fact that they were going to have to pick Akili up from Laini and Dakari's den soon, Lina would have gladly allowed Delano to go to sleep. But, as sleepy as their cuddling had made him, he would be much more tired if she let him fully fall asleep and then woke him up after a few minutes. "So, like you've said..." she giggled, "We really do need to work on coming here more often." Being at their special oasis again easily reminded her of just how much she loved the place and how much it meant to both of them.

After a few more minutes of peaceful cuddling, she stood up reluctantly. "Alright, sleepy head." she said, calling her mate by the same nickname she often used on Akili whenever the little cub was tired. "We should probably go and pick up our fuzzy maraca." Again she laughed at the silliness of the name.

[DGFone]

As she got up, Delano was forced of Lina, and he fell backwards much to her amusement. Annoyed, he got up and shook the dust off him before letting out a loud yawn. "Alright, alright, we need to go get him," he complained, "always ruining good moments, that's what he is good at." Of course, Delano was joking, and after he said it, he hoped that he didn't accidently make Lina offended.

As his mate took the lead in walking back, Delano then decided to ask her something about the waterhole. "Hey, Lina, listen, about that oasis of ours... do you think it's a good idea to take Akili there?" He grinned sheepishly. "I mean, I know he's our son, but if we take him there... it might no longer be 'our' place, if you get what I mean."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina almost had to clutch at her stomach because of how hard she was laughing when she saw Delano fall backwards. He looked so adorable sitting on his haunches like that, just like Akili often would whenever he sat while listening to one of his parents tell him something interesting. She really needed the watch her mate and cub sit in such a manner one next to the other - that would be really amusing. Continuing to giggle as he commented on what a moment spoiler their cub was, she began to lead the way towards the location of their fuzzy maraca. That nickname was never going to get old.

As Delano suggested they brought Akili along with them to their special spot, she looked at him and nodded with a smile. "I think we should." Yes, it was their place, but Akili was their son. He might not think much of it first, but he would most likely enjoy seeing the place where his parents fell in love. "Besides, if he ever shows up there when we want to... be alone, we can always go back home. It's what we have a den for." Licking his cheek once, she giggled. "We'll have to make sure he and his cousins won't tell anyone, of course." Marini and Ubawa were bound to find out about the oasis as well at one point or another.