[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned at Muroki. "Oh, all right," she said, "with an expression like that, how can I be mad at you? You promised, so I'll trust you." She brought him over closer to her, allowing the two of them to nuzzle one another once more. Sure, the tickling was fun, (and somewhat annoying for her), but nuzzling was just so much better for both of them.

---

Delano stared at Lina, shocked. "Wh- what?" It took him some time to fully realize what Lina just told him. "Lina, you can't be serious!" He found it hard to believe that Lina had just agreed to have him go and talk to Hatari.

She just stared back at him, waiting for Delano to get over his initial reaction. Sure enough, after some time of panic, he began to calm down. "Fine!" He stared at the ground, feeling somewhat angry at having to do this. "Okay, okay, I'll do it," he finally relented, "but... can you come with me then?" He stared at Lina, hoping that she would agree.

[TheWhistlerify]

Obviously not wanting to betray his mate's trust, especially after he'd given her his big puppy dog eyes (Marini had to get them from somewhere), Muroki went ahead and happily resumed their little nuzzling session from earlier, purring as he did. He really would not tickle her so harshly next time, but he was going to give her a break from it all for now. Besides, tickling was an option when the cubs weren't distracted as well. Nuzzling and what not usually wasn't.

*

Lina knew Delano well enough to expect that sort of initial reaction from him, so she didn't as much as raise an eyebrow when it came and simply waited for her mate to calm back down. When he finally did, and even agreed to do what she was asking of him without arguing, she smiled and licked him across his muzzle lovingly. "I think it would be best if you went alone." she said. "The fact that there's nothing to worry about will sink in better if you're there by yourself."

The worst scenarios could be either Delano running off and away from Hatari's place because he was scared or him attacking the former member of the underworld in either fear or rage. Neither one of those was that bad because nobody would really get hurt seeing how Hatari was no longer the assassin he'd once been.

[DGFone]

Umeme was still somewhat afraid that Muroki would still try to continue to tickle her, but as he too resumed nuzzling, she knew that he wasn't going to torture her for at least some time more. "This is much better, isn't it?" she teased with a whisper, "something we both can enjoy..."

Falling quiet, she allowed herself to get lost within Muroki's embrace, not caring about the world around them.

---

Sinking low to the ground, Delano had to think about what Lina was saying. "But I want you to go with me," he muttered, "I don't know if I can do it alone..." However, if she went with him, who would look after Akili? Not to mention, he knew that if she would be with him, he would just use her to find ways to ignore Hatari and accomplish nothing. Lina was right in that he would have to go alone. "Just... give me some time," he added, "I need to think about it."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled heartidly at Umeme's teasing. Not only could they both enjoy this, but he also found it to be more fun than torturing his mate with tickles anyway. "Oh, yes, it definitely is..." he replied quietly, gently embracing the lioness. "Your enjoyment is my enjoyment." He began to once again nibble on her neck and ears, but this time he was more reserved around the areas he knew were the more sensitive ones. Getting a giggle out of her wasn't like tickling her to the point where she would be out of breath, after all.

¥

Lina was about to explain her reasons to her mate, since she too believed that her presence would be a distraction, but he seemed to have put the pieces together on his own because, soon after saying that he wanted her to go with him, Delano asked for time to think it all over. "Take all the time you need." she said reassuringly, softly licking the lion across his muzzle before kissing him. The two of them definitely weren't that comfortable about displaying much affection when they weren't alone or at least with only Akili nearby (unlike a certain couple), but the lioness kind of felt like doing that.

[DGFone]

As Muroki began to cause Umeme to giggle again, she got worried that he would get carried away again. However, he made sure not to tickle her too much, so she relaxed soon afterwards, knowing that he was simply enjoying himself, and now that he wasn't torturing her, she let him. Like this, even she enjoyed it, as he had just said.

---

Delano huddled closer to Lina, taking comfort by her presence. "Are you really sure it will work?" he asked, "what... what if it doesn't?" He wasn't going to deliberately sabotage any meetings with Hatari, but he wasn't fully confidant that he will actually succeed in letting the past go enough to this as well.

He gently kissed Lina back, trying to hide his worries by the feelings of affection to his mate. At the very least, he knew that if he would make even some progress, it would make Lina very happy, which is still something that he always looked forward to.

[TheWhistlerify]

As much as Lina wanted to be sure, there was no way for anyone to reach a state of certainty about something like this. An alone 'session' between Hatari and Delano could end up, well... There was no telling how it would end up. "I can't know if it'll work." she said a few moments later, ending their kiss despite not wanting to. The way Delano had huddled closer to her only added to that. "That's entirely up to you. But I do strongly believe that it won't make things worse." Smiling, she placed one of her paws on top of her mate's. "I'm sure it'll help somewhat, but you shouldn't expect it to work right away. I believe it'll take some time." Deciding to drop the subject for the time being in order to give Delano some time to think like he said he wanted to, she went ahead and kissed him again.

[DGFone]

Delano simply stared at Lina as she spoke to him gently. Despite his worries about the next day, he couldn't help but feel at least partially reassured by her words that everything would turn out to be all right. "Thanks, Lina," Without saying anything else, he returned her kiss, also rather eager to take his mind off the conversation.

Without meaning to, the two of them found the perfect opportunity to enjoy each other's company. He hadn't planned for that to happen - he had thought when he took Lina here that he would simply tell her how he felt and they would get back. But since they hadn't, well, he wasn't going to be kind enough to Hatari just yet and break his time alone with Lina early just so that the lion won't be stuck with the cubs alone for longer.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was more than glad that Delano managed to relax not only for the moment but to also find some comfort in what she was saying. True, there was no way for her to know for sure what would happen and he probably knew that, but perhaps he saw things her way when she said that she really did believe that things couldn't possibly get worse. In all honesty, she really was unable to think of a reason for her mate visiting Hatari to have a negative effect on their already odd and unstable relationship, if one could actually call it a relationship. Besides, she did know for certain that Hatari wanted things to be less awkward between the two of them. After all he was the one who'd tried to start up a conversation just a few minutes earlier. True, that hadn't successfully developed into an actual conversation, but it did show that the former member of the underworld was also hoping for the situation to change for the better soon.

That aside (she'd worry about that tomorrow), she was rather pleased to have a small, intimate moment alone with her mate. Their reluctance to be all affectionate towards one another when they weren't completely on their own meant that they didn't get to enjoy each other's company all that often in such a way. They would find small moments when only Akili was around, but he would either notice them rather quickly and complain or suddenly need their attention. He was a cub after all. His parents didn't leave him under somebody else's care all that often since he was still younger than his cousins, for example, so it was nice to have a quiet moment for themselves. Ending their kiss again, Lina smiled at Delano and nuzzled his mane lovingly, shuffling closer to him as she did.

[DGFone]

Relaxing into Lina's nuzzle, Delano didn't want to say anything, fearing that it would ruin the moment. He knew that he won't really be able to remove from his head the fact that tomorrow, Lina was going to send him to go and confront Hatari. He really wished that he wouldn't have to do this, but by now it was too late. He wouldn't dare to try and argue with her about it, especially with Akili nearby. Sure, their relationship wasn't always perfect, but they had yet to truly raise their voices in front of their son, and he didn't want to do that now.

Lost in their combined embrace, Delano wasn't aware that time had even passed until the surrounding silence was interrupted by the sound of Umeme's and Muroki's voices calling for them to come back. Looking up, Delano was rather surprised to see that the sky had noticeably darkened, meaning that they had to take the cubs back home before it would get too dark, especially for Akili.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Delano broke the embrace. "Alright, let's go back," he told Lina, his voice betraying how much he didn't want to do it. Not only did they have to end their embrace, but it also meant that he was now even close to the point where he would be alone with Hatari.

[TheWhistlerify]

It turned out to have been way too long since the last time Lina and Delano had managed to enjoy each other's company to such an extent because of the way they'd both failed to notice the passage of time. It was already dark by the time the two of them heard Umeme and Muroki call out to them, causing the couple to snap out of its trance and notice the condition of the sky. They really did have to find an opportunity to spend some time alone, Lina thought, because it felt almost painful to break their embrace and put an end to their peaceful moment. Perhaps, tomorrow, after Delano would come back, she'd bring up the option of them letting someone cubsit Akili for a few hours so that they could have some time for themselves.

Walking back over to the small waterhole next to Hatari's little den with her mate, the lioness couldn't help but chuckle as she saw Akili, Marini and Ubawa, resting closely together next to the adults, looking rather exhausted. It was an adorable sight when considering the fact that the three little hairballs had spent the entire day chasing each other around so restlessly as if the fate of the world depended on the outcome of their games. Their son sleepily rose to his paws and walked over to them as they approached, obviously glad to see his parents after they'd been on the sidelines for quite a while. Lina smiled and gave the little cub an affectionate nuzzle as he arrived next to them.

"I hope the cubs weren't too much trouble..." said Muroki with a chuckle as he looked down at Ubawa and Marini. The fact that his son wasn't complaining about the fact that he was currently snuggling with his sister was an indication of just how tired he was. They must have been even more energetic than usual today... Well, that would explain all the interruptions...

"Not at all." said Hatari with a smile. "It was fun fooling around with them while you four..." he cleared his throat and chuckled. "Well, it was more amusing when they interrupted you. Twice."

"Yeah, well..." Muroki couldn't help but grin. "Balls of fluff these days... Go figure..."

"I think Marini purposely tricked them into bumping into you that 2nd time."

"Oh, yes, she always does that." The funny thing was that Ubawa and Akili (though mostly Ubawa, seeing how the younger cub wasn't always there when his cousins were fighting to the death) kept falling for that trick without ever learning.