[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

From his and Lina's conversation yesterday, Delano figured as much that Hatari wanted to get more comfortable with him as much as she did of Delano. However, when Hatari mentioned Akili, Delano just about lost it, not having expected the lion to try and start a conversation from that angle.

Grunting in annoyance, it took just about all he had to keep himself from launching himself at the other lion. Fidgeting in anger, he was able to keep himself sitting down, but he wasn't able to keep himself from speaking his mind. "And what would you know about that?" he hissed out, "it's your fault he only has two grandparents."

Glaring at Hatari, he continued on. "He doesn't know yet that that's not how it's supposed to be. But he's smart... It's only a matter of time before he figures it out. And then what am I supposed to tell him? That the funny Hatari that he so likes is the very reason why he never was able to meet two of his grandparents? That you... that you killed them?"

Perhaps with Lina around he would have been able to control himself better. She would have most certainly been able to distract him long enough to calm him down. But alone with Hatari in the den here, speaking rudely was the most Delano was able to do right now. Perhaps Lina would see that mauling the lion into a pulp was an accomplishment all in itself...

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari hadn't expected Delano to get so angry likd that. While he knew it was a possibility, he would have never imagined it would happen so quickly and as a result of what was, at the end of the day, just a compliment. But he wasn't worried for his own safety. "Well..." he eventually said. "Yes." A short silence followed. "It's the truth, isn't it?" As much as he hated to admit it, his friendship with the cubs could end the moment they found out the truth. He hoped they'd be able to forgive him like Umeme, Murok and Lina had.

[DGFone]

Delano could only state at Hatari, left completely speechless. "Bu- Tha- that's all you have to say?" he blurted out, "...nothing... nothing else?" What made him more worried though, was how calm Hatari sounded like when he had said that. It was almost as though, for all of his acting about how much he cared now and had changed, Hatari certainly sounded like he didn't care all that much.

Narrowing his eyes at Hatari, Delano blurted out the next thing that came to his mind. "You don't care, do you? After all this time... everything you did... is exactly that? Just something you did in the past? Do you not care at all?"

[TheWhistlerify]

If there was one thing Hatari was definitely good at, it was patience. "You don't know what's going on inside my head." There were still so many things he regretted greatly and could not change. But he'd learned to draw strength from the fact that he was a different lion now in order to not let the guilt bother him too much. "Do you think I like knowing that one day your son and his cousins might end up hating me like you do, after connecting with them like that? Do you have any what it was like when Muroki, the first real friend I've ever had, found out who I was?"

Hatari still remembered it all as clear as day. He'd even asked Muroki to just kill him and avenge his parents because of how painful that had been. There were times where he still saw those hateful, betrayed eyes in his dreams. "Look, Delano, I can't tell you what to think of me." he said after a short slence. "Either you forgive me for what I did or you don't. But you can't just keep throwing that in my face over and over again."

[DGFone]

Delano's jaw dropped when he heard Hatari say what he did. How dare he turn him into the bad guy here? "You want me to do what?" Just about blowing up in anger, he was no longer even trying to keep his voice down.

"Muroki wasn't there when you - you- bragged about it all! He never knew you as who you really are! Of course it was easy for him to forgive you!" Backing away slowly, Delano was still shouting at the other lion. "And you want me to just... forgive you as well? Do you know how hard it is for me to not get in the way when my own son gets near you? Plays around with you? You fear him some day hating you? If I had it my way, Akili would not even know that you even exist!"

This time walking right up to Hatari, Delano stopped, his muzzle very close to Hatari's, breathing heavily. "Don't you dare think that you are the one having it hard here," he hissed, pure venom in his voice. "When I defended you during the trial, I wasn't doing it for me. I knew it was what the others wanted, so I did it for them. Don't you ever forget this."

[TheWhistlerify]

HAPPY B-DAY

Hatari remained perfectly still, even when Delano walked straight up to him and stood directly in his face, clearly furious. "I clearly stated that I can't make you forgive me, nor was I just asking you to." His expression, which didn't seem all that impressed, also conveyed that, even though Delano seemed to think otherwise for whatever reason, that he was more than aware of the fact that Delano had defended him in the trial simply because of the others. It was obvious, really. "I also did not say I was having it hard. At all. As a matter of fact, my life's better now than it has ever been before."

And did it have a reason to not be? Not only were Muroki and Umeme's visits much more frequent now than before, but now he also had Kato to keep him company as well as the cubs that tagged along with their parents. "Don't say that forgiving me was "easy" for your brother. Have you seen him when he's truly angry before?" He doubted the answer was yes. "He may have not had the misfortune of meeting the old me-" Hatari was clearly not approving of Delano having said 'who you really are'. "-but he felt betrayed when he found out. I saw it in his eyes."

Taking one single step backwards, Hatari continued to prove that he was much stronger when it came to patience. "So... Can we talk about Akili being cute or would you like to discuss something else?" The former member of the underworld sat down.

[DGFone]

To have Hatari talk to him like he was the high and mighty one was seriously testing the limits of Delano's self control. How nice it would be to just... attack and get it all over with. To think that in the past, this would have been exactly what he would have done...

Once again though, the knowledge that Lina would find out about what is happening here kept Delano from giving in to his anger. Though perhaps, instead of attacking, he should just walk away? He will be able to tell Lina that he tried, but wasn't able to talk with Hatari. Perhaps she would even understand...

...Or she might not and simply have him try all over again. "You may not talk about him," Delano eventually muttered, his anger now turning into grief. With his initial reaction to talking alone with Hatari starting to wear off, he began to start feeling the loss once more that got him so angry just now. "Not when he's not around..." Turning around, he walked out the den before collapsing on the ground by the waterhole's edge, shaking slightly.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

You really were rather active earlier (more than what's usual for you recently) :p

Hatari didn't want to make Delano even more uncomfortable than he already was, so he didn't even consider telling him that he was as readable as an open book or something else of the sort. Because, while he was talking to Muroki's brother and afterward, he could see his rising anger as clearly as his own reflection in water. He also knew that there was this small part inside Delano's head that refused to accept the fact that he was a different lion - just waiting in fear that he might suddenly snap and re-release the assassin within.

He's always been able to figure out what others were thinking or, even better, how they thought he was thinking. Even Sanders had been an easy case. After all, one did not simply survive long without having his throat sliced by him and become his most favorite... "employe" (not that Hatari was proud of that). So, since he was well aware of the possibility of Delano lashing out, he remained on alert without allowing any visible change in his body language. There was no doubt that the former member of the underworld did not have to be afraid of a lion who had no experience in fighting, but he still felt relieved when Muroki's brother turned around and walked outside.

At the same time, though, he could also tell that Delano's anger was gone and replaced mostly by the thought that he (Delano) didn't want to be there. Slowly following the other lion out of the den, Hatari went ahead and sat down beside him (not too closely, though, keeping some sort of a distance of comfort between the two of them). "Okay..." he said quietly. "Then I won't talk about Akili." Muroki's brother clearly didn't want his son to be the subject of their conversation and the former member of the underworld didn't really care what it was they talked about to begin with. Falling silent, he decided to give Delano a few moments. Perhaps he'd say something that would help Hatari come up with something better...

[DGFone]

Delano, upon hearing Hatari get close, quickly wiped away his tears, not wanting the lion to see just how much he was still effected by the events of the past. He remained lying in silence, not daring to talk just yet, feeling that his grief would take over him if he tried.

Feeling himself begin to calm down, he lifted his head slowly. "Why?" he asked in a whisper, "why... did you do it? I want to know... what was it that caused you to have done it all? All that killing... why?" Feeling his strength leaving, he lowered his head back onto his paws, feeling completely drained. As much as he didn't want to talk about this, it was the only thing on his mind, and refused to leave.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari's ears flattened slightly against his head as Delano finally spoke up - bringing up that particular subject out of all things. Muroki's brother had already asked him a similar question the night before the trial when he came to the small den he'd been held in at the time - and the former member of the underworld recalled how his reaction hadn't been all that pleasant. He didn't know whether Delano would react in a similar nature - which might not be a very likely possibility seeing just how exhausted and emotionally drained he was, unlike last time - and he didn't want to lie to him by suddenly twisting what he'd said that night.

Clearing his throat, he took in a deep breath and started talking, staring at his own reflection in the waterhole. "Well... Like I've told you before the trial..." he might as well repeat himself. Delano had either forgotten or was hoping to hear something that would make it all seem less horrible, but Hatari doubted that would happen. "I was exiled,-" after what he'd almost forced Lina into, but he might as well not mention yet another thing Muroki's brother already knew and hated him for. "-there wasn't any suitable living area anywhere outside the kingdom other than this place, which I hadn't come across at the time, and the underworld offered me a place to stay."

"At first it seemed like an act of kindness and I didn't know what they were doing at the time but their kindness soon came with a price..." He was feeling really uncomfortable talking about this again. "It eventually drove me mad..." It wasn't really an excuse that they forced him into it and it eventually made him lose his mind. He knew Delano would most likely accuse him of not running away and looking for another home - even if another one wasn't available for miles - or of not coming back to the kingdom and trying to help bring the underworld down. "It's not really a justification for what I did..." he sighed. "But then again, nothing can justify something like this..." But Delano had asked why and that was the answer.