[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

Looking back at Delano, Lina found it impossible not to giggle at the rather sheepish grin he was giving her. She had to admit that it did sound a little odd how Akili had managed to pin Marini down. Even Nyoka was unable to do it, and he was twice as old as her (6 months) and therefore larger. "Speaking of which," she said teasingly, "when was the last time you managed to pin me?" Then, in a slightly flirtatious tone, she added "Without me wanting you to, that is?" To add to it all, she then licked his muzzle, giggling to herself before rubbing her head against his own lovingly.

[DGFone]

Delano frowned at Lina's question. With everything on his mind lately, even though it had been only what? Two or three days since he had spent a day off with her, it had felt like such a long time ago, that he was already starting to forget what they had did then. "I think I was able to pin you fairly recently," he argued, but sounded unsure. He thought he had done exactly that when they had been at the waterhole, but now he wasn't so sure. "Anyways, I know the secret that Akili doesn't know yet, which is that it's so much easier to pin when it's expected."

He figured that he would need to pin Lina again sometime just to prove his point, but was having a hard time coming up with the will to do so. Even after he will heal up and get better, he had pinned, or tried to pin, others too often with hostile intent recently for him to just be able to do the same thing for fun again. He had just used some of what he learned by practicing on his mate to save himself from Sanders not long ago, but he seriously wondered if he would be able to the reverse.

So instead of trying to pin his mate, Delano simply moved his head back to her foreleg, knowing that it was going to tempt her into tickling him again. Well, perhaps it would be worth it, because it would at least keep his mind off his troubles even for a little while.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, of course, hadn't expected her mate to just get up and try to pin her down right then and there. He was obviously in no condition to fool around, so her saying that was in order to just tease him a little and, perhaps, to give him something to look forward to when he would get better, if he chose to look at it that way. It was his choice. Perhaps he wasn't in the mood for her teasing, even if she did want to make him think more positively about when he would recover, but that was to be expected of him at a time like this.

Either way, for the moment, it seemed like Delano wanted to get back to that little rest of theirs which Akili had interrupted in his enthusiasm just now. So, bringing her head down closer to his again, she resumed licking him affectionately, just like earlier, although this time maybe not as "aggressively" as before. On a slightly more amusing note, she did often use his mane as a pillow. Therefore, she needed to keep it tidy and clean enough for her liking. Oh, and he liked it when she did this. Obviously.

[DGFone]

Unlike before, this time Lina didn't tickle him too much, and Delano even found himself enjoying the licking, finding it odd how he used to hate it when he was younger, much like Akili was now. The fact that Lina was making it enjoyable for both of them, and not just for her, made it even better in his opinion.

As she then started to clean and groom his mane with a paw, he began to slowly realize why she made sure that he wasn't going to move around. Considering how much time she spent around the areas where she liked to lean her head on, and how little time was spent elsewhere, he figured that she was doing not much more than 'cleaning the den', although in this case it was his mane. Well, it was still rather nice, so he wasn't complaining.

And unlike already twice before, the gently cleaning was starting to cause Delano's eyes to feel heavy, and he only allowed himself to stay awake so that he can continue to enjoy the cleaning, but soon enough, he fell asleep. Or rather, he found himself being gently nudged awake by Lina, who was explaining that it was time to go in.

Yawning, Delano looked up to see that sure enough, the day was almost over and that it would be very dark soon. "It's so comfortable out here though," he complained, "can we stay out for a little longer?" He didn't really feel like going back into the cave, even if it was much nicer than the den he and Lina used, even and even their home was already very nice. But the idea of having to get up and move was not something Delano felt strong enough to do just now.

[TheWhistlerify]

By the time Lina woke Delano up, his aunt and uncle have already gone back to their own den for the night with Nyoka while Muroki and Umeme have gone back into the cave while carrying their very sleeping looking cubs with them, leaving only her, her mate and Akili outside. What she was really pleased about, though, was the fact that Delano had slept without any nightmares or interruptions, something she was clearly happy to see and, from looking at her mate, it clearly did him good to rest properly, even if not for a long period of time.

Chuckling as Akili yawned sleepily and settled down next to her leg, she gently ran her paw through the little cub's fur as she thought about what Delano had just asked of her. "Well... I don't see a reason why not." They were going to have to go back inside sooner or later, yes, but why hurry if her mate and son were so comfortable? It would be a lie to say that she wasn't just as settled down and feeling comfy on the grass next to Delano.

[DGFone]

Still not exactly awake, Delano couldn't help but smile as Lina allowed them to not move for some more time. While he was somewhat disappointed in not having had a full night's rest, the fact that he wasn't the one who woke himself up from a dream just now was enough to raise his mood some. Besides, soon they will have to go in once it will get too cold outside, and then he will have an entire night to catch up on whatever rest he still needed.

Besides, he was really comfortable right now, and was not eager at all to start moving and be reminded just how sore he was, along with the pain from whatever wounds that didn't heal yet. He knew that it would take time to recover, but he was in no hurry to be reminded of the fact.

So of course, the time when Lina finally said with a firm tone that it was time to move in, it was far too soon. Normally, when Akili would start complaining, Delano would side with Lina, but this time it wasn't the case. "You should listen to him..." he muttered sleepily to her as he heard their son whine about being woken up so that he can move, "it's not that cold yet..." Well, for him it wasn't.

He doubted that it was her intention to hurt him, but Delano shot up as a sharp pain tore though him from where his mate poked him at a particularly sore spot. "Ow! Lina!" Just about falling back down as his legs failed to hold his weight up, she caught him and made sure that he was leaning on her. Groaning at the way she woke him, Delano received a lick across his muzzle for the trouble. "I guess there's no point in lying back down," he grumbled, "come on Akili, it's time to go inside." Now against his will on Lina's side for getting their son into the cave, the three of them made their way to the warmer air of the cave.

Flopping down on the first comfortable spot, Delano wished that he was still outside and comfortable, even as Lina settled down next to him. Expecting the familiar feeling of Akili between the two of them, Delano saw their son on the other side of Lina, and remembered why they arranged for Akili to sleep further away from him. His mood considerably dampened, Delano closed his eyes and tried to resume his sleep.

[TheWhistlerify]

The reason why Lina was insisting they went back inside was because, while Akili might not say it, the air outside was getting too cold for a cub so young and small as he. Of course, in his sleepy state and between his mother's paws, partially shielded for the wind, the little hairball probably couldn't notice this. It would have been a much better idea, she thought, if she'd just picked her son up by the scruff and took him inside instead of waking him up for the occasion. Once they were inside, though, Lina waited for her mate to pick up a spot for the night, which surprisingly didn't take very long, before setting down next to him, as she usually did.

After giving a very sleepy and grumpy looking Akili a bath, she positioned the little cub next to her legs, on the side opposite to where his father would be sleeping. Having him sleep next to her alone for just a few days really didn't seem that bad now that she was thinking about it. Yes, it was probably unpleasant for Delano to think about, but their cub probably already forgot all about it and, in his tired state, was probably paying very little attention as to where he was exactly next to his parents. Yawning, she licked Delano once behind his ear in a "good night" gesture, in case he was still awake, before resting her head against his and going to sleep.

[DGFone]

Delano wasn't sure when exactly he had fallen asleep, but he knew that he was in the middle of another bad dream, again involving Akili, when he was shaken awake by Lina. Being abruptly removed from the dream, he had a hard time adjusting to the fact that what he had just seen was not real, and that he was still in the cave, and that Akili was in fact safe and sound, in between Lina's paws.

"What happened, Lina? Why did you wake me up?" Delano muttered sleepily, but actually feeling rather glad that she had woken him up from his dream. That was when he realized that he was far closer to her than he remembered her being when she lay down next to him, and that he must have woken her up as well.

Glancing outside the cave, he could see the earliest hints of daylight start to seep in, and Delano knew that there won't be much nighttime left. Was there any point in going back to sleep then? He rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up a little bit more. Even with Sanders gone, the other lion was still out there, and it clearly worried Delano enough to drive him crazy, even if it was only during the night. Perhaps he should try talking to the king again, or perhaps to Hatari. He thought that either one of them would know more about the lion than he did, and maybe they can say something that will allow him to calm down more.

[TheWhistlerify]

Finding herself being woken up by Delano as he moved about and shuffled in his sleep, Lina was soon dragged into full awareness and realized that her mate was in the middle of yet another nightmare. Not wanting him to wake up screaming or running into he wall again (which was bound to happen sooner or later), she shook him awake.

Briefly explaining her reasoning to the lion, even though she felt rather certain that he knew, his mate took a quick look at the exit of the cave and saw that the sun was just about beginning to rise. This meant that Delano had slept through almost the entire night undisturbed, which was a really good thing in her opinion. That nap outside yesterday in the evening had been uninterrupted, yes, but it had also been much shorter than this.

Pointing this rather cheerful fact out to her mate, Lina gave the male a soft lick across his muzzle. "You should try going back to sleep." she suggested quietly. He probably wouldn't experience another nightmare in the short period of time that was left for the night, seeing how it looked like it was usually taking him a while to start dreaming, and he could use all the rest he could get.

[DGFone]

Thinking that Lina's suggestion sounded like a good idea, Delano was about to settle back down to get back to sleep when he hesitated. While more sleep did sound nice, he didn't want to wake up to another nightmare, either. Glancing at Lina, it didn't look like his mate was going to go anywhere for now, but he was certain that she wasn't going to stay inside once Akili would wake up. So while getting some more rest was something he wanted to do, Delano wasn't looking forward to being left alone in the cave either.

"Hey, Lina, if you will go somewhere else, can you wake me up?" He was about to start to explain why, but Lina seemed to understand as she nodded and licked him gently between the ears. Now feeling confident that he won't be left alone to his nightmares, Delano placed his head back on his paws and fell asleep once more almost right away.