[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Even though Akili most likely couldn't see it, Delano couldn't help but grin at his son's reply. "Now that you've done it once, I know you'll be able to do it again," he told his son, "and it will be easier than the first time."

He knew that in the end, being able to pin Marini was most likely realistically more down to luck than anything else, but Delano wasn't going to mention that. Such a victory was a very major one for the cub in terms of building confidence, and reminding Akili of it was most likely not a bad idea at a time like this.

[TheWhistlerify]

Akili was grinning ear to ear at his Delano's words, much to Lina's amusement. He was already determined to get his niece again before, but now that his father was expressing certainty at his abilities he was even more eager to prove himself to him. It was almost to the point where he was tempted to just rush back to his cousins, but he stayed where he was. "Yeah, of course I will!" he said, puffing out his chest as his mother giggled to himself. Right now, though, he was busy being with his parents, so that could wait.

[DGFone]

Delano let out a small chuckle at his son's enthusiasm for the competition. Even though he himself only had Muroki to compare to when they were growing up, it didn't stop Delano from always trying to come on top of his brother, who usually knew how to use his greater size as an advantage. To see Akili now be just as eager while being in the same situation, and having it even worse in terms of a size difference between him and Marini, it really reminded Delano fondly of his own cubhood days.

Of course, unlike with him and Muroki, there was something that Akili would be able to look forward to in terms of competing with Marini, and Delano couldn't resist telling his son about it. "You know, by the way, that as you will get older, you will also start catching up to Marini in size and eventually you'll even be bigger than her. How does that sound?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, still watching her mate and son interact and listening intently, found herself giggling once more when a rather dumbstruck look appeared on Akili's face, as if he'd just been told something amazing. Thinking about it, the cub suddenly remembered how his father was bigger than his mother, how his uncle was bigger than his aunt and so on in other variations and examples. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, placing his forepaws on Delano's forehead as he leaned over and looked at him upside down. "And then she's totally gonna get it!"

[DGFone]

Delano chuckled at how his son was looking at him upside-down. "Yeah, well as long as you can wait for that day to happen, it will sure be worth it," he said as he slowly lowered his head to his paws. Even though he was greatly enjoying interacting with Akili, he was also beginning to feel somewhat fatigued, and he was now finding it harder to keep his eyes open.

He thought that it was most likely due to the fact that the last time he tried to get some rest, it was interrupted by Lina before it could be ruined by a bad dream. But now Delano was in a good enough mood that he doubted that he would need to be afraid of another nightmare, so he didn't really try to fight to keep himself awake.

[TheWhistlerify]

Akili was looking pretty excited in light of what his father had just told him. Both Marini and Ubawa had the size adventage on him whenever they wrestled, so he was quite happy to know that at least Marini would lose that adventage. So would Ubawa if they would eventually grow to be the same size or, perhaps, with the younger cub actually getting the upper paw in that regard. But, despite there usually being a natural competition between boys, Marini was the more annoying one at the end of the day who always managed to get the best of him and her brother.

With Delano looking quite sleepy once more, Lina figured she might as well give her mate a break from their little fuzzy maraca. "Come here, Akili." she said, picking the cub up by the scruff as he let out a tiny mewl of surprise at being lifted. He squirmed a bit in an adorable way but, surprisingly enough, didn't struggle any further when his mother placed him down between her paws and began to bathe him. Perhaps he was too happy being with his parents like that to care.

[DGFone]

Delano was sleeping rather peacefully when he felt himself being poked awake on the side. Groaning with annoyance at having his rest interrupted, he at first tried to ignore whatever was that was poking him, but it didn't work as the nudging only got stronger. "Alright alright, I', up..." he mumbled sleepily as he slowly opened his eyes, only to look at a very amused looking Lina. "What? I was very comfortable just now, you know," he complained, not realizing yet that it was late enough that it was a good idea for him to wake up if he wanted to sleep at night.

[TheWhistlerify]

To Lina's vey positive surprise, Delano not only fell asleep relatively quickly but also didn't show any signs of having another nightmare. Usually his rests were very quickly interrupted by them, so this was a very nice change of pace. Some time went on and, soon enough, the evening was drawing near. As much as she hated interrupting her mate on such a rare occasion of undisturbed slumber, he would probably prefer being able to sleep through the entire night.

With his mood greatly improved, the lioness saw no reason why he would have any trouble sleeping normally again in a few hours. "Sorry, dear..." she said with a slightly cheeky hint in her tone, giving him an apologetic lick across his muzzle. Behind them, Marini and Ubawa were still fooling around as Umeme kept an eye on them. Muroki was still sleeping peacefully by her side, not interrupted by the noise his two cubs were making. However, his sister in law couldn't help but feel slightly worried as to how things would be once he woke up.

[DGFone]

Groaning in annoyance as he slowly got up, Delano glared at the sky, angry that it was late enough that Lina felt it better to wake him up. "There isn't enough sunlight in the day," he mumbled,"that needs to change." Letting out a loud yawn, he was interrupted again, this time by Akili as the cub climbed on top of his head, no doubt eager to play with his father again.

"You were just waiting to do that, weren't you?" Delano asked, rolling his eyes as he felt the weight of his son get closer to his ears, and sure enough, he immediately felt the tug on one of his ears. "Yeah, I knew you were." A part of him wondered about asking Lina to allow Akili o tug on his ears when he's asleep, so that he won't notice it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina found it impossible not to giggle as Delano looked up at the sky and muttered his complaint like a grumpy little cub. Even though he probably didn't really think something like that was possible and was simply speaking his opinion on the matter. "That does sound nice." she agreed with a chuckle, nuzzling the lion. "But try to look on the bright side. It's more fun to snuggle when it's cold, for example."

She's never had a conversation with her mate about snuggling. That would be ridiculous. But she at least really loved that. Looking slightly up, the lioness grinned upon seeing their son climb onto his father's head before once again beginning to entertain himself with his ear. "I suppose he was." she said, giving Akili a quick lick as he continued to nibble. "If it annoyes you," she said to the male quietly so the cub wouldn't hear and with a playful hint in her tone, "there are other ways to play with a cub, you know."