[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme took her time finishing the kiss she started, especially after Muroki joined her with his own kiss. When she finally pulled back, she was smiling brightly. "Wow, that was, uh..." she blushed brightly, but didn't hide herself from Muroki. "That felt great," she admitted, and again leaned towards Muroki. She rested against him, feeling his body move with his breathing. "I love you," she whispered.

Delano supported Lina, keeping her upright with his bod. "Don't worry," he told her, "I'm not gonna leave you." His mind flashed back to Gakuru, and how the lion was still after Lina. Delano tensed, but forced himself to relax. Gakuru won't try anything any time soon, and if he will, Delano would be ready. Lina will be safe, Delano was sure of it.

[TheWhistlerify]

That kiss felt like it was lasting forever, and even when Umeme pulled away Muroki still had the same happy yet sheepish grin he used to carry around when he and Umeme just began hanging out together. "Great? It was amazing." he said, rubbing her head against her gently as she rested against him and holding her close, not wanting to ever let go. "I love you too." he said softly. Even though it wasn't the first time they kissed, there was still something very special about it.

Lina smiled when Delano said that, feeling really happy to hear it. Delano might have said it to her already, but to hear him say it again was like an extra reassurance, and even though she didn't really need it, it was accepted. Being so close to Delano and having him hold her the way he was made her feel safe, she had no doubt that she belonged by his side as he did by hers. "I love you so much." she said, her voice a whisper. If anybody would suddenly ask her how happy she was about Delano being back, she wouldn't be able to express her happiness.

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled slightly when Muroki insisted in correcting her. It was comments like these that she enjoyed hearing from him, and one of the many aspects that she loved in Muroki. "Well, if you say so, then it was amazing," she breathed out. The way Muroki was holding her, Umeme felt like he was stealing her breath away from her.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Umeme still thought that they had waited long enough. "Want to go back and make the big announcement?" She asked eagerly but quietly.

Delano smiled as he closed his eyes and purred in content at the contact with Lina. "I love you too." Only recently he would have felt foolish for saying this. But now he didn't feel ridiculous expressing his love towards Lina.

"You know, you two look quite funny together-" Kasi's voice emerged from behind them.\

Delano jumped in surprise, annoyed at Kasi for interrupting their moment. "Come on, Kasi. Did you have to do that?" He asked, frowning.

Kasi just grinned back. "Had to find you two. And now you can help me find your brother," he said, "and once we figure out where to find each other, then I can let you guys go and do whatever... nuzzling and sitting around you love-birds do."

Delano frowned. Kasi was beginning to become rather annoying. "And what are you implying?" He asked coolly.

Kasi shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, maybe you can take Lina out on a hunt with you or something. Or run around. Because if all you will do is sit around and kiss each other, I can tell that this won't last long." He turned back towards the trees. "So you going to help me find the other two, or what?"

Delano gritted his teeth in annoyance, but got up. "Well he's acting quite cocky..." he told Lina.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina got up with a frown, looking much more annoyed than Delano was. So what if all she and Delano did was sit around and kiss each other? Where exactly did it say that lions who never went to hunt or run together never loved each other? Did Kasi not see how Lina nearly went insane while Delano was away? After all that was in one way or another a proof to how much she loved Delano. Then a thought occurred to Lina; that he didn't notice it or wasn't taking it into count because he simply didn't care. Maybe he was just looking for something to do, which made her even more upset.

While she was always calm when around Delano, she could be much more short tempered than she looked. Now, thinking about it again, this wasn't the first time where Kasi laughed at them or interrupted them, which was very agitating because Kasi wasn't that type of lion. He never annoyed her or Delano before they began hanging out together. Well then, if Kasi had a problem with her and Delano being together, he could go jump off a cliff for all Lina cared, for it was starting to become an actual nuisance.

Muroki smiled and, despite not wanting to, gently released Umeme out of his embrace. "Alright, they're probably awake by now." he was certain that Delano was up by now. They used to wake up rather early to go on their morning runs, and while with the underworld Delano probably didn't sleep in late either. Before he and Umeme could even begin to walk in the direction they saw Delano and Lina last, the two arrived with Kasi. The looks on Lina's and Delano's faces was rather annoyed once, but they faded when Delano and Lina noticed them.

Muroki didn't have enough time to try to figure out the reason for the two's now-gone annoyance, and it didn't seem to matter too much either. "Hey guys." Muroki said, smiling at his brother, at his cousin and at Lina who was now his sister-in-law. He didn't really give either of the three time to answer them before saying, "Um, look guys, Umeme and I have something to tell you." he place one of his paws on hers, looking at her with a smile, "We've been together for a really long time now, and..." he paused and looked at the others again, "We decided to become mates."

[DGFone]

Delano and Lina followed Kasi, who seemed oblivious to the annoyance he caused in the other two. Delano found it slightly odd that Lina was taking Kasi's mood much harder than him, but he didn't press into it. If she was really annoyed at their cousin, she had her reasons.

But what was really odd was that while Kasi did ask them to help him look for Muroki and Umeme, Kasi walked like he knew where to go. Delano frowned, getting more annoyed by the minute. He would need to talk with his cousin later in the day.

But his annoyance disappeared right away when they walked into Umeme and Muroki. Right away, Delano was able to tell that something was up.

Umeme looked away from Muroki only to see Delano and Lina already there. She smiled brightly upon noticing them. "Oh, hey! We have something important to say!" She felt Muroki's paw move on top of hers, and she allowed him to place it there, allowing him to make the big announcement.

Delano was shocked. "Y-you... mates?" He gasped out. It took him a few moments in order to piece it together. Muroki had naturally spent much more time with Umeme, so their decision was really the only logical step forward. When Delano realized this, he smiled. "That's... that's great!" He saw out of the corner of his eyes that Lina was obviously thinking the same thing.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was just as shocked as Delano was. It wasn't that she didn't think the two would make a perfect couple, but it's just that a proposal was never something one could expect. After a moment or two she too smiled, walking over to her sister and giving her a hug, "I'm really happy for you!" she had no doubt that Muroki would be a good mate for her, as it was very easy to notice that he cared about her more than anything else, even more than himself.

Muroki couldn't help but feel some sort of a relief at Delano and Lina's reactions. Soon Lina was done hugging her sister, she turned to him and hugged him too. "Thank you both, it means a lot..." he said, returning Lina's hug for a few seconds before she pulled away. Muroki then looked at his cousin, who has yet to say a single word. Not only that, but it was impossible to tell anything about how he was feeling about this whole thing just by looking at him.

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled and hugged Lina back. "He was actually going to ask me before, but was interrupted all the time," she told her sister, "but I think today was the best day for him to ask." She let Lina go and hug Muroki in turn. When Muroki regained his freedom from Lina, Muroki moved over closer to him, nuzzling her now official mate. She saw Delano sitting slightly off and smiled at him. "Hey, that makes you my brother in law!"

Delano smiled at Umeme. "Yes it does, doesn't it?" While he truly felt happy for both Umeme and Muroki, at the same time, he was also worried. He was worried that Lina would wonder how long it would take him to ask her. And as much as he wanted to, Delano didn't feel ready. Last night's argument was a testament to that. And what worried him is that he would make Lina feel bad by hesitating.

Lina sat down next to Delano again, but he didn't really notice her. On the outside, he was able to look happy, and for the most part, he was. But his other emotions and thoughts were causing a conflict inside of him that he wasn't sure how to fight.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was about to point out that he actually proposed to Umeme yesterday and not today, but was sort of cut off when Umeme came back over and nuzzled him. He smiled and nuzzled her back, deciding that it didn't really matter whether it happened yesterday or today. In his mind, he was just happy that she agreed to his proposal. After a moment or two Muroki again looked at Kasi, who still hasn't said anything at all, not even a 'congratulations' or something in that regard. "Is everything alright Kasi?" he asked, slightly confused.

[DGFone]

Kasi shook his head when he heard his name. "What? Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking..." He frowned slightly. "You guys are going to stay, though. Right?" He asked. He blushed furiously upon the others' reaction.

Umeme let out a giggle at Kasi's question. "Of course we will stay," she replied, "what gave you that idea?" She giggled again, and had to shove her face into Muroki's mane in order to keep herself from bursting. Kasi can be such a strange character sometimes...

Delano grinned slightly and looked at Lina next to him. "And I will too," he whispered to her, "I don't have any reasons to leave you anymore." He closed his eyes and leaned his head against hers.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but find Kasi's reaction rather amusing. He was actually starting to think that Kasi had some sort of a problem with him and Umeme becoming mates, but it turned out that he was just worried about losing the two of them, and Muroki couldn't help but find it somewhat cute. Despite that though, it was still funny, but Muroki managed to not burst into laughter. "We're not going anywhere Kasi, we're family remember?" Lina meanwhile silently accepted the contact with Delano and closed her eyes as well, also leaning against him.