[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano didn't catch on to the fact that Lina liked his weirdness though. "Oh, well, I kinda wish I wasn't," he said, "wasn't so weird."He sighed, and tried to tell her exactly how he felt. It was something he realized today. That if he told Lina how he felt, they might get along better.

"It might make me sound foolish," Delano said uncertainly, "but I... I'm somewhat afraid," he paused, searching for words. "I know I love you, but I am afraid of getting too close.. this was why I panicked after I kissed you...I- I don't really know." He sighed again, and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm confused," he said after a while, "can... can you help me?"

Umeme smiled, letting Muroki pull her closer to him. "That's good. Because I won't let you." She lay down next to him, as not to crush him with her weight. "This makes me wonder, how did you survive before you met us? Before you met me?"

---

Moto felt slightly unsettled by the tone Dakari spoke. "I don't think that will be necessary, though," he added, "I don't think that we have anything to worry about. Everything will be fine." He then smiled, wanting to unwind the darker mood. "Want to go outside and check on the kids?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina had no idea why was Delano being so concerned about getting close to her, but she figured that it was probably one of his own oddly habits to make big deals out of things. Still though, if he felt like it was a problem, she was going to try and help however she could. "I... I don't know how to help you exactly..." it seemed like the only thing that could make him less nervous about being so close to her would be to just wait and let the time do its thing.

Muroki smiled, "You don't have to not let me. You don't even need to bother over that." he said softly, allowing Umeme to comfortably set down however she wanted beside him. "How did I survive..." he repeated her, chuckling to himself. "Well, if I had known you before I met you I guess I wouldn't have survived..." he chuckled once more as he realized that what he just said made absolutely no sense. Now that he did meet her and fell in love with her though, he wouldn't be able to survive without her by his side.

---

Laini put a paw on Dakari's shoulder and he soon calmed down. They were both certain that there was no more reason to worry, but one could not expect Dakari to not become furious at the very mention of the cruel lions who brought his mate through so much suffering. "Yeah, let's go outside." she said, feeling like some fresh air would also help lighten the mood.

[DGFone]

Delano didn't know what to say. He hoped that Lina might have known something, but it seemed that she was just as clueless in these terms as him. He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the feeling of being with Lina.

Umeme chuckled when Muroki said what he thought. To Umeme, it made some sense, but not much. Didn't prevent her from enjoying his answer though. "Well, if you think so, I think you would survive," she said, "barely. Or maybe you won't." She chuckled, nuzzling him. "Good thing we won't have to find out."

---

Moto followed the others outside, breathing in the evening air. He smiled brightly when he was Umeme on the ground, with Muroki next to her. It would take him some time to get used to the fact that she has a mate now, but he didn't mind it.

His gaze went from Umeme to Lina, and Moto hesitated when he saw another lion with her.

---

Delano felt uneasy suddenly, and he opened his eyes. The entrance of the den was covered from might by Kasi's parents, but also a lion and a lioness whom he did not recognize. Delano recoiled in shock. "Lina... who are they?" He asked, feeling afraid.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled, gently touching his muzzle to Umeme's muzzle and staring into her unbelievably beautiful eyes. "No, we'll never find that out." he said softly, returning her nuzzle. Now that she was his mate, he was the happiest lion alive. Nobody will be ever able to convince him to leave her, and it would take more than just a few lions to force him away from her. He was already looking forward to his life together with her.

Lina didn't say anything for quite a while, closing her eyes as well and simply resting against Delano. She had no doubt that sooner or later things between them will completely calm down, and then everything will be just fine. She was so caught up in the moment that she failed to realize that her parents were there, not until she could feel Delano suddenly move. She looked around and, after noticing her parents, returned her gaze to Delano with a smile. "These are my parents." she said, hoping that her smile would reassure Delano to not freak out.

[DGFone]

Delano hesitated. He should have been calm by now. If these were her parents, then he had nothing to worry about. It might have been too many days of living a life as someone who he wasn't, and being around those who he couldn't trust, but he now found himself shaking with fear. "I err... I..." Half his mind was telling him to run for it, but his limbs didn't move. "Lina... help." He pleaded.

Umeme looked up from Muroki, and saw Delano looking extremely afraid of her parents for some reason. She laughed quietly, and leaned down next to Muroki. "And I thought you were bad," she teased, "I think I'll let my sister handle this one."

Moto watched Lina in amusement. "Lina, mind introducing him to us?" he asked. He knew without having to ask who it was. This was Lina's love, the one quick look he had of her before she noticed him was enough to tell everything. But he still wanted to ask.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki only shifted his gaze away from her when she said what she said, noticing that his brother was now talking to Umeme's and Lina's parents for the first time now. And Muroki thought that he himself was a complete disaster while meeting them, but now that he was seeing Delano the definition for 'embarrassing' earned a new definition. But knowing Lina, she'll figure out what to do with him. "He'll be fine." She loved Delano so much that she now probably knew him better than Muroki did.

Lina looked at her parents with a slight blush, obviously excited to introduce Delano to them. Looking at him in the corner of her eye, she saw that he was looking rather horrified. "Calm down would you?" she asked with a chuckle, looking back at her parents. "Mom, dad, this is Delano, he-" before she could even think of what to say her mother was already in front of Delano and shaking his paw just like she did with Muroki, smiling at him and telling him how delighted she was to meet him. Lina sighed and brought a paw to her forehead "Oh brother..." she hoped Delano wouldn't get too startled by her mother's too friendly nature.

[DGFone]

Umeme tried not to laugh out loud when Fadhili ran over to Delano. "He'll be fine alright," she agreed, "but last time I recalled it, you were not scared out of your mind when you met mom." She laughed a little. "I mean, come on, she's not that scary." She brought her attention back to Muroki. "Even you got used to mom quite quickly."

Delano let out a yelp of shock and fear when Fadhili rushed at him, only to find himself shaking paws with her. "I- uh, hi," he stammered, "it's good to finally meet you." He heard the others laughing around him, but was too busy trying to control himself to get annoyed at them. When Lina's mother finally let his paw down, he quickly placed it on the ground as not to fall over. "You could have told me your parents were like this," he whispered to Lina, "because that wasn't fun."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled, "I kind of found her friendliness rather creepy to be honest... Even very creepy..." he said, informing her of it just in case Umeme didn't know yet. He couldn't say that he got used to her already, but he was obviously less nervous around her and her mate after knowing that they accepted him as Umeme's mate. "But your mother's really nice. Both of your parents are nice." the first meeting with them turned out less worse than the 'minimum amount of bad' which Muroki decided upon while he was still making his way towards the two.

Lina smiled, giggling at the first sentence that came out of Delano's mouth as a result of 'meeting' her mom. She could be over-friendly at times, and sometimes she would end up embarrassing her mate and / or her daughters with how much she talked, but that's just the way she is. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad was it?" she asked, not really expecting an answer for that. Delano would grow used to her parents eventually, and while meeting her parents was probably a somewhat scary experience for him, Lina was sure that Delano wouldn't be driven crazy by it or something.

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned. "You'll get used to them. Just give them sometime," she let Muroki sit back up next to her. "You know, it's actually quite great that mom and dad came here now. Right after we announced to become mates," She gave a quick look to Delano and Lina, "and I think its only a matter of time before they decide to too."

Delano sighed, repositioning himself next to Lina again. "Well, it wasn't that bad," he said, "but I still got really scared... don't know why though." He looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sure that I will get used to them, but..." He paused unsure. "I'll just give it some time," He concluded, "then things should clear themselves up."

Moto smiled when it looked like everyone calmed down at their presence, and then he cleared his voice. "It's really nice to see all of us together here," he said, "and I would like to take this time and introduce Muroki and Delano to our family." From Lina's rushed introduction, he caught Delano's name, but not that he wasn't really part of the family yet.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled, "Yeah, I'll get used to them. Don't worry, I have plenty of time to give to everyone." he said with a chuckle, "It really does seem like your parents came here with perfect timing." Muroki was glad that they did, because now he knew that they approved of him and Umeme being together and cleared all the small apprehensions about what will happen once his parents-in-law came to visit.

Lina smiled and giggled at the way Delano was looking at the ground in shame as if he had committed some horrible crime. "You'll get used to them, it might take some time, but I promise you will." she then turned her attention to her father as he spoke, wondering whether he knew that Delano and Muroki were actually brothers, but she figured that for him to know wasn't of any importance, since it wasn't going to make any sort of a difference.