[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano laughed a little at Lina's observation. "I know it will take a long time. Which is why I wanted to do it with you. And now that you agreed with it..." he shuffled nervously. "We can start now." He waited for Lina's answer, feeling unsure of whether he wanted to start now or wait for later.

Retraining to run will be hard and often painful, but he knew that if he wanted to get to where he was before, the sooner he will start, the better. Later on, when he will feel good enough, he would like to bring Muroki along as well, perhaps even with Umeme.

---

Umeme eyed Hatari curiously. She found it odd how he was so fearful of the border and the kingdom, but chose to live right next to it. And he seemed nervous and jumpy, a lot like Muroki and Delano when they first showed up. Perhaps talking to her and Muroki, and getting used to them, will help him settle down more comfortably.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina nodded at Delano with a smile. "Sure, we can start now." It's not like she had anything better to do, and she never cared what she and Delano did as long as they did it together. She knew that it would take Delano time to get used to running like he used to though. "But make sure you take it nice and slow okay?"

---

Gakuru said nothing else. While Muroki seemed to be in his own little world, thinking about nobody knew what, he could tell that Umeme was finding him to be very peculiar. He was looking at the direction they were walking towards, but he could tell that she was looking at him the entire time. But it didn't really bother him as long as she didn't end up telling anybody that he was there. The last thing he wanted to be dealing with was finding another appropriate to live at.

[DGFone]

Lina's reply made Delano grin. "Anything for you," he told her, before setting off in a slow jog. Now that he was free again, he was eager to get his life up and running again together with Lina. Even though she was easily keeping up with him, he chose to do as she told him and din't push himself too hard. Ever so slowly, he'll get faster and be able to run farther, and soon he hoped he will be able to compete with Muroki again.

Together, they ran around the savanna. Delano lead the way, but he didn't really care where they were going. All he knew was that he was with Lina, and it was a great feeling. Looking at her, he knew that she too was enjoying being with him. Ever so slowly, their run lead them closer and close to the den.

When it came finally into sight, Delano poked his tongue out at Lina before sprinting off towards their home. Even though he tore away from her without warning, she very quickly overtook him. Slowing down again, they stopped by the entrance to the den. Delano walked over to Lina before sitting down next to her, panting for breath. "That was... quite... fun..." He placed his head next to hers, enjoying the contact. "I really missed being able to do this," he mumbled, "you and me, together..." He grinned. "You know, I think we can easily make Muroki and Umeme jealous. When was the last time they got to enjoy themselves like this?"

---

Umeme noticed that it was getting late, and realized with a slight frown that it would be better if she and Muroki went home before it got too late, to avoid drawing too much unwanted attention. "Hey, Hatari, listen, it's getting late. I think it will be better if Muroki and I leave now, but we can come back tomorrow if you want." She felt slightly bad at having to leave the lion alone out here, but so far it looked like he had found a reasonably comfortable living arrangement for himself, so she didn't worry too much.

What she wanted to do as well was talk to Muroki about Hatari as well. While she enjoyed coming over here, she was beginning to feel like a few days with only Muroki would do her some good.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina gave a slight frown, "You said you were going to take it nice and slow." she said, referring to his little sprint towards the end. She didn't want him to push himself like that so quickly. Her frown quickly disappeared, however, when Delano placed his head against her. "Are you kidding me?" she said with a chuckle, "When was the last time you looked at your brother cafefully? To me he still looks the same as when he and Umeme first started seeing each other. Sometimes I talk to him and he turns out to haven't even been paying attention, even when she's not there." She paused for a moment. "Besides, how can you tell when was the last time they got to enjoy themselves like this?" It was funny imagining Delano stalking the two from behind a bush or from a branch of a tree.

---

Gakuru looked at Umeme and nodded. "Okay." it would be a lie to say that he didn't enjoy having somebody's company but he wasn't going to argue with the fact that the two had to go home eventually. After all he didn't want their friends to come looking for them here. "I guess you can come back if you want to. I don't mind."

He came to a stop only for Muroki to accidentally bump into him, which showed just how much Muroki hadn't been paying attention. "Whoops, sorry..." he said, feeling rather embarrassed. After Umeme explained (again) that she thought it better for them to get going he nodded before looking at Gakuru with a smile. "I guess we'll see you again later?"

"Probably." Hopefully. He watched the two of them leave, staring at Muroki as he and Umeme walk away. He was unable to explain it, but there was something about Muroki that seemed very familiar.

[DGFone]

Delano grinned back at Lina. "Well, I just kinda though that, because they were together longer, that they probably got used to each other more." He shrugged a little. "But if you say that they're still crazy for each other, I guess they are." He gently rubbed his head against Lina's. "But yesterday at least, they didn't really enjoy themselves this much. Not from what I saw."

He closed his eyes and purred softly, glad to be with Lina. All those days healing his leg meant that he forgot just how great it was to spend time with her. Now that he was free again, he did not plan on taking his time together with her for granted. "Hey, Lina, what do you think we should do tomorrow?" he asked quietly. "We can spend the day with Muroki and Umeme, but I was thinking that a full day just with you might be better..."

---

Umeme found it somewhat cute a how distracted Muroki was. After bidding Hatari a good day, she walked off with Muroki, eyeing him curiously. "So what has gotten into you?" she teased quietly once they were somewhat away. "You're acting like you can't see what's directly in front of your nose." She smiled and gave him a quick lick over his muzzle. "Something on your mind?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina thought about it for a moment. "I don't think it really matters whether we spend the day with Umeme and Muroki or whether we spend it alone." she said, letting out a happy sigh as she rested her head in Delano's soft and warm mane. "But I wouldn't mind spending it just with you..." She would actually prefer to spend the day with only him seeing how long it has been since they got to actually spend some time together. Smiling, she went ahead and gave her mate an affectionate lick across his cheek.

---

Muroki remained deep in his own thoughts and snapped back into reality when Umeme spoke to him after a short while. "Oh..." he said, feeling a little foolish at his recent lack of attention. "Nothing's gotten into me." He couldn't deny however that it was really awkward when he ended up bumping into Hatari. He smiled sheepishly as Umeme licked him, "I was just thinking." he paused for a moment, "Well, about you and about what the future might hold for us..." he rubbed the back of his head with one of his paws. "You know, all these kinds of sappy thoughts..."

[DGFone]

Delano felt his face turn several shades of red brighter when Lina licked him., and hoped furiously that she didn't notice. "Sure, I would like to spend tomorrow just with you. We can always do something with Muroki and Umeme later." He shrugged a little. "Although I would like to know where they have been heading off to lately. I've noticed that they seem to be coming back here later and later in the day. Of course, that could be just me seeing things." He only spent a few moments thinking about it before discarding any ideas about it.

"But finding out about that can wait. Tomorrow, you and me.." he grinned, "has been a long time, hasn't it?" Looking back, he couldn't remember well the last time he had spent a whole day with Lina. Recently, he was always with someone fussing about his leg. Before that he was held up in that dreadful cave, and before that... Delano quickly stopped thinking about it, as it always seemed to bring him back to the time spent in complete darkness, begging to get out. He doubted that he will ever be comfortable in such dark places, even for short periods of time, ever again. He didn't know how much Lina knew about it, but he was still afraid to wake up in the den at night, should the first thing he will see would be nothing at all.

Without meaning to, he edged closer to Lina, snuggling up against her. At least she can make him feel better, without even having to say anything, just by being there. Yeah, tomorrow, it will be definitely just the two of them.

---

Umeme sat down and looked at Muroki, frowning playfully. "Uh huh, like what kind of 'sappy thoughts'?" She prodded his shoulder wit ha paw. "You're not getting any ideas that I should be worried about, are you? After all, I don't recall you walking into others before." Her frown turned into a smug grin. "So go on, what are you hiding?"

[TheWhistlerify]

(( I have a microphone now =3 ))

Lina wasn't going to mention it to Delano, but she did notice how his face turned bright red when she licked him. He did realize she had noticed it when she giggled though. She didn't pay much attention to what he said about Umeme and Muroki coming back later each day. It's not like her sister and brother-in-law were cubs that had to be watched all the time. If anything the two had to worry about what Lina and Umeme's talkative mother might conclude from the fact that they always come back when it's almost dark.

"Maybe it's true, but I don't think it really matters. Either way it's none of our business, but I guess you can always ask your brother if you're that interested." Delano might get an answer and he might not. Either way, it didn't matter to Lina at all. "Yeah, it's really been a long time since we got to spend time together..." she couldn't help but giggle as Delano suddenly snuggled up against her, pressing her nose against his and quietly looking into his eyes with a happy smile on her face.

---

Muroki also sat down next to Umeme, again rubbing the back of his head with a paw as he failed to notice that fact that his mate's frown was only a playful and fake one. "Well, uh..." he paused nervously as she prodded his shoulder with her paw, staring at it as he did. "Um... No, I don't think so..." for some reason he was feeling as nervous as he had felt when he talked to Umeme for the first time. He couldn't help but feel his face turn red as he saw Umeme's grin. "I'm not hiding anything, I was just, uh... daydreaming?"

[DGFone]

Delano grinned an stared back into Lina's eyes. "Remind me how we met again," he muttered playfully. He leaned forwards and rubbed his head against hers, feeling as content as he ever could be. Lina nuzzled him back as well, and for many moments, the two of them didn't say anything, allowing them to simply enjoy the presence and contact of the other.

Eventually, though, Delano thought of something that he wasn't very eager to say. Lifting his head away from Lina's, he looked into her eyes again. "So what do you say about going in for the night then? Tomorrow we'll be able to get up early, and if we'll want, we'll be able to come back late at night if we choose to." He himself didn't mind having to calling it a night this early if it meant that he'll have enough energy to be out with Lina for longer than usual. But at the same time, he didn't really want to end their moment together now.

---

Realizing that Muroki didn't know that she was teasing him, Umeme giggled. "Come on, you stuttering buffoon, what are you 'daydreaming' about then?" She leaned closer and whispered into his ear, "you can tell me. I won't bite." The more Muroki insisted on not telling her, the more her curiosity grew and the more she needed to know what was occupying Muroki's mind so much that not only did he walk into Hatari, but was now so nervous he couldn't make a coherent phrase anymore.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina thought for a moment. "Well, I think it was a short while after you and Muroki moved here. If I remember correctly Kasi was showing you around and he decided to introduce you to us." She couldn't remember exactly what has happened but it must have gone a little something like that. "I don't really mind whether we stay here or go inside now." Whether they went in or stayed out a little longer they would be together, so it didn't really matter to her.

---

Muroki hesitated. "Uh... Well, I was just thinking about... What it might be like if we ever start a family of our own." He was hesitant to say it because he thought it might upset her or make her feel pressured. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was trying to rush her into things, which was why he attempted to change the subject. "It was, uh... Just a thought..." He hoped she wasn't angry.