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"Good, because I don't need any battle scars from chasing off would-be suitors!" Dhoru chuckled and, with his shoulder, gave Nema a gentle, playful shove. "I'm sure we'll find something soon; after all, we haven't been looking for that long. Have we?"

Curiously, Dhoru glanced skywards to regard the sun. He was right - it hadn't been more than a few hours. But he'd had to check, since time always seemed funny when he was with Nema. He could lay with her for hours that turned out to be heartbeats, and they could play in the water for heartbeats that turned out to be half the day. Apparently love had the power to alter time for those in it.

Shrugging off the thoughts, he returned his attention to finding a den. Suddenly, he spotted something promising - a large dark spot on the cliff face with hanging plants draped across it. Possibly the entrance to a roomy den, with a door of sorts?

Gesturing to the area with his tail, he remarked to Nema, "What about that?" and began trotting over to investigate.

As Nema stopped at the hole's entrance beside him, Dhoru took a moment before answering to cautiously sniff at the rock. Drawing the air over his tongue, he could taste jackal scent - but it was very, very stale. In fact, it was so faint he couldn't be sure that he wasn't imagining it.

Shrugging, he turned to Nema and said, "It doesn't seem like anyone has lived here for more moons than I've been alive. I'm going to investigate deeper; if you want to come along, I wouldn't refuse the company."

Turning back, he padded quietly into the cave, taking care to place his paws as softly as he could. As the light diminished, he probably should have slowed to allowed his eyes the time to adjust, but he strode on - and paid the price.
His eyes adjusted just in time for his to see the rock in front of him as he bumped his nose off of it. Pulling back, more from surprise than actual pain, he raised a paw to rub at his snout and called back, "Careful! The ceiling is pretty low here!"

When the throbbing in his nose subsided, he lowered his paw again and started to search for a way forward, finding it near the floor. While the ceiling seemed to have dropped down to the floor, there was actually a sizable gap between the two and Dhoru discovered that, if he crouched, he could pull himself through the gap as if he were stalking prey. The fur on both his belly and his back brushed gently against the rock on either side, but it was a pretty comfortable fit.

Calling back to Nema once again, he informed her of what to do should she want to follow him. Keeping his eyes forward, he slowly hauled himself on.

Shortly after, he realized he could no longer feel the rock above him - that the ceiling had receded again. The drop in the tunnel was only about a lion's length. Blinking, he also realized that the cave was getting brighter.
He waited for Nema to emerge from the tunnel before pressing on; only a few paw steps further in, a wall of solid rock loomed in front of them, and Dhoru thought they had reached a dead-end; however, they realized that the source of the light seemed to be coming from behind them.

Turning around, they realized that the tunnel folded back on itself - and before their eyes, opened up into a cavern. It was wide enough to comfortably fit four adult lions with room to spare, and the walls were made of a mixture of stone and packed earth - very stable, but with many little shelves and nooks to hold personal items.

Looking up, Dhoru discovered the source of the light. High above them - higher than any creature could jump - and off in one corner was a cluster of small holes in the ceiling. The gaps were too small for anything more than prey to fit through, but even if anything did squeeze in, there was no way it could get down to the bottom without falling - a fall that was unlikely to be survived. There was also no way anything could climb up and out.

Directly below the holes there was a shallow bowl in the stone floor. Pointing it out to Nema, Dhoru remarked, "I don't know if that's natural or if some animal created it, but I bet that when it rains, that will fill up with water. Combine that with the great defensive entrance, and I think that all this place needs to be the perfect den is some moss and such to make a nest. What do you think?"

His joy at finding the cavern was nothing compared to the immense bliss he felt to find that Nema loved the den - their den. AS she threw herself at him, he broke out into delighted purring. Dhoru allowed himself to become lost in the wave of love and happiness for several heartbeats, exchanging nuzzles and fond licks with his new lifemate. Even thinking about how they would spend the rest of their lives together made Dhoru think his heart would explode from too much happiness.

Pulling himself back to reality, he reminded himself that there was still work to be done - although thankfully not much. All that they really needed to do was gather bedding and choose a place to make their nest. He debated clearing out the sand on the floor, and the bugs that crawled pretty much everywhere, but realized quickly that there wouldn't be much point. It wouldn't be long at all until both returned in abundance.

"I suppose we should go look for that moss now," he murmured. "It would be better to gather some fresh as opposed to just bringing the bedding from our current dens." Dragging himself away from Nema reluctantly, he turned and began padded back down the tunnel - this time, without smacking his face off of anything.

Dhoru nodded thoughtfully. "Feathers would definitely be nice. What would you think about adding a few flowers, like lavender or something, so the nest smells nice and relaxing?"

When Nema stopped, Dhoru thought at first that his suggestion had somehow upset her. Terribly confused and a little worried, he looked back over his shoulder at her. He caught his name - although barely - and strained to hear the rest of Nema's question, his ears pushed forward.

"Bigger? I guess so. The nest will need more room to accommodate both of us, and a little spare room wouldn't hurt; we wouldn't want to be cramped and - Wait. Oh. Bigger." When he realized what Nema was really asking, Dhoru felt as though an elephant had fallen on him. It wasn't the nest that was important so much as what might be in it. His heart skipped a beat and his legs very nearly gave out; he had been thinking about cubs for a little while now, but hadn't been sure how to broach the subject. After all, it was Nema that had to carry and birth the cubs, shouldn't it be her decision? And now it was, and Dhoru couldn't be happier.

"Are you sure? he asked excitedly, with a big, dopey grin plastered to his face.

Her indecision made Dhoru's smile falter, and the word "no" almost made his heart break. When it occurred to him that Nema was only nervous, and that she actually did know what she wanted, he sagged with relief. Of course, she's just worried! he chuckled to himself.

Smiling broadly again, Dhoru stepped forward and placed his muzzle on Nema's ear. He whispered, "I would love a bigger nest," through a rumbling purr of happiness, and gently nudged the cheek of the love of his life.

Any worries, any negative thoughts about anything in the world, melted away in the light of this moment. Dhoru felt like nothing else would ever matter again - just the two of them, and the family they would soon have.

"I hope you're aware that I'm a part of that family whether you like it or not."

Dhoru only purred harder at Hasi's 'threat'; it was nice to know that she was fond enough of Nema to want to be included in their future. Their wonderful, bright future.