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Adulthood hit the lion like a tonne of bricks that were determined to sink him into a fit of emotional anarchy. He'd known the lioness most of his life now and not one moment of that time had been frightening. Now he felt weak in the knees, restless and concerned. The day had come that he'd finally fully realized his feelings for Yukio and today he would act on them.

Maji was determined.

Firstly he knew what her mother-figure would expect - the talk. The great green lion peered into a small puddle that lay undisturbed outside of his den, a home he had built and prepared to play host to not only himself, but eventually his future mate. Its entirety was plain, which was unusual for the lion, but he had done this on purpose - a prize for his mate to be. "You can do this." He muttered to himself, it was a veiled attempt at confidence as he finally left the dens entrance to begin his journey.

The end goal, meeting with Ume. Fortunately her den wasn't far from his and so the trip would be short.

These past few years had flown by in a blink of an eye. It seemed only yesterday when the dark colored cheetah came strolling into the Bahari with a scared cub in tow. It was a day that none of them would forget, but ah, how could they? It was after all the fateful day that their fates had intertwined together, forever locking them together for better or worse.

It was the day they had become a family.

Why Ume had taken on the brunt force of the child-rearing due to Zuberi's demanding job they had both committed themselves together to providing the best life that they possibly could to the young cub. Though it was not something either had expected to take on, they soon found themselves unable to imagine themselves without their little family unit in their lives.

Ume had watched Yukio's progress making new friends and establishing her own roots in the Bahari. Eventually she had even decided to take on a permanent residence in the sunny lands, and accomplished becoming a skilled den builder. Ume couldn't have been prouder of her child's achievements, and selfishly was ecstatic to have her so close to home.
: There was just one thing that was left on her parental check-list: Grand-cubs! Though she knew that Yukio had little interest in starting her own family at her young age Ume couldn't help herself but give gentle nudges and hints that she was hopeful that soon the little pitter patter of tiny paws would fill her den once again.

Alas, as hopeful as Ume was she highly doubted that her wishes would be coming true anytime soon. She could respect Yukio's wishes and certainly wouldn't be forcing an arranged marriage or set up on her!

For the time being life would continue to be the calm content as it was now. With Zuberi making a rare trip back home Ume had taken a few days off from her duties to catch up with her co-parent and old friend. They could simply sit back and relax in each other's company before life overtook their attention once again.

...Unknowingly life had decided that this afternoon was the perfect time for a curve ball to be tossed at the both of them!

: "Ume.. can I begi courting Yukio?" The male had tossed aside a variety of ways to ask Ume and yet this one still seemed so.. lack lustre. He gave his head a toss, effectively loosening a few strands of his full mane and making himself look ragged. He was far to worried about what to say to Ume. When he approached the familiar den he stopped dead in his tracks. He had been so focused on Ume that he had forgotten the male figure that stopped by from time to time.

"Why now?"

Maji exhaled his flustered question slowly and quietly. Had he been stressed before? Not compared to what he felt now. Swallowing hard he decided that enough was enough and instead of creeping where he was he had to get it over with. Before stepping another paw step forward he considered what he had to offer the lioness they considered a daughter. He had a home for them set up, was a productive member of society, and he had been good friends with her since youth. Of course he did have his troubles with the ocean, but that had been in his cubhood!

"I can do this." He repeated himself and began taking the last few steps between himself and the home of his, hopefully mate to bes, family.

"Hello?" He called out, ears flattening against his head briefly in panic.

Ume's ears were the first to twitch at the unmistakable sound of foot steps outside of her den. When she had lost her eye sight many a moon ago as common her other senses had improved to compensate. They had a visitor it would seem, but the question now was who was it?

With a quiet sigh she gently put down the bowl full of herb filled sweet water that she had been preparing as a treat for dinner. Her head tilted to the side as she softly called out over her shoulder, "Zube-"

"Got it." The dark cheetah replied curtly. Some might have found their mannerisms with each other cold, perhaps even downright rude, but after years of living together they had cut out social politeness in favor of just getting whatever needed to be said done. The two simply didn't have time to bother with small talk with their limited time together!

Rising from his seat Zuberi swiftly made his way through the massive mess of knick-knacks and art supplies that Ume called home. Stepping towards the curved entrance of the den his eyes slowly scanned the scruffy looking male before him.

Who...the hell was this? He clearly was an adult by the full mane of his, but he still looked young and unsure of himself. Could this be one of Yukio's friends? Or one of Ume's previous charges?

"How can I assist you?" He inquired with a cocked eyebrow. "If you're looking for Yukio I hate to inform you but she's not home at this time. You'll need to come back later." He finished.

The moment had come and passed where Maji had felt an inkling of confidence. He had expected his gaze to fall upon the familiar lioness, but instead it fell upon a lanky looking figure. "Excuse me? Oh." Maji was out of sorts, flustered by the sudden appearance of the long cat that was being kind, but short with him. "I was actually looking for Ume, and I guess.. you as well." His gaze briefly looked upwards at the cheetah and fell back down for a moment. He was trying his hardest, but in his need to fight or flee he worried that fleeing might win.

"I want to ask you guys something." Would they know? Maji knew how intuitive Ume could be, plus he had been around the den before. He wasn't a stranger - in his opinion - but Yukios family could consider otherwise. A fresh feeling of worry washed over him and his stomach began to knot. Oh no. "Would.. that, uh, be okay?"

Maji forced himself to raise his gaze again to meet the cheetahs eye.

: "Ask us something..?" The older male repeated slowly. His face flashed with confusion as he tried to process and figure out what exactly could this boy want to speak to Ume about? Let alone...himself? He knew he was regarded as a ghost to most of the Bahari, a unfamiliar but not unwelcome face that would occasionally pop up for brief periods of time. Zuberi made it a point to try and distance himself from the every day activities of the Bahari to make sure that he didn't cause many waves with his sudden visits. So that begged the question of how he was known, and more importantly, why was he being sought out?

Ah, but nothing risked ended with nothing rewarded.

"Very well." He finally responded, a clipped nod of his head shortly following. Shifting his body sideways he gave a quick glance back to the nervous lion as he spoke once more, "Before you come in I have to ask your name? I will have to see if Ume is in the mood to entertain company."

Maji wasn't off to a very good start, he knew that, but he attempted to keep a small smile on his face. His ears relaxed forward slightly and he nodded vigorously to the repeated question. "Yes." He responded unnecessarily before silence fell between them. It wasn't long before the other answered his request with a response that he could work with.

"My name is Maji, I'm very good friends with Yukio." Avoiding the topic 'smoothly' was something he knew he was good at. Nerves got the best of him and deep down he knew that it would be made harder the further along the conversation got. At least with Ume in the picture it may become a little easier. "Hopefully Ume will be at least a little excited to see me." He chuckled softly at this and wondered if she knew why he might have come around. Yukio and he were adults now, there wouldn't be many reasons to see the parents of another lioness.

"If not, I can always come back." Even thinking about the much more welcoming lioness eased him into being able to speak a little easier.

If only the young male could understand that Zuberi didn't have any particular grudges against him - hell he didn't even consider his behavior to be abnormal! In his mind he could have just refused to see any visitors and left, now that would have been rude. Right now he was entertaining the lion, even if it wasn't in the friendliest manner.

"A friend of Yukio's then?" He repeated once again. The name was certainly ringing a faint bell in his head. Perhaps this was one of the friends that Yukio rambled on and on about at break-neck speeds? Possibly. Only Ume could offer some insight on just who exactly they were dealing with.

Speaking of..."Ume!" He raised his voice, calling out into the deeper parts of the cave as he took a few steps forward. "There's a visitor here for you and me, he says his name is Maji. Should he com-"

Crash! Zuberi jumped back as the banging rattles continued to move closer at a rapid speed. Within a few seconds the older lioness poked her head through the darkness, a beaming smile on her face. "Oh Maji! It's so good to see you!" She cooed as she finished closing the distance between them.

Her ears pinned back slightly as she came up near Zuberi. Pursing her lips her hips jutted out to nudge against the Cheetah's side. "Zuzu don't just stand there invite the poor lad in! Make sure to guide him through, I don't want him tripping on anything."

Letting out a low chuckle Zuberi's head shook at Ume's unusual excitement. "Yes mistress." Turning his head to the side he gestured to Maji to follow along. "Well you heard her, boy. Come on in before she drags us both inside."

A swift nod from Maji followed the cheetahs rhetorical question, but he remained silent as he stood there. Even though he knew that they were expecting Ume he still jumped a little at the sudden hollering of her name, followed by an explanation of who he was and then CRASH. He shuddered slightly at the idea of poor Ume wandering about her cluttered den, but the treasures she had were priceles and certainly not going anywhere, he was sure of that.

"You too, Ume!" He smiled fondly at the lioness. Early on he would have chuckled at the irony in her statement as she had never really seen him, her eyes prevented such a thing. Then.. Zuzu? Maji very nearly burst. He wasn't nearly as nervous about the cheetah as he had first been, it seemed the beast was far more gentle than he had first appeared and so the tension he didn't realize he had was released from his shoulders and he moved forward.

"Coming." He cheerfully rang out in response. "Looks like you've collected a few more knick knacks since I've last been here, Ume." The awe in his voice would have been enough to show his keen interest in her articles. They were lovely to him!
Finding a place that he could seat himself comfortably with both Zuberi and Ume he had decided to get right down to business as quickly as he could. "I'd like to get this out before I lose the confidence." It wasn't that he would stop trying, more so that he didn't want to lose another day. "Yukio has been a beloved friend, cherished companion since my youth, and is incredibly special." These were things he was sure that Ume would have known. "We've grown from cubs, to awkward adolescents, and have finally blossomed into the adults we are today because of the experiences we've had with each other and those rascals we call friends." He smiled fondly as he began to travel down memory lane. "And I feel like we might be ready for something more."

A blush erupted onto his cheeks and his gaze fell to the floor before slowly making its way back up to the pair. "I'd like to officially court Yukio, with your blessings." He got the words out as quickly as he could and inhaled deeply - now holding his breath he waited for some kind of reaction.

: Zuberi followed after the lighter colored lioness as she made her way through her den, expertly making her way over all of the clutter on the floor. He took great care in weaving through the mini path that had been grooved out in the floor, occasionally pausing to push a object out of the way.

Ume might have been a master of climbing her way through her own mess without breaking anything, but that didn't mean the rest of the world was!

"Mmm, yes. Zuzu brought me a whole slew of objects back from his last trip out." Stopping for a moment she flicked her paw to gesture to the virtual cave of treasures surrounding them. "He spoils me with all of this." She replied with a warm smile before she settled herself down at the make shift stone slab that make the center piece 'table.'

"It's just junk I find here and there why out." He dismissively shot back, a light blush coming to his cheeks. If there was one thing he couldn't handle it was praise. Coming up behind her he stood protectively over her shoulder, watching Maji from across the table.

Both adults were snapped out of their own banter at Maji's announcement. Ume's eyebrows shot up with curious excitement as she listened, why Zuberi's eyebrows furrowed together in a cautious stare at the young lion, waiting to see what he had in store.

Neither of them could anticpate the next words that flew out of Maji's mouth!

Zuberi's eyes flew down to Ume, looking towards her for any sort of guidance on how to handle this news. Their daughter, their baby girl, MARRIED!?

Oh gods help him. He was too old for this s**t.

Ume's glazed eyes finally lifted from their dull expression as she processed what exactly he had just asked from them. With a shake of her head she brought herself back to reality. "Well Maji, this is a lot to take in at once. I can't argue that I'm not pleased to finally see you take the incentive to come and ask us." She finally responded, a soft smile growing on her face by the minute.

"If Zuberi doesn't have any objections." Stopping for a moment her head tilted slightly upwards to where his great shadow was felt over her shoulder. "Then I-"

"Auntie! Dad! I'm home!" A new, yet unmistakable voice called out back from where the trio just arrived from. Speak of the devil herself and she shall appear!

Blessings and proposals would have to happen all at once it would seem!