Simba had been out far later than Timon had anticipated. When the lion had said he was going out to clear his thoughts, he had imagined an hour, perhaps two at the most. But as time went by, and the sun finally set, he began to grow more and more anxious. Had something happened? Had something gone wrong? The meerkat continued to pace, his eyes every so often wandering back to the door. Pumbaa said he needed to be patient and show trust in Simba. He had scoffed at the idea, but ultimately did the best he could to restrain himself from going out and looking for the lion. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been too paranoid. Simba was a grown lion, he could look after himself. And should he ever need help, he knew where he could look to.

… Still, Timon refused to rest until the lion was home. So, while the rest of the household had slipped off to sleep, the meerkat continued to pace in front of the door, waiting for Simba’s return. “Trust,” He told himself, eyes returning to the door for over the hundredth time. “gotta have trust.”

Suddenly there was a knock. The meerkat stopped and stared at the door for a moment, unsure whether or not he had imagined the sound. He had been waiting so long, to finally hear a knock was almost more unsettling than if he hadn’t. Cautiously, Timon approached the door and rested his head against it. There wasn’t a sound. However, there was definitely someone there. Judging by the smell, there was Simba, Kiara… And another scent he couldn’t quite recognize. Still, to be accompanied by the others they must have been a ‘friendly’.

“Alright, alright,” he exasperated. “Hang on a minute, will yeah?” Scaling the coat rack beside the door, Timon skilfully jumped onto the door handle and using all his weight turned the knob. A soft click could be heard. “It’s open.” He said, dangling from the knob. All that was required of them now was to push the door open.

Hopefully Simba had a good excuse for staying out so late.