Let’s just rip off the band-aid:

I don’t think Timon and Pumbaa are a romantic couple in any of the canon material.

Not yet, anyways. (PLEASE STAY WITH ME. DON’T BOO ME OFF THE STAGE OR THROW TOMATOES AT ME YET.)

In my reading of their dynamic, they don’t even consciously realize they’re in love until after the events of TLK2, and even then it takes them a long time to process and talk about it.

So, that said, during the jungle-raising-Simba years, I don’t think they are together romantically. They’re bonded, inseparable, and raising a kid together, yes. But Timon especially is not emotionally mature enough to recognize or name what they have. And Simba, as a cub, doesn’t really question it. To him, they’re just… his weird bachelor uncles/dads/guardians. They all sleep in the same nest. They finish each other’s sentences. They hunt for grubs together. Simba, who, like you said, probably thinks kissing is gross and romance is weird, probably doesn’t even consider the idea of them being a couple. They’re just his goofy jungle dads. End of story.

And that “bestest best friends” energy stays through Simba’s young adulthood. Especially when you factor in Timon’s freak-out over Simba and Nala falling in love. He’s just… spiraling into a melodramatic panic. Screaming about how romance has ruined everything. Scheming to break them up. If Timon were comfortably in a romantic relationship himself, this reaction would be strange, to say the least. That’s why I believe that, put plainly, he’s NOT in a romantic relationship at this point.

He’s terrified of emotional intimacy. He’s already operating at max capacity with how much he cares about Pumbaa and Simba, and he doesn’t know how to process the idea of change, loss, or love that can take someone away or cause someone to “abandon” him.

And then we hit The Lion Guard, and I know what you’re all thinking: “But Camy, doesn’t Bunga call them his uncles and try to dangle mistletoe over their heads?”

Yes. And the part of me that’s Timbaa trash LOVES that. It makes my shipper brain go BRRRRRRRRR. BUT! I still don’t think that contradicts my reading of their dynamic.

Because Bunga is a little kid. He sees two adults who live together, love each other, and raised him. I mean, what kid would have the vocabulary for “queerplatonic life partners who haven’t Defined-The-Relationship?” He just assumes, logically, “They must be in love.” And he’s not wrong! They uh… kinda ARE in love. (In avoidant denial about it, but still!) However, Bunga is, perhaps, projecting the only framework of relationships that he understands.

Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa do not correct him. Because 1) THEY don’t even know what they are, and 2) they probably avoid the conversation entirely, because that’s what they do. It’s what they’ve BEEN doing for YEARS.

NOW! Let’s talk about TLK2. Because that is where things get juicy. (And I’m gonna reference something here that is kiiiiiiinda shitty writing when it comes to T&P’s characterization and dynamic, but it’s UNFORTUNATELY canon. As much as I despise it.)

Just before the battle between the Pridelanders and Outsiders commences, Timon and Pumbaa are seen pacing around the cave in Priderock, ARGUING. Throwing blame around over whose fault it is that Kiara has gone missing, arguing over who was meant to be watching her. And then the argument escalates PHYSICALLY. (It’s cartoony violence and full of slapstick thats played for laughs, but it’s STILL A PHYSICAL ALTERCATION.)

And as much as I HATE the idea of T&P canonically having a FIST FIGHT this late in their relationship, there are ASPECTS of this scene that are character consistent with Timon.

Because Timon, especially under pressure, will often deflect blame to someone else, overreact, and do everything in his power to avoid addressing a hard feeling (such as shame, guilt, failure, etc.)

So this little altercation is Timon’s worst coping mechanism flaring up. He doesn’t know how to process the feeling of “I failed someone I love,” so he yells, lashes out, and frames it as Pumbaa’s fault.

And this is the part that’s SUPER WEIRD for Pumbaa’s characterization in TLK 2: instead of pushing back in a mature way, Pumbaa INSTIGATES the physical altercation. He just… literally body slams Timon. And then keeps rolling with the petty arguments and name calling, because he’s used to it… ?!?!! I guess?! He’s not just enabling the behavior, but engaging in it!

Again, absolutely WILD writing choice for Timon and Pumbaa. But it is what it is.

And then, who walks in on them mid cartoony slapstick brawl? …Simba.

Anyways, as far as ADULT Simba’s perception goes, with him walking in on them fighting like this, I don’t imagine that would read as romantic couple behavior to him. At least, not healthy romantic couple behavior. 😭

Anyways, with that being where their dynamic is when Kiara is a young adult, that reads to me as a dynamic that is both REAL and INTIMATE, but also as one that hasn’t been processed or named as romantic yet. They love each other to death, but to me, it feels like they haven’t figured out how they love each other.

For my personal headcanon, their behavior in TLK 2 reinforces for me that Timon and Pumbaa are deeply emotionally bonded, yes, but VERY emotionally stunted.

They’ve been living together, raised two children together, and shared every moment of their lives together, but they haven’t had the conversation. They haven’t defined what they are.

And when under pressure, Timon, especially, deflects with blame and over-the-top aggression. Then Pumbaa enables it, and even retaliates in kind. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that they don’t know how to fight like partners yet. They still fight like immature, overgrown kids.

So yeaaah, let’s talk about the REAL reason that I don’t think Timon and Pumbaa are in a romantic relationship until post TLK 2:

✨Emotional Immaturity and Avoidance™✨

And by that, I mean Timon.

Timon feels things. DEEPLY. But he is comically incapable of handling those feelings. He copes through sarcasm, avoidance, projection, and control. He’s got a thousand-and-one defense mechanisms and he deploys them the second anyone gets too close.

And yet, Timon loves Pumbaa. But he can’t say it. Not directly. The closest he gets is through jokes, panic confessions, or deeply buried moments of truth that leak out when he’s overwhelmed.

And that’s why, to me, they don’t become a romantic couple until AFTER TLK 2. Because they had to grow. They had to hurt. They had to reckon with it. And eventually, they had to TALK TO EACH OTHER, DAMNIT.

—

NOW. To address the “Mya and Kanisha” part of the question.

If Timon and Pumbaa had spent years living in an undefined, queerplatonic bubble, where they were deeply bonded, but never labeled it or addressed it, then Mya and Kanisha are what finally push that bubble to burst.

Simba, growing up with them, likely saw their closeness as “just how they were.” They were inseparable, affectionate, always there for each other, and bestest best friends. But it wasn’t something he really questioned. To him, it was just Timon and Pumbaa. As an adult, though, he PROBABLY started to notice the emotional complexity that was always there beneath the surface, and wondered what was actually going on.

Now, enter Mya and Kanisha, and everything shifts.

…Sooo, I’ve written a long ass essay on this already, so I’m not gonna go super into detail here. BUT.

Mya challenges Timon in a way no one else ever has. She sees through the bravado and refuses to indulge his usual shtick. She sort of demands sincerity from him. Not like… directly, but in the way her own avoidant behaviors trigger him. That alone would intrigue Simba, because, like, who THE HELL is this meerkat that can fluster TIMON into stunned silence? But when he sees Mya bring out this raw, horrified vulnerability in Timon, he starts putting the pieces together. Because Timon has never let anyone, besides Pumbaa, into his soul like that.

Then there’s Kanisha, who, unlike Mya, doesn’t crack Timon open so much as stabilize the group dynamic and demand honesty by her presence alone. She’s big, she’s BLUNT, and she’s more than a little intimidating. She speaks in a commanding voice. And she also brings something new: She connects with Pumbaa in a way that isn’t filtered through Timon.

So, early on in the story, Pumbaa is rekindling this friendship with Kanisha, and it becomes something of his own that Timon can’t control or manipulate. Which, in turn, forces Timon to reckon with his jealousy, his possessiveness, and his desperation for control.

And perhaps that’s when Simba begins starts to see it. Because for the first time in a long time, Simba sees Timon a little emotionally off-balance. He’s jealous, and protective, and hypocritical, and insecure, and VULNERABLE.

And then Simba starts to think… hmm. Maybe something has always been going on between Timon and Pumbaa. Maybe they just didn’t know how to talk about it.

So between Mya cracking him open and Kanisha grounding him, Timon is finally forced to do the work. He has to stop deflecting so much. He has to name the feelings he’s been too afraid to acknowledge. And one of those feelings, the one that was always there, hiding behind all the jokes and loyalty and avoidance, was this:

He’s been in love with Pumbaa for YEARS.

But he just couldn’t say it. He couldn’t let himself know it. Because if he admitted that, he’d have to believe he was worthy of it. If he admitted that, he would have to accept that Pumbaa has the power to hurt him. He would have to admit that he doesn’t have as much control in the relationship as he thought. And he’d have to face the fact that if Pumbaa walked away, that would make life lose all of its meaning for him. And back then, he just wasn’t ready to FACE THAT.

So, what does Simba think of Mya and Kanisha? He’s grateful for them. Not just because they love and care for the two most important figures of his cubhood, but because they helped Timon and Pumbaa grow and helped them finally say the QUIET PART OUT LOUD!!

—

Omg. Sorry for spiraling and going on a rant again. Idk what else y’all would expect from me now, tbh. Lmaooo