Lambo knew he had to be very careful - and walk on tiptoes - and hold his breath.
And so he was very, very careful and made it all the way around the corner without anyone noticing. I-Pin was looking at the pictures in a magazine, sometimes showing one to Maman who was sitting beside her, also reading a magazine; neither suspected a single thing...
Lambo jumped around the corner and - hoping very hard - he shouted, "Broccoli MONSTER!"
I-Pin whipped around and as soon as she saw him, she flung the magazine away and began to run.
Lambo cheered his victory and ran after her, leaving Maman laughing behind them. He was never sure when I-Pin would be afraid of him and when she wouldn't be - sometimes he was lucky and she screamed funny words and ran away with her tiny arms waving, but other times she looked closely at him until her big moon-forehead wrinkled, and then she'd chase him. It was lucky that she usually wasn't scared of him at dinnertime, when she'd sit next to him and eat all the things he gave her off his plate that he didn't like. Except broccoli, of course.
Sometimes he gave her the broccoli anyway, 'cos she looked real funny running.
Lambo knew that he had to be careful, and he eyed the room from the doorway as he assessed the situation.
He took his chance and tiptoed across the carpeted floor, lifting and placing his feet down softly, and made it across the room with barely a sound. Luckily, I-Pin sat with her back to him, and was absorbed in paging through several thick books and jotting notes with swift jerks of her pen. He crept closer, moving ever more gently...
Lambo draped the silver necklace he'd bought around her neck and fastened the clasp with practised ease. Then he ran out, skidded when he hit the tiled hallway, flailed to catch his balance, and ran faster.
Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the sitting room. I-Pin was still at the table, pen in one hand and touching the heart-shaped pendant of the necklace with the other. She was blushing - but embarrassment had brought on no sign of the Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion.
"Ah! The training is going well, I see!" Lambo said, smiling as he took a seat beside her.
"Yes, it is. I think I've got the Super Explosion almost completely under control." I-Pin smiled, blushing more, and Lambo realised that his training was going well too; he didn't even twitch to run and hide as I-Pin grew shyer. "And since nothing happened last time baby Lambo switched places with you, I think it's safe to say that the shock of seeing the 'broccoli monster' is behind me, too."
"I was a fool when I was young, to bother you so much." Lambo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm only too glad to make up for it now." He looked at her soulfully, and she quickly looked up at the ceiling.
"And thank you for the necklace!" I-Pin gabbled. "It's very pretty. It was thoughtful of you..."
"Think nothing of it. It's a small gesture, for the sake of one like you."
I-Pin laughed, and Lambo gave her a glance out of the corner of his open eye. She looked far less embarrassed. "You know, sometimes you lay it on too thick. If you flirt with me that much, I won't believe you anymore! It gets to be more funny than embarrassing."
Lambo sighed again. "You look beautiful when you laugh," he said. "Why wouldn't you believe I mean every word I say?"
He wasted no more time on soulful looks and tiptoeing: he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
Then he ran again. Gokudera could say what he liked, but Lambo wasn't stupid. (Even if I-Pin's master had said the same thing after Lambo agreed to help I-Pin gain control of the Super Explosion. And even if Reborn agreed. And Tsuna, and...)
Lambo was comfortably seated in his bomb shelter when I-Pin went off. He looked up into the bright display of light, reflecting that many things involved a delicate process where I-Pin was involved. But it wasn't hard for Lambo to mean the things he said and did for her. I-Pin had always been the best girl he knew, and her reactions were always interesting. If he tilted his head and squinted a little more, one of the dust clouds she was kicking up looked less like a mushroom and more like a heart...
Lambo brushed himself off and sauntered back to where the sitting room had been. "A much better controlled explosion than usual," he said gallantly, and offered I-Pin his hand.
She took it and pulled herself up in a smooth motion. "Thank you," she whispered, and for safety's sake, they spent the rest of the day not looking at each other - except once, when they caught each other's sidelong glances by accident, and smiled to themselves as they looked away again.