Title: Pudding

Summary: I-Pin tries something out. A story about pudding and an unpredictable Lambo.

Author Notes: Came to my mind while still working at "Meeting". Please take it as a compensation because it takes me so long to finish the fourth chapter (sighs unhappily).

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The first time she thought about changing something between them was when she had reached the full age of twenty. It wasn't that she didn't like their friendship. Nor did she see an urgent reason to make him realize that they were different than two childhood friends, even more different than a sister and a brother.

It simple was that she wanted to try, simply try, if she could change something at all.

Her plan was easy; sit in the kitchen when he comes home, a pudding right in front of her and a spoon ready in her hand.

He greeted her like always, but stopped resolute in the doorway between the entering of her current location and the way down to the elevator which would bring him up to his room, as he saw what she was eating. "Where did you get that, I-Pin?"

She smiled cheerfully.

"I went shopping today!"

And slowly, almost unaware, she brought the spoon near the sweet, carefully taking a portion with it and leading the long silver item back to her mouth. With delicate sipping, she tasted the milk chocolate and the vanilla crème on top.

Lambo's eyes widened conspicuously.

I-Pin smirked inwardly. She got him where she wanted him, all his attention totally focused on her and her present meal.

"Is that so…Didn't you buy me one, too?"

She avoided his eyes as soon as he had post the question, only looking at the sugary treasure before her on the table. She smiled slightly at it.

I-Pin knew that he now definitely pulled his puppy dog number; his tone earlier in his question had been a warning for her. She knew him long enough to discern exactly how he reacted at particular situations. And he could become so whine if he really wanted something.

Kyoko and Haru still had problems to say no to him when he begged them for sweets.

But I-Pin - herself not always immune to him - had learned the hard way how to evade getting your food stolen, especially when it was something which she equally wanted. And today she couldn't let herself be beaten by such a childish act.

"Oh, I'm sorry! But didn't Reborn say that you have sweet prohibition until you finally are able to keep up with his training program?," she asked as innocently as possible and sent a pitiful and questionable look at him.

Lambo gulped.

Ah, so he did remember! I-Pin cocked her head, still obvious waiting for an explanation.

Lambo looked fearful first right and left, before he quickly walked until he stood in the kitchen, on the table side right in front of I-Pin and her dessert.

"Ah-ahem…well, you see I still am not allowed to eat them, but have a little compassion with me, I-Pin! You know me, how should I survive so long without sugar?"

He sounded so desperately that she almost, almost had given in right then and there.

But instead I-Pin lowered her eyes again on her spoon full of pudding and slowly licked the sweet treat from it before she took another spoon full.

"I can't agree to your decision! If Reborn finds out, he will not only be mad at me, he will although surely attack you or even increase your punishment."

She could practically feel the horror which he seemed to experience as he now imagined what Reborn could do to him.

Calmly, I-Pin sipped again on the flabby mass on her spoon, ignoring Lambo apparently for a moment. Regardless, she noticed his open gapping as she leisurely finished the second spoon.

"Bu-but…! How can you be so cruel to me?"

Ah, now he switched over to melodramatic. I-Pin gazed with a raised eyebrow at him. "You know that I am not cruel but that I don't want to patch you up together like the last time Reborn was really made at you, don't you?"

Sweat ran down his temples as he seemed to remember that event clearly.

Good. I-Pin took another spoon, an almost overfilled one and had eaten it faster than Lambo could follow her movements. She hummed happily at the taste.

And felt that Lambo appeared to search frantically for a new excuse why he could, or more should, get some of her pudding, too.

"You know, I can take over your cleaning duty for a week!" He sounded eagerly excited for coming up with that solution.

I-Pin dipped the spoon for the forth time in cool chocolate with some vanilla crème and brought it almost against her lips.

She inspected the spoon as if she was reconsidering his proposal, before she licked the whole thing clean, lowering it and raising her head at him.

"As alluring as it sounded, I have to decline your offer. I am more concerned about your healthy than about your sugar consume. Two weeks without sweets won't kill you, you know?"

Not awaiting his answer, she took her next spoon, twirling her tongue playfully around the pudding while finally raising her eyes again to see how he was doing.

Strangely enough, he had lowered his face so that she couldn't see his expression under the shadow of his curls.

Was he still thinking about a solution or did he finally start to approach it her way?

"You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

I-Pin nearly choked on her dessert, surprised that he sounded so angrily all of a sudden. She had calculated everything, but never the possibility that he would see through her little play. "No, I would never -…"

Before she could finish her sentence, he stood abruptly next to her - too close for her own comfort – leaning over her with a smirk on his lips, something she had never seen on him before.

"I'll play along, I-Pin-chan. If you want to, I do."

The 'chan' which he added to annoy her - since he had stopped calling her that after she had beaten him up with seven - was drawled in his typically lazy tone, only currently a somehow dangerous undertone accompanied it.

I-Pin's eyes widened.

With grate care, Lambo took the spoon in his much bigger hands, taking a portion of the pudding and lifting it up to her lips.

Just as I-Pin wanted to open her mouth to protest against his action, he did cautiously shove the spoon in.

I-Pin had to gulp out of reflex.

And straight after that, she nearly was ready to kill Lambo herself, as warm, soft lips pressed themselves against hers. The spoon fell with a clatter somewhere on the floor.

The attempted protest she tried only helped him to slide his tongue in. Before she knew it, I-Pin found herself clinging to his form, her head feeling comfortable empty and her cheeks turning a bright red.

To have him this close, that she could smell his sense of rain and gun powder from outside and that she could feel his heat, his lips on hers and his tongue circuiting hers was simply overwhelming.

Only the oxygen absence forced them apart, both panted while observing each other. The smug look on his face didn't suit I-Pin at all. With new won anger, she promptly jumped up from the chair, taking the pudding with her.

Although her legs wobbled more than she would like to admit, she sent Lambo a glare and brought the table between themselves. Lambo watched her actions with a smirk on his lips.

"What, didn't it go like you had imagined? You know that I would do nearly anything for sweets."

Furious, I-Pin knitted her eyebrows. "Yes, as I can see now, you would definitely do anything!"

Damn, she didn't wanted so much hurt to be heard in her voice, but it was impossible to not feel disappointed by his words.

The smirk vanished only to be replaced by a too serious expression for I-Pin's taste on Lambo's face.

He walked over to her, until he stood again closer than I-Pin liked. She could feel his breath on her forehead.

He put his arms above her head, caging her in between himself and the wall behind her.

"You reap what you sow, is the saying, isn't it? You shouldn't have provoked me with something so tempting when you knew that I would do everything to have it." Now a grin spread over his face, much to I-Pin's surprise and displeasure.

"But you know, I would have never done the same if it hadn't been you."

That was too much to take.

With a confident grip she could look directly into his eyes without the constant looking-up-part. Her hand firmly fastened into his collar, she let a grin spread over her lips.

"You still have a lot to learn, don't you, Lambo-chan? Never feel to secure until you have clearly gained victory."

And without further waiting for his response, she gave his kiss from before right back. He accepted willingly, only being frozen until her tongue tried to enter his mouth.

Tongues dancing against each other, he gave her amazingly fast the lead.

While she explored his mouth more conscious than the first time, she also felt how one of his hands had started to caress her back and began to play with her long braids which were down today.

It felt too nice to not be dangerous.

Anytime somebody could walk in on them, something which I-Pin would rather avoid than let happen. With a definite shove she brought more room between them.

"It's not that I don't like it…but prohibition is prohibition."

With a big smile on her face and red cheeks, she skipped down the halls after she had given him a goodbye kiss on his right cheek. He had never looked so baffled, happy and clueless than just now.

I-Pin grinned from ear to ear. Her plan had worked even better than thought.

Behind her a dumbfounded Lambo came finally to his sense.

"Bu-but I'm not forbidden to kiss! I-Pin, come back!," she could hear his first accusing and soon after whining voice.

With a laugh she took the elevator, not waiting until he had caught up.

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A little dark shadow unnoticed from both of them grinned one of his typically smirks.

Well, more training and even lesser sweets for the thunder guardian from now on, then.

Reborn left as silently as he had come.

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