Present time…
When Reborn leaves on another long period mission, Lambo doesn't think twice about following… until he's sitting in a passenger seat (he's always wanted to sit in the plane instead of in cargo) of the airplane that's sending them to Italy yet again.
He's going to be alone with Reborn for the first time in two weeks since that happened. What's going to happen? Is Reborn going to make a move! Yare, yare, he shouldn't have come… Than again, what would he have done if he hadn't?
Reborn's… like his everything wrapped up in one jackass. It's not like he can just abandon his archrival after 11 years over a molestation!...
… Alright, maybe he could, but he wasn't going to! Reborn had to have been making fun of him, which would be more reason to hurry up and kill the stingy bastard!
It's a rather uneventful flight. He doesn't see Reborn until they touch ground. He meets Reborn at the luggage line, but is ignored – he's almost relieved by it this time.
When they get their bags, they're on their way to the hotel they've used ever since 'their first mission'. Lambo thinks about (if only for a moment) getting a different hotel room… and then the thought annoys him because it's as much his apartment as Reborn's (though he's never paid for the rooms or for the food or for anything there)!
Besides, what if Reborn realizes that he's doing all of this to avoid him? How would that look? Bad, that's how it would look! He's overreacting, that's all. He's just a little concerned… mostly for his ass.
When they get to their room, Lambo immediately dresses in for the night (behind the locked door of the bathroom) and then begins making a dinner of chicken parmigiana; it's easy enough to make and it tastes really good – the only bother is that it takes almost an hour to make, but whatever keeps him busy.
Reborn's not there when he comes out of the bathroom, but he doesn't follow. He knows exactly what he's doing and exactly where he is: surveying their surroundings, making sure nothing's different from the last time they were here and slipping a tip to their host for keeping quiet about their arrival.
He'll be back within 10 minutes tops.
By the time he bathes the chicken cutlets in egg yolk and then covers them with bread crumbs (after having doused them with salt and pepper and then flour, a skillet on the stove heating), the door clicks open and Reborn comes in exactly 10 minutes after he left.
Lambo's good at what he does and what he does is follow Reborn. He can't help but feel proud for being so right.
The skillet hot and the olive oil boiling, the guardian rests the cutlets into it and prepares the baking dish, spreading marinara sauce over the bottom before flipping the cutlets after three minutes. He waits another three minutes, the chicken now a very nice brown color, and then puts them atop the marinara sauce before adding another layer of marinara sauce, than the mozzarella slices, and then sprinkles of parmigiano.
He stuffs it in the stove and sets the timer for 25 minutes. Then he does the dishes, and then he dries them, and then he puts them away; now there's 15 minutes left. He washes the counters and the surface of the stove (hot, hot!), and now there's 13 minutes left.
He can't think of anything else to do.
"It's cowardly to avoid me." Reborn mocks. He's sitting nonchalantly at the bar, elbows braced on the counter and one leg over the other; there's a glass of wine in his one hand and a cigarette in his other.
"Yare, yare, I'm not avoiding you." He sounds more like his mellow self now, but it's still obviously a lie. He hates clean up duty; why else do it without being told to if not to avoid the hitman?
Reborn smirks, sipping his wine as he slips out of his chair and swaggers close; Lambo can feel himself go tense. He (shockingly enough!) realizes that there's a really nice spice in the cupboard that might go great with dinner! Coincidentally, said cupboard is across the kitchen from where they are now, meaning that Reborn is left by the sinks as Lambo rummages very thoroughly for the mysterious and elusive spice.
"What a liar."
Lambo spins around on a huff. "What do you want me to do?"
Reborn does the cigarette out in the sink and crooks a finger. Lambo stands his ground. "Those are going to kill you one day." He's talking about the cigs.
Reborn smirks. "You should convince me to stop."
"Yare, yare, what game are you playing?" He sighs, ruffling his bangs with one hand. "You're confusing me, Reborn." He admits softly. "First, I could never get you to acknowledge me. And, now,… it's like you're seducing me."
The hitman cocks his head, his black eyes watching Lambo so closely, the guardian has to look away and hide his trembling hands behind his back.
The timer goes off. Reborn escapes at a languid pace back to his bar stool. "Dinner's done."
Lambo eats his serving, drinks a glass of milk, and then puts the leftovers in the refrigerator. He settles onto the couch and curls up beneath the blankets. There's silence all around
"… Reborn?" His eyes are closed, but he can feel the shift of Reborn's attention to him. "Why are you doing this?"
No answer; Lambo falls asleep without one.