Who: 25 year old Ipin and 15 year old Lambo (with a cameo of him at 25)
What: Dinner and entertainment
When: Happening concurrently with
this thread 10 years later on Valentine's Day.
Where: A nice out of the way restaurant in Italy.
Ipin had just brought her fork to her mouth, in the middle of a discussion with Lambo about a mission assignment he'd just been given when pink smoke billowed around him, blocking him from view and making the candles on the table flicker. One went out. She swallowed her bite and set her fork down, somewhat glad they'd managed to get a semi-private table because suddenly she was sitting at a valentine dinner with 15 year old Lambo who looked distinctly haunted. She smiled a little to herself as the word twitchy came to mind. "Hello Lambo." She said pleasantly. "Trouble in the past?"
It wasn't very often that 15yo Lambo switched places with his 25yo counterpart so when he ended up at a table in a dark place, he was pretty freaked out. Now add on the fact that he wasn't alone. This was just too much, and was that... "I-I-Ipin?!
Ipin carefully pulled her sleeve back and lifted the candle that had been blown out, out of it's holder, dipping it to re-light on one of the still lit ones. "That's right." She agreed in amusement. "Relax, you're safe."
He tried his best to calm down but to be honest, the idea of being with an older Ipin for who knows how long with the way the bazooka had been acting, was a very scary thought for him. "I w-w-was with you on..." And then the realization hits that it's Valentine's Day. And his older self was apparently having dinner with Ipin. And they were in the middle of a dinner. Oh wow. WOW. "Yare, yare..."
She settled the candle back in it's holder and gestured to his older self's dinner. "You may as well enjoy, if I remember correctly the bazooka was not very reliable ten years ago." She dropped her hands into her lap and looked mildly entertained by his realization. "And what, might I ask, prompted this visit?"
At least there was dinner. Without so much as a moment's hesitation he grabbed a fork and start eating the plate of amazing looking pasta. "Er...well, you see...there was just....you know...things....and really my f-finger just slipped..."
She began to eat only after he had picked up where... well... he had left off. She smiled knowingly at him. "Just slipped?" She asked clearly not buying that. "It seems I was spared. And now I get to enjoy dinner with you. Aren't I lucky?"
He looked up at her, half a noodle sticking out of his mouth for a few seconds before he slurped it up, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head, mainly because he couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "Y-y-yes....just slipped...."
She lifted a grape out of the bowl between them and popped it into her mouth. "You seem to slip rather frequently. Perhaps you need rubber gloves?" She was smiling now, leaning her chin on her hand and enjoying herself thoroughly.
When his eyes saw the grape they filled with joy, only to drop when he realized that reaching for the bowl meant she would be in easy reach of him. This Ipin still scared him. A lot. "N-not really...I wouldn't say f-frequently at a-all..."
She watched him light up then back off again and picked up another grape, this time taking her time with it just to see if she could get him to step out of his comfort zone. She pressed the grape against her lips before opening her mouth to taste it. "No?" She asked mildly. "So to where have you sent your unfortunate older self, great and terrible Lambo-san?"
She pauseed in the middle of reaching for another grape, making gesture toward the bowl. "Don't be shy, I know you love them." She studied him for a moment before a slow playful smile stole across her face. "Oh I remember, you like to have them fed to you." Without a moment's hesitation she plucked a new grape and lifter her fingers between them. She was most definitely daring him.
"A Valentine's party on a ship!" This is of course said before he realizes how lame it'll sound that he had to use the bazooka at a party of all places. His cheeks flushed and he turned his attention to the plate in front of him, although his eyes averted to the bowl of fruit once she mentioned the grapes again. To keep his fork from tapping annoyingly against the table, he nervously tapped his foot under the table instead. Was she...trying to feed him? Oh wait...SHE STILL REMEMBERED THAT? Lambo dropped his fork, waving his hands in front of him, "I...I actually d-don't really need any grapes right now...maybe later..."
Ahh so this was THAT time. She did not lower her hand, keeping that smile and leaning in a little. "You're being so shy," and then adding on in a slightly more commanding tone, "don't make me wait."
Lambo sat up straight, almost flying out of his seat once her tone changed. This was...different. She'd never sounded like that before. Then again, everything about this Ipin was more extreme than what he knew of his Ipin. And was he really making her wait? It was just a grape after all. What was the big deal? Slowly reaching a hand up, he took the grape from her fingers, before hesitantly popping it into his mouth. "T-thank you for sharing..."
She raised a brow at his apparent modesty but lets it go... for now. "I like sharing with you." She said pleasantly, taking a sip of wine and returning to her meal. "So you're missing a party, that's unfortunate. I hope you don't mind keeping me company now that you've kidnapped my date." She took a bite of food and watched to see his reaction.
"Your..." He gulped as the realization of her words hit him, and it took a bit before he could speak again, "your d-d-d-date? You were on a d-date...with me? On Valentine's?" He was almost tempted to reach for the glass of wine sitting in front of him.
"That is the general definition of a night between two people planned in advance." She said logically, then smiled. "Of course the candles and music might have tipped you off if you'd paid attention. Don't disappoint me now."
"Oh," he looked around, finally taking in their current surroundings, "you're right. I'm...sorry I interrupted our date? Do...do we go on dates often?" Glancing down, he avoided her gaze for the time being. At least his foot had stopped pounding nervously against the floor.
She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry I know it can't be helped. I expect you to do your best in his place, you know."
She set her fork down on the plate again and smiled at him. "Would you like it if we did?"
He immediately blushed, surprised by her forwardness. He looked around at anything but her for at least a minute before calming down enough to think about her question. He already knew the answer. He had known for some time. Giving a small nod, he looked to her, nervously chewing on his bottom lip, "I...I would...like that a lot."
She picked up her glass of wine again, looking at the liquid for a moment, then sipping it again. "You know, Lambo, I can think of a way for that to happen. Can you?" She set the cup down and looked at him a little more seriously although that hint of humor was still there in the corners of her eyes.
Picking up a fork, he played around with the pasta on the plate, not really wanting to answer her. Damn her for making him think and come to his senses against his will. Well, mostly against his will. Completely ignoring what she said, he flashed her a smile, "This is a really nice restaurant. I bet they have gelato"
She smiled a little more dangerously. "I think you're avoiding the question." Ipin sat back as a waiter took her plate and crossed her arms. "You can't keep running away when things make you uncomfortable you know. Nothing will ever happen if you do."
She just had to cross her arms like that, didn't she? She was enjoying this. She was enjoying making him scared and nervous and uncomfortable. Letting out a sigh, he dropped his fork, fiddling with his thumbs, "Why can't I? It's easier to run away..."
As her plate disappeared, she stood and slid her chair over to his side of the table, because yes, she was enjoying this. She picked up another grape and chewed it thoughtfully, keeping the bowl out of his reach on purpose. "But you want to date me." She pointed out. She softened just a little because lets face it, he couldn't run away and she could see he was reaching that breaking point where he might try anyway and hurt himself. "Has it ever occurred to you I might feel the same way?"
When she first started moving her chair, he tensed up a bit, not sure what exactly she was planning to do but slowly calmed down once it seemed like his life wasn't in danger at the moment. He stared hopefully at the grapes but yet again was afraid to actually reach out for them, and was it just him or did it seem to be further away this time. "You...don't really act like it sometimes. It's hard for me to tell. B-besides I'm not good enough for you..."
Ipin frowned and ran the tips of her fingers against his cheek, pushing them back into his hair in a soothing gesture. "If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I actually do find you rather endearing when you're flustered. It's a bad habit, I know." She shook her head. "But what on earth would make you believe you aren't good enough?"
He looked up to meet her gaze for probably the first time that, lifting his shoulders in a small shrug, "I can't protect you..er..her? When we end up having to go on missions for the family, she's always the one saving my ass. Sometimes I feel like I'm just in the way. Plus...why is she always bringing up other girls? I don't get that."
"Lambo." She smiled as though she knew a secret. "I happen to know for a fact, that when you finally put your mind to training, you become a force to be reckoned with." She leans in almost too close for comfort, fingers trailing farther back to hold his head so he can't move away from her. Speaking into the shell of his ear she was quiet as though telling him a secret. "And don't let on you know but I was very intimidated of your multitude of admirers."
Well...that all certainly made him feel better on both accounts. She was pretty cool when she wasn't trying to psyche him out or anything with all those evil grins and know-it-all looks. "Do I really?" He smiled, now a little glad that the future seemed promising. Once she got really close however, the smile got traded in for red cheeks because after all, this was still Ipin and she was...whispering in his ear. Oh my. "T-they intimidated you?"
She straightened and looked at him as though he'd grown another head. "Think about it for a moment, Lambo." She smoothed his collar and shook her head. "Think hard, how would you feel if I... Ipin had a hundred boys chasing after her and giving her gifts?"
"Well I...I wouldn't like that at all. But if she doesn't like it then why does she always bring it up?" He furrowed his brows in confusion, absentmindedly reaching for a grape as he tried to reveal the the truth behind one of the many mysteries surrounding women.
Ipin smiled and pulled the grapes back a bit, plucking one hand holding it out for him again. She's still going to play that game, yes. "Perhaps she's hoping you'll say something new. Or maybe I was reminding myself that you had girls and I was just your friend and your interest in them, was a direct link to your disinterest in me?" She leaned toward him again, looking thoughtful. "All of it leads back to jealousy."
He wasn't falling for that game quite yet. Just that one grape was fine for now. "I told her they weren't important, at least I think I did. I tried to." Leaning back away from her, he glanced down at his hands. "Er...what do girls think it means when a guy says he'll only eat her chocolate on Valentine's Day?"
Ipin lifts the grape up in front of his lips, clearly enjoying herself. "Hmmm I actually remember that." She smiles to herself at the memory. "I do believe I was pleasantly surprised. Although not quite ready to believe it could have meant what I hoped it meant. Afterall, you ran away from me any time you thought I might attack. This could have just been another self defence mechanism." She frowned at him. "You did run away rather frequently."
There was that damn grape again. There had to be rules against this. This was like cruel and unusual punishment. Torture even. He leaned away from her again, this time going so far as to scoot his chair back a little. "It's...a hard habit to break but I'm trying to work on it. I know it upsets yo-...her when I do." This whole you/her business was getting to be confusing. He knew they were some the same person but it was still weird to call this Ipin the same as his Ipin. It didn't help that she apparently liked to see him squirm.
"Oh hoh, speaking of running away." She slid one foot out to hook around his chair leg. "Why don't we start breaking that habit right now." She dragged his chair back in one quick slide and there was that grape right there at his lips again. "How can I help you get over that fear?" She was teasing again. It was a little mean, she really did love Lambo flustered.
He should've known something like that would happen. If there was one thing he had picked up about this Ipin, it was that she was very adamant about getting what she wanted. Since his chair was stuck where it was, he leaned back against the back of the chair, not caring that he would probably have the imprints of the chair design in red welts across his back with as hard as he was pressed again. Ducking his head down, he shrugged a little, "I-I'm not really hungry anymore but thank you for offering me the g-grapes..."
Lambo was definitely not wrong. She'd always been the type to make a decision and make sure to see it through to the end. It just hadn't always been at Lambo's sanity's expense. Though if she had anything to say about it now... She used her other hand to put a finger under his chin to draw it up. "You know..." She said slowly, sternly "I think you're not being entirely truthful, Lambo."
When she reached for his chin, he averted his eyes to the table, looking at everything in the room except her, which was pretty hard considering their close proximity at this point. "I..really don't want grapes right now....I p-promise..."
Ipin's eyes narrowed and her smile turned dangerous. "You know, something I've learned in knowing you for twenty years Lambo..." She looked at the grape for a moment, pulling it away from his lips and toward her own. "is that I can usually tell when you're lying." She pushed the grape between her own lips, wrapping that finger around his chin so he couldn't escape and leaning in to press her lips to his. If he wouldn't eat it himself, she'd just use a more creative method.
Lambo suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights, as she pressed her lips to his. This was a kiss, right? Yare, yare indeed. He never would've though his first kiss with her would be while she was...well, a lot older and doing it just to terrorize him. And was that her tongue he felt? When did the grape suddenly get into his mouth? Thankfully, or perhaps not so thankfully, just then a cloud of purple smoke surrounded him with a small 'poof!'
When Lambo, age 25, finally returned to his own time, he found his lips pressed against hers, and unlike his previous self, he knew just what to do. After the smoke cleared a few moments later, he pulled away with a small smirk, "...yare, yare. I bet you had a lot of fun at my expense, Panda."
Oh there those lips felt familiar, gone from slack terror to pleasant pliancy, she grinned cheekily up at him. "I think if you're going to run away on sight at that party I might as well get some enjoyment out of it." She pulled the bowl closer to him so he could reach it if he'd like. "Besides, I can think of worse ways to welcome you back."