'That is not soufflé...' Luke Triton thinks to himself faintly, as Flora serves up an indefinite-looking dish, smiling broadly. "I hope you enjoy your soufflé, Luke!" She tells him, beaming proudly.
Luke takes one whiff of the burnt offering and he recoils inwardly. He wished she could magically improve her cooking- but alas, no amount of pennies thrown in fountains or wells could improve Sunday dinners, and no amount of broken wishbones could cure her too dry crumbles.
Worse, no amount of wishing on stars could fix her...beans on toast.
Still, she does try...smiling weakly at her, he takes a brave bite of the soufflé. The dry, chewiness sticks to his throat, and he soldiers on, though he just wants to gag.
Flora watches her friend with a wide grin, unaware of her friend's unhappiness at her poor cooking- or, indeed, her cooking is even terrible to begin with.
"Do you like it, Luke?" She asks sweetly.
The innocent question of a thousand fires. Luke swallows the lumpy mouthful with great difficulty -and despite the tears in his eyes at its burnt taste, nods at her in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, Flora...it's...it's good. Thank you." He tells her, grinding out the obligatory lie for the sake of her feelings. Flora just claps her hands, still unaware of her friend's words belying his feelings.
"I better get going!" She tells him with only the nervous eagerness of someone who had committed a wrongdoing and was desperate to wipe away any traces of their sinful deed and their guilty conscience.
"Wait, where are you going?" Luke asks, confusion knotting his brow. "Aren't you going to eat your...yummy soufflé with me?"
"I'd love to, Luke," Begins Flora, nervously, upon realising her mistake. "But I have to finish something." And she was out of the kitchen faster than Luke could say 'Professor'.
"What is she hiding?" He wonders in bafflement. In spite of his gnawing hunger for food, his thirst for answers begins to manifest itself in his mind, and he decides to go and investigate his friend's behaviour before getting something deliciously appetising to eat. Abandoning his unenticing meal, he slips out of the kitchen and glides up the stairs like a spectre.
...
When he arrives on the landing, his keen eyes catch sight of the attic panel- right now, it was leaning against the wall- but the ladder is not there.
Curiosity now mounting higher and higher, muffling all common sense to strangled screams, Luke climbs onto the banister without thinking twice. Balancing unsteadily, he fixes his eyes on the opening, and bends his knees.
Then, before he can change his mind, he jumps upwards.
...
Chubby fingers successfully grip onto the lip of the opening, and the young apprentice scrambles into the attic, feeling adrenaline pump through his veins and dizziness at the stunt he had just pulled.
Better keep that from the Professor.
...
Luke rises from where he sprawled beside the opening- and is surprised at what he sees.
The attic isn't as dusty as he expected, and the boxes were, oddly, arranged into a makeshift maze- several of which had little knick knacks, such as ornaments, books, and small items of jewellery- not to mention small boxes of paint, which surprises him.
An old table near him contains a poorly embroidered tablecloth, on which is an old lamp with a moth eaten top hat lampshade, a small, red sparkling heart shaped photo frame with a picture of the Professor, Luke, Flora and Emmy on a trip to the park, and a small silver trinket box.
Wondering why the attic had been given a makeover, Luke glances back at the maze of cardboard boxes, each with sinister black print labelling their contents; foreign sounding names looming at him from the shadow.
In the centre of the maze, lit up only by a shaft of light from a circular window, more silent than a phantom and looking as imposing as a powerful goddess, is Flora, dressed in an old, moth eaten coat and sitting on a stool behind a wooden easel- resting on which is the target of her concentration.
Luke is in awe of this strange utopia he found- then realises in shame that it is Flora's paradise, not his- and he had disregarded her space for the mere sake of satisfying his curiosity. Realising that his dear mentor would deem it ungentlemanly of him to have done such a thing, he decides to leave her be.
No sooner has he decided this when he trips over his feet...and yells as his body comes face to face with the open space he had taken advantage of only moments before.
...
Before Luke has time to think, a loud clatter, followed by footsteps, are heard from the bowels above- before a long, thick rope comes into view. Grabbing it gratefully, he starts to climb back up again.
And he arrives back in the attic- his heart pounding in his ears, and his stomach tying itself in sailors' knots at the mere thought of how badly that could have ended for him.
"Luke, are you alright?" A gentle voice asks him urgently, and Luke just registers from the shock that it's Flora talking to him.
"I...I'm fine..." he gasps in fright, his frame shaking from the shock.
Flora smiles in relief, before giving him a look. "What were you doing up here?" She asks him, a mixture of hurt and confusion now dominating her normally kind and cheerful black eyes. Luke gulps nervously.
"I...I...I'm sorry, Flora. I just got curious as to know what you were hiding, and I..." he trails off, embarrassed that it was his curiosity that got him in trouble- normally, that was Flora's department. He sneaks a glance at her- only to find the hurt dissolve into a soft look of compassion, and he relaxes. "Thank you for rescuing me- you saved me from getting hurt."
"You're welcome, Luke...and I forgive you," Flora tells him, trying to smile.
Despite her willingly pardoning his unchivalrous offence, Luke still feels awful for breaching her privacy, and resolves to make amends.
"Y'know, you were pretty quick considering how far you were from the opening." He tells her admiringly.
"You think so?" She asks him, brushing back a stray hair from her face.
"Yeah, of course I do!" Luke beams with pride for Flora, before his upbeat attitude sinks again. "Man, the Professor's not going to like hearing this, huh?" His eyes gaze forlornly at the floorboards on realising that Professor Layton would have strict words with him about his dangerous feats.
But he looks up when he feels a hand tilt his chin up.
"My lips are sealed, Luke," Flora promises him earnestly, putting a finger over her lips before giggling. Luke smiles back. He can trust her- she's the closest he has to a sister, and he likes they can keep each other's secrets.
"Thanks," He tells her, shyly. "So, Flora...if you don't mind me asking why you redid the attic..?" He asks her curiously. Flora blushes.
"I just...I just like having the space." She tells him. "It's nice to have a little secret sometimes," she admits.
Luke raises an eyebrow at her definition of a 'little' secret' but says nothing. It was a pretty big secret, but he does actually like the strange little corner Flora made. It's very reflective of her connection to Professor Layton, and a lot more welcoming to dust allergy sufferers...all whilst retaining a distinctive look.
"Well, I think it's pretty cool," he tells her honestly. "I could never have pulled off something like that."
Flora brightens up at this. "Thanks, Luke- I'm glad you like it!" She tells him, happily, before frowning again. "You know, you'd think after growing up at St. Mystere that I'd be alright with being alone." She sighs. "But I was wrong. It does get lonely up here, sometimes, and I daren't bring any animals in here for company."
Luke feels pity in his heart for her- he doesn't like her being alone, and he wants her to be with people she loves, but he doesn't want to force some suggestions on her she wouldn't want.
"So, Luke, I want to ask- would you want to come up here?" She asks, hopefully. "We can do what you want, and we could maybe while away time when the Professor's out."
Luke smiles at this proposition- it means he could spend time with Flora in an eccentric paradise and she wouldn't have to endure being alone against her wishes again. "Sure, I'd love to, Flora- but I wouldn't mind doing anything you want to do too."
"Thank you, Luke," She smiles warmly.
...
And so, the two now like to head into the attic whenever Professor Hershel Layton is away at lectures at Gressenhessler.
The two friends chat, paint, play chess, solve puzzles, draw, talk, read, and also clean and remodel the attic on occasion.
Luke is perfectly content spending this time with his friend and adoptive sister.
He'll still wish for improvements to her cooking, however. He still can't comprehend how she couldn't even make beans on toast appetizing.