Luke took a deep breath as he pulled his violin from its case. He had been rather preoccupied to have time to play the instrument, what with having all these adventures with the Professor and all.
He smiled as he ran his finger over the smooth, dark wood, and slid his fingers along the strings.
He tuned it, closed his eyes, put the violin up to his chin and begin to play. It started off scratchy at first, but as he became more and more used to the familiar sound, he began to play a song. Luke carried on playing, enjoying the feeling, and felt lost in the music. As his tune came to an end, Luke opened his eyes again and turned to the doorway breathing softly, and then jumped out of his skin. In the doorway, clapping, was a familiar, tall, Professor.
"Luke," he said and bent down to look into the eyes of the small, blushing boy. "Your playing is exceptional. Why don't you ever play for me?"
Luke continued to blush and bent his head more until his chin rested on his chest.
"I'm not exceptional, just average. There are tons better players than me," he mumbled. Layton smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.
"If you continue to believe that, you'll never be able to play perfectly, and always think of someone better. Luke, will you look me in the eye and say that you're good at playing the violin?"
Luke looked up and stared into Layton's small, kindly eyes.
"I'm good at violin," he murmured.
Layton cupped his ear.
"Again?"
"I am good at violin!" Luke said, much louder.
"One more time?" Luke ran to the window and threw it open.
"I AM GOOD AT VIOLIN!" he yelled to the world. He then waved shyly to the old lady who was staring at him strangely and backed away from the window.
Layton straightened up and smiled at Luke fondly, who was grinning happily to himself.
"Will you join me for a cup of tea at four o'clock?" The Professor asked.
Luke nodded and started to pick up his violin.
"Of course, Professor!" he replied. "But I can fit twenty minutes of practice before then,"
And all afternoon, the Layton residence was filled with beautiful violin music, albeit with some mistakes, that just made it all the more melodic.