What Is Love?
"Professor. What is love?"
That was one of the questions that the professor had been dreading. How was he going to explain to a boy as young as Luke, what love was?
"Well, my boy. The term love can mean many different things," The Professor had said, hoping that the young boy wouldn't question it further. It was too much to ask though; Luke wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Like? What things, Professor?" he had questioned, watching as the man had nearly choked on his tea.
"So impatient today! Slow down, my boy. I promise I will explain all that I can to you," he had spluttered, groaning inwardly. Why was the boy so anxious? Had he maybe...met someone?
"Now, pay attention, Luke, as I will only say this once. Love can mean many different things. Like, for example, you love your parents and your siblings, because you care for them. That is, what you would call, Family Love, I guess. Then we have a different type of love. The love that someone feels when they meet their other half. Their soulmate. Another way of putting it, is that you're falling 'in love' with that person. Are you following me so far?" the Professor asked, smiling as his young apprentice nodded swiftly, wanting him to continue.
"Then we have...uh...we have..." the Professor started, but fell silent as he raked his brain for a way to put his sentence, so that it wouldn't make it sound so rude.
"We have?" Luke pressed, staring at his mentor in curiousity and suspicion. The Professor sighed in defeat, and continued his sentence.
"Then we have the more...physical part," The Professor ended, wincing mentally as he watched Luke's face go blank in surprise.
"...Physical? You mean that love isn't just emotion?" Luke asked, watching as his mentor's face turned bright red from embarassment.
"Whoever told you that, boy?" he stuttered, mentally slapping himself when his apprentice merely shrugged.
"I kind of just thought that love was emotions only...so...what's the physical part about?" Luke questioned, having to hold in a laugh as the Professor nearly choked on his tea for the second time that night.
"Luke, that's enough questions for tonight!" Layton said rather sternly, getting up off of his seat, and heading towards the door. He felt a small hand tug at his jacket sleeve, and he turned to see a quite desperate Luke, staring at him.
"Please Professor. I promise, once you've explained it, I won't ask again," Luke stated, making his eyes go wide in a puppy-dogs stare. Layton grumbled to himself, before sitting back down.
"Before I tell you anything, I must know why you want to know this, Luke. It's very important that you answer me truthfully," he said, staring his assistant straight in the eyes. The last thing that he wanted was for Luke to lose his childish innocence. Luke gulped, before speaking.
"Well...I saw this girl while I was on my way to your office this morning...and..." he began, turning bright red. Layton smirked. Oh course! Why hadn't he come to that conclusion sooner?
"Did you speak to her? If you did, were you polite? Remember, a true gentleman is always polite to a lady," he questioned, watching as Luke gave him an annoyed look.
"I was polite! And yes, I did speak to her. Her name is Ella. She's...really pretty, Professor. When she smiled at me from across the street, I felt my heart skip a beat. And when she spoke to me, it felt as if I had butterflies in my stomach," Luke explained, not able to keep it a secret any longer.
Layton smiled at his assistant. Who knew that Luke had such a way with the ladies?
"So, she invited me around to her house tonight. And...I don't want to mess up anything. I don't want to look like a fool in front of Ella," he whispered, his eyes on the floor. The Professor placed a hand on either one of his shoulder's making the young boy look up at him.
"You won't mess anything up, my boy. Just go with your emotions. I'm sure Ella will understand. She seems like a very nice girl," he murmured, and Luke smiled happily.
"Thank you, Professor!" he sighed, before taking in the Professor's serious face again.
"What I want to know, Luke, is why you wanted to know about the physical part of love. I mean, you've only just met this girl," Layton questioned.
Not to mention that you are clearly under-age! he added in his head.
"Well...I wanted to try it. With Ella," Luke said calmly, watching as Layton had a coughing fit from surprise.
"Luke, my dear, dear boy... you can't possibly do the physical part of love...not for a few more years," he spluttered.
"Huh? Why not?" Luke asked, feeling slightly hurt.
"Because...you aren't allowed. You are under-age, Luke," Layton muttered, picking up a book from his coffee table.
"Now we shall speak no more of this. Pick up your books, and start revising," he ended suddenly, and tried to take his mind off of the mind-boggling conversation he had just had with his apprentice.
Luke sighed, before picking up one of his books. He flicked through the pages, before coming to a stop on one of the slightly more worn chapters. His eyes moved from left to right, scanning the text, but not taking any of it in really. That was, until he came face-to-face with a word he had never seen before.
"Professor? What is sex?"
Oh, The Professor had really let himself in for that one.
END