Disclaimer: I do not own any characters here, they all belong to Level -5..the lucky buggers.
Hey folks! My first Layton fic here, it was a cute idea that wouldn't leave me alone so it had to be typed out eventually, pure cuteness and fluff ahead!
Also this is NOT intended as yaoi, or romantic or whatever, this is purely friendship or even father/son.
TEEENSY spoilers for Lost/Unwound Future, nothing that will spoil the game for you, I promise!
"Oh my word.." Groaned our beloved Professor as he stumbled home, tired and weary from a long day of lectures, meetings, paper grading and of course..puzzle solving.
At this point, apprentice number one..or Luke to you and me, was already home from school and was sitting at the dining table working on his homework, and had looked up when the door opened as Layton strolled in with a sigh, feet shuffling and his head down, the picture of a stressed man.
Luke knew Layton worked hard everyday, there were times when his gentlemanly demeanor slipped a little depending on how stressed he was, oh he was never rude, not at all, but Luke could still tell when he preferred to be left alone to relax a while, and Luke left him to it, knowing he deserved it. But right now he watched with sympathy as Layton shrugged off his jacket, shoes and collapsed onto the sofa in front of the fire, propping his feet up on a footstool.
"Welcome home professor." Luke announced with sympathetic a smile to his mentor.
Layton turned to address Luke with a large but weary smile on his face, his eyes at half mast.
"Hello my boy, and how was school?"
Putting his pencil down and giving Layton his full attention, Luke replied "It was fine professor, nothing exciting to report really."
"Do you have a lot of homework there? Do you need any help?"
You had to admire the man, really. He had only been home a couple of minutes, yet no matter how stressed and weary he was, others still came first, that was just the kind of gentleman he was, and Luke wouldn't have him any other way.
"That's alright professor, I'm almost finished anyway. Would you like some tea?" Luke had already jumped down from his seat, awaiting the answer he knew was coming.
He knew him far too well.
"Sounds splendid my boy, thank you." Layton closed his eyes and leaned his head back, now rather content.
Luke sprinted off to the kitchen, eager to ease his mentors weariness.
While preparing the tea.. he had to admit to himself, he liked the idea of him caring for the professor for once. Layton was always a worrier when it came to Luke, how he was, where he was, who he was with, what he was doing, was he wrapped up warm and so on, this could be his chance to do something kind for him in return, heaven knows he more than deserved it.
Luke prepared Laytons favourite brew and brought it to him on the sofa, noting he hadn't moved a muscle since Luke left.
"Here you go Professor." Luke handed him the cup, which Layton took gratefully, and sat on the sofa beside him, contemplating his next question.
"Professor, is everything alright?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Well it's just..you look really tired Professor, teaching doesn't usually take this much out of you."
Layton gave a warm chuckle at his assistants sweet concern.
"It's just been a very long day my boy, nothing a warm bath and a good nights sleep can't handle." He continued to sip his tea, unaware of the gears in Luke's head turning furiously.
A bath and sleep was the professors answer to anything that was wrong with him, Luke couldn't help with either of those, so what else could he do for him?
Luke scanned his mentor up and down, as if hoping the answer would jump out at him, but then he gazed down towards the fire..and got a sudden idea.
Cautiously looking back at Layton, he found he had his eyes closed again, hands clasped on his stomach, empty cup now on the nearby coffee table.
Now feeling a little braver, Luke got up and gently positioned himself on the stool beside Laytons bare feet, looking up he noticed Laytons eyes still closed, either he hadn't noticed Luke moving or just didn't have the energy to open his eyes to see what he was up to.
Now that he was here..he realised he had never seen Laytons bare feet before, it wasn't something he really thought about but it struck him as odd the more he thought about it, was this a show of weakness? Was he feeling even worse than he made himself out to be? Either way Luke hoped his idea would do the trick for him.
He remembered reading an article in a newspaper some time ago about the art of massage, and how soothing and relaxing it can be, even on any part of the body. But the feet were especially mentioned, they carry your full weight through everything you do, and certain parts of the feet connect with other parts of the body. You couldn't go about your daily life without them, and they deserved to be looked after.
It was now or never, he could only hope he would get the right reaction from Layton, otherwise he may be in trouble for doing something like this without permission.
Luke gingerly placed his hands around his mentors feet, thumbs positioned in the middle, and started slowly but deeply kneading and rubbing his thumbs along his soles.
His reaction was immediate.
"Luke? Just what are you...oh my!" Layton was about to ask what on earth Luke was doing, but..he couldn't help but notice just how good it felt.
Luke was gently easing away all the aches and pains he had built up through the day, which is why he wanted to rest his feet as soon as he came home, but he didn't expect this!
Whatever Luke's reasons were for doing this however.. Layton wasn't about to complain.
Luke however, did not know whether the declaration of "Oh my!" Was good or bad, he hadn't dared look up again after he started. But he did notice when the Professor stretched out fully, curling his toes in the process before settling back down again. Luke took this as a sure sign he was allowed to continue, and now did so with a smile and felt far more relaxed knowing he now had Laytons approval.
But it also meant he was enjoying it..didn't it?
With new encouragement he began using the rest of his fingers and worked more fervently on his feet. Earning him a very contented sigh from Layton, and looking up..he noticed he looked MUCH more relaxed than earlier.
"Are you enjoying this Professor?" Luke asked with a grin.
"Oh very much my boy, it feels wonderful." Layton replied, eyes still closed.
A few more minutes of this went by and Layton was as relaxed as ever, he had even removed his top hat so his head rested better on the sofa and he could better concentrate on the wonderful sensations Luke was producing on his feet; kneading, rubbing, tapping, gentle stroking..which produced a bout of giggles from the Professor
whenever Luke gently brushed his fingertips over a sensitive spot.
This reaction however gave Luke a wicked new idea, he started swiftly sliding his fingertips up and down the length of both Laytons soles.
"Oh m-my Lu-Luke!" Layton began but soon was overcome by a new sensation and couldn't finish his sentence for giggling!
Luke was discovering something completely new about his mentor:
He was ticklish
And by the sound of it, very ticklish.
Layton burst into full blown laughter and started squirming, which only encouraged Luke to move his fingers faster, this new side of Layton seemed fun to explore, so why not take advantage?
Luke was grinning now as he watched his beloved mentor collapse into a fit of pure genuine laughter, one hand gripping the arm of the sofa, the other on his forehead in disbelief as to what was happening, but..Luke noticed, he had yet to tell him to stop.
Laytons reflex to pull his legs away was now so strong that Luke had to trap both his feet under one arm and use all the fingers on his other hand to scritch and scribble all over poor Laytons feet, completely forgetting to stick with massage but instead relishing in the reactions he was getting from Layton, laughter releases stress as well, may as well do what he can while he has the chance!
Lukes fingers were now exploring all over Laytons feet, driving the Professor wild with laughter, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.
Layton almost jumped out of his skin when Lukes fingers explored between his toes, his laughter reaching a new height right there, who would have thought the renowned archaeology Professor had such sensitive feet?
By now Luke wondered why Layton had yet to yell stop, either he secretly didn't want him to or he couldn't get a word in edgewise for laughing so hard!
But Luke loved the professors laugh, it was always a good natured laugh and it had always put him at ease when he did laugh, right now was no exception. it didn't sound tortured, or forced, it sounded genuine, almost like he was enjoying this very much.
Luke soon let up however to give him a break, and resorted back to gentle rubbing and squeazing, letting him calm down.
Layton was very out of breath but still kept a smile on his face as he wiped away the tear tracks on his face.. Luke finally stopped altogether and jumped off the footstool to sit beside him on the sofa, but then jumped in surprised when an arm wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him close.
"My word Luke, what on earth was that all about?" He asked, still with a slight chuckle in his voice while replacing his hat back onto his head.
Luke couldn't help but laugh back. "I'm sorry professor, but you looked really worn out and..well I got this idea and..it didn't exactly end the way I planned but you can't tell me you didn't like it! Admit it, you had fun didn't you?"
Laytons face turned bright red, moreso than when he was laughing before. He pulled down the brim of his hat to cover his flushed face.
"Um...well I..have to admit, I have not laughed that hard in a long time my boy. I had completely forgotten how ticklish I was, the last person who took advantage of that was Claire."
"Claire used to tickle you too?" Luke found this idea very amusing.
"Oh yes, it was her way of getting me to agree with something I didn't want to, she was relentless too, she would have me at her complete mercy, I would agree to anything as long as she stopped, and she used it often, quite the little devil at times." Layton could only blush harder at the memory of Claire dancing her fingers along his tummy and ribs rendering him helpless against her assault. A small part of him kind of missed those times too.
Luke's next question however brought him back down to earth.
"So I just have to tickle you to get you to do anything I want?" Luke asked, mischievious grin now plastered on his face at the idea of getting his way.
"Not exactly my boy." Layton peeked at Luke through one eye, making him a little nervous.
"Uh...why is that Professor?"
Layton suddenly put on an evil grin, making Luke shrink away a little. He whispered evilly: "Because I know you are too."
Luke's eyes instantly widened and he tried to make a run for it, too late however! Layton grabbed his apprentice and tickled his sides and tummy, causing Luke to shriek with laughter.
"Even a true gentleman allows himself to be mischievious once in a while!"
Puzzle: How do you relax a stressed Professor?
Solution: Tickle him :D
Another puzzle solved!