Here's the story that I wrote on my other story, Lucifendi's First Date. I'm going to keep updating this, too, so stay tuned!

Idea suggested by Melodious-Nocturne3.


Usually at seven o'clock on a Friday night, London's New Scotland Yard Serious Crime Division was dark, the last lights flickering off as Florence closed up the lab. Maybe a dim lamp would be lit in the Mystery Room, in which a lone Alfendi Layton would sit, pouring over cases long closed.

However, this night was different. Lights illuminated long, thick cobwebs hanging in the corners. Many detectives milled around, chatting it up by the snack tables and other things of the sort.

"'Ello, Prof! Wha'd'ya think of me costume?" A young detective constable bounced over to a tall, lanky man.

"Er, what exactly are you?"

"C'mon, Prof! Colorful shawl, a little face paint... Colorful Mexican shawl?"

"Ah, yes, Mariana Etisa. Clever." Alfendi smiled weakly. He looked away from Lucy, turning his head to search the small party.

"Ee, you're still in your normal clothes, Prof. Not much of a costume, fromt' looks of it!"

Without turning his head from looking out over the small crowd, he said, "I don't much fancy costume parties."

"Are you mental? I just love 'em! Nothin' as fun as dressing up for me!" Lucy looked expectantly at the Prof, then frowned when he failed to respond. "Oi, Prof! What's got you t'night? Dusty's running a drink bar, wanna go get one?"

"I never cared much for alcohol. Excuse me." Having apparently found who he was looking for, Alfendi strode off.

Lucy was left, brow furrowed, as the Prof hurried off to meet an aggressively curvy and attractive woman with long blonde hair.

Lucy walked away, towards the drinks table.

"'Lo, Lucy! Wot can I do f' ya?"

"Er, I'll just have a vodka cranberry."

"Ya even old nuff to drink?" Dustin teased.

"Dusty, I'm twenty-two and you right well know tha'!"

"I'm jus' teasin' Lucy." He grinned that devilish grin of his. Lucy smiled back and sipped her drink, then left to go find her mentor.

'I've gotta keep me eye on 'im, what with 'is Jeckle-and-Hydeing.' She reasoned to herself. She saw him talking with Hilda and walked over.

"'Lo, 'ilda." Hilda turned away from Alfendi, with whom she seemed a tad annoyed.

"Hello, Lucy. Enjoying the party, are you?" Lucy nodded. "I heard about that case with the flower shop owner that you two solved. That sounded like quite a case!"

"Aye, it were, but ol' Potty Prof got us through, di'nn'e, Prof?" Lucy nudged him playfully.

"Yes, we did get lucky that Chris Anthemum made that little slip." Alfendi said thoughtfully.

"You gave tha' stinker a righ' scare, when you changed!" She giggled flirtatiously.

Alfendi looked at her frowning. "Well, he was already so close to cracking. He was scared anyhow."

Frustrated with Alfendi's unchanging, thoughtful nature, Lucy walked off to talk with Florence and Sniffer. Hilda followed after her and pulled her aside.

"Lucy, I see what you're trying to do."

Lucy was flustered. "I... er... wha'd'ya mean?"

"Lucy, I would strongly advise that you give up. Alfendi is a complete basket case. If he wasn't insufferable enough before his change, he sure is now."

"Eh-up! I forgot you two 'ad been together! I'm terr'bly sorry!"

"No, no it's fine," she said, brushing it off, "I have no interest in dating half a man. And neither should you. Do yourself a favour and stop before things get bad."

Lucy sighed and walked off to talk to Florence.

"Achoo! Hello, Lucy. Enjoying yourself?" For her costume, Florence had played to her already pallid composure and painted herself to look like a corpse. It was quite terrifying.

"Oh, I'm alrigh'."

"Nice costume." All of a sudden the ground shook slightly and an extremely muscular, grey haired inspector zipped over to talk to them.

"Ah, *sniff* Inspector Grosky!" Florence said to the man now adjusting his grey hair that had flecks of blue in it.

"Hello, Florence. Lucy." He nodded to both of them gruffly. Although he was in his seventies, the inspector was still working at The Yard, muscular as ever.

The three of them chatted, time passed, and Lucy became more and more detached as she pondered the Prof's whereabouts. Making an excuse, she left to go get another drink. On her way back through the crowd, she heard voices coming from a side room. She knew she shouldn't, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she stopped and strained her ears. She heard Hilda's voice. She sounded very annoyed.

"No matter what you think, you've changed! I can't deal with the stress of a mentally unstable boyfriend! We've had this argument millions of times. Please, Al."

"But I don't see why it's different. I'm still Alfendi Layton. I still feel the same way." His voice was calm but confused.

"Al, it's been four years," Hilda said tiredly. Suddenly Lucy heard a hand hit a table.

"You arrogant woman!" Alfendi growled. "I'm still here! That unbearably daft piece of blank paper that controls me isn't me!"

"But he controls you, Al. You have to control him, then maybe I'll reconsider."

There were several moments of silence before Alfendi said, "You're insufferable."

Lucy heard him turning the door handle and hurried away, but Alfendi was so fuming that he didn't notice her anyway. She hurried back to Florence and Grosky.

She did keep her eye on Alfendi, though. She saw him make his way over to the drink table, and begin downing drinks like nobody's business. Dustin had abandoned his job as the barman, so Alfendi was pouring his own drinks. Lucy rushed off again.

Sitting herself by him near the drink table she said, "Prof, even my uncle Bill doesn't drink tha' fast!"

He looked at her mutinously taking a swig straight from a bottle that he had apparently taken right off of the table.

Lucy was intensely worried. She put her hand on his to stop him from taking another drink. He wrenched it away, spilling some of the drink, then took another swig. Slowly, his hair changed from deep crimson to a paler shade.

"P-Prof?" Lucy said tentatively.

"I'm sorry if I alarmed you, Lucy." He got up, put down the bottle, and walked away, stumbling a little. Lucy fought the urge to go after him, and went back to the party.


It was a couple hours later, and the party was roaring. Dustin was standing on a table singing karaoke with Florence, despite the fact that there was no karaoke machine. Lucy had left, laughing hysterically, to go to the bathroom. As she walked down the long, dark halls of Scotland Yard, the sound of the party faded. On coming out of the bathroom, she noticed someone sitting in the shadows. His white coat shown through the darkness like a beacon. She approached him carefully.

"Prof? Whatcha doing out here int' hall?" Alfendi looked up as she sat down on the bench next to him.

"Uh, I jus' don' like... I don' like parties much, I guess." His voice was very slurred.

"You don't like parties?" Lucy said incredulously.

"Yeah, well, dunno." He said thickly.

"Prof, are you okay?" She said, then quickly rephrased her question, talking over Alfendi's assurances, "Prof, what's wrong? I know summat's wrong."

"'S jus', things change, y'know? I mean, like, it changes. Nothing ever the same. Y'know wha' I'm talking 'bout?"

"Aye." She eyed him cautiously.

"It sucks." He said wisely.

"Aye."

"I'm th' real Alfendi, arn' I?"

"Well... I dunno, Prof. Hilda says tha—" at Hilda's name, Alfendi looked up.

"Hilda. Wha' a woman, know wha' I mean?" He said angrily, then sighed and said, "She jus', she's grea'."

"Er, aye. She's great." Lucy said dejectedly. "You've still got feeling for her, don'tcha, Prof?"

Alfendi shook his head vigorously, then paused a few seconds and said, "Yup."

"I'm really sorry. I know it en't fun to think abou' someone tha' way an have 'em not feel th' same." She looked at Alfendi.

"I know what you're doing, Lucy." Her heart skipped a beat. It was dark, but she was sure that his hair had just changed its colour.

"Wha— wha'd'ya mean by tha'?"

"Y'know perf'ctly well what I mean. I don't want to be with you. I'm gonna get Hilda back." Lucy was speechless. She had known it all along, but to hear him say it so frankly made her eyes feel hot and wet.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. It's jus' e'er since... e'er since Forbod... Forbod'um Castle, she..." He trailed away.

"Aye?"

"She... said I've changed. I'm real! I really am!"

"I'm sorry, Prof. I don't see why she doesn't like you. I mean, your two personalities... they complement each other. Know what I mean?"

He looked into her eyes. His eyes locked with hers for what seemed like eternity. Lucy got very uncomfortable and looked away.

"Y' think so?" He said after a long silence, still looking at her even though she was looking away.

"Erm... Aye, I do." Lucy said uneasily, continuing to stare at the colorful fabric that draped over her knees.

He was silent a bit longer before saying, "I've had a lot... lot... lot to drink, Lucy."

Lucy actually laughed out loud at this announcement. "I know tha', Prof! Weren't it you just a couple hours ago saying you didn't drink?"

"I think I... I think m' other side did it."

"Ah." Lucy said, amused.

"I ne'er been this drunk b'fore." He confessed. His eyes were struggling to stay open. Lucy put her arm around his shoulder. "I don' like it."

"It's okay, it'll be over soon."

Alfendi looked up at her and made a sudden movement towards her, but she moved away suddenly, causing him to lose his balance and fall over onto her.

"Wha'd'ya think you're doing?! I en't gonna have you kissing me when you're like this!" She pushed him off of her.

"But you wanna, eh?" He moved toward her again, but she held him where he was.

"Prof, you don't even know wha' you're doing! You said yourself you didn't wanna be with me..." It took a fair amount of willpower to turn down his advances, but she knew it was the right thing to do. If she let him, he'd remember in the morning and regret it and the everything would be awkward from there on out. "D'you want me t' take you home?"

"Nah, floors gunn' take me 'ome."

"What?"

"Flor'nce!"

"Oh! Er, I'm pretty sure she isn't fit to drive..." Lucy thought back to her little karaoke session. "I'll get you home. We can take the tube. You seem too... er... tired t' walk." She took his hand and pulled him up from the bench. He stumbled and fell into her, but she was able to get him to stand up straight enough. "D'you have anything in the Mystery Room you need to take home? I can go get it for you."

Getting him back to his flat proved quite difficult, as he was half asleep, but in the end, she managed to get him into bed safely. She looked at him sadly. She wanted him to feel the same way about her so bad that her chest hurt, but it was useless. She would just have to get on with her life and try and see him as a friend and nothing more. She consented to give him a gentle peck on the cheek before heading home.