Luke Triton and the Enigmatic Puzzle – Part 10 –
By the next afternoon, Luke's fever had broken and he was feeling much better. Though still rather afflicted by bouts of shaking, he could now get up and walk around the house. Flora would check on him every once and a while, scolding him for moving so much and smothering him in blankets.
"If you get sick again, don't blame me!" she'd squeak.
Now that he felt better, he didn't really pay attention to her threats. He wanted go through the house, top to bottom. He wanted to see everything before the inevitable return to residence. He liked the old house. He missed it. So he decided to commit everything to memory.
Luke was halfway through organizing a dusty cabinet when the professor arrived home. Luke heard a muffled conversation in the landing downstairs, after which came rapid footsteps. The door was thrown open.
"Luke!" the professor exclaimed, framed by the doorway. Luke put the ornate box he had been holding to the side.
"Good—good afternoon, professor," Luke said. "How was—" The rest of the sentence was lost in the professor's embrace.
"You had me worried, my boy," the professor said. "I thought I was going to lose you."
"It was—it was just a cold or something," Luke replied, managing to get his words around the professor's arm. "It's happened before. Probably just a bug or something. Really, you didn't need to be so conc-"
"I know," the professor said, defeated. "But you've been away so long… and when we finally do get to spend a day together, you get sick. I feel as though it's my fault!"
"I'll…I'll make it up to you, professor," Luke said awkwardly, unsure whether he was allowed to enjoy the embrace or not.
"Get healthier, first." Layton finally released him, holding on to his apprentice's shoulders briefly. "What would I do if I lost my number one apprentice?"
Luke chuckled weakly. "Yes, sir."
Unsure of what to do now, Layton left the room again. Luke wondered if he, too, was feeling embarrassed.
Turning back to the cabinet, Luke came across something that made him smile. A small, three dimensional star puzzle. He lifted it up, examining it. Had the professor really kept such a cheap plastic toy for so long? He would have forgotten it completely, had it not been for that dream.
"It's because he likes you."
Luke jumped, dropping the puzzle. "F-Flora!"
Flora was sitting on the couch behind him. When had she entered the room? She seemed to have become quite adept at creeping up on him. "I had to. You two would never have let me come on adventures if I hadn't been able to sneak on to trains and planes and other transportation vehicles you conveniently forgot to take me on."
"M-mind reader?" Luke asked.
"No. It's written all over your face," she replied. "Really, you two leave me out of everything… I'd be hurt if I wasn't so used to it." She pouted.
"S-sorry, Flora," Luke replied. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get over the guilt he felt. In his defense, it was usually the professor that insisted on leaving her behind. Though, he was probably also at fault…somehow.
"Anyway, you were wondering why he kept that, right?" She came over to him, picking up the trinket. "It must be because he likes you, right? Why else would someone keep something like this?" She turned it over in her fingers. "You're really important to him."
"You…you're important to him, too, Flora," Luke replied.
"Not as important as you." She put the bauble back in the cabinet. "But that's probably obvious. It's not like I've been with him as long as you. You must be like a son to him by now."
Luke smiled sadly. "Yes, probably."
Flora regarded him curiously. "So you think of him like that…?"
"I what? What?" Luke whirled around in surprise. "What do you—what? What? What?"
She giggled. "The way you're getting flustered seems to prove it."
"I—no!"
"Don't worry, I'll support you." Flora waved her hand dismissively. "I sort of figured it out a long time ago. Besides, it's not like I could ever get in your way. Sometimes I don't think he even notices me half the time." She shook her head. "But you know, it's kind of creepy, don't you think? It's like a weird Electra complex…"
"No! It's not like that at all!" Luke protested.
"Really? Because it sounds like that to me…"
"No! I like the professor, but it's not like that." Luke tried desperately to explain, but nothing seemed to make sense.
Flora patted his head comfortingly. "It's okay."
"I don't…I don't think of him as my father," Luke said at length. "I…I don't know if I ever did, really. For some reason, I was always able to completely differentiate my father and the professor… I've probably always liked the professor…as the professor."
"If you say so," Flora replied sceptically. "But even if that's true, how do you know if he doesn't think of you as a son?"
"He…probably does," Luke replied. "I'm not going to lie to myself."
Flora sighed. "Well, there's always hope, I suppose."
"I'm…I'm okay with one-sided love," Luke said. "I don't mind it anymore."
"With an attitude like that, you'll never get anywhere," Flora cautioned. "How about giving him something for Valentine's?"
Luke gulped. He had completely forgotten! "Er…"
"Listen," said Flora. "You should give him something like…"
Half an hour later, Luke had made up his mind. He knew what he would give the professor.
He just hoped the professor appreciated circular structure as much as he thought.