What's this madness? I actually wrote some fanfiction?
Ummm it's just a silly little nothing-story about nothing really, haha.

Disclaimer: Professor Layton isn't mine.
Pairing: ClivexFlora

Apology

He was actually quite handsome, Flora thought as she watched him from afar. She actually rather liked the sly look he had about him, and the way his eyes glinted with his obvious intelligence. She almost wanted to call him gentlemanly, if not for the fact that he was not at all very gentlemanly and she was still very cross with him for kidnapping her (even if it was almost exciting, for a minute) and, oh my they were taking him away from her before she even got an apology from him!

Flora watched quietly as Clive was led away by Chelmey and his squad of officers. He didn't look very sly right now. He looked tired, and sad, and relieved.

The Professor and Luke had run off somewhere, once more, without her. That Celeste lady had disappeared as well. They were probably all off talking somewhere. What if she had wanted to come along too? Why did she always get left behind?

Well! Maybe she'd do some running off without them this time, and see how they like it! Maybe she'd run off after Clive and have her own little chat with him, and he could look at her with his smart, daring eyes, and she could get that apology she was owed right from that sly little mouth of his.

Though, Inspector Chelmey likely would not be quite as fond of the idea as she was. Clive was probably off to be questioned and sentenced and whatever else criminals like him had to go through once they were caught. Flora wasn't sure what the whole process entailed, but after what Clive had done, she was sure he wasn't about to be let off with a mere warning and a rap on the knuckles.

This upset her for some reason she wasn't quite sure of – the idea of Clive being locked up in jail. Would it be strange for her to go visit him? Would the Professor take her? Not that she was interested in talking to him or anything, mind! All she wanted was that apology for kidnapping her. Of course, yes, that was all.

The Professor and Luke were certainly taking their time, wherever they'd gone off to. What was she supposed to do while they were off solving puzzles and whatever other exciting things they did without her? She was going to give them a piece of her mind when they got back here!

Flora plunked down on a nearby bench, crossing her legs and arms in a huff and sitting with the most obstinate look on her face she could muster. After a minute of trying her hardest to maintain this look for when the boys returned, Flora turned a curious eye toward the retreating backs of Clive and the officers. They were barely more than specks now, ducking into police cars and speeding off to disappear around the nearest corner. She watched intently as Clive was guided into the back of one of the cabs, and then slipped entirely out of her vision.

She knew it was silly to be upset over not getting to talk to the boy before he was carted off. He was a criminal after all, and refined ladies such as herself ought not to be consorting with criminals. It was better off that things had gone the way they had.

From behind her, the pattering sounds of two pairs of feet alerted her to the approaching duo. She spun back around to face them, prepared to assume her 'I-can't-believe-you-left-me-again!' pose once more, until she saw the look on the Professor's face. Although he wasn't very expressive at the best of times, something about his current stoic stance seemed forced. He looked even more tired than Clive did, if that was possible. She dropped her arms to her sides immediately, hardly eager to go on with the chiding she'd been planning.

The Professor walked wordlessly past her, Luke close behind. Unlike the Professor, he broke his stride to stop in front of where she sat. He looked like he'd had a bit of a shock very recently.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost." Flora said.

Luke let out a nervous laugh, glancing after the Professor as he continued to wander on.

Flora looked back to where the duo had come from. It seemed Celeste hadn't come along with them. She matched Luke's gaze, staring at the Professor's retreating back. "I take it we're going home, then?"

-o-

Over the next few weeks, several stories recapping the tragedy and recovery efforts ran in the paper. Flora skimmed them all with mild interest, her eyes wandering every time she reached details about Clive. Reading about him always put her in a bit of a funk.

Flora cast aside today's paper, brushing a grocery list across the table toward her instead. Pocketing the list, she swept from the house to complete this little errand.

It was a beautiful day out. The sun shone brightly, hidden by only the occasional cloud, and it was pleasantly warm. Flora smiled as she made her way down the street. It was almost as if she could forget that a good portion of London was in disarray.

Until she got to the broken houses, of course. A couple streets down from the Professor's home, the damage started to build. The store where she liked to go for groceries had finally been rebuilt, much to her relief (as the other nearest store was quite a few more streets down). The other buildings were still in pieces. The street was sadly still, more or less, a wreck.

Flora's smile faltered at the streets that used to be full of houses and apartments and the kitsch little shops she loved so much. It was nowhere near as bad as it had been weeks ago; the rubble had all been cleared away and there was a team of workers an uncountable size building up the crumbled walls.

Not stopping to stare for too long (which was certainly unladylike), Flora darted into the grocery to pick up some bread and eggs. However, upon her return, Flora did deign to stare. Something across the street had caught her eye.

He was dressed just as any of the other workers were – casual, comfortable. He was different from them, though. His face was as sly as ever, and his clever eyes were focused on the task in front of him. He was laying bricks, carrying on with the practiced ease of one who has been at this for a while.

Flora knew she was staring, but she couldn't quite convince herself to look away. What were the chances she would run into Clive here? What should she do? Should she talk to him? Would she get that apology she'd been waiting on?

Clive laid the final brick in his stack. He bent back where he stood, stretching deeply . Any minute now he was going to look up across the street and oh goodness he was going to see her! What should she do?

"Excuse me."

"Oh!" Flora jumped, very nearly dropping the bag with the eggs inside. She spun around, stepping out of the doorway to the grocery store, where she'd been standing and gaping inelegantly. "I'm sorry sir, I was just watching the construction, I should have been paying closer attention."

The man behind her nodded, walking off to leave Flora alone again.

Flora let out a small sigh, glancing across the street to where Clive had stood. He'd disappeared from the wall he'd been building, and was nowhere in immediate sight. Flora frowned, a little put off that he'd escaped from her once again. Honestly, though, she wasn't sure what she would have said to him in the first place.

Fixing her grip on the grocery bag, Flora set off back home to try and forget about the boy once more.

However, that was not so easily done. Flora felt restless, and the next day at around the same time, she let herself out for a walk.

Today's paper was held tightly under one arm. She was planning on doing a little spying. Of course, this all depended on Clive being in the same place as he was yesterday, which he very well might not be.

Flora's speedy pace brought her to the grocery in only a few minutes. She snapped the newspaper open, seating herself lightly on one of the street benches and peering over the paper at the construction across the street.

Sure enough, her quarry was exactly where he'd been yesterday. She peered out over her paper, watching him as he steadily cemented more bricks into place.

When she had first seen him, Flora had no trouble calling him Luke. They looked alike enough to be the same person, ten years apart. Now that she knew that not to be the case, the little nuances of his appearance seemed blaringly obvious.

His nose was more long and pronounced than Luke's little nubby nose. His hair was a couple shades fairer, and his figure a bit more slight than she could picture Luke ever being. Clive wasn't much more than her height, and though Luke currently stood below that, he was certainly tall enough for someone his age and Flora had no doubt he would surpass Clive's height in time.

Her newspaper ruffled in the wind as she watched Clive finish up another little pile of bricks. She quickly buried her face in the paper as he stretched his back and arms before walking off. Flora sat quietly for a minute or two, pretending to browse through the articles. When she was confident enough time had passed, she looked up again.

Clive had disappeared from sight.

Flora cast her eyes around the construction site. He'd probably just gone to get some more bricks for the wall. Flora shifted in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position to watch from.

"You know, spying isn't a very becoming habit for a fine lady like yourself."

Flora jumped at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice. Quickly regaining her composure, she cast a nonchalant look to the boy standing over her shoulder. "Beg your pardon?"

He smiled his sly little smile with his sly little mouth. "I think you heard me just fine, Flora. You were here yesterday too."

Drat, so he had seen her. Flora wrinkled her nose, playing aloof. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was only here getting groceries yesterday." she said.

"And what are you doing here today?" Oh, he was so smug! As if he had any right to be!

"I wanted to go out for a while. Am I not allowed to leave the house now?"

"Out to enjoy the sights then, eh?"

Well… yes, she supposed. Flora took some time carefully folding her paper before responding. "You know, I don't think I ought to be talking with criminals."

Oh, he didn't have anything to say to that, did he! Yes, Flora watched his sly smile dip as he gave an almost indiscernible flinch. He looked almost hurt, and oh, she hadn't wanted to do anything like that. She just wanted him to… to… well she didn't know what she wanted him to do, exactly. Apologize, of course. Maybe. Yes, of course, that had been what she'd been waiting for all this time, right?

Except he wasn't apologizing; he was leaving. "Yes, you're right. I'll just be off then. Good day, Flora."

"Oh, no Clive, wait!" Flora said, a frantic note in her voice.

He stopped where he was, slowly turning to look at her. Flora wasn't sure what to say after that. His dark eyes caught hers and Flora couldn't bring herself to look away. A new difference between Clive and Luke clawed its way to the top of her Blaring Obvious Differences list.

Clive's eyes were hard, so very infinitely harder than Luke's curious ones. Ten years couldn't do that to Luke. Ten years couldn't do that to anyone. An explosion, a tragedy, a child losing their family in a split second, however; that could do it. Clive's clever eyes shone with deep intelligence – a different kind of clever than Luke's.

"Clive," the name felt nice to say, Flora decided. Much more suitable to the boy than Luke. "Will you… ah, will you sit with me for a minute?" she asked.

There was movement next to her. Clive had indeed sat down next to her, but her eyes were still staring forward to the empty space where his eyes had just been. She swallowed, feeling her nerves tense up throughout her body. She had him now, found him somehow, coincidentally. And yet, now, she had no idea what to do with him.

"Is this your punishment?" Flora asked, her eyes finding the construction site.

"Far better than I deserve." Clive said. "You know, as a criminal."

The word stung her ears and she regretted bringing it up. She decided to press on, still unsure of what she was trying to achieve. "How long?"

"Until London is rebuilt." he said. "And I'll do it all willingly. I've been rebuilding during the day, and retiring to prison when evening breaks. I've been on my very best behaviour throughout."

Flora bit her lip lightly, willing for any words at all to come to mind. She felt awkward in the quiet air. This conversation wasn't going the way she'd thought it would – she hadn't thought there'd be a conversation at all! A quiet, timid "oh" escaped from her mouth.

She was suddenly very aware of Clive's hard, clever eyes on her. Flora cleared her throat lightly, daring herself to speak. "I wasn't really spying, honest. I was just… curious. I saw you here yesterday and I just wanted to know… if you would be here today as well." She felt her chest constrict in anxiety. Oh, what was he going to think of that? What has even possessed her to say that anyway? His eyes made her so nervous!

Clive raised an eyebrow, looking very curious; intrigued even. "Why?" he asked, a trace of his sly smile appearing on his lips. "You wouldn't want to consort with criminals like me, would you Flora?"

Flora pursed her lips in an indignant frown, bristling slightly as he brought up her offhand slight again. "You know, I was going to apologize for saying that, but I do believe that makes us even, owed-apology-wise!" she said.

Oh yes, that look of confusion was surprisingly gratifying to Flora. She turned toward him, watching him silently appraise her with his clever eyes. She fancied she could almost see his brain whirring away behind those eyes; he made her feel so frustratingly nervous.

"For kidnapping you, you mean."

Flora smiled, feeling quite victorious that the conversation had finally taken a turn in the desired direction. Yes, this was exactly what she'd wanted to happen, wasn't it? This train was finally shoving off! Last call, all aboard the apology express! "Why, yes, that is exactly what I mean!"

Clive shook his head lightly. "As charming as the sentiment is, I don't think our apologies are quite equal in weight."

Flora crossed her arms tightly, pursing her lips. "Well… no. No, of course they aren't!" she said. "But that wasn't my point at all. I mean… never mind, stop trying to twist your words."

"I'm not mincing words at all. I am saying precisely as I mean." Clive said, a glint of amusement creeping onto his face.

"Hmph!" Flora swung herself around to face away from him. She was quite done with him! She shouldn't have even returned in the first place! He was such a bother, nothing but trouble after all.

"You're really quite childish for someone your age." Clive chided, the creeping amusement now crystal clear in his tone.

"I am not!" Flora gasped, whipping back to face him with her best indignant look. "Now see here you – "

Clive held up his hands defensively before Flora had a chance to finish. "Hold on for a moment Flora. My actions were reprehensible, as you said. I doubt a simple 'I'm sorry' will make it up to you."

Flora's glare held true as Clive spoke. "Go on."

Clive sighed, standing and stepping away toward the construction site. "Flora, as much as I would love to continue our charming banter, I've taken a bit of a longer break than intended." Clive said, slowly stepping toward the street as he spoke. His clever eyes were crinkled in a playful smile. "However, you could chance to return tomorrow. If you're lucky, I may still be here."

With that said, Flora watched Clive sprint back to the work site, mouth agape. She quickly snapped it shut, glancing around to see if anyone had seen her stare. She stood quickly from the bench, leaving her newspaper abandoned as she smoothed down her dress and began her walk back home. Flora snuck a glance back toward the construction, startling herself as she realized Clive was staring straight back at her. He gave a little wave. She huffed and doubled her speed.

Return tomorrow – not likely!

-o-

Flora was extremely unhappy with herself as she sat stiffly on the bench outside the grocery.

Today's paper was clutched a little more firmly than necessary in either hand, obscuring most of her face as she peered over it toward the construction site. It was just as busy as ever, full of workers dragging bricks and lumber, loading up wheelbarrows of cement and carting around their tools of the trade.

Clive was nowhere in sight.

He'd probably known all along he wasn't going to be here today. He'd told her to come just to have the satisfaction of leading her on this silly little apology-chase. That smarmy jerk!

Flora jumped as she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She turned, glancing over her shoulder to meet the clever eyes she was becoming so familiar with. A sly little smile lit up his face and oh how badly Flora wanted to smack it right off his arrogant stupid face!

"So you are here today." She said, frowning lightly. "I'd almost thought you'd left me."

"Left you, Flora?" Clive said, swinging around the bench to sit at the opposite end, much as he had the day prior. "I wouldn't dream of it."

He sounded sincere enough. Flora gave him a quick glance and relaxed a bit. She tapped her foot lightly against the pavement, staring down at her feet before deciding to speak up. "So, what did you call me here for today?"

"Why, to offer you my apology, of course. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Flora felt her shoulders tense up. After waiting so long she was going to get that apology she was owed. It seemed so trivial and pointless, all of a sudden. She continued to tap her foot lightly, rhythmically, wondering why she suddenly felt so apprehensive. Once she'd cleared this little mission up, she could say goodbye to Clive and he could quietly disappear.

Isn't that what you wanted?

Flora glanced up indifferently, tilting her head toward Clive. "Yes, it certainly is. Go on then."

Had it just been a trick of the light, or had his smile actually faltered a bit? Flora blinked, certain that her eyes were playing tricks on her, as Clive continued on completely unperturbed.

"I've been putting a lot of time into repaying the great debt I owe this city. I've been helping rebuild and assisting the people of London who are in need of it. I doubt I can ever truly make up for what I've done, but I'm doing what I can. It takes time." Clive sighed. "A lot of time. The people are giving me a second chance and I'm going to make the most of it. And that's why a simple apology will not suffice for you, Flora. There hasn't been enough time yet."

Flora sat quietly, patiently listening to what Clive had to say. He wasn't looking at her any more, and he didn't quite have his usual slyness about him; he looked very serious, and perhaps just a little nervous.

"And so, I have to ask you for a bit of time, Flora. Once I finish helping rebuild the city, I'll take the chance to make amends with you, if you find that acceptable." Clive met her eyes once again and Flora blinked, taking in his genuine smile.

He was actually quite handsome.

"Well?" Clive asked, his smile meekly holding up. "What do you say?"

"Yes." Flora returned the smile. "Yes, of course, Clive. I'd like that very much."

His clever eyes lit up and Flora felt so very pleased and happy and relieved. "I promise, as soon as I've finished rebuilding, I'll work on making it up to you." Clive said. "I hope you're prepared to wait for some time. There's still quite a bit of damage that needs to be taken care of."

Flora felt her lips twist into their own sly little smile. "I'm sure I'll be able to track you down every now and then to make sure you haven't forgotten about me."

"How could I forget?" Clive returned the smile. "There aren't too many fair ladies you can kidnap who would be willing to forgive so quickly."

"I haven't forgiven you yet, Clive." Flora said, crossing her arms coyly.

"Of course not." Clive said. He stood up slowly, turning to give Flora another smile before departing, his clever eyes meeting hers. "Thank you."

Flora watched as he retreated back to the other workers, wasting no time in resuming his familiar station of laying bricks. Before he had the chance to look up Flora left the bench to head back home, not wanting to loiter and stare (much less have him see her loitering and think her staring).

Well, that conversation certainly hadn't gone according to plan. But she was certainly pleased that it had turned out the way it had. Flora smiled to herself, quietly enjoying her walk back home. This silly little apology was one worth waiting for, she decided.