"What If Luke And Clive Were Brothers?" | | AU

A book full of memories

"Alright Luke, it's time for bed!" Clive cried out with a grin. The only response he got was a groan from the small version of himself; Luke Triton. "Now now, we both know if I was to let you stay up late again you'd get all cranky by morning and that's not going to happen!" Clive smirked.

Luke simply pouted while lightly stamping his right foot to the ground. "But I don't want to, Clive! I'm not sleepy yet."

"And that's why I'm going to help you fall asleep, silly." And with that, the inventor simply picked up Luke in a bride style and walked to their shared bedroom. Because the house Layton was able to afford for them was small, both brothers did not mind about sharing a bedroom together.

As Clive went past each step of the stairs, Luke's protests continued on and on until they had finally had reached the bedroom. Clive kicked the door opened and rushed to their small bed which had a small teddy bear lying at the right side of the bed; presumably Luke's.

The young assistant fell to the bed with the sound of an "oomph" when his older brother had let go of him. This only caused Luke to get more frustrated as he crossed his arms, looking away from the other, who in return chuckled at his brother's childish behaviour.

Clive went to the wardrobe to grab their nightgowns before walking over and stroking Luke's head affectionately. "Come now, my little child. Your older brother knows exactly what may help you go to sleep!"

Luke turned his head to look at Clive with curiosity. "And may I ask what that is?" The older brother moved around to their little bookshelf, took a purple cover and danced his way back to the bed where his little one sat.

"This book shall be my first idea to help you fall asleep!"

Luke's eyes gleamed with interest. "Oh? What's the book called?"

"Luke and Clive's Memory Book of course!"

Luke began to whine again. "But Clive~! How am I going to go to sleep by looking at what happened in the past?"

Clive simply winked and sat down next to the boy as he opened the book that was layed between the two boys to see. The first page was shown with a two adults sitting on one chair with a baby being cradled in the mother's arms. Next to them was a young boy who had the same appearance as Luke but only in different clothes; smiling.

Luke who was looking closely at the picture turned to Clive. "Is that our parents with baby me and young you?" He said while pointing at the picture shown.

Clive turned to the other and smiled. It wasn't one of his grins but a more bittersweet and nostalgic smile. With a nod, he replied, "Yes, my dear little one. That is our parents. That adorable baby in Mother's arms is you-" The Inventor paused to stroke the assistant's head before continuing. "-And the one standing next to them that looks just exactly like you is me."

The more the two continued on looking through the book, the more enthusiastic Luke became. Clive, on the other hand, felt a sickning feeling in his gut but decided to keep it hidden.

By the time they had reached halfway of the book, the inventor began to notice his little brother's eyes droop down slowly yet he knew the boy was being stubborn to fall asleep. A chuckle emerged from him which caused Luke to look up at him, confused.

"Dear child, isn't looking at these memories such a beautiful thing? I'd say so. And just by telling from your eyes, I think it's time we both head to bed."

"Must I?"

"Indeed we should." Clive said with triumph as he brought Luke into his arms which caused the other to feel at ease and snuggle deeper into their soft duvets. With a soft smile, Clive began to stroke his brother's head before murmuring a little lullaby he learnt from his mother.

"A canary sings
A cradle song
Sleep, sleep,
Sleep, child..

Above the cradle,
The loquat fruits sway
Sleep, sleep,
Sleep, child.."

If Clive was able to recall correctly, his mother used to play with little Clive's hair gently as she sang when stars shown bright in the night sky. Luke was only a little baby at the time so he would have been relaxing comfortably in his crib whenever their mother sang.

"A squirrel rocks
The cradle by its rope
Sleep, sleep,
Sleep, child.."

It was as if she was an angel that flew down from heaven just to protect these two children from the dangers of the world with her precious lullaby.

"Dreams in a cradle,
With the yellow moon shining down
Sleep, sleep,
Sleep, child.."

As he finished on the last verse, Clive bended closer to Luke's head to kiss his forehead sweetly before resting next to him. With one last look at his brother, he closed his eyes and smiled peacefully.

"Sleep well, my little assistant."