"He dead?" Tohma asked casually as Caspian came careening into the office.
"Unfortunately, no." Caspian responded, alighting on his cage.
"What?" Tohma said, rolling off the couch in surprise. "What happened this time?"
"He fought back…I took a good slice out of his hand though. I'd probably be dead if he hadn't run into a patrol unit."
"Dead?" Tohma queried, incredulously. "It was that serious?"
"Yeah, he seemed pissed. He fought me pretty hard and he was taking me to his suite when the guards showed up and tried to arrest me. They didn't stand a chance though." Caspian explained after getting a long drink of water.
"I'm surprised that Mika hasn't rescinded the arrest warrant yet…that doesn't bode well, we need to move on with Plan B immediately." Tohma said hurriedly as he stood up and jogged over to a cupboard. "I'll get the vegetables."
"I'll get the stick."
"It's go time."
After twenty minutes of quiet time, Yuki was ready. He had his sentences lined out word for word, and he knew that he would be able to control himself. He had to make this work for Shuichi's sake, and he kept repeating that in his head, trying to make it stay there. If he messed up again, then it was over.
He power-walked through the palace, anxious to see Shuichi again and to get this over with. The faster the better, before his well-chosen words slipped away. When he came around the corner into Shuichi's hallway, he stopped short, startled at what he saw in front of him. In the middle of the grandiose hallway a wooden box was propped up using a stick. Underneath the box, a carrot was lying on the floor, a string tied around it's middle.
"What the hell?" Yuki whispered, spinning around in place.
He looked up and down the hallway, wondering if the box was the only thing out of place. He had no doubt in his mind that Tohma and Caspian were responsible for his, but he had no idea what it was supposed to accomplish. The box wasn't even big enough to hold him. He sighed and started walking towards Shuichi's room, deciding that it was best to ignore the obvious trap in favor of winning back his lover.
He stepped past the box, but images of Caspian's attack kept flashing into his head. He groaned and looked over his shoulder at the box; it was too tempting. He reached in and grabbed the carrot, intending on following the string to either the crazed parrot or the devilish vizier. He tugged on the string a few times, and before he could follow the trail, it tugged back. He pulled harder, convinced that he beat the genius responsible for the box ploy in a simple tug-of-war. After five minutes of yanking, Yuki switched things up. After all, he didn't have all day to play pull-the-carrot ; he had a Prince to win back.
He gave final pull and then released the string, bounding after it as soon as it left his fingers. The string raced down the hallway and then slacked, and Yuki saw the carrot slide behind a large stone pillar. Yuki slowed, peering down the hallway to see who was holding the string. When nothing happened for a few beats, Yuki started edging forward, intent on finding his moronic attacker. He reached the pillar and paused, unsure of what to do. He could charge, or he could wait for them to do it. He was about to peek around the pillar when a lime green blur smacked him in the face.
"Meet your doom!" Tohma screeched, leaping out from his hidey hole and striking a victory pose.
Yuki flailed around, trying to untangle the boa from his neck and face. He stumbled around the hallway blindly, hoping that he didn't run into the featherless Tohma. At least, he told himself, he couldn't hear any parroty cackling. He wasn't really too concerned about a solo Tohma attack.
He finally succeeded in freeing himself from the boa's feathered clutches and threw it at the gloating Tohma. The latter had refrained from attacking while Yuki was blind, wanting to savor the kill.
"Well, well, well…" Tohma began, eager to unload his victory spiel.
"Just shut up." Yuki seethed, rolling up his fancy sleeves and advancing on Tohma, the murderous glint returning to his eyes.
"Um, wait, I'm calling the shots here…" Tohma stammered, wishing he'd brought more than his faulty magic to finish off Yuki. He'd practiced the spell while Caspian brainstormed, and he was pretty sure that it would work, but he needed Yuki to hold still.
"I don't think so. You've crossed the line, you and your damned parrot are finished." Yuki said, continuing to advance.
"Stay back!"
"Don't count on it."
"I'm armed, I'm warning you!" Tohma yelled, brandishing the carrot that he'd used to lure in Yuki.
"It's a vegetable, you fruit."
"It's pointy!" Tohma said as he danced in place, waving the carrot in Yuki's face.
Yuki sighed and snatched the carrot away from Tohma, finding himself again wondering why he was surrounded by idiots.
"Hey…be careful…that could put somebody's eye out…" Tohma warned, putting his hands up and backing away. If he got out of Yuki's reach, he could run for it and hopefully find some guards to protect him. Yuki stepped with him, raising the carrot as he went. "OWW!"
Yuki started to ferociously beat Tohma with the carrot, snarling with each hit. Tohma shielded his face with his hands, trying to run away. To prevent this, Yuki grabbed his high collar and held him down, all the while whacking at him with the now-disheveled carrot.
Tohma started to squeal after several minutes of beating, and started clawing at his captor to secure his release.
"Fight like a man!" Yuki yelled, feeling unhinged.
"You're staining my clothes!"
"What the hell is this?" a voice rang down the hallway, halting the Tohma beating.
"Oh great…" Tohma sighed.
"Shuichi?" Yuki asked, recognizing the voice and stance. He dropped Tohma, and the vizier crumpled in a heap on the slick floor.
"What's going on?" Shuichi asked, walking slowly forward, afraid of what he was going to find. He'd been contemplating what to do about Yuki when he'd heard the scuffle outside his door.
"Death by carrot." Yuki answered, attempting to amuse Shuichi. His face was pallid and his eyes were red and swollen. He was obviously still upset.
"What?" Shuichi asked, confused. He moved closer to Yuki and Tohma and then saw the slightly bloodied carrot in Yuki's hand. "Oh…"
Tohma stayed where he was on the floor, watching the exchange happening between Yuki and Shuichi cautiously. If he timed it just right, he thought he might have a chance to escape. Dying due to carroty impalement was not on his to-do list for the day.
Yuki opened his mouth to speak, but Shuichi raised a hand and silenced him.
"I still don't get it…" Shuichi told Yuki, gesturing from Tohma to the carrot. He avoided Yuki's eyes, not wanting to set off the waterworks again. He'd been crying non-stop since the street rat had left. Shuichi was convinced that Yuki wouldn't be coming back after the way he'd treated him. He couldn't believe that he'd thrown him out, or gotten so upset over Hiro. Sure, Hiro was his best friend, but Yuki was so much more than that to him.
"Tohma tried to kill me again." Yuki answered concisely, abandoning his hopes of fixing things here. He'd have to wait until Tohma was taken care of. He glanced down to check on Tohma, curious if he should grab a hold of him again. When he looked, however, the patch of floor previously occupied by the vizier was empty. "Dammit…"
"Nice one." Shuichi shot, smiling slightly. Yuki looked like his face was going to implode. "You're supposed to tie him up, something like that."
"Not the time…" Yuki muttered, looking up in time to see Tohma's coat whip around a corner.
"Good luck with that, then." Shuichi said, eyeing the carrot that Yuki was still holding onto. He took a deep breath and turned around, steeling himself. He refused to make a scene here, he couldn't.
"Shuichi, wait, I need –"
"I'M SORRY!" Shuichi screamed suddenly, throwing himself at Yuki. "I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry, please don't leave, I hate Hiro!"
"What?" Yuki asked, startled. He dropped the beating carrot and hugged Shuichi to him, more than slightly concerned.
"I was so stupid…" Shuichi started to say, but Yuki cut him off before he could finish.
"Just stop." Yuki said, silencing Shuichi. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I know you miss Hiro, and I know he was important to you…I just…"
Yuki paused, unsure of how to proceed. He's memorized his lines perfectly, but now he didn't think they fit. He'd planned on trying to win over an angry Shuichi, one intent on destroying his existence. He'd never expected an apologetic one.
"I'm sorry that I said you didn't care…I know you do." Shuichi said quietly, looking up at Yuki and hugging him tighter.
"Good." Yuki replied simply, deciding to save his mush diatribe for another time. He kissed Shuichi's head and returned the hug, feeling instantly lighter on the inside. He couldn't believe it'd been that easy. He was secretly glad for Shuichi's changeable moods.
"Now what are you gonna do?" Shuichi chirped, breaking away from Yuki and dancing around the hallway. He got tangled up in the string a few times, and eventually tripped on the carrot, face planting into the hard floor of the hall. "I'm alright…"
"You're a mess, you know that?" Yuki told Shuichi, bending down to help him up. He needed to get him untied before he started acting on all of the wonderful ideas that were playing tag through his brain.
"Yep!" Shuichi agreed, hopping up before Yuki had sufficient time to untie him. He bounced in place, thrilled to have Yuki back.
"Shuichi…"
"Yeah?" Shuichi asked innocently, completely oblivious to the look on Yuki's face. He started shrugging out of the rope, but Yuki's hands stopped him.
"Let's not do anything rash…" Yuki said suggestively, grabbing the ends of the rope and dragging Shuichi slowly towards his room.
"What's a rash, Yuki?" Shuichi questioned brightly before Yuki shut the door to the room with a soft click.
Yuki tied the rope to one of the bedposts, and watched Shuichi flop onto his monstrous bed. The younger man giggled and rolled around like a strung up goose, smiling like a maniac. Yuki sighed and stared at Shuichi, wondering how so much gone so wrong could be so adorably stupid.
"Caspian, get the band aids." Tohma said as he walked into his office. He was covered in carrot-shaped bruises, and Yuki had gouged his arm in one place. Not to mention the orange stains that now plagued his garments.
"He get you too?" Caspian inquired, popping his head out of one of his food bowls. When he noticed the orange stains on Tohma, he had to use all of his self-control not to laugh out loud.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I told you the carrot-in-the-box ploy wouldn't work." Caspian quipped, flying over to the medicine cupboard and digging around for a bandage. Tohma's arm injury was dripping blood onto the floor at a steady rate.
"I told you, I don't want to talk about it!" Tohma yelled at his parrot, his ego mortally wounded. He'd never gotten beaten up with a veggie before, and he never wanted it to happen again. "I did everything right…"
"Walk me through it."
"I put the box in the hall, I propped it up on a stick, I tied the string around the carrot, I-" Tohma answered before the bird's snorts of laughter interrupted him.
"You tied the string around the carrot?" Caspian asked incredulously, thinking to himself that only Tohma could foul up such an easy ploy. "You do know you're supposed to tie the string around the stick, right?"
"What?" Tohma asked weakly. "Seriously? I thought you were supposed to use the carrot to lure them to you…"
"No, you use the carrot to get them to the box and then you pull the stick out to trap them under the box." Caspian explained, using his patient teacher voice to pacify the teary-eyed Tohma. "You should sleep more."
"Damn it all…" Tohma muttered. He felt like such a fool for losing Yuki, not to mention his fatal mistake involving the tying of the string. If he'd only had the presence of mind to do it right; maybe they'd have the street rat in custody.
"We need to finish him off, Tohma, before he reports us to the Sultana." Caspian told Tohma as he dropped a bandage on his head. "Here."
"I highly doubt he'll go to the Sultana…" Tohma mused, slapping the band aid on. "I mean, he's seen me, so I assume that he assumes that Mika let me loose. He saw her arrest me."
"But he could think that you escaped."
"He doesn't give me that much credit."
"Good point, you don't deserve any…"
"Hey!" Tohma screeched, throwing a shoe at Caspian, who had alighted on his cage. The parrot dodged and started throwing some food in response. Tohma sighed and put his hands up, ending the fight. "Listen, we don't have time for this. We need to focus, we need to end him."
"We can't just keep rushing in like this, Tohma." Caspian interjected, flapping over to their plotting notes. "We need some more time to really think these through, we need to watch him and pick a good time to strike. We need to drug him or something, he's too strong…"
Tohma was quiet while Caspian rambled, lost in his own thoughts. The bird was right; they needed more time. Sure, they'd had plenty of time to draw out their plans, but carrying them out was an entirely different matter. He sighed and balled his hands into fists, resolving to finish this mess. He hated the look that Caspian was giving him, he hated feeling like a failure, and he absolutely could not stand the thought of that smug impersonator strutting around, still alive and with his lamp.
"You're right…we need to take things slow, but this needs to get done. If he decides to go to Mika, she'll have our heads. She still won't believe me about him having the lamp." Tohma finally said, joining Caspian in looking at the notes. "Plus, this way we'll lure him into a false sense of security, make him think he's safe, that sort of thing."
"Or he'll end up paranoid." Caspian inserted.
"Either way, it works for us."
"True story."
"Then we're agreed?"
"Sure thing cap-i-tan." Caspian said while saluting with a foot.
Tohma smiled and stroked his boa, looking very pleased. When he and Caspian took the time to do things right, they never went wrong.
Sorry that the chapter is shorter than usual, but I had to break it off here, you'll see. Well, I hope everyone's having a grand ol' time, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. I know I don't say it enough, so I'll say it now; thank you so much for all of the reviews. I really appreciate them, and I'm glad that you guys enjoy what I'm churning out over on this end. See you next time.
-Amaya
Also, sorry if the formatting is crazy, I had to copy and paste the new content into an old upload and then try to space it out right because site still won't let me upload my new chapter. . Grr.
