"Caspian?" Tohma called softly as he opened the door to the broom closet. "Are you in here, bird?"

Tohma's questions went unanswered. He stepped into the office gingerly and looked around; the place was trashed. The street rat hadn't been lying. The floor was coated in blood and feathers and all of his furniture was overturned. His papers were everywhere, and some mementos from Caspian's stint in charge were taking up almost the entire the office space.

"Caspian." Tohma said, not nearly so concerned about his feathered friend. He hated having a messy office. "Caspian Toulouse Eustace!"

Tohma's words were again met with silence. Tohma started to feel panicky; Caspian had never gone so long without talking, especially after the use of his second middle name. Tohma ventured forward into the office, picking his way through the rubble. Halfway to Caspian's cage, he tripped over an oval object and did a prompt face plant into the debris.

"Oww…" Tohma groaned, rolling over on the filthy floor and trying to figure out what his feet were still tangled up in. He sat up and peered through the gloom. "Oh no…"

His feet were wrapped up in the wreckage of a small golden cage. Caspian was lying on the inside, completely immobile.

"Po? Caspian?" Tohma questioned frantically. He jumped up and grabbed the cage, hoping against hope that the bird would open his eyes and say something derogative. He opened the door and scooped out Caspian. The bird remained limp in his hand and Tohma felt his eyes start to fill with tears. "Caspo?"

Tohma stood there, holding Caspian's still form, trying to convince himself that everything would be okay. He stroked Caspian's chest feathers and started to remember all of the good times he'd had with his green accomplice. He raised Caspian to his face and started crying harder, the realization that Caspian would never again insult him sinking in.

He buried his face into Caspian's soft feathers and started bawling.

"Oi, you're getting me wet!" Caspian screeched, sinking his beak into Tohma's nose and flying off to his partially-destroyed cage. "Man, I got you good…"

Tohma was stunned; he stared from his hands to Caspian and back again several times, his mouth hanging open in shock. He'd been convinced that he'd lost the feathered pain-in-the-ass forever, but there he was, cackling on his cage.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Caspian said, still laughing. "I can't believe you fell for it!"

"You…you…" Tohma stammered, trying to decide between anger and relief. "I…"

"Huh? What was that? Conure got your tongue?" Caspian quipped, not even trying to conceal his glee.

"Caspian." Tohma hissed, his eyes glinting dangerously. "I'm going to have to kill you now."

With his emotion decided on, Tohma charged Caspian. The bird did the same and flew straight for Tohma's face. Tohma tried to block, but he wasn't fast enough. Caspian started flapping harder, slapping Tohma repeatedly with his wings. Tohma took a misguided swing at Caspian and missed, giving the bird the perfect opportunity to claim a chunk of Tohma's thumb for himself.

The fight continued in this manner for several minutes, and eventually devolved into a slap fight between master and parrot. When their screaming subsided and neither could muster the energy for another blow, they resorted to glaring at each other and muttering comments under their breath.

A knock on the door stopped the muttering on both ends and Tohma rose to answer it. Before he could reach the door, it burst open and several armed guards poured in.

"We're here to…uh…" the lead guard stammered, unsure of what to do now. He was used to dealing with a congenial and well-groomed Tohma. The man standing in front of him looked like he exhibited neither trait. Not the mention the scruffy bird that was inching towards the vizier's foot with his beak open.

"What the hell do you people want?" Tohma asked, starting to feel pretty pissy. Ever since he'd found the damned lamp, his life had been consistently spiraling downward. "Well?"

"We're here for the parrot, sir." One of the guards said, raising his hand and stepping out from behind the leader.

"Oh really?" Caspian questioned from the floor, halting his impending attack on Tohma's foot. "You want some of this?"

"Caspian, be nice." Tohma said automatically, used to the necessity of corralling Caspian.

"Make me…" Caspian muttered back, considering the possibility of renewing his attack on Tohma's southern appendages.

Tohma glared down at Caspian and the bird returned the look. The guards stayed quiet for the time being, scared of what would happen if they disturbed the silent power struggle that was happening in front of them.

"Wow, this place looks terrible." One of the guards whispered to another after the stare down had been going on for almost five minutes. Tohma's eye was twitching and Caspian had ruffled himself up to full volume. The guards both laughed quietly and made a few more jokes about the state of Tohma's beloved office.

"What was that?" Tohma asked quietly, raising his head slowly and staring at the talkative guards.

"Just commenting on your…lovely office." The guard answered, completely unaware of the danger.

"Really now?" Tohma said, edging forward. Caspian followed suit, happy to redirect his attention to the intruding guards.

"Umm…" the guard responded, suddenly very aware of the fact that all of the other guards had positioned themselves behind him.

Tohma continued to advance, looking a little unhinged.

"We'll just come back later…" the lead guard said, kicking open the door and pulling the perpetrator out of the room.

"Caspian, why don't you show our guests out?" Tohma said with a smile, still looking insane.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Caspian answered, jumping up and flying after the retreating guards. Their screams echoed around the entrance hall as Tohma shut the door to the office and turned around to face the filth.

Tohma sighed and ran a hand through his frizzed hair. He tried to think of a solution, but nothing came to mind immediately. Instead, he stumbled across his workspace and tried to find his mop and broom. When he reached their usual space, however, all he found were their charred remains. Caspian's rampage had destroyed everything in the office.

"Damn it…" Tohma muttered, adverse to the idea of wandering the palace in search of a mop when he lived in the supposed broom closet. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to relieve some stress. "I hate cleaning…"

"What's up home biscuit?" Caspian called, sailing back into the office and alighting on his partially-destroyed cage.

"I'm trying to clean this place up after your bit of fun." Tohma said. He shook out his sleeves and mumbled a few random words, trying to get into the spirit of things.

"Here we go again…" Caspian murmured, climbing into his cage and shutting the door behind him. He was tired of office-based explosions.

"Ahh…HA!" Tohma said, clapping his hands and hopping forward. "Wait…"

The office remained soiled and Caspian had to exercise more self-control than he knew he had to keep from laughing at Tohma. Caspian wanted to stay on Tohma's good side momentarily, just in case he actually figured out how to use his magical powers.

"Come on…" Tohma said, feeling frustrated. He could see Caspian trying to hold back the torrent of insults that he wanted to unleash. Tohma hopped around some more, scrunched up his face, and muttered something about a pastrami sandwich. "ZANG!"

"Why don't you try sleeping?" Caspian asked. "I'm still convinced that's how you jinxed the broom closet in the first place."

"Caspian." Tohma warned, a distinct edge to his voice. Caspian clanged a few bells in response, but overall he remained quiet. "I'm missing something…"

Caspian fought his natural instinct to reply with 'brains'. Instead, he started preening, trying to distract himself from Tohma's idiocy.

Tohma thought for a minute or two, and then the lights finally turned on in his head. He snapped his fingers and dashed over to a charred corner where his boa was hidden underneath the ashes of his desk. He picked it up and put it on carefully, not wanting to dislodge any extra feathers; it barely had any to spare.

"That should do it…" Tohma said, closing his eyes and mumbling again. Caspian thought he heard something about milking goats, but he wasn't sure and didn't want to be. Tohma cleared his throat and shook out his sleeves. Before he could do anything else, there was loud 'pop' and several Caspian screams.

Tohma's eyes snapped open and when he saw the office, he started yelling too; everything was back to normal. He tried to back up and instead tripped over a throw rug, landing with a thud. He did some deep breathing to try and calm himself down, but he was still too freaked out about his apparent success.

"Scare yourself, oh master wizard?" Caspian asked from his cage, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Shut it." Tohma snapped, unwilling to let Caspian ruin his victory.

"You were dropped too much as a small child, weren't you?"

"Bird…"

"Good, Tohma, good! Yes, I'm a bird. And what are you?" Caspian said, coming out of his refurbished cage and dancing around on top of it.

Tohma glared at Caspian, very aware that his responses only fueled the fires of ridicule. Caspian eventually got bored with waiting on a reply and started to investigate his new toys, giving Tohma a chance to reflect on his impressive bit of magic.

"It was only a matter of time…" Tohma said, standing up. He brushed himself off and felt rather pleased. "I always knew I was a genius."

"Yeah, you're somethin' alright." Caspian shot from his cage, immediately abandoning his toy inspection.

"Caspian!"

"Tohma!"

Out in the hall, K could barely contain himself. He'd come down after Ryuichi and Shuichi had tried to play dress-up with him. He hoped that they had enough sense to let Yuki sleep; he didn't want to have to clean up the bloodshed. He had originally snuck down to see what Caspian was up to as he had had no idea that Tohma had escaped or been loosed upon the world. Sensing an opportunity to have some fun, he had waited for one of Tohma's misguided attempts to mask his genie interference. He had to put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing; Tohma was parading around the office, infatuated with his apparent success.

"What a piece of work…" K muttered. He was going to stick around and see what havoc he could wreak, but some loud bangs from elsewhere in the palace caught his attention. He had a nagging suspicion that the twins were responsible. He sighed, and walked up the stairs, a little afraid of what he would find.

"Sir, please stop that." Caspian said, starting to get annoyed with Tohma. He could only handle so many victory dances.

"At least I can deliver." Tohma replied, still doing a little jig. He had no idea how he'd cleaned up the office, and probably couldn't do it again if his life depended on it, but he still felt that he was entitled to his glee. He cleared his throat and ceased his celebratory dancing.

"Whatever…" Caspian muttered, fluffing up and shifting uncomfortably. He wasn't used to handling failure.

"Watch the attitude." Tohma ordered, sitting down behind his desk and steepling his hands underneath his chin. "This whole thing was your idea."

"You're the one that left a parrot in charge." Caspian replied, feeling extraordinarily defensive.

"Speaking of that, how the hell did you screw it up? You said you had everything under control." Tohma asked Caspian, looking pensive and ignoring Caspian's attempted insult. He'd been wondering about Caspian's magnificent mess-up ever since the false prince had interrupted his moment of glory.

"His assistant saved him." Caspian responded with more than a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"How?" Tohma asked, his interest piqued. Caspian had made his fair share of disasters in the past, but nothing like what had happened to his office. He seriously doubted that the combined efforts of a human and a conure had caused the destruction.

"I'm not sure…" Caspian replied. He tried to recall the fight, but everything was hazy. "He snapped his fingers a lot, I'm not sure how he did it."

Tohma stayed silent for a while, thinking over Caspian's response. In the meantime, Caspian scratched himself and moseyed over to the desk, trying to find something important to roll in.

"I wonder…" Tohma mused, jumping up and running over to his bookshelves. Caspian let out a piggish squeal, having located the thick, red paste that Tohma used to seal letters and documents. He hopped in feet first and started rolling around, extremely pleased with himself. Tohma returned shortly with a very old book from his genie research. Caspian submerged himself up to his beak in the ink and stayed quiet, hoping that Tohma wouldn't ruin his fun.

Tohma flipped through the volume, hoping to prove himself right. If he was, it made things a lot easier. A few furious flips later and he had his answer.

"Eureka!" Tohma shouted, standing up quickly and nearly flipping his desk. The ink jar and the concealed Caspian went flying through the air, along with a few other desktop items. "That retainer, K, he's the genie!"

"What?" Caspian asked from the floor. He tried to crawl out of the jar, but he had gotten wedged in during flight.

"This is the book that describes the genie, it has accounts of his magic, tells about his history, etcetera. It says here that he snaps his fingers to call upon his powers, just like you said!" Tohma replied, spinning around in his chair and cackling.

"I thought I heard him whisper something about a wish." Caspian said, grabbing the carpet with his beak and pulling himself out of the jar with a quiet popping noise. He ran across the floor and climbed up Tohma's desk, eager to wreak some havoc with his ink-covered self.

"That's why he did all the talking when they met Mika, he didn't want that rat to undo his magic. He probably wished to be a Prince!" Tohma exclaimed, all of the pieces falling into place.

"And how does this help us?" Caspian queried, trying to sneak into Tohma's desk drawers.

"How does it not? Now we know not to try anything when the genie's around." Tohma said, too happy to care about what Caspian was up to.

"He wasn't around the first time, he wandered in." Caspian replied quietly, attempting to rain on Tohma's parade. When Tohma ignored him, he raised his voice and started to get serious. "So what do we do now? What happened at the conference?"

"Well…" Tohma started, trying to find a way to explain away the disastrous meeting without embarrassing himself. When an explanation failed to pop into his head, he settled on a summary. "Mika knows that we tried to kill him."

"Obviously." Caspian spat, thinking back to the guards that he'd chased out. He finally succeeded in opening a drawer discreetly and jumped in with a squawk of joy.

"She had me arrested to keep face in front of the rat, but then she released me." Tohma said, listing out the events as he remembered them.

"Thanks for the update captain obvious."

"I tried to tell her that the Prince, Eiri not Shuichi, had the lamp, but she wouldn't believe me." Tohma continued, content to ignore the parrot. "Anyway, she charged me with finding the lamp, or it's my head."

"That doesn't sound too hard. At least we know where it is now." Caspian replied, hopping out of the drawer and ruffling up. It was going to take a whole slew of baths to get all the ink off. He'd lost quite a bit of it rolling around in Tohma's official stationary, but he was still pretty coated.

"Yeah, except he has the genie and Mika doesn't want us anywhere near him. Not to mention she apparently hasn't pardoned you, given the guards that broke down my door."

"She'll cool off, especially when we hand her the lamp." Caspian said, flailing around on the carpet in an attempt to remove some more of the ink.

"What the hell are you doing down there?" Tohma asked, finally feeling concerned about the bird's actions. "Why are you all red?"

"No reason."

"I should have bought a gerbil…" Tohma muttered.

"We need to kill the street rat, and keep the genie distracted while we do it." Caspian interjected from the floor. "Stay focused Tohma."

"We already tried that!"

"But this time we don't need to worry about incriminating ourselves!" Caspian responded testily, wishing Tohma could keep up with his superior thought process. "Now that we know about his lampy little secret, we just kill him and give her the lamp before she has time to get upset."

"That could work…" Tohma said to himself, stroking his chin and giving the wheels in his platinum head time to turn. He pulled open one of his drawers to get some scratch paper and instead found Caspian's ink mess. "Dammit bird, how many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my desk!"

"Apparently a few more."

"That's it, I'm trading you in for a hamster."

"Oooh! I want a hamster wheel for my birthday!" Caspian said loudly, flying over to his cage and practically bursting with excitement.

"No."

"But..."

"No." Tohma said, raising his voice and slamming his hands down on his desk. "Now who needs to focus?"

Caspian immediately stopped twittering and twitching about the wheel and instead walked over to his bathtub, deciding that it was adequate punishment for the blond upstart to be forced to plan intricate murders without his invaluable assistance. He jumped in and started preening, determined to be green again.

"Fine, I'll just have all the fun. Hmm, fire pits or impalement? Well, it's all up to me…I get to plan it all…" Tohma called across the room, trying to draw Caspian back out of the cage with talk of impaling.

"HEY!" Caspian screeched, fluttering out of the bathtub at breakneck speed. He did a crash landing onto Tohma's desk, soaking all of Tohma's possessions in the process. "I'm in."

"Alright, how should we do this?" Tohma posed, struggling to find some untainted papers in his desk. He pulled out a piece that only had a few red footprints and started sketching out some ideas on his lap, as his desk was covered in the bird's bath water.

"I say we set some clever traps, ambushes, that sort of thing." Caspian responded, ruffling up and splattering Tohma with water.

"That seems a bit…outside of our capabilities." Tohma answered, thinking of the disastrous outcomes that could occur and trying to dry himself and his desk off.

"Nothing major, but at least we'll be able to catch him off guard. He doesn't always have that genie with him."

"True…we could nab him around Shuichi's room, I highly doubt the genie follows him there." Tohma said, scribbling furiously to make sure he got everything written down in case he and Caspian forgot their master plan.

"Good idea." Caspian replied. "Let's get everything we need ready and start on him tomorrow morning."

"Alright…" Tohma said, stroking his feather boa and looking capable of almost anything. He leaned back in his desk chair and smiled at Caspian, hoping for a chance to redeem himself in everyone's eyes. He was getting tired of playing the fool that he wasn't.

Well…this was supposed to the first half a new chapter…so much for that plan. I was unwilling to curtail my muse for Caspian and Tohma's reunion, so I didn't. I'm kind of starting to scare myself though…I already have the next chapter written, and I have almost every chapter from here to the end planned out entirely. I feel pretty darn organized…as long as Caspian doesn't attack the whiteboards again, I think I'm set. I caught him taking a wild bath right next to them a few months ago…let's just say we didn't talk for a few days after that fight…

As always, thanks for all the reviews, they really brighten my day. I appreciate them lots.

-Amaya