📜 Heehee

"these are...." his face scrunches just a touch, as though julius were discomforted by saying the word. how childish. " 'badniks', did you call them?" he stares at the little white droid that's floating, nudging at his hand curiously. julius and ivo were technically the same person albeit different lives & circumstances. so, to the little bad-drone, julius supposed he wasn't considered a threat or a target. he gives it a small pat on the bit he supposes is the top of it's 'head', the motion awkward. hoping that'll sate the thing enough to have it leave him be.

@robotn1k julius is visiting ivo!

“   you had me worried .   ”

"for a moment there, i couldn't find you. you had me worried."

julius glanced up, a smile lighting up his expression at the sight of james stone leaned against the doorframe into the g.u.n break room. james returned that smile, easily & readily. he pushed off the frame and walked into the room itself, gently setting down a file onto the table and sliding it over so that way julius would catch it.

"your field test results, revised after our studies." james sounded, proud, and julius could feel his heart pounding in anticipation yet fear. even with james' help, what if he'd failed? what if⸻

"julius," his attentions were brought back up to james yet again. met with that affectionate and yet ever-confident smile, "let's have some coffee in your quarters. while we go over the results."

his eyes brightened, a sort of goofy giddy smile crossing julius' expression as he hopped up out of his seat, "i'll grab the coffees then," james knew that julius preferred doing this. it was why he had mentioned it: a way to take julius' mind off the anxieties and fears that had hung over him like a darkened cloud.

his gaze lingered where julius had been seated, now following julius' pepped up step over to the nearby coffee machine in the break room. a small laugh threatened james, but he stifled it, "i'll meet you there." & trusting julius to know he meant his quarters, james turned and left the break room, that file tucked under his arm.

i love taking things too far. best distance to take anything to be honest

ian, really⸻? julius had to fight not make a face of disgust, kept his expression neutral, before smiling and giving a slight nod toward them all. he hated this already. how did any of them find this fun? the crowds were far too loud for julius' ears, that scent of oily greasy foods overwhelmed him.

"sonic do you mind asking him what brings him to station square?" amy's staring up at him, and julius can't tell if she's caught wise already or she's genuinely curious. he keeps that smile plastered on.

"ah, right! sure thing," sonic's turning towards him then, paused to consider before he spoke, "Ok, allora fai finta che ti stia chiedendo perché sei qui."

julius glanced at sonic, impressed. that was near perfect italian. "È un'assurdità, ve ne rendete conto?"

sonic's smiling, but his next words sound a tad sharper, "Dai, non è poi così male."

sonic's looking back toward the trio, smiling, "he says he's here to take in the sights, and try out some new food."

"heeeey, sonic!!" amy's voice sing-songed the second that she saw sonic's quills and saw him shuffling past a group of people walk-dancing across the street to some of the more jivy music playing over the loudspeakers strewn along the sidewalks. she paused then, noticing that sonic was leading someone closer to them. she blinked, hand lowering a touch as her fingers curled, "tails, did sonic mention anything about bringing someone?"

"it's news to me too, just indulge him amy. sonic likes to bring new people for us to meet."

"that's a big hat," knuckles sounded amused by it, not really caring either way who sonic did or didn't bring. wasn't any of his business anyway.

"hey guys, sorry it took a bit t'get here! had to go get my friend." sonic's letting go of his hand, and motions towards him, "this's ian, he's not from around here and can't speak english too much. so sorry if he's quiet."

'ian' gave a short, very brief smile, nodding toward the trio.

the silence was strangling. felt like it had a vice grip on his throat, threatening to close up his windpipe. great job being quiet, julius, you stupid piece of shit⸻ say something. SAY SOMETHING, FUCKING TALK⸻

"......i'm," his fingers shift, and he moves to rub a hand along the side of his own neck, not looking at stone as he says this, "i'm sorry you never got to tell ivo," that felt strange to say, "the things you wanted to." he felt jealousy nip in his chest and knew that was irrational and stupid. he barely knew stone after all. & clearly they were both lonely from, everything either of them had gone through. but julius wanted to throw caution to the wind and let himself feel jealous, want stone, want, want⸻ he always wanted but never knew how or if he should sate that wanting. if he had the right to.

what had stone called it? marinating? just marinating, coasting through life, he supposed. doing what he felt he had to. a death without dying.

he exhaled, not sure he had it in him to explain more. there was so much more he felt he wanted to say, it was conflicting. he was scared that if he didn't now, the opportunity might never present itself again. he wondered if that itself was irrational, or maybe stupid, or naive. too emotional, too sensitive. he also couldn't stand the silence. wanted to speak with stone, but didn't know how. was he afraid of judgment? rejection? stone recoiling?

was he scared more, maybe, of stone stepping forward to meet him, and accepting it? what would that mean? to be seen, accepted, wanted not in spite of his ugliness or his horrors or his darkness but because of it.

"...i want," he swallowed, inhaled shortly, exhaled, and finally looked at stone again, "i want to tell you. i do. i just... i don't know how. no one's, ever bothered to ask, before. to want to know," he isn't sure how to express that, so he, he just lays a palm against his own chest. as if to silently say 'to know me', all of him.

stone knew by the silence that seemingly yet again he'd said the wrong thing, and a small part of him was starting to grow irritated at that fact. he tries to do his best to listen and be reassuring but it's perceived as anything but, and he practically has to stop himself from letting out a frustrated sigh at the entire scenario.

he knew very well when to pick and choose his battles, and right now his annoyance was not needed nor welcomed.

so instead of speaking and potentially further souring things between them he just stands there, arms resting loosely over his chest as he watches julius stand up. there really wasn't much in the way of anything that he could say to the man, it seemed.

he sensed it behind him, head lilting and shifting up a fraction as that sensation of another world's chaos energy washed over his back. tingled at his skin, thrummed along his own chaos energy like a disorganized harmony losing it's foot and placement. he inhaled, tasting that sensation of chaos energy that he hadn't felt nearby in years⸻

he turned, to face him. knowing without needing look, who it was. stone. & yet, different: older, clearly, a different emotion or perhaps lack thereof clouded his once bright eyes. julius could tell at a glance that this stone had been through quite the life.

& then stone spoke, or began to, "you're not my...." catches himself, redirects, "you are not the man i had hoped to find here."

no contractions. interesting. to denote distance? or were it a sign of silent strength and formality on stone's end? were it anyone else that had said such a thing, the words would have ghosted through julius. he would've barely bat an eye. but, hear those words, coming from that face? with his voice (even if the cadence and grit were different, sharper)? these words SPEARED HIM, felt like his heart was being torn into. at most, julius' lip twitched along the corners. his gaze narrowed behind obscuring sunglasses. but he didn't look away from stone.

he stepped forward. & then he walked forward with purpose and almost hurried nature to his steps. not a word, before he's grabbing stone by the arm and pulling him forward, leaning down and hugging him. his gloved hands are shaking somewhat as his palms press into and his fingers dig into the back of stone's jacket. julius' eyes closed behind those sunglasses, head shifting and lilting inward, towards stone's.

closed starter with @drrobctnik.

how long had it been since he last saw the doctor? he had lost count as the weeks slowly turned to months, and months to years. the last he had seen of the man was the transmission he sent out before choosing to save the earth from its demise.

why had he done that? because of him?

had the doctor just taken him with him to the ark the earth wouldn't have mattered! instead he chose to be a savior at the end of it, and though the transmission was meant to bring closure it did anything but for the sycofriend.

if anything it drove stone mad, and the man soon was toiling away in one of robotnik's hidden lairs. grief stricken and feeling a whirlwind of emotion he works on failed experiments from the man for longer than he could remember. then he got to thinking about the multiverse, and how if it were true then the doctor was still alive. there was a timeline where he lived, and stone was still with him. the thought floored him, and if he could find said timeline he could easily eliminate that stone and take his place, and have the doctor back right where he belonged.

years he spent researching, years he spent studying those stupid rings and seeing if they were capable of multiversal travel. in the end he was right, and as a portal opened up he could see robotnik on the other side. not wasting a moment he quickly steps through, but it was only when the man looked utterly baffled at what just happened that he knew something wasn't right.

he did not look like the doctor, save for them having the same face, no. something was definitely wrong. the realization however happened slowly, as by the time it had struck the portal had closed and the ring outright disappeared. then he focuses his attention back on the man, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before finally speaking.

"you are not my..." he pauses again, feeling a lump form in his throat before he swallows it down and continues. "you are not the man I had hoped to find here."

that eyebrow arches upward yet again, and julius silently mouths the words 'world domination', and at the thought of 'enslaving humanity' his nose scrunches up. he frowns. to serve julius' will? tch. "that sounds boring. i can do all of that easily, and without your help." julius had enough power from that chaos energy inside of himself to level a continent if he so chose. it'd probably take him less than a day, if he really focused at it.

ah, so that had obviously been the right thing to say. he had the man's attention, even if it were only further dependent on how he replied and the little ideas given. due to that stone wastes no time, instantly thinking of all the things he and the doctor had dreamed of doing together... before that damn hedgehog.

"world domination, for one. enslaving humanity to serve your will for another," stone starts as his eyes light up, as if the topic he was currently speaking on was something utterly fascinating to the man, "toppling governments, too. any number of things, really. nothing is too small or out of reach, or so I'd like to think."

at the question, a laugh bubbles out of him, the sound equal parts disbelief that stone is genuinely asking, and maybe some shock that someone wants to hear. mostly, a sort of bitterness, at everything and everyone else⸻

"....h," voice catches, stuttered breaths, gasped exhale. feeling that squeezing on his shoulder, julius grips at stone's hand so tightly. & yet it's conscious enough at least to ensure he isn't hurting stone while doing so. if julius weren't careful he was more than capable of shattering stone's hand without much thought. "horrible thoughts, or at least i've been told they're horrible. directly, indirectly."

his fingers twitch but still upon feeling stone's skin on the top of his hand. his gaze is darting along the ground as he tries to piece together what it is he wants to say, how to say it. whether or not it'll make sense. whether or not he means it. whether he should. can he?

finally, julius glances upward, meeting stone's face. he pauses, gaze locked with stone's. though that self-conscious, anxiety spiked pit of himself wanted to look away, afraid, he didn't. wouldn't. h-he had to, face this, even if it meant being vulnerable. only with stone,

"i wanted, to give you everything. i thought you deserved a throne. if you'd wanted to kill everyone, then i'd help you with that. not because i get any real joy out of it ⸻ well, maybe a little ⸻ but it'd mostly be by proxy of you. knowing that's what you wanted. ....so long as you're, fulfilled, then i'd be content just to be there."

he trails off, gaze dropping again.

there's more, of course there is. that barely scratches the surface, and julius isn't even certain that he's explained that properly. he's never trusted his own words. he could barely make sense of his own emotions mentally, how was he supposed to vocalize his wants and desires in a way that anyone else would understand, or listen to, let alone ever accept or view as 'healthy' or 'good'?

whatever brief smile stone had on his face was wiped away instantly when he heard what julius said, which caused stone's blood to run cold. 'I can't lose you', words that paralleled the ones he had said to ivo in desperate attempt to get him to stop what he and his grandfather had planned. he clears his throat at that as he buries the memory, planning to revisit it at another point in time.

at least he seemed to have an idea on what happened to this robotnik's stone...

he listens to him, his grip on julius' shoulder never faltering. if anything, he gives it a gentle squeeze, a silent affirmation that stone would not judge him for anything he was saying or would say.

"what thoughts do you have?" he asks, voice soft as he waits for julius to answer.

he thought that johnny looked far better than just 'fine enough' now, but julius didn't think saying that would be best at the moment. maybe another time. though at what johnny says about pompadours, julius' eyebrows lift in slight surprise, "really? er, sorry. i don't actually know what a pompadour is, hair style, wise," he wasn't exactly into the latest hairdos, never had been. mostly into fashion, but he guessed if he tried he could learn. nothing a quick read couldn't remedy.

"but i'll take your word for it."

then johnny's mentioning that he can show him around, nothing better to do. at being told he seemed like he made better company, julius' feels a blush warm at his face. at being told to lead the way - johnny was calling him by another name again. that confused him.

"i'll do that...." he motions for johnny to follow, and starts walking down the hall. speaks to johnny as they go, "i'm wondering, er, why do you keep calling me by different 'r' names? is robotnik difficult for you to pronounce?"

Awww, man. Of course this place expects him to be all formal-like about everything, too. Johnny was far from the formal type—he could hardly pull it together even if he tried. He felt like a fish out of water around here.

He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "Ah, right... Just Bravo, then. Heh... But I'm tellin' you, man—if you saw my hair then, you'd probably think I look a whole lot better than just fine enough. I had a big ol' pompadour that could make any lady swoon in two seconds flat!"

Okay, yeah, that was a major exaggeration, but Robotnik didn't need to know that. Nonetheless, the mention of receiving a tour of the base piqued his interest, at least a little. After all, if he's going to be staying here for a while, he might as well get familiar with it, he reckons.

"Sure, yeah! I ain't got nothin' better to do right now, anyway—n' you seem like you make better company than all them big boss guys who've been screamin' in my face all day, heh. Lead the way, Robertson!"

each time julius thought he had found his footing, his bearings, sonic would go and pull the rug out from beneath him with such ease. he stared, stunned again in such a short span, at being asked if his eyes hurt him. unable to look at him much longer, julius' gaze lists over to the pond. his eyes narrow.

".....i, suppose, in a manner," the recoiled looks, shouts of disgust and fear, his own inability to look into a mirror for terribly long. "yes. yes, they do hurt. that is why i hide them. that is also why i know for a fact that this festival idea of yours is foolish at best. a dream at most." he can feel sonic staring, and finally does look back over at him. there's no anger, there isn't even disappointment.

sonic is still looking at him with that determination in his eyes. like he just believes.

what is that like, julius wonders.

to believe.

"....." he exhales, "an hour. that's the most i'll spend at this," sonic's all grins now, and julius points at him, "but if i see anything that so much as makes me feel i need to run or raise a fist, i am leaving. and if you stop me i will throw you through the nearest building."

right then. at that, sonic smiles. "full eye contact lenses. people use them for cosplaying all the time." he sees an eyebrow of julius' lift in silent confusion.

"do i even want to know what cosplay stands for."

"costume play."

"ah, of course, how silly of me."

"....does it hurt?" sonic wonders. julius blinks.

"does what hurt, i don't know what 'it' refers to."

"your eyes. do they hurt you, is that why you hide them?"