MAKE YOUR MUSE AS A COCKTAIL.

he blinks, noting the firmness of johnny's grasp, but also the quickened enthuse with which he shook julius' hand. at that, his gaze narrowed, a soft smile crossing his expression. especially at how casually johnny spoke with him. "actually, it's customary to only give your last name when speaking to others. part of G.U.N's protocols. wouldn't want you getting in trouble with the higher ups if they overhear you." or having another soldier ratting johnny out.

then, though, johnny calls him roberto and julius can't hide the skewed expression of light surprise and confusion at that- wait, roberto? not to mention, johnny was speaking far too informally, it'd get him in plenty of trouble. julius chews at the tip of his tongue as he considers how in the heck he's supposed to respond to all of that.

...the way that johnny's speaking, talking, going on, it's so bizarre it's oddly refreshing, in it's own right.

"i'm.... sorry about your hair. it's required and mandatory, a lot of things are around this place. but uhm, if it's any relief, i think the style you have now looks fine enough." he trails, thinking about the things johnny asked about how julius kept any sanity here.

"....well," he, didn't know how to answer that, "i just do as i'm told. and i try to keep my head down. i'd be perfectly fine as a rank-and-file soldier, boots on the ground," so then why was he so desperate in trying to gain more ranking here? his father. julius keeps any bitterness deep within, not letting that flint of possible fire any air to grow, "but... it would be nice to have a bit more, ah, leeway?"

"i'm sure you'll adjust in time, bravo." he clears his throat, and steps back, giving a small smile, "did you want to walk around the base? i can give you a mini tour of sorts. i know it took me a few weeks to really remember where every hallway led to, or where to rush to when an alarm went off."

Sheesh. Even just one year in this place sounded so overwhelming at the moment, it was hard to believe anyone would want to stick around for that long. But Johnny supposed that he'd already signed himself up for this, so there was no backing out now...

Johnny looked down at the other man's hand for a brief moment, then took it in his own to give him a shake—Robotnik would notice that he had a rather firm grip, and shook with a hasty enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm Johnny! Johnny Bravo!" Alas, he wasn't quite as familiar with the last-name basis around here yet, so he didn't give much thought to it. Then, he grew serious for a moment. "Alright, Roberto, so you've been here for a lil' while, right? So, lemme ask ya... How do ya do it? I've barely been here a day, n' I feel like I'm already losin' my marbles, man. They took my hair from me! My precious 'do! That's like... like a cat without claws! An angel without wings! How's a guy supposed to stay sane 'round here?"

" you should see the other guy. "

a little scoff of a chuckle; as though julius were simultaneously amused by that statement, impressed, and found joy in the thought. it shows, in how he gives a very brief, rare smile. an eyebrow rose in some contemplation as julius regarded roman from behind obscuring sunglasses,

"have you brought me a present," he wonders, "should i expect to see a corpse with a bow on it being dragged behind you by some of your little henchmen?" he holds a hand out for roman to shake,

"pleasure to see you as always, roman."

that frown doesn't leave him, head lilting to the side just a fraction. "and you're bald, how quaint." his arms cross, an eyebrow jutting upwards as his other demands to know who he is. a fit of laughter threatens him, but julius quells that urge. for now. "i'm you. well, an alternate version of you. we've led different lives, no doubt." am i going to go bald? he certainly HOPED not. & there was no chance in hell julius would ever grow such a horrendous looking moustache.

@drrobctnik (julius) sent : he stares, then frowns, a low scoff leaves him, "why on earth do you have that god forsaken moustache." what a lovely way to greet your alternate self, julius. insults.

"you mean my utterly handsome moustache?" ivo replies as he twists the ends of said moustache to further emphasize the word, then tilts his head as he observes the man before him. "who the hell are you?"

his gaze flicks down to sonic's hand that brushed his arm, gaze narrowed behind the sunglasses. fun. he doubts that. a good time, julius doubts even more. eyes shift back to sonic's expression, and julius pauses. he takes those sunglasses off, not looking away from sonic's expression. he expects a recoil, or a scream of surprise. there's nothing like that, sonic's just, looking at him. "and what do you plan to do about these, hm."

"it'll be fun." sonic reaches out, and lays a hand on julius' arm. "i promise. you'll have a good time." he can't see julius' eyes, but he figures that julius' looking at him. there's hesitation there, but then julius reaches up and removes those sunglasses. sonic stills, staring at red irises and a darker black than the night sky overhead. oh. well, all right then.

weakling. that word ALONE is enough to cause his irises to explode in a brilliant glow of red, visible even beyond those obscuring sunglasses like headlights on a dark lonely forest road. weakling weakling weakling WEAK-

breathes through it. can feel his composure threatening to fray and snap, but he stubbornly snags those fraying strands and tightens them together. good he keeps that composure because if he hadn't, perhaps the spindash towards him may have taken him out⸻

as it is, julius deftly leaps backwards, but instead of landing on the ground, he's flying. zipped up above the ground that the echidna goes dashing below him. only for julius to aim where the echidna is going to be, and firing a chaos sphere from his right palm, which will no doubt explode upon impact. either injuring the echidna or causing him to veer off course.

regardless, julius is swiftly teleporting next to the echidna and following up with a kick towards him, intent on sending knuckles into the ground.

@drrobctnik xxx

It was not his idea nor desire to tolerate one with a known tendency for betrayal, but the unfortunate aligning of temporary goals had led to an alliance just as temporary. Such is a concept he has a much harder time adhering to than his companions. But they aren't exactly around at the moment to share in his conflicted shift as a guard at the home of bases. Although, considering the agenda of tonight's activities thus far, this was more of a boon than actually unfortunate. Scraps weren't 'kosher' to some.

He's never considered the man a warrior. That 'work smarter not harder' attitude he exudes at times is one the echidna sees as an admittance to weakness if anything. After all, why not work harder if it makes one stronger in the end? Then the next task would be less hard, and less hard, and lesser still. Until every obstacle that dug in became little more than the weight of a dandelion seed stuck between the quills. It's why he's in such a punchy mood when this belief is belittled. He might not have the sharpest grasp on earth customs or most snide remarks made on his behalf, but he understands when he's being dishonored enough to retaliate. They'll explain to the fox and the hedgehog that they're having a training session. Any dispute could be seen as so - especially the minor ones.

The quickest exchange of blows merely leads to the shock of chaos energy meeting as magnetic fields opposite of each other does, knocking him back a ways with just the skin of his needled fists to slow the blow back, though the floorboards are irreparably shredded in the process. A growl garnered by stumbling back up onto twos leads the echidna's self serving power-bumps as his joined fists spark up bolts of molten amaranth around the exterior of his gloves.

I want to see what you can do.

How those words lived as long as the echidna tribe's long-carried legacy in his mind. His own father had spoken them to him not long in the days before he would fall in battle. The tribe was all too aware of the last born to their people and how a terrible power had been bestowed upon him before he'd even emerged from his egg as prophecy would demand he would bring the ultimate power back to the home of the echidnas. Even as a child he would make a formidable opponent to any adult, and yet...

The man's remark is met with a scoff, quilled dreads tossed one way and then another as the same shade of the chaos crawling through his knuckles slowly staining each pixel of a narrowed gaze. "You think you can say that to me? Weakling!"

He hadn't wanted to harm his father. Had refused. Held back. Maybe if he hadn't, then his 'time' to honor the tribe would have been during the battle in which they all perished. Maybe then, he wouldn't be the last of the echidnas- whether they survived the assault, or he did not.

"Show. Me. Your-" Each word excites more shocks of rosy electricity before the final exclamation of "POWER!" has him bolting a few clunky steps forward before he's seamlessly snapping into a ball of nuclear charged quills and bowling towards the pins of the other's legs.

"sorry, i didn't realize this seat was taken," julius gave a softer smile, shuffling and moving his bookbag off the seat he'd set it on. his gaze lingered on the man in front of him, enjoying the way that his hair accentuated his face, and those eyes were beautiful too. he wondered if he had ever seen him around the eden club. julius cleared his throat, "are you, here with anyone, or are you waiting on someone?" realizing how bold that sounded, julius quickly clarified, "n-not that i'm! trying to, flirt or anything. i just thought if you had a moment, maybe we could try getting a coffee?"

starter. for roman (@blckfckinmsk) BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT JULIUS & ROMAN START DATING (before becoming bitter exes).

his jaw clenched, however subtly. that irritation grew at how, placid stone was being. resigned. fight for another version of himself, supposedly, but not him, hm? tch. whatever. he focused, feeling that sensation and sensing that chaos energy from stone's world. very briefly, like a flickering tether that julius grabbed onto. bolstered by stone remembering his world & julius making physical contact.

his eyes glowed, shimmering before stone would blink, and be back in his own world.

julius' hand lingered there, poised, not moving as though still having his hand on stone's chest. then his arm slacked, and he exhaled deeply while looking skyward. that same gloved hand moved, to rub at his eyes underneath his sunglasses, before he turned and tried to resume what he was doing.

stone felt... angry? at being so easily dismissed, which was a bit strange considering he was used to it from his doctor and never had it bothered him until now. why did it bother him so much? more importantly, how could this man send him back?

he looks down at the hand splayed on his chest, then looks back up into the lenses of the man's sunglasses, bending a bit backwards when once again they were in close proximity.

knowing he'd get nowhere he ultimately resigns himself with a sigh, indeed closing his eyes and focusing on the earth he was from. oh well. just because it didn't work this time doesn't mean the next time wouldn't work.

after all, he'd waited almost half a decade to get here... what's another year or more, really?

they hate me for finding romance in the violent & violence in the romantic. also for the killing

shouting while punching shadow noises, "you should listen to him maria! he makes very valid points!"

"both of you stop it! we're family. "