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The moment Stone had opened his eyes he realized today was going to be agonizing, the dull ache in the back of his throat that intensified whenever he swallowed was enough evidence that it would eventually escalate to a tough cold.
He hated being sick, he didn't know why but whenever he got sick he'd get a lot more…sensitive, he'd spend the entire time either crying or doing nothing at all, any slight inconvenience would cause him to burst into tears.
He couldn't take a day off, he had already taken one earlier this month, his mind raced just thinking of the possibility of the doctor firing him for being sick on the job, he had to suck it up.
He turned off his alarm and got up, immediately noticing the stabbing pain behind his eyes.
He made himself tea instead of coffee hoping it would suppress the cold’s symptoms. His movement was more sluggish and slow, he glanced at his watch, he was going to be late, it beat Robotnik firing him or berating him for being sick.
________
“Stone, what time is it?” the Doctor asked from his chair, not facing the agent that had just came in.
“It's 8:40, sir”
“And how late are you?”
“...ten minutes, sir” Stone hopes that his superior doesn't notice the quiver in his voice.
“And did you bring my drink?” Robotnik snapped his fingers signaling for his subordinate to bring it to him.
Stone makes his way to his chair and hands the doctor his latte, as usual it is decorated with foam art.
Robotnik makes a face at the art, his assistant held his breath, did he hate it? Stone worked hard on it.
“It's a…bear cub.” Robotnik hums.
“Yes, yes it is.” Stone confirms, he clenched his fists so hard he was sure it was drawing blood from his fingernails, bears were Stone’s favorite animal, always have been, and today he thought it would be comforting to doodle them into his boss’s coffee.
He should've thought harder.
“An odd choice.” Robotnik shrugged and took a sip from his latte. “Adequate, you're dismissed.”
Stone let out a sigh of relief and went to sit at his desk a few feet away from Robotnik’s, the tea didn't help as much as he thought it would, his migraine was getting worse and the pain in his throat became sharper.
He sighed and tried focusing on his work, which was deemed impossible due to how fuzzy his mind felt. He didn't want to work…and he didn't want to go back home either.
Home was lonely and cold, work was difficult and tiresome, he looked over at his boss who was engrossed in his work, it brought tears to his eyes to think of how disappointed his doctor would be at his weakness.
He quickly wiped away his tears and tried again to focus on the screen in front of him, the light of it appeared too bright today it made the headache behind his eyes worse, the entire room felt ten degrees hotter though it was spring.
Stone loosened his tie and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. A few minutes pass and Stone hasn't gotten anything done, now he was just upset at how useless he was.
He stared at his phone for a moment before grabbing it, maybe he could find something to cheer him up, the fuzziness in his mind became more prominent and called for some comfort.
He paused for a moment to think of what he wanted to look for before typing:
Baby bears
He couldn't help the childish giggles that escaped his lips, they were just too cute and it made the fuzziness in his mind more pleasant, for a moment he forgot all about his illness.
Until Robotnik spoke up “Baby bears? seriously?” Stone flinched, he snapped his head to his boss who had a tab open on his screen with Stone’s screen on full display, full of “baby bears”.
“How-How did you-”, Robotnik spins his chair around to face his assistant, “It tells me when you are on your phone while on the clock and honestly Stone, I didn't expect this from my most competent sycophant.”
The disappointment that dripped from Robotnik's words pierced through Stone's heart, if his mental and physical state were normal he wouldn't be affected in the slightest, he might've even found it amusing.
“I don't know what activated this bear obsession, but it is getting un-bear-able, so get back to work before I cover you in honey and take you on a trip to the zoo and throw you in your favourite enclosure.”
“I'm so sorry…I promise it won't happen again.”
Robotnik spun his chair back to face his screen.
“And it's “bear cub” by the way not a ”baby bear”. What are you, 5?” Robotnik mocked.
Stone turned off his phone and pretended to go back to work, in reality he was just trying to hold back his sobs, he knew this would happen, it always happens when he's sick he gets so emotional and pathetic, all he wanted to do was cuddle up with someone patient and be taken care of.
The physical and mental pain was too much for him to feel embarrassed at the childish thoughts.
The agent knew he was losing his composure when tears flowed down his face uncontrollably, he had to hide.
“Sir, I have to go- to leave- I'm going to the bathroom” He stammered before scrambling from his seat and to the restroom.
________
Robotnik stared at the stack papers on the floor that his subordinate knocked over before running away very unsuspiciously to the bathroom.
The genius rubbed his temples, Stone had been acting weird all day, first he came late and sounded as nervous as a middle schooler giving a class presentation.
Then he sat at his desk and did nothing but stare at the *”please enter your password”* screen, constantly massaging his head and whimpering, he looked exhausted and depressed as well.
And then there was the baby bear thing, he didn't know what to think of it, of course he didn't actually know when Stone was on his phone, he trusted him more than that, he was just curious what he was giggling about.
Robotnik looked at his smartwatch at Stone's vitals, he had elevated blood pressure and temperature, definitely a fever.
The doctor follows the agent's steps to the bathroom, he could hear Stone sobbing from behind the door. It was incomprehensible, why on earth would Stone be crying over such a small insult? Robotnik had berated him way worse before and Stone would take it with grace, there was more to this than just an insult, was it the fever?
The doctor knocked twice before speaking up, “Stone.” the crying stopped almost instantly, “Ye-” Stone coughed, “Yes, Yes, Doctor?”
“What's going on with you?!” A pause, “I'm sorry doctor…”
“That's not an explanation.” The doctor crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
“I'm sorry.”
The doctor loudly groaned at the second apology, “What are you even apologizing for?”
“...I can't do my job.”
“No, you're just sick.”
“Sorry.”
“Would you quit apologizing already!?” Robotnik yelled, followed by an audible gasp from the man behind the door.
Stone was usually, well, a stone when Robotnik would yell, no reaction but a “yes sir” or “no sir”, the scientist would have to try a different approach.
“Stone.” He called, with a significantly lower voice, “What happened?”
No reply.
“I'm sorry, doctor…I'm always like this when I'm sick I can't help it, I'm so useless and I, I-” a broken sob cut his sentence off, “I just cry over everything.”
Robotnik hums over the newfound information, if this happens all the time then it might be physiological, perhaps some sort of trauma that causes the younger man to regress mentally.
“It's…fine.” God, he hated comforting people, “Just come out.”
Robotnik’s request was met with silence, not even the crying could be heard.
“Stone?”
A whimper.
Was Stone…scared of him? That didn't make sense. He was speaking nicely for god’s sake! he runs his hands through his hair, none of his knowledge could help him with this, he never studied anything about “what to do when your loyal agent has a fever and a breakdown and is hiding in the bathroom and you need to find a way to get him out without triggering his now sensitive headspace”
“Stone, you're sick right now, you need fever reducers and rest.”
“...You won't fire me, right?”
“No I won't fire you for being sick, just come out.”
Robotnik waited for a moment before realizing that Stone would not budge, he wanted to scream but he knew that would bring them back to square one. He got an Idea, if Stone was looking up “Baby bears” as a sort of self regulation then maybe he could coax him out using them.
He pulled his phone and looked up a bear cub documentary then slid his phone underneath the door and hoped for the best.
It worked, soon he heard giggles emitting from the subject of his worry, the same giggles he heard the first time Stone was looking at cubs, he had an odd feeling about cutting off his way of comfort, guilt?
A few minutes had passed before the doctor remembered that Stone still has a fever that needs to be tended to.
He softly knocks on the door, “Stone? you need to go home.”
The video paused.
Robotnik thought about it, how would Stone take care of himself in such a fragile mental state? He knew Stone had no one to take care of him, his remaining family weren't in touch and he didn't have any friends he knew of.
“On second thought, we’re both going to your place, I doubt you could…handle yourself at the moment.” The genius spoke slowly and thought carefully of every word to not scare off Stone.
He backed away when he heard Stone unlock the door. Stone’s face was flushed and wet with tear stains, his eyes were red and puffy. He avoided eye contact and handed Robotnik back his phone wordlessly.
“Come on.” The doctor held his hand and began walking him out of the lab, he noticed that Stone’s steps were slow and he was hunched over.
“Isn't there work to be done, doctor?”
“Work can wait, Stone.” The older man rolled his eyes, the elevator door opened and they went inside.
“You don't have to come with me, sir, I'll be fine by tomorrow.”
“Are you questioning me, agent?”
Stone flinched at the tone and stared down at his shoes, “No, no, sir, I'm just saying that I can be…difficult to deal with.”
Robotnik squeezed Stone’s hand reassuringly, “oh please Stone, I’ve dealt with terrorists and war criminals, this little hiccup is nothing.
Stone looked up at him and nodded, he looked like a kicked puppy, Robotnik thought hard for a moment before letting go of his subordinate’s hand. He didn't miss the way Stone weakly tried to reach for his hand again.
He opened his arms for Stone who just stood there and stared at them, “Come on I don't have all day.” Robotnik rushed, Stone threw himself into the taller man’s arms with more force than the doctor anticipated.
Stone snaked his arms around the doctor’s waist and the doctor wrapped his around Stone’s back. Robotnik heard his agent sniffle, he ran his hand through his hair to soothe him.
“It's alright.” Robotnik whispered, Stone nuzzled closer, “It'll be fine…but just so we're clear you are not allowed to hide your sickness ever again, understood?”
Stone nodded against his chest, the scientist rubbed circles into his back and whispered soft “It's okay”s and “it's fine”s into his ear until the elevator doors opened.
Robotnik drove Stone’s car to his apartment, he looked nervous the entire ride fidgeting with his seat belt.
________
Robotnik sat on the younger man’s couch waiting for him to finish changing when he heard Stone groaning from his room, he found a very frustrated Stone struggling with the buttons on his shirt.
After Robotnik's had helped him get dressed he gave him some fever reducers and painkillers for his headache, he turned on a nature documentary on TV and sat beside the sick man.
He had a blanket wrapped around him and a cup of tea in his hands, the older man noticed him glancing back and forth between him and the doctor in a bad attempt to be discreet, “okay, what is it?” the doctor turned to him just in time to catch his gaze.
The agent snapped his head back at the TV, Robotnik raised an eyebrow and cupped the other man's chin to face him, “Stone.”
Stone’s face was flushed, probably the fever, he set his now-empty cup on the coffee table and opened his arms hesitantly.
The scientist rolled his eyes, even though they had just hugged earlier but Stone was still nervous asking. He wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer resting his head on top of the other's.
“I literally hugged you an hour ago what's with the nervousness?” “Thought you'd be mad.” Stone muttered clutching Robotnik's shirt like he'd disappear if he let him go.
Robotnik's heart broke a little at the confession, though he had taken care of Stone the entire morning (well..the past 3 hours) he was still a nervous wreck, he placed a kiss at the top of the others head which earned him a quiet chuckle.
Stone was making him grow soft…he glanced down at the man staring intently at the animals on the screen with curious brown eyes, he supposed he didn't mind the softness that much.
Robotnik pulled Stone closer so that he sat fully on the other’s lap, Stone let out a surprised squeak before relaxing in the other’s hold and nuzzling his face into his neck.
An hour or two passed and Stone yawned, Robotnik pulled the blanket up to his shoulder, “‘Night doctor.” Stone murmured, “It’s 11 am- whatever, goodnight, Stone.”
Just when Robotnik thought Stone was fast asleep he heard a low “I love you.” He wasn't planning on answering until Stone lazily opened his eyes when no reply came, the last thing the older man wanted was for Stone to start crying again.
“I love you too, Stone.” He meant it, he meant it even more when he saw Stone closing his eyes again and drifting off to sleep with a soft smile on his face, he'd wake him up later for lunch.
They spent the rest the day like that, cuddling, talking (Stone really enjoyed the bear facts Robotnik had), Robotnik ordering takeout because he could not cook to save his life and Stone needed to rest,
Robotnik had a feeling that this was going to become a common occasion for the two, he hadn't understood yet what this…thing that happens to Stone is exactly, but he didn't mind, neither did Stone.