Work Text:
Stone hadn’t realized seeing Robotnik die in space would scar him for life. He should have expected or even assumed that would be the case, but he had been so focused on getting his boss back he hadn’t even considered the possibility.
And now it had come back to bite him in the ass. Robotnik had also come back, and he did do a fair bit of biting too, but the retired agent had found that to be much more pleasurable.
A loud bang sounded through the yard. Stone jumped, a plate slipping out of his hands as he let out a less than dignified yelp in fear.
Stone had hated the noise of the fireworks for years. It was too close to a gunshot. Made him flinch every time and move to protect Robotnik. That was just how his brain worked. But now seeing the orange explosion in the sky was so so much worse. It felt like he was instantly transported back to that night. Seeing Robotnik die. Feeling like he had died with him even though he was still breathing on the shore.
The only sensation Stone felt at the moment were tears pricking into his eyes as he struggled to breathe.
Robotnik had shot up from his longing position on their outdoor loveseat the second he heard stone cry out and the plate shatter. He crossed the porch to where Stone was staring straight up. The doctor glanced up and could just see the orange firework dissipating into smoke. Shit.
He looked back down at Stone who now had tears in his eyes as he stared up. He gripped the agent’s shoulder and tried to block his view of the sky.
“Stone? Stone, I'm here. I am ok. Agent, please look at me? Please breath.” Robotnik had never felt this scared before. If Stone was upset obviously something was very wrong with the situation.
Robotnik had never been overly fond of fireworks, never been one for holidays. But now he absolutely fucking hated them. They upset Stone, for reasons he probably should have predicted.
Stone managed to take in a few gasping breaths and Robotnik ushered him closer to the house when another loud bang sounded nearby.
Stone looked down and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard loud shouting as Robotnik cursed out their neighbors for releasing illegal fireworks. Stone saw Robotnik flip the man off with his free hand as he slammed the door shut behind them.
Stone leaned against the wall and sank to the floors. He was shaking. He felt weak. This was miserable. He was a trained agent, the best of the best, and here he was having a damn panic attack over a stupid firework. He heard a thump and a groan to his right as Robotnik sat down next to him. He wrapped and arm around the agent’s shoulder and pulled Stone so his head rested over his beating heart.
“I’m alive. You're alive. Everything is ok, Stone,” Robotnik soothed.
A loud pop sounded close by and Stone couldn’t help but watch through the glass door as the redorange firework exploded above the treeline. He started shaking again.
“I’m broken.” Stone whispered.
“No, no, you’re not broken. Oh, Stone, don’t beat yourself up over this. You went through something traumatic and now you have trauma. It’s perfectly understandable.” Robotnik tried to comfort his partner.
“This is so… stupid!” Stone was still fighting for air as he tried to talk, “I can’t even exist outside during a perfectly normal and harmless part of celebrations because my body betrays me!” The agent felt a fresh wave of tears hit him and he whispered, “How am I supposed to protect you, if I am scared of something as stupid as fireworks?” It was muffled by the doctor’s jacket and Robotnik didn’t hear him.
“They are not harmless at all!” Robotnik said, “Do you want to hear how many injuries fireworks can cause? Actually scratch that, it doesn’t sound like a very relaxing experience.”
“No! I would like to hear all about that, please,” Stone said, “or anything you want to talk about. I just need to hear you speak. Reassure me that you’re still here.”
Robotnik nodded and began to talk about whatever came to mind. Whenever a bang sounded, Stone would flinch but he tried to be oh so brave. He focused on Robotnik’s voice, but he could still see the colorful explosions even after he closed his eyes. Every single one, reminded him of that night, The agent could see Robotnik dying before his very eyes with every bang and pop. Stone gasped out a choked sob as he clutched at the doctor’s chest. It was starting to feel hard to breathe again.
“Stone? Stone, focus on my voice please! Stone breathe, please.” Robontik begged. He never begged for anything, unless it was from Stone.
Stone followed orders, he was good at that. He could do what Robotnik told him to. He focused on his partner’s voice.
“You are in our kitchen. In the house we bought together. You are safe and I am safe. You saved me.”
Robotnik was panicking. He didn’t know what to say or do. He just wanted to help his agent but all he could do was talk as tears rolled down Stone’s cheeks and pliped onto the tiled floor. I wanted to make the fireworks stop. He wanted to have not died and caused his agent’s suffering.
He wanted Stone to be ok again.
Robotnik took one of the agent’s hands in his and gave it a squeeze. Stone inhaled as he let his head fall onto Robotnik’s shoulder.
Stone nodded mutely as he started crying harder. He did feel better now, but the whole ordeal had worn him out. He gave a signal that he wanted to move somewhere more comfortable which Robotnik seemed grateful for as he helped Stone to his feet.
The agent was still shaking as they walked to their living room. Robotnik shut all the blinds as he glared out at the neighboring houses. Stone’s breathing was more even now, but it didn’t last long.
A bang sounded quite close by.
Stone flinched.
Robotnik made a sad noise as he leaned over his agent. He wanted to help, to comfort him but he just couldn’t figure out what to say. Suddenly, he had an idea. Grabbing one of his old pair of streaming headphones, he called a badnik to bring his work tools over.
“Alright, Stone! I am going to narrate while I make you some noise canceling headphones.”
Stone smiled gratefully as he wrapped his arms around one of Robotnik’s arms and slid partially into his lap. Watching his partner work was always such a relaxing task but with the added narration gave Stone something other to focus on. He still flinched at the bangs and pops of the fireworks exploding in the night, but he focused on the careful wiring and padding Robotnik was working on.
Holding up the finished product, the doctor glanced over at Stone. He carefully pushed his agent’s hair out of the way and slid the sleek headphones over his ears. Stone was enveloped by complete silence for the first time that evening. He gave the doctor a thumbs up.
“Excellent!” Stone heard Robotnik’s voice through the headphones. He cocked his head to one side, unwilling to speak but still curious.
“Oh, I made it so you can hear my voice incase of emergency hugs. I don’t want to scare you because you can’t hear my footsteps.
Robotnik clapped once. Stone could see it but heard no noise. Then Robotnik moved his hands behind his back and snapped.
“How many times do you guess that I snapped my fingers, agent?”
“Uhh three?”
“Bzzt! Wronggg! It was one!”
“Which means you have proven they work, thank you so much, sir.”
“Of course they work, it’s my te-“ Robotnik suddenly glanced out the window, hands snapping up to hold Stone’s head in place.
“Sir? What’s happening?” Stone's heart rate rose again as Robotnik restrained him from looking.
“Bitchass neighbors set off more fireworks. I didn't want you to have to see it, I think seeing the explosions was what made you freeze like that.” Robotnik danced around the topic a little as he felt thinking about it too hard would only make Stone hurt more.
Stone nuzzled his head deeper into Robotnik’s hand. The agent hummed as he sat still and basked in the quiet. Stone smiled at how loving his partner was and reached over and happily snuggled into his arms. The headset was sleek, but it still made it uncomfortable to lay on his side, so Stone tucked his head under Robotnik’s chin so that his face was buried in the doctor’s chest. Robotnik could feel his slow and even breathing as the agent calmed down.
The doctor watched a firework a few streets over explode into the night sky through a gap in his hurriedly closed curtains. It hurt his heart to look at so he made a badnik close them the rest of the way, plunging the room into partial darkness. Stone let out a soft sigh as he reached over to rub Robotnik’s shoulder. The agent placed a kiss on the skin right under his lips which happened to be the doctor’s right pectoral.
Robotnik smiled as he glanced down and whispered, “you feel better now?”
Stone nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Robotnik whispered just low enough that the headphones would cancel it out.
Stone hummed, peacefully unaware that his partner blamed himself for this because of his temporary death.