Chapter Text
So, as it turned out, working for the doctor was a lot more strange and, not to mention, intriguing of an experience than what Stone had initially been led to believe. Everything from that first day at the royal laboratories had felt more like an exceptionally strange dream rather than actually doing his suddenly very new and foreign job.
He felt more like a spectator than an assistant or guard. Speaking, let alone asking any questions, was completely off of the table, and Stone still remembered rather vividly how he had been chewed out for just watching the other work and then followed by even more yelling after having dodged a pen when it got hurled at him.
It was safe to say that Stone had been confused, to say the very least, but he had been warned of the doctor's… less than favorable personality.
But, regardless, after hours spent just simply looking around, sneaking small glimpses of the man sitting by his desk and working on something. The sight of the doctor, having several moving pictures displayed all around him in a kind of half circle, felt almost forbidden. It made him look like some kind of maestro, guiding a grand orchestra to perform the most beautiful of symphonies. What the doctor was actually working on, Stone had yet to identify.
The next time the doctor addressed him directly, it was well after dark, the sun having set an unspecified number of hours ago. When the doctor, with a low grunt, pushed back his chair, swiveling it around, and made eye contact. “Hmph, you're still here?”
Stone gave him a confused look, furrowing his eyebrows “Of course, doctor.”
“Why?” the doctor sneered, sharp eyes glaring at him.
Stone felt those green eyes as they bore deep into his soul, “You didn't tell me to do otherwise. I didn’t want to assume.”
The doctor scoffed and grumbled something suspiciously close to ‘kiss ass’ before he got up from his chair and stalked towards the younger man, “It's way past midnight and you’ve been standing around looking stupid for approximately six or so hours with no one theoretically stopping you from trotting off and… oh… I don't know, escaping?”
Stone looked at the doctor a little dumbfounded, not really knowing what to say. He was aware that he could’ve done that. Realistically, in any other situation where he was forced captive, he would have left at the first chance of escape.
But there was something else about the doctor. Something Stone couldn’t quite put a finger on, but it made him want to stay.
“Oh, so now you don't talk, huh?” The doctor was suddenly now standing very close to the tiefling. When had he done that? After glaring at him for a long few moments, the doctor turned and stepped back, looking back with an eerie grin. “Well, no matter. I will find out eventually either way.”
“Alright, enough chit-chatting, and I am getting awfully tired. Follow me; I’ll show you to your quarters. No need for me to have you standing around unsupervised and looking stupid while you become even more of a nuisance due to lack of shut-eye.” Robotnik grumbled and started walking towards the exit.
Stone nodded and quickly approached the scientist and was ushered out of the door.
When Stone had been led to the royal laboratory, opening the door had sent him directly into the man's office. So needless to say, as soon as he exited the very same door, he was very surprised to find himself wandering into what seemed to be his new living space.
“Alright, here’s the deal, 'agent,' or whatever it is your name is.” The doctor sneered with an intense gaze. “I am a very simple man with some very simple rules. If you neglect to follow any of said rules, I will have no trouble punishing you myself, understood?”
Stone nodded.
“Very well. Rule number one: don’t piss me off. Rule number two: stay out of my way. Rule number three: don’t speak unless spoken to. Rule number four, and this one being the most important: don’t fuck up.” Robotnik took a step closer towards Stone, who in turn looked up at him with wide eyes.
“If you have any objections to those very simple things, then I suggest you call up the commander and tell him that ‘no! I’ve changed my mind; Dr. Robotnik is far too scary for me to deal with!’ Or whatever else will get you out of my lab.”
Stone nodded again and simply responded with a firm, “Of course, Doctor, I won’t disappoint.”
Robotnik, however, let out a humorless laugh before his face turned into a scowl as he coldly commented, “Oh, trust me, you already have and you will probably keep doing it, just like every other person to have trotted through my territory. But it will certainly be amusing to watch you try.”
And with that, the doctor turned and exited the room, loudly slamming the door shut after himself, followed by the distinct sound of the door locking.
Now that he was alone, Stone took the time to take in his new surroundings and what would seemingly be his place of rest for however long he was to stay by the doctor’s side.
It was a rather small room, with nothing more than a bed, an ominous chain linked to the wall, a dresser, and a very small bathroom. One thing Stone noticed was the single barred window he had located quite high up on the wall.
Then, he finally looked down at himself. He was in a simple pair of trousers and a shirt. It seemed to have been haphazardly thrown together from spare clothes that some guards had probably abandoned.
He really hoped that he would be allowed his clothes from that day back; he knew he was going to feel strange not wearing his scarf. And that particular ensemble had been one of his preferred outfits.
Oh well… I should get some sleep. I don’t know what the consequences will be if I don't, and I also have no clue what the doctor has planned for me tomorrow. It's best I be prepared. Stone thought to himself, pretty quickly getting seated on the bed.
The bed wasn't comfortable by any means, but that suited him just fine. He was used to sleeping wherever, so anything too soft normally made him feel uncomfortable.
That was when he had a revelation. He had actually done it… he had actually gotten permission to work under the doctor. Oh dear gods, and he spoke with him today! He had watched the genius work, even if it was only the occasional small glimpses that he could sneakily get.
This really was a dream come true. Even if Robotnik didn't seem to like him at all—which was putting it lightly—but it was a good start nonetheless!
Stone felt strangely giddy all of a sudden, squirming in excitement. He threw himself down onto the bed and rolled around a bit like a lunatic.
After a little, his brain calmed itself down enough to a degree that now, finally having laid down, he let his mind wander. Wander to places he hadn't really let it until now.
Stone had always been an assassin. He wasn't even sure anymore how many people’s blood he had drenched his hands in, the very same hands that had been finding themselves grasping the hand of some highly esteemed man, vowing to keep one doctor, Ivo Robotnik, safe under any circumstances. Even if it meant risking someone else's or his very own life.
Which had been strange, even for the practically half-dead carcass of a man he had become after all of that time down in those horrid dungeons.
Stone was by no means a good or moral man. He had never been one to protect anyone other than himself, and even then, he had a limit to how much of a fight he was willing to put up.
That’s where Ivo Robotnik came into play. A sort of person that Stone usually wouldn't think twice about slitting the throat of. In fact, he would probably have enjoyed it. There were a lot of rumors about the man. Even more than Stone had thought at first. The doctor fit the bill for the kind of people he usually targeted out of his own valuation pretty much to a tee.
But, from the very first glance he had gotten of the doctor, he couldn't help but feel intrigued. Even from a singular picture, Stone could tell that he was truly one of a kind. At the time, he had thought that it was because he was simply just a one-of-a-kind asshole, which was the case, but there was so much more underneath the surface.
Robotnik was notorious all across the world. A sociopathic and megalomaniacal person that had zero qualms about lashing out at anything or anyone. He was egotistical, perhaps even more egotistical than some of Stone’s previous targets combined, and as big as that ego was, it was clearly also very, very fragile.
Not only that, but he also just seemed to not really care too much about the fact that Stone had killed his double; in fact, the doctor hadn't seemed to care at all about anything that Stone had achieved. All of that had been nothing more than an inconvenience.
It had pissed Stone off at the time. He not only had a reputation that he felt like he could still preserve, despite having been outsmarted, but also was just plainly feeling offended. He was the best assassin that there was, only having been spotted around the capital because he had plans on pinning some of his recent victims on some other guy that Stone had been having an ongoing turf war with.
So it was safe to say that he was upset, and out of pure spite, he decided when the doctor started to ask his questions, he would go down the route of sass, which had set the doctor off entirely.
Stone still remembered how the sparks of red sputtered about from around the doctor before then shooting off to the side and hitting a wooden table over by a wall that then proceeded to shatter like glass into a pile of what could only be described as splinters. Then, very suddenly, the chains binding him to the wall had somehow lengthened, letting him free-fall directly onto his face.
A messed-up face had been the trick because it had gotten Stone to drop the sass, mostly out of a refusal to die at the hands of a target.
Then after the doctor had been boasting a bit, Stone had cut in with the observation that the doctor did not care whatsoever about the fact that his double had been killed. That had led to Robotnik going on a rant that Stone found himself strangely relating to. The feeling of having no regard for other beings and just plainly not liking them.
And then, machines got brought into the conversation.
Stone had always been fascinated with machinery, no matter what kind of machine it was. Back when he was still in the assassins' guild, he would often find himself tinkering with watches and other mechanical wonders that he had taken from his targets.
So, when the doctor showed him the little brooch that he had attached to his collar, and it freed itself from the man, revealing that it was a tiny machine as it flew closer to Stone, he was positively in awe.
And then, just as things were beginning to get really good, the doctor suddenly lashed out, yelling something about some ‘brats’ being annoying or whatever.
That had then led to Stone doing something he wasn’t very proud to admit.
Due to his quarter succubus genes, inherited from his mother, he had found out that he could draw people to him or hypnotize them thanks to releasing some pheromones that were subtle enough that no one would really have noticed unless the person had a heightened sense of smell or was deliberately searching for the change.
And it had worked! Until Robotnik groaned in pain and then ran out of the hallway.
Stone didn't see him after that. At least not until he had already been tried and sentenced to death.
At his trial, he didn't put up much of a fight. He didn't drag anyone’s names down with him. He didn't feel like he was justified in that. At the time, Stone had been puzzled as to why he had done it. He didn't understand why he had let himself be captured and tried so easily.
Now in hindsight, Stone was pretty sure it was of some kind of crude attempt at maybe saving the doctor. Because ever since that day, Robotnik’s influence had stuck with Stone.
After the two of them had their conversation, Stone couldn't help but look with a glint of awe every time a guard came up to him. All of them always had something on their person that reminded him of the older man, whether that be weapons or some kind of communicator he would often see them use.
So, to put it lightly, Stone was quickly becoming fascinated with the doctor, almost to an obsessive degree.
Even when he had been thrown down in the dungeons, he would think about Robotnik more often than not. Feeling as if there was something in his soul that was missing, something that only Robotnik would be able to fill.
And like a god descending from the heavens, the doctor suddenly came back, visiting Stone in his cell. He had seemed to be genuinely disturbed when he had seen the cuts, bruises, and other injuries that Stone had gotten. Which was a little weird, especially considering he seemingly had only gone down there to yell at the former assassin. Saying something about his own reputation or something akin to that.
He hadn’t stayed for long, of course. It was strange of Stone to have thought otherwise, but having not had any other company outside of guards that would beat and choke him senseless might’ve made him a little desperate for outside companionship.
Keeping track of time down in the dungeons was a feat that Stone had yet to master. But an educated guess was that a few days had passed since Robotnik had visited last. And said days had gone without any kind of food or water. Stone suspected that the method of his inevitable demise had been switched from beheading to something more subtle. Like malnourishment. He was pretty confident in the idea that he was the only one getting this treatment due to having overheard the guards talk about the other prisoner’s food.
Stone was starving and, in an attempt at staying warm, had curled up into a ball in the corner of his cold, dark, and damp cell—honestly convinced that he was surely dying—when he got visited once more. This time, decidedly not by Robotnik.
It was an old man. Far older than the doctor was. His hair gray and face wrinkled, he introduced himself as Commander Oliver G. Walters.
A face Stone could vaguely recognize. He had been one of the few people at his trial that had argued against his sentence. Saying that he would do better serving in the royal guard than waiting for his beheading.
And suddenly, for some mysterious reason, he was in the dungeons, standing in front of Stone’s cell. His hands behind his back with a strange smile on his face, one that seemed to try to be paternal, maybe.
“Hello there agent, or would you rather I call you Stone?”
Stone had looked at him with narrowed eyes. “If you’re here just to gawk at me like I am some kind of animal then I ask you to at least give me something to—”
He stopped before he could even finish his sentence with what in Stone’s eyes might as well have been gold, because Walters produced from behind his back a piece of bread and handed it through the bars. “Here, I thought you'd say something like that.”
By this point, the tiefling was convinced that he was hallucinating.
Stone had looked at the man cautiously. “I—what is that? Is this some kind of bribery!?”
Walters furrowed his eyebrows slightly and crouched down with seemingly great effort, grunting loudly once he got down before his attention turned towards Stone once more. “I just got you some bread. Please, take it. No strings attached.”
For all Stone knew, the old man might’ve poisoned the bread or was trying to trick him in some other way. Hell, he wasn't even all that sure if this was some kind of cruel hallucination or not.
But Stone's hunger was far outweighing any rational concern his brain was warning him about.
Carefully—much like a stray cat, his brain supplied unhelpfully—Stone crawled closer. Once he was close enough, he snatched the bread from the commander's hand, quickly retreating back to his spot in the corner before devouring it.
“I would’ve brought you more, but that would've been a lot harder to smuggle down here,” the commander said as he pulled out a cup of water and put it inside the other’s cell.
Stone could have cried. He was trying his best to savor the moment, but it was proving a little hard since his hindbrain was screaming at him that it was all a trick, which didn’t help the feeling he got from being watched so intensely by the commander.
Once he was done eating the bread and drinking the water, slowly in an attempt to savor, Stone turned his attention towards the old man once more with a scornful squint. “What do you want from me?”
“I came down here to make you an offer,” the old man said with a strain in his voice as he rose back up to his feet.
Stone narrowed his eyes further, and the old man took it as wordless permission to continue, grabbing a stool that was nearby and sitting on it. “You see. As you might very well know, you have gotten yourself into quite the situation. One that I usually wouldn't be giving a second glance towards.”
“But, after witnessing everything from that day, as well as taking a better look at what the investigation uncovered—your arsenal of skills in both assassination, retrieval missions, and tracking have proven to be quite extraordinary. Unlike any I have ever seen for myself. You have the potential to be the best one of—if not the best—of our troops,” the commander said.
“What… what are you trying to imply here?” Stone murmured
“What I am trying to do is propose a deal.” This piqued Stone’s attention. “You are allowed to live as a free man, although with restrictions, obviously, and in exchange, you join the royal guard.”
Stone looked at the old man with an unreadable look, mostly because one and a half million different things were whirling around in his head.
Then a sudden small sound could be heard from Walters’ pocket. He made a furrowed expression. “I'm sorry, I have to cut our conversation short here. Think about what I just said, and I will try to come back tomorrow, and I will make sure that you will get food from the guards.” He excused himself and left.
And that left Stone alone, once more, but this time thinking.
If he were allowed to live as more or less of a free man, he would have the time to try to find out more about Doctor Robotnik. Which was a very appealing thought, to say the very least.
Wait, hadn't the doctor mentioned something about working as something royal?
If he were to join the royal guard, he could be lucky enough to find leads about the man.
What must've been a few days or so later, Walters had come back, this time with more food and an extra goblet as well. Stone was quick to cut to the chase after he had eaten. “What would I theoretically be doing in the royal guard?”
Walters looked at him with a surprised and maybe slightly confused expression but quickly gathered himself, clearing his throat. “Ah, yes. Well, you could be doing a wide array of things thanks to your very impressive skill set, although, as you can probably understand, you wouldn't be allowed out in the field at first. At least not without a lot of supervision and backup. But your tasks would probably be something akin to guard work and assistant work for higher-ranked officers.”
Guarding… “Who would I be guarding?”
“Hmmm, well, probably someone of high status… I can't really tell you outright because I don't remember who is in need at the moment, but—”
Stone cut off with a calm “Is Doctor Ivo Robotnik on that list?”
Walters looked at the tiefling with a strange look, “what?”
“The only way I will join the royal guard is if I can work under Doctor Robotnik.” Stone looked at the older man with an intense look.
The commander furrowed his brows further. “You do know what you are saying right now, correct?” Stone continued to stare. “Ivo is not a man anyone wants to work with, let alone under. Not only that, but I don't think he would even want you around, considering your… circumstances…”
Stone continued his staring and coldly stated, “If I cannot work under him, then consider me very uninterested. It is my one and only condition. I do not care what else I have to do.”
Stone watched intently as the commander rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. And after a prolonged and uncomfortable silence between the two men, Walters finally folded with a very heavy sigh. “I… very well… I'll see if I can pull some strings…”
Stone let the ghost of a smile slowly form on his face, but before he could really start celebrating, Walters slightly worriedly said, “Just know… he has a reputation for a reason. Due to the type of work he does for the royal court, he has been given full immunity, which means that the guard can’t come and save you if he decides that he wants to experiment on you.”
That had been the last thing Stone had been told before the commander left with a polite “I will come back as soon as I have figured something out.”
Guessing by the guards—three sets of guards that would come and give him food—about nine or ten days had passed before the commander returned. Although, this time he had an entire team of guards as an entourage. And then, stepping to the side, Stone’s eyes widened drastically as a blue-haired young man stepped forward, dressed in very expensive-looking garbs as well as a crown.
“Agent Stone, allow me to introduce to you Crown Prince Arthur of Camelot.”
The young man made an unimpressed face at the old man before saying rather deadpan, “I told you, that isn’t my name; it’s Sonic. It's the name I chose when I was a kid, and it is my name today.” Then he sighed and looked at Stone. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stone.”
Stone sat shocked, not knowing what else to do; he simply bowed his head.
“Y’know, you’ve also got quite the name. I mean, ‘Stone’ and ‘Agent’, it almost seems like you're in the same boat as me.” The prince smirked at him.
“Your highness, please…” Walters said, sounding like he was already exhausted by the kid. He let out a heavy sigh before turning his attention towards Stone.
“I have talked with the rest of the counsel, as well as the crown prince, about your conditions, and we have come to an agreement.” That made Stone twitch slightly, very excited but also fearful at the same time to hear the answer.
“You will be put under Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s direct supervision for the foreseeable future; should everything go as planned, you will slowly but surely be reintegrated with the rest of the royal guard and sent on missions as commanded by either Commander Walters, or Director Rockwell.” The prince said. “If you ever intentionally hurt the doctor or any of the members of the royal counsel, which does include me, you will be swiftly killed.”
“Do you accept these conditions?” the old man asked.
And Stone nodded, “Yes, I accept.”
Stone watched as the commander came over to his cell with two guards; both looked to be of a higher rank than the others. One of them took a key out from a pouch on their belt and opened the door. All the other guards had their weapons drawn at him as the two higher-ranked men unlocked the restraints that had been keeping him to the wall.
Once they were off, Stone tried with great effort to get up, and when he did, he felt how his legs wobbled slightly. While he tried to regain his balance, he watched as the commander scribbled a magic circle onto the floor and then onto his hand.
When Stone had gotten out of his cell, Walters beckoned him closer, reaching his hand out towards the tiefling before also scribbling a magic circle onto his hand.
Walters had told Stone to repeat after him as he started saying some kind of incantation. He still remembered the rush of pure soul-altering energy as it surged through his entire body as the three circles glowed a light blue and then, before he knew it. He was being led out of the dungeons.
And that was how he had ended up there. In an unfamiliar room on an unfamiliar bed in a lab with a man that he had been warned of. But honestly, he couldn't even try to muster up a drop of regret. He had a feeling that despite everything, it would be worth it.
And with that thought and a yawn, Stone finally got his shoes off and got himself comfortable under the covers as he drifted off to sleep.
Stone woke with a hard flinch at the sound of something very loud. Not something he really recognized or registered, but to be honest, he couldn't really be bothered at this moment in time. He was in a strangely comfy bed, something that he felt like he hadn’t done in years, so instead he just shifted onto his other side, set on going back to sleep.
That was when a hand suddenly poked his face. Stone’s eyes shot wide open; he quickly grabbed the wrist of whoever his assailant was in an extremely tight grip and moved to grab the knife he always kept under his pillow, only to find that there wasn't one. Then, the yelling finally registered. “—Fuck, let go of me, you heathen!”
That was the doctor…
Stone quickly let go as the realization dawned on him, and he just as quickly sat up in the bed wide-eyed. “I am so sorry, Doctor. I—I am not quite sure what came over me. I am so incredibly—”
“And Walters expects me to legitimately believe you have my best intentions in mind.”
Stone sat for a second just staring at the doctor. Again, Stone felt as if he were about to jump out of his own skin when he spoke once more.
“Seriously, what kind of manipulation tactic did you use to gain the favor of that bumbling fool?”
“I… Huh…?”
“Do you not know other words, or are you just stupid?” He sneered, and Stone didn't even have the chance to answer before Robotnik changed the topic. “Well, no matter. Get up; I will be showing you around the lab today. I would rather you not get yourself killed and thereby have more pests skittering around doing an investigation.”
Oh… well. Stone, for some reason, hadn't expected that he would be allowed to work in the actual lab.
Well… there was no time like the present. So with a quick nod, he rushed to go do what he was told, quickly noticing that Robotnik never seemed to take his clinical and slightly curious gaze off of him, which made Stone stand straighter and hurry a little more.
Once he was done washing his face, Stone walked back over to the doctor, who had seated himself on Stone's bed rubbing at his wrist with a grimace.
“Is that seriously what you are going to wear?”
“I—I don’t have anything else, sir…”
Robotnik looked at the tiefling and made an ambiguous sound before getting up and off the bed.
“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Robotnik grumbled and walked out of the room with Stone following close behind.
A few weeks had passed by since then. And ever since that first day, Robotnik had practically been halfway up Stone's ass at all times of the day.
He was always present, glaring at the younger man as he performed his tasks around the lab.
Just watching him.
Constantly.
In the best of times, it was slightly unnerving, but more often than not, it was creepy as hell.
Especially because the doctor wouldn't speak. Or at least not much.
Which was a thing that Stone had a lot of trouble getting used to. But Stone tried his best to act as naturally as he could and kept it professional.
Even when the doctor did not.
Due to their close proximity, Stone had been subjected to the spectacle that was the extent of how erratic the doctor really was.
Stone had clearly underestimated the extent of the doctor's mood swings and how insane they truly were. Or well, calling it mood swings was maybe the wrong term to use. The moods that Stone had witnessed the older man switch between were a general mild annoyance and a fury that rivaled that of even the most wrathful of gods.
But, in all honesty, Robotnik's temper was just as violent as it was fascinating in Stone’s eyes.
The doctor had zero issue taking said anger out on anything within reach, and because Stone was the closest thing more often than not, the tiefling quickly became the target of the doctor's wrath.
Which meant that Stone was fully unable to let his guard down even for a nanosecond. Because as things turned out, the doctor really did not want him around and would try practically anything to get rid of him.
That mostly meant he would be yelled at, although the doctor really wasn't shy about being physical in his abuse either. Pinning the tiefling to walls, punching him, and making him trip and fall when walking around the lab. And the younger man’s least favorite. The rigging that had been done throughout the entire lab with traps that Stone would fall for.
Stone recalled a point the very first full day at the labs where he had tried to open a door. Instead of it opening or maybe just wiggling in place, an unexpected bolt of pain overtook him. His throat constricted. His eyes rolled back. His hands locked into claws. Every muscle in his body contracted to the point of pain. His body felt like it was on fire as well, as his burns had been doused in acid. Then finally, it stopped. Stone felt as his knees buckled which led him to fall onto the ground very harshly.
His ears were ringing. Was this how it felt to be revived?
Then, his brain finally registered that there was laughter. Slightly hysterical laughter at that. Stone turned his head to look at the doctor who was trying his best not to double over.
“Oh—oh my goodness, you really just do whatever, don’t you?” He said in between laughing breaths.
Stone turned his head a little so he was looking at the doctor, confused as to what had just happened as the other man collected himself. “Oh, dear, that was priceless. And good thing, now you know what happens when you try to touch any of the escapes again, or well… at least unless you want to be zapped like that again, then be my guest.”
So, to put it very lightly, the doctor was not a very big fan of Stone. And that also meant that he was cautious of the younger man.
Which was fair, of course. Stone didn't expect sunshine and rainbows right off the bat.
But the doctor's paranoia could honestly become quite the handful.
An example where the paranoia proved to be kind of an ongoing issue was the fact that no matter how many times Stone said it or how he formulated it to the brilliant scientist. He simply refused to believe that Stone was here out of good will.
It was clear to Stone that Robotnik thought something was brewing beneath the surface.
A specific conversation truly stood out in that aspect.
It must have been a few days into his employment. He was walking back into his room after an extremely long and slightly agonizing day of mostly physical labor that consisted of sorting the doctor’s 'mini' library he had in the main lab.
When he had finally gotten into his room, Stone was about in the middle of the room when his door loudly slammed shut. Stone quickly turned around, his fight or flight having already kicked in and getting ready for hand-to-hand combat when he was met by the doctor looking directly at him with very intense eyes.
The sight of the doctor relaxed Stone a little; with a quick, relieved sigh, he softly said, “Goodness, you made me jump. What can I—”
“What do you want from me?”
Stone still remembered looking up at the doctor’s intense glare with a confused expression, his mind running wild with all the things he wanted to say but probably shouldn't, so instead he settled for a simple one. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean!” The doctor growled and took a step forward. “What the hell is it you want from me!?”
Stone furrowed his brows, which only seemed to make the doctor more heated as he took an intimidating step forward. “Don't look at me like that, you leech!”
“I don't want anything from you, Doctor. I am here to serve as your assistant and bodyguard, nothing more.”
"Lair," Robotnik hissed and took another step forward, making the tiefling take an unsteady step back. “You dare take me for a fool, Stone? You dare mock me by insinuating that there is nothing under the surface of your employment, perhaps a motive.”
“I don't take you for a fool, sir. You are the smartest person of all—”
“There you go again with your pathetic ass-kissing. Don't think I haven't noticed it, you sycophant.” The doctor was by then uncomfortably close; Stone had been pushed up against the wall in an attempt at making just a little more space between them.
Robotnik then straightened his posture, making him tower over Stone
Goodness, why is this actually really attractive…
“It is clear to me that you only joined, either out of desperation, which I highly doubt, or you have been put into some kind of difficult situation. Probably cursed to do whatever it is that seems to be your problem. Insisting that you get assigned under me in the foolish hope that you could get me to cure you.”
Problem? Did Stone actually have a problem?
Well… probably yeah. He had made a pact with Walters, for a guy who he had been intent on killing not even a few weeks—or was it maybe months?—before. A pact that made it so he could never intentionally harm the doctor or the members of the council. But that was a safety precaution on the government’s part, one that any sane person could understand.
And as previously mentioned. Those kinds of conversations turned into something that would happen very often, about every two days or so. It was stressful trying to debunk all the claims that the doctor would throw at him. Mostly because the doctor actually came with some very believable points.
But Stone was persistent and continued putting up a fight.
But it wasn't all bad.
The two of them quickly formed a strange routine. Stone would wake up very early and get ready for the day. The doctor would come and pick him up, and they would go down into the kitchen, Robotnik watching as Stone ate. Once that was done, Stone would be set to work. Often doing random chores, such as cleaning and organizing, with only small breaks in between. All under the watchful eye of the doctor. Then, dinnertime. Again, Robotnik would watch as Stone ate his food and forgo getting anything himself. And once Stone was done, he would get back to work and would continue to do that until Robotnik would finally walk him back up to his room.
It was about ten AM on a Friday at the end of the month when Stone found himself in the kitchen, something he had honestly missed since he started working with the doctor. Speaking of which had left Stone to be on his own for a little while.
So, Stone was looking in the kitchen. At first just because he was curious about what the doctor had laying around, but after finding ground up coffee beans turned into a mission.
Coffee had been something that Stone had indulged in ever since he was in his young adult years. Not so much consuming it as much as the act of making it. The fluid motions he would fall into always felt soothing to him. He never really quite understood why.
After a little while of looking, Stone started to get more and more excited, slowly finding everything he needed to make a pretty solid coffee. Hell, he had even found milk that had been stashed away behind the mystery door—which, as it turned out, was a kind of cooling room where the doctor mostly stored food but also a few different and colorful vials.
So, without a second thought, Stone got to work, easily falling into the motions of the task. Getting so lost in his task that once he was finished, he hadn’t even noticed the return of the doctor.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Stone turned to look at the other man with a surprised expression. “Oh, welcome back, Doctor! And I am making coffee. I saw you had some ground-up coffee beans and thought I would make myself a cup.”
Robotnik came up to the kitchen counter to stand next to him, looking down at the cup. “You really think I am going to believe that that is coffee?” The doctor scowled as he picked up the cup to inspect it. “All the times I’ve had any kind of concoction made of those beans, it has always looked like black sludge and would taste just about as bad.”
“Ah… well. If you’d like, you can try some.”
“And how would I know that this isn’t going to be taking my life?”
Stone looked at him with furred brows. “Why would I poison it if I were going to drink it myself?”
Robotnik eyes shot up and made contact with Stone's; he narrowed them slightly, leaned closer to the shorter man, and hissed threateningly, “Don't you play smartass with me, Stone.”
“Right, I’m sorry, sir.” Stone answered.
Stone sighed a little. “Well… You don’t need to try it if you don’t—”
Before he could even end his sentence, Stone watched in a mixture of awe and dread as the doctor took a sip of the beverage. He then pulled it from his lips as if to look and inspect it once more before finally downing the entire thing in a few gulps.
Once he was finished, it was a miracle that the cup hadn't shattered or broken in any way from the amount of force with which he put down the cup onto the counter. “How did you learn to make this, and where has it been all of my life?”
Stone looked at the other man with shock, then quietly admitted, “I got taught by my mentor, sir. He called them lattes. I would normally make it with goat's milk, but—”
“Agent Stone, or whatever your full actual name is, I hereby declare that for the rest of your life, you will make these cups of coffee for me every single day, multiple times a day!”
Stone stood there with a surprised expression, staring.
“Obviously I thereby also expect you to alert me whenever you run low on supplies. Have I made myself clear?”
Stone, slightly dumbly now in hindsight, just nodded. “Y-yes, of course, doctor.”
“Good. Now make me another one so we can get back to work.” The doctor said and turned around, before stopping dead in his tracks. “Oh, and by the way. I took the liberty of getting you some clothes that don't look like you are about to rummage through the garbage, which also includes an upgrade to your previous outfit,” and then he walked over to the dining table and took a seat in one of the chairs.
Stone, still not fully mentally recovered from the whiplash of a situation of what he was convinced was a near-death experience to one where the doctor was being… Strangely kind?
He stared a little longer before shaking his head and turning his attention back towards the counter, intent on making another cup for the doctor.