#gonna make an A03 doc soon to put all the art and drabbles together

[panic-flavored]

Follow up to the nightmare question- for mermaid stobotinik.

What if Stone stuck his hand towards Ivo’s head to fast and it made Ivo flinch away?

What if that when he assures Stone he wasn’t flinching because he’s a monster but because at the orphanage he got hit a lot.

Or worse. What if he doesn’t just flinch but goes into a full on panic flashback- where Stone has to calm him down from.

Altogether, it had been a successful day. 

Stone found plenty of interesting specimens for Robotnik, the badniks documented an unusually timed migration of Atlantic sturgeon, and he’d gotten to have a long, luxurious swim in the ocean. It’s always nice to stretch his fins and swim as fast as he possibly can through the turbulent undercurrent, but as strange as it is, he’s grown to love his tank in Robotnik’s lab just as much. Whenever Stone hears Robotnik’s voice through one of the aqua-badniks reminding him to return to the surface, Stone’s heart soars, and any feelings of nostalgia he has remaining for his birthplace fade almost instantly. 

Today, Robotnik’s voice sounds oddly tame. “Wrap it up, Stone,” Robotnik snaps, his voice hard to make out through the badnik’s speakers. They must be deeper underwater than Stone realized.

Stone pulls off his backpack and places the last specimen inside - a perfect junonia snail shell - and then slips it back on, signaling to the badniks to follow him back to the surface. 

He feels his bones readjust to the new gravity as he breaches the surface of the water. Per the usual protocol, the badniks switch to flight mode and raise up out of the water to scan the surrounding area, ensuring that there are no unwelcome visitors within range. When Stone receives the all-clear, he swims to shore, eyes scanning for Robotnik. 

He can feel him nearby. Usually, Robotnik is tucked away in the mobile lab while Stone is out on a survey mission, but for some reason today feels different. He’s not in the lab, Stone is sure of it - there’s a powerful pull in Stone’s gut guiding him, instead, to the cliffs.

Stone motions to the badniks to locate Robotnik, and immediately the drones fly off toward a rockier stretch of beach not too far away from the mobile lab. Stone follows them, finally spotting Robotnik sitting on a small outcropping overlooking the ocean. A flutter of concern courses through Stone at the sight of him sitting there; Robotnik is never stationary, he’s never this quiet and contemplative. Stone pulls himself onto the shore, shouldering off his bag and handing it off to a badnik to take into the lab. He then makes his way to where Robotnik sits, his tail leaving a deep, curved groove in the sand as he goes. 

Robotnik finally notices him when he’s practically beside him, tossing him a brief look of acknowledgment over his shoulder. “Took you long enough,” he grunts. 

Stone sits on the rocks next to Robotnik, letting his tail hang over the cliff. With one arm supporting himself, he signs one-handed:

Is everything okay?

Robotnik snorts. “Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be? Am I not allowed to look at a sunset every now and again?”

Stone looks out at the horizon, noticing the deep purple sky settling over the ocean. There’s a warm layer of red-orange breaking through the purple, the very last sliver of sunlight dipping below the horizon. It looks like my tail. “I hadn’t noticed.” Robotnik grates out.

Stone watches Robotnik curiously. There’s something wrong, he can practically feel Robotnik’s tumultuous emotions as if they were his own, crashing over him like a wave and churning up his stomach with anxiety. 

Some strands of hair have fallen over Robotnik’s forehead - the humidity’s fault, probably. Stone absently reaches a hand up to gently brush the hair aside, but before he can make contact, Robotnik flinches away from his hand and grabs Stone’s wrist tightly in his hand. 

Stone freezes. Robotnik turns to look at him, and for a moment, neither of them moves or says a word. Robotnik’s eyes are wide, his face pink in embarrassment, almost like he’s surprised at his own reaction. He comes back to himself quickly and releases Stone’s wrist, turning away to look back out at the ocean. 

“Time to get moving,” Robotnik says stiffly, pressing a few buttons on his control gloves to get the mobile lab ready for departure. “I hope you got me some good stuff, Stone. You were down there long enough, you’d better have something to show for it.”

Wait, Stone moves so that Robotnik has no choice but to look at him. Something is wrong. Tell me what it is.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Robotnik growls. “Why are you so insistent that there’s something wrong with me? I’m feeling better than ever.”

You can’t lie to me! Stone signs. He makes a circular motion over his own neck and collarbone, mirroring where his marks are patterned over Robotnik’s skin, hidden under his shirt and jacket. We’re connected.

Robotnik scoffs. “Ridiculous. The ‘mating bond’, is it?” He outlines the words in sarcastic air quotes. “You’ve explained it before. It’s pseudoscience, Stone. No such phenomena exists.” 

Stone would be hurt by those words if he truly thought Robotnik believed that, but he doesn’t. Robotnik has a habit of closing himself off, putting up walls between them when things become too intimate. He knows Robotnik feels the bond too, though he has yet to outright admit it.

Whether or not you accept it, I can feel that something is wrong, Stone says. When you stopped me just now, I felt fear in you. If I’ve done anything to make you afraid of me–

“No, that’s… No.” Robotnik sighs, swatting Stone’s hand down to shut him up. “I’m not afraid of you, moron. Why would I be? I’m not afraid of anything. Not anymore. Though… I suppose sometimes certain memories dredge themselves up from the depths of my mind when things get a little too quiet. That’s all this was, alright? Just old, superfluous memories that are best left forgotten. Meaningless drivel.”

Stone frowns. Not to me.

Robotnik’s expression softens. “This might come as a shock to you, but I’m not exactly well-versed in the language of physical intimacy,” he mutters. “Or… physical anything, really. A fact I’m not particularly upset about, you understand, I’m only trying to illustrate that– well, that this is all new territory for me. And I’m not always prepared for-- well, for… UGH!” he cuts off his own ramblings with a frustrated groan. “This is so ridiculous.”

Stone shuffles a little closer to his mate. Moving more slowly and carefully this time, he sets his hand on Robotnik’s knee. It’s not. Please, keep going?

Robotnik doesn’t flinch away this time, to Stone’s relief. He squeezes the bridge of his nose irritably. “Rewiring my brain takes time, alright? For most of my life, physical contact was not something I relished. Orphanages in the 60s weren’t exactly loving, nurturing environments for children - not that I needed any of that nonsense.”

Stone frowns. What does that word mean? “An orphanage is a place where human children go to live if they don’t have parents to take care of them. Though, that’s a bit of an antiquated term nowadays - I suppose it would be called a group home, now.” Robotnik explains. 

Stone’s mind spins. He had no idea such places existed, and now that he knows, he can’t fathom why any child would be mistreated in such a place. Robotnik catches Stone’s confused expression and grins wryly. “Let me guess - your species takes exceptional care of their young, hm? No deep sea orphanages to be found?”

Stone shakes his head. All the calves born in the pod are raised by everyone in the group. 

Robotnik hums. “‘It takes a village’...” he muses softly. “You may have no frame of reference for this, then. Humans are notoriously selfish creatures who often discard or mistreat their young at the drop of a hat. That’s all you need to know.”

Stone squeezes Robotnik’s knee. Other humans hurt you? Robotnik chuckles darkly. “Only until I was old enough to hurt them back. Then they all kept a wide berth.” 

Stone’s fins frill dangerously. I’ll kill them.

Robotnik slides his hand over Stone’s. “I appreciate the sentiment, Stone, but I doubt I can track down all of the teachers, caregivers, foster parents and schoolyard bullies who have ever hassled me. None of them are worth the trouble.” He glances at Stone’s tail. “We should get back to the lab, you’re starting to dry out.”

Wait, Stone signs. He shifts his weight to move closer to Robotnik, pushing between his knees. Robotnik allows it, watching him approach with calm curiosity. Stone taps a finger against his own mouth questioningly - not a proper sign, he knows, but Robotnik understands regardless.  “Yes,” Robotnik says softly. “You may.”

Stone wraps his arms around Robotnik’s neck and gently presses their mouths together, unable to prevent a musical sound from vibrating in his throat when Robotnik leans into him, kissing him back earnestly. Stone is still new at kissing - well, Robotnik is too, actually - but he makes sure to keep his teeth away from Robotnik’s delicate lips, and suppresses his second jaw from extending although it's difficult to do so when he's excited. And it is always exciting to touch Robotnik - all the more reason to make sure Robotnik always enjoys being touched by him. If Robotnik has never known loving physical contact, Stone will make sure that’s all he receives going forward. His mate deserves to feel safe and loved. 

When they break apart, Stone rests their foreheads together. Robotnik sighs gently against Stone’s lips. 

“The sunset. It did look like your tail,” he mutters grudgingly. “A little.”

Stone smiles. He can feel his fins glowing with their gold spots, the spots only for Robotnik. I promise I will never hurt you, he signs, and he knows Robotnik can feel the intention slipping through their bond from the way his breath suddenly hitches. Robotnik laughs through his nose, letting his eyes fall closed. The salty sea air blows gently over them as waves slosh melodically against the cliff, the sun finally dipping below the horizon to cast the beach in soft hues of red and violet. 

“I know,” Robotnik says, with absolute certainty. “I know you wouldn’t.”

#stobotnik merman au #stobotnik #fic #sonic movie #agent stone #doctor robotnik #mating bond #i literally can't keep these drabbles under 1k words to save my life #gonna make an A03 doc soon to put all the art and drabbles together