It Felt As Though Something Within Him Writhed At Stone Questioning On Why Julius Hadn't Enslaved Humanity

a sputtered clipped laugh punches out of him immediately at the echidna's confession about the 'fixed' phone. ah yes, of course. how stupid of julius to think elsewise.

"you do realize you can stop and think before resorting to brute strength, yes?" how hypocritical of julius to say. especially considering whenever he did lose his composure and his calm, julius would be the first to resort to and praise violent or physical methods.

that being said, julius drew the line at trying to 'fix' menial tasks using sheer strength alone. even he wasn't that desperate to resort to such violence. he wasn't some mindless barbarian.

"i know you are not that daft, echidna. what is the real reason you want to constantly 'fix' things using only your fists alone? what is it, some nonsense about fear of not being acceptable enough or worthy enough if you're not the strongest of the bunch?"

"My actions speak for themselves." What they say is a series of clunking hisses from where he's punched through a steam pipe in order to 'fix' a leak.

he's wordlessly staring at the destroyed pipe. eyebrows pinch together and his gaze narrowed behind sunglasses. seems to be weighing his options on whether he wants to deal with whatever moronic conversation will stem from this.

a heavy weighted sigh that bleeds into his words, sounding deadpanned and tired, "do i want to know what the fuck inspired you to try and fix this instead of calling an actual service."

post 🎉 and let your followers tell you about how you're doing with you character portrayal underneath!

his gaze flicks off to the side. a little breath leaving him as his lips press together. before julius looks back toward roman, and then very swiftly and without warning SLAMS his fist across roman's face. only to grab his skull with his other hand and stop roman from going flying as he probably would've from the force of the impact. & then, still holding roman by said skull, julius floats off the ground, roman uselessly dangling. his grip on roman's hair is tightening, and his voice is still calm, a slight ice to the tone, "you needn't be so rude, roman. we're merely talking." at this height, if julius dropped him, roman would no doubt break a leg or an arm. maybe both.

· 𓂃 ࣪˖🔪 ˖ ࣪𓂂 . There's a clear shift in the room as he's approached. But it just makes Roman mimic standing a straighter back, even if he was shorter in comparison to Julius but that never intimidated him before. He's too stubborn after all.

Which is why when change to adjust response is given he just tilts head in a scoff. And he stares back into dark sunglasses that contrasted the pink tint of his own. "Why? You obviously heard me."

@drrobctnik sent 🎶 genuinely curious what you come up w/ for jules

Sucker - Marcus King

Get the fuck outta my head // So long, sucker I don’t wanna see you, // I hate this life // Get your fingers out of my hair // You’re gone, sucker // Good luck killing me ’cause I’m already, already // Dead inside

Send me 🎶 and I’ll share a song that reminds me of your muse!

he could feel himself starting to clam up again. julius hadn't been finished, he'd just paused to try and figure out how to word the rest of it. if he could. it'd been hard enough to even get out those small bits and portions. & where stone might think his words were comforting, they were the exact opposite.

⸻ all that did was reaffirm to julius that he was supposed to be the one to be in that position. to be the one leading. to be the one that was meant to be sadistic. or to be the one that was meant to ⸻ what had he said? 'enslave humanity'? not unlike that time julius'd been told he was to lead his squadron despite not wanting to at all and feeling as though james had been better for the job.

if he had the energy in him, he might've gotten angered. but that odd numbness that settled into his heart and mind, sort of felt like a fog. like what little bit of hope he had for that ever happening cracked and slipped away. & julius just, let it.

"....." he isn't certain what to say, to stone telling him that he was happy that he trusted him enough. he exhales, and lets go of his hand before standing up, forcing himself to, even though he doesn't truly want to.

a big part of stone wasn't surprised with the reply julius gave, as he figured they had to be something someone wouldn't want to actually voice. the thing stone was surprised about was the man's willingness to humor him and actually give an explanation. stone knew it was likely very difficult if julius' body language were any give away.

however when the topic changes to him, or rather the stone that belonged to julius' timeline, he felt his heart start to race. how odd it was to hear those words come from his mouth, as if julius were some sort of mindreader and was voicing the thoughts stone had a long, long time ago.

it was the same explanation he would have given to ivo if he were able, but that didn't matter. not anymore, not since...

he meets julius' gaze with a soft one if his own, trying to figure out how to reply.

"I know how you feel. those thoughts that you have. they were the same words I wished I had told to ivo, before he..." he quiets, clearing his throat as he wills the tears away, "before he sacrificed himself. I'm not sure what happened to your stone, but I have a feeling we are in the same situation where we are missing our respective companions."

again silence on stone's part, but it is only a moment before he speaks again. "I am happy you trust me enough to share such a personal and vulnerable part of yourself with me."

at what stone says about sonic, julius' pupils shrink and he glares across at him, "shut up," the response is instant, the words are sharp and slightly raised as they leave julius. is he ⸻ defending sonic while sonic's not present? "what i choose to do in my own time is hardly any of your concern."

a scoff leaves julius when stone mentions that they all had their own things to keep them occupied. feeling insulted, julius shrugs, and moves to ruffle at his own hair. irritated. he felt irate because he knew he wasn't explaining himself properly even though he was actually trying for once, "it isn't just sonic," or is he deflecting? denying that?, "it's that he can match me. you've no idea how ⸻ how dull it is. i have all of this strength, this energy cascading around inside of me, and nothing to do with it 90% of the time."

"fighting sonic. of course, what an obvious answer. you sound as if you actually enjoy fighting that little blue menace." stone couldn't personally see the appeal, but then again he was nothing like julius. stone was nothing more than a mere man, and julius was... well, whatever he was. the answer the man gave felt almost unsatisfying in a way, but stone didn't really bother to care in expressing that feeling currently.

"I suppose we all have our own little things that keep us occupied. yours is fighting sonic, for instance."

— Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena

When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene. 

If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.

"i gathered as much," comes his short reply when ivo ( hells that is still so strange to adjust to thinking, knowing ) mentions what the name of the device meant.

what julius does not expect, however, is for the little drone to have been given an actual name. as though it were a living breathing creature and not a hunk of metal and bits of wire. "...of course you named it." he supposed that he may have done the same thing had he gone down a similar lifepath.

julius doubted that.

"i'll refrain, in that case." he moves to stuff his hands into his coat pockets. "well. i have a, no doubt odd question to pose: what do we call one another? i suspect you'd feel strange calling me robotnik, and i am not particularly fond of referring to you as ivo.

in this case, i believe it's best to figure out," he can't think of another word for it, but the syllable feels like sand coming out of his mouth, "nicknames, for each other."

"yes, badniks," ivo replied with a wave of his hand, his expression neutral despite the twinge of aggravation he felt. "it is a play on my last name, obviously."

he pauses then, looking at how one of his little egg-drones seemed to have taken a liking to julius, which was hardly a surprise. on the outside they looked the same, so he couldn't fault the little badnik at all.

"arcturus likes you, it seems. if you continue to indulge him he won't ever leave you be."