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With all the extra time in the crab, Stone found himself running out of tasks to do. Sure the doctor still barked orders at him, but there wasn’t a job for him to do outside of giving the doctor his utmost love and attention. He found that he had free time and had no idea how to fill it.
Even Robotnik had picked up a hobby to fill his empty time when he was not experimenting away on new badniks. Well his streams did feature badnik repairs often along with bad movie critiques, video game playthroughs, and the occasional La Ulitma Passion watch party. RealAg3ntStone was his first subscriber and even though the doctor never mentioned it, he knew that Stone was also his most consistent subscriber and top fan overall. The agent never missed a Huevo Diablo stream.
Stone liked the in person view of the doctor better, of course he did, but most of the time all he could see was Robotnik’s back and a small portion of his screen. So he mostly ended up watching the small screen when he tuned in. Besides, who wouldn’t want a screenshot of the doctor every time he grinned madly or went on a rant. It didn’t matter if he had seventy more very similar pictures from varying angles in his camera reel. He always needed more!
Since Stone was rarely allowed to work on the crabwork in the background of steam (something about him with his attractiveness being a distraction?) Stone was unable to do chores or menial tasks to keep himself busy anymore. It wasn’t that Stone was bored in the crab, he just needed something to do with his hands while he watched the doctor, both on the screen and also as he sat in his chair barely ten feet away from the agent who was just off screen on the couch.
Stone absent mindedly stared up at the badnik circling his head in a lazy loop.
“What do you think I should do, honey?” Stone whispered at the drone as it did another loop before plopping itself into his lap with a self-satisfied beep. Like creator: like baby.
Stone petted the metallic hull and looked over at the doctor who was animatedly talking about the match he had just won. He was grinning wide as he threw a look over his shoulder at Stone, who gave him a thumbs up. Robotnik only grinned wider.
When the doctor turned his attention back to the screen, Stone glanced down to read chat. Messages like “OMG is Ston3 over there?”, “HIII STON3”, “Stob reveal when??”, and “Cryptid sighting please???” scrolled across the screen as Stone watched. He smiled until one comment flashed.
“How did Rob get such a loyal househusband? I like his streams and all but I can’t imagine living with him everyday. He seems like a real d1ck :/”
Stone glared down before realizing the doctor might have seen the comment. When he glanced up his partner must've been looking away when it scrolled by as he made no indication that he had seen it, Stone took over as moderator and deleted the message and then blocked the user. Using his personal account, Stone typed out a message to the user: “Living with Huevos Diablo is a dream come true for me. Kindly go fuck youreself.”
The user replied: “good 4 u man, but have u considered going to therapy? You need help.”
Stone anonymously reported the user to the IRS for tax fraud and then added money laundering for good measure.
Once the stream was over, Stone was still mad and he couldn’t figure out why. He waited until the doctor had flopped down on their pull out bed for a nap before he grabbed his keys, pressed a kiss to his partner’s head, mumbled something about needing a drive, and hurried out the door of the crab.
Not sure where he was going, Stone rode his motorcycle into the nearest town. He decided to go to the craft store to pick something for his project.
Stone pulled into a parking space in front of what could only be described as an explosion of colors. He blinked a few times and pulled off his helmet. Walking in was even more blinding with all the bright fabrics, fluorescent bulbs, and floor to ceiling sequins. Stone made a beeline for the yarn. He had decided to make the doctor a blanket. Thinking about his project had ultimately cleared his mind of that commenter.
Mostly.
Grabbing brown yarn and an assortment of colors, Stone made his way to the tools section to grab a crochet hook, too. He was going to make a flowered blanket, but would ultimately let the doctor pick the design. It would be a gift for him, after all. Back on his motorcycle with the materials, Stone sped home. He needed to be near Robotnik again. He also felt the need to bake something.
——
“I don’t need therapy. Well I do, but not for loving Robotnik.” Stone angrily thought. “ Why did this comment pissed me off so thoroughly ?”
Stone continued to aggressively stir the batter. Then a comment he had overheard back at GUN popped into his head,
“That fucking freak is going to be alone forever.”
Stone grimaced, slamming the cupcake tin down on the counter harder than he meant to. He poured the batter as each hateful thing people had ever said about Robotnik flooded into his head. And then just to add insult to injury he remembered every time someone said something horrible about him once he had become the doctor’s permanent agent. Pouring the batter into the pan and sticking it in the oven, Stone thought, “Focus on the cupcakes, agent, just focus on the cupcakes.”
Robotnik could smell the cupcakes by the time they came out of the oven and a new batch went in. It was not unusual for Stone to randomly bake. Robotnik knew Stone liked creating treats, but he also knew that Stone stress baked so he kept an ear out for anything that sounded out of the ordinary, just in case it was the latter. Not that he cared or anything.
It was almost forty minutes later that he closed his eyes while he watched Stone frost cooled cupcakes. It was quiet for a moment, so utterly domestic, until Robotnik heard the sound of Stone hitting a limb against the counter, swearing, and then the thump of his body hitting the floor in defeat. The doctor strode into the kitchenette at a pace he would say was a completely normal speed to find Stone on the ground with his back against a counter and his head in his hands.
“Hey, everything ok?” Robotnik softly asked, sitting down at the kitchen island. He knew Stone liked his personal space when it was one of the days when everything just went wrong.
Stone nodded, “hit my elbow. I can give up for,” he checked his watch, “eleven minutes. Then I have to get the last batch out.”
Robotnik made a sound of acknowledgement as he unwrapped a cooled and frosted cupcake on the counter. He bit into the soft confection and immediately froze. Not because it was bad, far from it, but because it was the special recipe Stone only used when he was upset or stressed about something. It was easy to follow and Stone called it calming.
“Stone.”
Stone didn’t respond so Robotnik pushed himself out of the chair and plopped down onto the floor next to the agent. He was close enough that their shoulders brushed. Robotnik wanted to help, but he didn’t know what to do so he started talking, “Is this about that comment?”
Stone’s head snapped up.
“I’ll take that as a yes. He was a dick, Stone, simple as that. You shouldn’t let something like that get to you. Wait-it was a hate comment at me! Why are you upset?”
Stone mumbled something.
“Speak up, agent, you know I hate it when you mumble.”
Stone lifted his head, “because it brought back every shitty thing the agents back at GUN said.” He said with a grimace before putting his head down on his arms again.
“Ah.”
They sat in silence for a minute or so, Robotnik was still unsure what to say. Feelings were hard, and he didn’t particularly know how to deal with his own let alone help Stone. The agent was usually the one who knew what to do, which made Robotnik feel helpless. He hated that almost as much as he hated seeing Stone upset.
“I saw that they were blocked…”
Stone quietly said “I also reported him for committing tax fraud,” as he lifted his head, “And money laundering.”
Robotnik grinned at him and slung an arm over his shoulders, “That’s my Stone!” He squeezed the agent closer and rested his head on top of the agent’s. They stayed like that until the timer went off.
Stone made to get up but Robotnik pushed him back down, “nuh-uh. I can get things out of the oven.”
Stone gave a small smile as he watched Robotnik get the cooked cupcakes out and place them on the cooling rack. He turned the oven off before turning around to tower over Stone.
“Alright, come on, get up. I am not sitting back down on the floor. I have been through too much shit to sit anywhere that is not comfortable for more than ten minutes.”
Stone accepted the extended hand with a chuckle and let Robotnik haul him off the floor. The doctor snagged the previously plated cupcakes and made a follow me gesture which Stone obeyed. Stone watched as the doctor plopped down in his chair and placed the plate on the control panel of the crab before holding his arms up to signify that he wanted Stone to join him. Stone sat into his lap and let himself be enveloped in Robotnik’s arms. He buried his face into the crook of Robotnik’s neck and felt himself relax as he inhaled deeply.
“I guess, if everyone hates us, I do get you all to myself.” Stone said thoughtfully.
“Possessive little barnacle, aren’t you?” Robotnik purred as he tilted Stone’s chin up so he was looking up into his eyes. Stone smiled harder as he shuffled into a position where he could kiss the doctor. He tasted like chocolate cream cheese frosting, Stone noted as he wrapped his arms around the doctor’s neck.
“Hey do you want one of the good things to come out of that comment?” Robotnik asked after a moment.
Stone looked up a little confused until Robotnik leaned over and snagged a cupcake and passed it to him before grabbing another one for himself. Stone smiled again as Robotnik grinned.
They pressed their cupcakes together like they were wine glasses.
“Cheers,” Stone whispered as Robotnik echoed, “Cheers.”
They bit into their cupcakes. Suddenly, Stone remembered why he had left the crab earlier.
“Oh! I meant to show you this when I got home, but I was distracted.” Stone grabbed Robotnik’s hand and signaled a badnik to bring them the bag. Robotnik would have let Stone wear his gloves, but he had felt defenseless and scared whenever he didn’t have that comforting pressure on his hands. At one point he had considered making a new, slightly large size, that would fit more comfortably and letting Stone have the old ones, but the agent just ended up using his hands like a remote. They both treated it as an excuse to hold hands.
Stone turned around so his back was against the doctor’s chest and his legs draped off the armrest. The badnik zoomed into the main room from the small entrance way with Stone’s tote bag that he took for grocery runs. The bag was dropped into their combined laps, before the badnik lovingly bumped its hull into their heads and sped off to sit on the couch. Robotnik started grouching about his Stone had turned his murderbots into murderbabies until he saw the yarn that Stone pulled out of the tote bag.
“You have streaming and I wanted a hobby too, so I’m picking up crochet. The plan is to make you a blanket, but I was wondering if you wanted to pick the desig- Ivo, are you crying?” When he heard the doctor sniffle behind him, Stone whipped his head around to look at him.
“No.” Said the man who was clearly crying. Tears ran down Robotnik’s cheeks as he took a glove off so his fingers could run along the soft yarn freely. He sniffed wetly as Stone reached up to cradle his face with a soft smile, “No one has ever handmade me a gift before.” Robotnik whispered, aware of how pathetic it must have sounded.
Stone just leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “then I am honored to be the first to gift you a blanket.”
“Thank you, Stone. For this, for those, for everything.” Robotnik whispered, running his hand over the soft yarn again, “Can it be floral? I think floral would be nice,” Robotnik said as he turned his head to press a kiss to Stone’s scalp.
“Of course, Ivo. Do you want me to start right now?”
“Do you have to get up?” Robotnik asked, his grip tightening around the agent’s waist as he pulled him into a bearhug.
Stone stuck his free hand back into the bag, “nope!”
Robotnik smiled as his eyes lit up in excitement, which Stone took as a yes. He began working the yarn together as Robotnik watched his hands work. The doctor pulled up a more recent episode of his beloved telenovela and pressed play but just ended up with his face buried in Stone’s hair, trying not to cry again. Because here was Stone, someone who had stayed by his side for ten years when no one had ever lasted one. Stone cared enough to nurse him back to health, tend to his every whim, and still love him enough to make a crotchet blanket when no one had ever even thought to get him a gift before. Stone had been the only one to hand him a wrapped box every year on Christmas and his birthday (how Stone had known, was one of the few mysteries that Robotnik couldn’t solve). Nothing ever extravagant, because Stone had known him that well by the first Christmas, but it always made him feel appreciated. Even when he tried to hide behind his anger, he always took the present. He had kept the trinkets (besides the few instances Stone had gifted wine but he still kept the corks) in a small box. He had seen the box in the Mean Bean on Stone’s bedside table when he had returned from the mushroom planet. He knew it was somewhere here in the crab, too. Stone must have grabbed it during his sweep for medical supplies just case the worst came to be after the fall.
Damn, the tears were coming back. He just loved Stone so much and he had no idea how to thank him for all of his love.
“Ivo?”
“I love you, Aban.”
"I love you too, Ivo.”
God, how had this man reduced him to tears my simply existing. He was losing his touch, that cruelty that had driven people away had been smothered with a, a handmade blanket that Stone was making as a gift for him. Robotnik had never felt so loved before. He focused on the screen and tried to regain some dignity, which didn’t work because he ended up resting his cheek on Stone’s head and nuzzling as the agent worked. At some point he had shifted so that he and Stone were facing the same direction with their legs tangled together as they draped over the chair’s armrest. Stone’s back was against Robotnik’s belly so that he was more slumped down and the doctor could see over his head to watch the progress of his blanket. So far Stone had made one granny square with a big red flower in the center. It looked clean, neat, and professional. He continued to stare as Stone picked the next color, a light purple, and began to work. Robotnik reached for his third cupcake, entranced by Stone’s work. He probably should’ve stopped, but he had recently discovered he ate when he was stressed, and having this many emotions was stressful for him. Besides, Stone had stress baked them, which meant they were cupcakes made for fixing stress. What was he supposed to do, let them go to waste? Stone gently leaned in closer, wiping chocolate frosting off of Robotnik's nose with his thumb. The doctor pressed Stone’s thumb to his tongue and licked the dollop of frosting off, just to see Stone smile. The agent's cheeks tinted pink as he felt Ivo’s tongue press against the pad of his finger.
By the time Stone finished the second square, the episode was over and Robotnik’s stomach growled angrily for food. Reluctantly, Robotnik allowed Stone to get up and work on dinner. The doctor ended up sitting on the kitchenette’ island, swinging his feet as he watched Stone work. His agent was masterful in the kitchen as he combined all the ingredients and slid the pasta bake into the oven. He set the timer and moved over to stand next to where Robotnik was sitting. Sliding between his legs, Stone wrapped his arms around the doctor’s shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. Robotnik’s hands settled on the agent’s waist as he wrapped his legs around Stone.
——
“Emotional rollercoaster of a day, huh, Ivo?” Stone nudged his partner with his elbow once they were both lying in bed at the end of the day.
Robotnik gave a tiny groan, exhausted from having to deal with back to back emotions. He really didn’t like feeelings , but now Stone prompted him to deal with them in a “healthy way”. Which was hypocritical, in Robotnik’s opinion, coming from a man who spent ten years bottling up the feeling of love and until he practically burst.
“You’ve made me soft.” He grouched into the night air with no real venom behind the words.
“All I have done, sir, is love you.” Stone responded as he wrapped an arm around Robotnik’s belly and slipping the other one under the doctor’s head like an extra pillow. Robotnik shifted onto his side so he was facing Stone and wrapped his arms around Stone’s waist, pulling him closer. Robotnik could feel the agent smile into his neck.
“That you have, sycophant, that you have.”