ANONYMOUSLY TELL ME YOUR HONEST OPINION ABOUT ME. I CAN’T REPLY/COMMENT, JUST PUBLISH.

of course he was right, what kind of idea was that? totally out of left field, completely lacking in any thought, entirely out of the realm of possibility-

"unless," no. no no no no- he knew that look on sonic's expression, knew that grin most of all. lips could barely part to begin to say 'sonic' before the shorter's off and running his mouth, and at what he registers julius just stares in mute disbelief before a sharp laugh bursts out of him at how stupid,

"a wig?" are you serious.

julius' refuting sonic's flimsy reasoning immediately, and sonic gives a short, brief smile. like he's, sad, that he knows it's the truth too. doesn't want it to be, not really. "....yea, guess y'got a point there," he's looking back to the pond now, leaned back on his hands, sort of lounging. hears the rock splash hard along the water's surface before plummeting.... "....unless," there's a spark to his gaze, and sonic glances over at julius with a cheeky grin,

"we can putcha in a wig, n'get you all fancied up. different coat, pants, make you look real tourist-y. no one'd ever know," he snaps his fingers, points at julius as though it were the best idea in the world.

🕯️

send me 🕯️to hear my character's inner thoughts about your character.

imad. a pillar. he's... swiftly become everything that fuels me, and everything that terrifies me. what a horror: to have someone to lose. not again. never. again. i will protect him with every atom in my being. damn the consequences, damn the masses. i need HIM.

....i can only hope that i'm worthy.

jaw flexes minutely upon realizing who julius is face to face with. instantly, his crimson red irises began to glow, piercing through even the darker tint of his sunglasses. chaos energy licked along his fingers and arms in the form of a darker red electricity,

"COMMANDER," there's no affection to his tone. in fact, one could only call the words that spill from julius' mouth mocking, "how nice to see you again. i expect the cavalry will be arriving shortly to try and take me in. again."

@towerfcllen

he didn't think sonic would hug him back. he couldn't remember the last time he had given someone else a hug, genuinely, and felt safe in their arms. his grip on sonic increased subtly, a shivered exhale of relief and peace leaving him. his head turned in towards sonic without his conscious realization, grateful. if sonic thought so, then yes, julius would try again. perhaps next time, they could spend time together at sonic's home. maybe eventually, julius could branch out and start to actually include the other little trio- not right away, but in time. who knew-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?"

julius' gaze opened, eyebrows slightly furrowing at that. what?... did sonic think he was that overwhelmed by everything? yes he'd been overly stimulated, but being off on this quieter road was calming his nerves down.

"i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

sonic stepped back. no, something was⸻ a crack of sheer pain caused his sight to turn white from the impact, and before julius could register what was going on, he fell unconscious.

only to startle awake, inhaling sharply and his eyes shooting open. greeted by darkness; but it wasn't a normal type of shadow, he could normally see in the dark. this? like an inky black void, unable to see through it for as hard as he tried.

his knees hurt, and julius realized why. tried to move, but couldn't. his arms, legs and even his neck were bolted in place, massive shackles holding him down, chained and reinforced into the floor. he was being forced to hunch forward, couldn't even twitch his arms. there was a half mask clamped along his jaw, stopping just at the middle of the bridge of his nose, restricting him from talking.

at most, the only thing he could move were his eyes, and he could hear his own rasped breathing under that half-mask, getting heavier and heavier the longer he sat in this reality. how-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?""

he⸻ sonic had⸻ his breathing hitched, getting more uneven as the realization slowly dawned on him, widened gaze, pupils shrinking in shock. julius tried, he focused, as best he could, but he couldn't push out his chaos energy. couldn't begin to build it, tap into it, no matter how he tried. whatever they were restricting him with, wasn't giving him any access to his chaos energy. he couldn't escape this, truly. he was trapped.

his eyes skewed shut, for a brief moment, not wanting to believe. sonic wouldn't⸻ julius had trusted him⸻ felt his body tensing, and his mouth opened and a scream left him, that sound elongated, sheer rage, disbelief, hatred, anger that burned at his lungs and caused his throat to ache but that scream wouldn't stop, getting louder and more desperate and breaking on the edges from how intense as that near roar of betrayal left him.

his expression skewed, eyebrows furrowing as julius hugged him. sonic hesitated before hugging back. he could feel julius' face turning and almost tucking closer to him, and sonic swallowed. "....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?" his voice is quieter, and it does shake a tad. "i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

he squeezed julius just slightly, breathed out and stepped back, before swiftly and suddenly jerking his hand forward and slamming it into the side of julius' neck and lower jaw, as hard as he could. watched as julius' eyes widened before he slumped over, knocked unconscious.

a gasped exhale, and sonic swallowed before lifting an arm into the air, motioning with a short wave. it took a second or two before those G.U.N soldiers repelled down the sides of those supposedly empty buildings from their hiding spots on the rooftop.

"excellent work, sonic." clearly the leader of this squadron, addressed sonic. sonic was staring at julius, having to look away as some of those soldiers placed larger restraints along julius' wrists. could hear them doing the same to his legs.

"...he'll get the help he needs. you'll make sure of that." he's turning to look up at the man, who flashes a standard for the public smile.

"at G.U.N, nothing is impossible. even robotnik can be reformed under our guidance." a hand juts out, and sonic shakes his hand, glancing over and watching as those double doors closed, julius now tucked detained. that vehicle begins to drive off.

"....can i see him, at least? you've got like, visitations or something, right?"

"i am afraid not. robotnik is a.... let's say a flight risk. he will be better off under our care without any outside influences."

"better off..." sonic echoed, inhaled, exhaled, nodded. right. this was, for the best. julius would be able to get the mental, and the emotional help he needed.

man this guy is my favourite character (throws rocks at him) (throws rocks at him) (throws rocks at him) (throws rocks at him (thr

grateful it were just he and sonic again. truthfully, he had only really come to this event because it was sonic that had asked him to. he never would've set foot at one of these shindigs, otherwise.

at sonic's laugh, julius scoffs a breath, "for someone panicked, you certainly kept your cool." naturally, julius thought, and based on sonic's little smirk he seemed to agree.

"yea, well, y'made it pretty easy. nice italian by the way."

"mmn," he hummed, not sure how to respond to that genuine compliment. his scalp itched but he couldn't do anything about that due to this damned wig. "why were you so insistent on dragging me here." he can't help the bluntness to his tone, all of that stimuli from the sounds, smells, let alone the massive crowd, was beginning to irk him more and more as the seconds passed.

amy's eyes were practically sparkling as she listened to ian & sonic's exchange, her attentions rapt on sonic in particular, "wow sonic, you sounded so good!" at that, sonic grinned over at her and flashed a thumbs up, "oh gosh, let's see if i remember any words..." turning to face ian, she smiled up at him and spoke, her cadence slowing down and sounding a tad broken up. "il tuo cappello è bello."

"Oh, grazie."

"that in mind, i'm gonna take ian to grab some grub." sonic didn't want make julius feel more pressured, and that meant getting him away from the trio. especially tails, if anyone of them might start pulling the ruse apart it'd be his little buddy. planning to meet up later, sonic 'ian' and the others all went their separate ways.

it wasn't until they were fully out of earshot and eyesight that sonic started speaking to julius normally again, "whew, i panicked there for a second!" he lets out a softer laugh, "i was torn between italian or russian, but i thought that italian would be the safer bet!"

Anaïs Nin, from The Voice

every single thing that stone said seemed to go in through one ear and directly out the other. that frown hadn't left julius' expression, a hand moving to rest on his hip and an eyebrow raised upward ⸻ "i don't care." was his immediate, blunt response to everything that stone had said. & frankly, he didn't. with a slight lean forward of his upper torso, "after all, i'm not your robotnik, right?" the words are sneered. seemed that those specific words had touched a nerve for julius. he moved a hand then, splaying it along stone's chest, "close your eyes and focus on whatever world you came from. once you do that, i can send you back."

he knew the man wasn't too pleased with him not returning the hug, and a small part of him feels a bit of regret at that fact. despite it though stone is quiet for a long moment before he smooths out his coat, fixing the gloves... ivo's gloves, on his hands while he listens to the man speak. his tone was harsh, almost irritated and finally he was reminded of his doctor. stone wanted to explain, so badly in fact that he completely ignores the second thing the man had said.

he had to explain, for as much as this encounter had been odd, this was still an alternate of the doctor.

"yes... I come from a timeline where my doctor sacrificed himself to save the wretched people of earth from certain destruction." he wouldn't dare say it was to save him from being eradicated as well, as the thought alone caused his stomach to churn.

"I had hoped there was a timeline where a robotnik was missing his stone, and would accept my company so we could continue our plans to conquer the world." why he was spinning this story he wasn't entirely sure. perhaps because he wasn't ready to return to his own timeline yet?

or perhaps it was because he quietly hoped the alternate robotnik might allow him to stay at his side...

“You alright?” From such a sharp edged person as Snively, it’s almost painfully endearing how earnest the question is. “Need anything?” Anything *I* can provide, when you have your creations and your alternate dimensional dopplegangers and assistants-turned-lovers at your service? What can family that’s separated by a whole dimension and told all his life he’s lacking, do? //unlackeyed

⸻ the question stills him. it stills him and stirs a hollow cold rage within his chest. not at colin. never at colin. just, the words. 'you alright'. no.

he had not been 'alright' since he was 8.

"need anything?"

julius simply stares across at colin. uncertain on how to answer in a way that wouldn't concern or frighten him. yes, he needs. that rage in him has no outlet. that violent need has no release. he knows if he voices such thoughts, he'll be told not to act on them. how wrong they are. how misguided. how there's a better way. how one shouldn't give into their darkness, their demons.

what if it wasn't a darkness, or demons. what if it was just HIM? period, all he'd ever be, no matter what he tried.

"....not particularly," he settles on, then adds, "but.... thank you, for your concern."