Julius Robotnik! Emptiness In My Core - Blog Posts

@unlackeyed i saw you post colin's height ( 5'0" ) & was inspired to compared that to julius' height ( 6'3" ) and

AMBS HELP I'M DYING LAUGHING.

HE'S BARELY UP TO HIS SHOULDER, WHAT

the playful maybe has julius' gaze narrowing a fraction behind those oval obscuring sunglasses. instead of roman moving to shake his hand, a device is placed in julius' outstretched palm. his fingers curl around it, eyebrow canting upward more as he pulls it closer to himself. hm. he supposed he could find some use for this. really when he'd mentioned it previously, he'd done so offhandedly. hadn't expected roman to actually remember.

pockets the piece of equipment for now, gaze resettling on roman as the other wipes blood off his face with a handkerchief. "worry. i never said i was worried." he scoffs, as if the thought of dead bodies were of any concern to julius. he smiles, in fact, "explain to me how you killed them." he may as well get some satisfaction out of knowing.

cont from (x) @drrobctnik

· 𓂃 ࣪˖🔪 ˖ ࣪𓂂 . "Maybeee~" It's spoken playfully as hands are held behind his back, clearly hiding something. Some equipment he recalls Julius mentioning that Roman had acquired in his recent raid of someone who owed him money. It's small, but he's sure there's more to it, but that's not really something he understood. That's why he found value in befriending someone like Julius, and wanted to keep that. Hence the gesture.

Equipment is held out in offer for the other to take before pulling out handkerchief from pocket to wipe off some of the blood still on his face. "I have people to clean up my messes for me, you don't have to worry about that."

I am the Vampire Lestat. I'm immortal more or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire-these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not.

Interview with the Vampire 1.04

my beautiful manic princess

obviously some of these inspire more than others, but they're all facets i try and keep in mind to some degree whenever i write for julius. if i feel up to it i may elaborate more on why these characters specifically inspire my portrayal of julius. it's hard to get my thoughts together to properly explain stuff like that in depth tho because i always worry i'm not expressing myself well enough.

" you should see the other guy. "

a little scoff of a chuckle; as though julius were simultaneously amused by that statement, impressed, and found joy in the thought. it shows, in how he gives a very brief, rare smile. an eyebrow rose in some contemplation as julius regarded roman from behind obscuring sunglasses,

"have you brought me a present," he wonders, "should i expect to see a corpse with a bow on it being dragged behind you by some of your little henchmen?" he holds a hand out for roman to shake,

"pleasure to see you as always, roman."

"I think I'm losing myself again." //unlackeyed

well that was cryptic, and stupidly vague. that could mean many things: although if julius stopped to think for a moment. he supposed if he were a betting man, he'd bet on colin meaning 'losing himself' as in that sense of, belonging. or perhaps colin were finally growing bored of the do-goodery he kept trying to cling to. after all, from what little julius had gleamed of the man's past, he'd been into some right fucked up shit.

"are you wanting me to comfort you. to tell you that everything will be alright. you merely need to push through, keep trying. all of that." for as much as julius cared for colin (& care he did, because he wouldn't waste his efforts nor his time on anyone else if he didn't give a shit about them), he certainly hoped that colin hadn't mistaken that for julius being a righteous or a good-hearted person. he wasn't. his care extended to colin, to imad. on some small level, to sonic. that was it.

& yet even then, julius couldn't bring himself to simply tell colin that he could be good if he tried, he could continue to be kind if he tried. why? well. because julius himself wouldn't want to hear that as comfort; that would be the worst possible thing for julius to hear. after all, julius was not some 'hero', he was a terrible man who had murdered so many he'd stopped counting. would no doubt murder some more. if colin had come to him holding a gun and shakily confessing that he'd wanted to kill someone who wronged him, julius wouldn't take the gun from colin or tell him there was another way. he'd hold the target down so colin would have a clean shot and wouldn't waste a bullet.

julius had zero idea who either of those men that johnny mentioned were. he decided to save himself the embarrassment of admitting as such though. made a mental note to go digging later to see if he could figure out some info. maybe learn about pompadours in the process. silently watches as johnny tries to comb a hand through his hair but can't, and hums a touch at that. he really had enjoyed his previous hairstyle, hadn't he?

he starts to want to smile, mostly to try and reassure johnny. but it stops short when johnny mispronounces his last name horridly. if he had any sense of pride in his family, he'd feel offended. he could care less though. at least from those terms. mostly it was not wanting other soldiers to hear: that'd catch on, in an annoying way. he'd probably be called ro-butt-nik for the rest of his deployment here if that happened.

"....agreed. robbie would be for the best," he certainly hoped that johnny could at least pronounce the name julius without fumbling. though he's still walking, mentally julius does pause: why is he already thinking of johnny calling him by his first name? that feels, sudden. well. he supposes, for what it's worth, he's enjoyed johnny's company thus far. and, if he's allowed to be so bold, it would be.... nice to be able to see johnny more than just the once.

"er, well, let's see," julius begins to point out the usual areas: the barracks where the lower level soldiers slept, and then mentioning the higher tiers and how they all got their own separate quarters, increasing in size until getting to the basically apartment like rooms of the superiors. mentions how a lot of the corridors here are long on purpose, in order to deter would-be assailants or thieves from trying to break into this particular G.U.N base.

"that's why our basic training focused on physical fitness: they're expecting us to be able to run through these halls within a moment's notice during alarms or in case of an attack."

"Well, y' know... a pompadour! Think, uh... Elvis Presley. Or James Dean! Grease. Y' know, that type o' thing." He runs a hand through his hai—oh... It's not there anymore. Right. Johnny awkwardly cleared his throat.

He follows by Julius's side. Even though the buzzing of his head had gotten him down, at this rate he was just happy enough to have somebody nice and around his own age to talk to (or so he assumed, anyway, based on the look of him). He looked confused as Julius brought up the fact that he had... apparently called him different names—honestly, he hadn't even noticed. Names were hard.

"Huh. Did I? Shoot, I didn't even realize. What'd you say it was again—Ro-butt-nik? Ahhh, I'll just call ya Robbie." It always had been easy for him to mix up names; ultimately, nicknames were much easier to remember.

what day was it; what time. how long had he been here. the seconds blurred into minutes, into hours, into inability to perceive time. julius had thought he'd had bad concept of how long it'd been before, that had been child's play comparatively, to this.

he never moved, not from that spot. & no guards ( he could only surmise he was being held in some sort of G.U.N facility ) ever came to check in on him. supposed it was now more of a curse that he needn't eat, nor really breathe, or drink any liquid in order to survive. could've been kept down here a millennia and it wouldn't have changed anything for julius.

no real danger of dying. just listening to his own haggard, low breaths. he'd screamed until there was nothing left in his lungs to give. now, as it was, staring blankly ahead, all he could do was try. try and grasp for any small semblance of that chaos energy in his body, in the air surrounding him, and hold on. hope that he could push into it, or pull it closer to himself, start to build it. like starting over from scratch after having mastered a technique. a fumbling baby deer unable to walk, or a flightless baby bird. kept slipping, unable to hold on for long enough. or whatever restraints those bastards put on him kept on diluting that energy to the point it wouldn't spark, could barely breathe.

eventually, though he tried to stave it off, he began to sob. it wasn't even sheer sorrow that the sobbing had been inspired by; anger, mostly. that betrayal that kept growing and growing, morphing into disbelief and then hatred and then a numbness, rinse and repeat. that feeling of being abandoned, left alone to rot. forgotten by time. he clenched his hands together so hard beneath those restraints it was a wonder he hadn't shredded his palms to bits.

he kept thinking back to stone ⸻ having only met him the once, for barely maybe 10 minutes at that, an unrequited hug before stone had left ⸻ & wishing he were here. where are you, he kept thinking, not out of blame. not out of rage or anger, not towards stone, but the circumstances. that sheer helplessness of his situation. why aren't you bursting into here and ⸻ and what? why should julius expect to be saved, or needed, quite frankly.

that only caused his sobbing to get worse, that slow realization that, he wasn't necessary. he could die here and no one would turn their head elsewise. doubted anyone even knew he was gone, or if they did, all he could think was why. why was he still here then. why couldn't⸻ just someone, anyone⸻ not not even anyone his mind kept going back to stone, that hug ⸻ unreturned, but julius had hugged sonic too, before THAT BASTARD⸻

ragged inhales, that rage returning and eclipsing the numbness. he wanted sonic dead. he wanted sonic alive, so he could demand an answer out of him. wanted sonic screaming. wanted sonic safe. wanted to just turn back time and never accept that stupid invitation. should've known something wasn't right. sonic never invited julius anywhere. he had been so blinded by disbelief and by the small joy at being included⸻

weak. stupid. useless.

more screaming, not caring if his throat was raw, pushing beyond the limits of his vocal chords. knew they'd heal, even if it took time and at a slower crawl than normal. whatever was restricting his chaos energy usage wasn't affecting his healing. the sick fucks. he'd almost respect it if he wasn't so god damned offended & insulted, ashamed.

alone.

with nothing to do but think, but stew. trying and failing to come up with plans to escape.

eventually, his eyes lulled closed, wishing he could sleep. pass out again. couldn't, body didn't need sleep. another form of torture and using his own abilities against him.

wished he were dead. wanted to live to⸻ he didn't even know. to spite them. wanted to give up. but something in him writhed at the notion: coward. weak bastard. fight. go down screaming and cursing if you must, but don't let them win. never truly.

so he waited. bided his time. it was all he could do.

⸻ ft. imad stone x julius robotnik ⸻

( "i can't lose you." )

crafted by fritzi & wilhelm.

@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 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.

he felt like he were disappointing sonic. he could tell that sonic were trying for his sake. hell only knew why, but sonic was. and that meant more to julius than he could properly admit, or even begin to process and parse through. he inhaled a touch through slightly clenched teeth, a hand coming up to rub at the side of his own face. "i.... think that would be for the best. i cannot stand these crowds. and the smell isn't something i'm fond of either."

at that, sonic coughed a little laugh, grinning up at julius, "you really are picky, huh," but it sounds fond, and at that, julius scowls a tad but a blush does cross his expression.

"i can hardly stop myself. you try standing around hundreds of people with enhanced hearing and scent and try not to feel dizzied."

"hey. it's alright, julius." sonic's hand is on julius' arm again. julius pauses, and sonic continues, "these things take time, yanno? small steps are still steps. n'hey, once you're feeling better, you can always try again. maybe at a smaller get-together."

what did i do, to deserve you? julius inhales a spell, before he's suddenly dropping down onto one knee, and then tugging sonic forward before hugging him. he can feel sonic tense up slightly, not having expected it. truthfully, julius hadn't either, but ⸻ he had just felt, compelled.

"i just thought you deserved to have a fun day out." sonic replied, and maybe it was the earnestness of his tone, but julius looked momentarily startled silent at what sonic had said. not wanting julius to feel awkward, he continued, "but i can also see that this's gettin to ya bit. hey how about we sneak down one of the side roads. letcha breathe for a spell." gloved hand lays on julius' arm, & sonic smiles easily up at him.

"....very well." & julius motioned for sonic to lead, since sonic knew the streets of station square forward and backwards by this point. and so sonic did, led them away from all that hustle and bustle, toward one of the roads that had less car & foot traffic because the road had been blocked off due to the festivities.

"thanks, for trying julius. i really mean that." sonic's glancing over at julius, "you don't gotta stay for the whole hour. we did say five minutes, originally."

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!"

ian, really⸻? julius had to fight not make a face of disgust, kept his expression neutral, before smiling and giving a slight nod toward them all. he hated this already. how did any of them find this fun? the crowds were far too loud for julius' ears, that scent of oily greasy foods overwhelmed him.

"sonic do you mind asking him what brings him to station square?" amy's staring up at him, and julius can't tell if she's caught wise already or she's genuinely curious. he keeps that smile plastered on.

"ah, right! sure thing," sonic's turning towards him then, paused to consider before he spoke, "Ok, allora fai finta che ti stia chiedendo perché sei qui."

julius glanced at sonic, impressed. that was near perfect italian. "È un'assurdità, ve ne rendete conto?"

sonic's smiling, but his next words sound a tad sharper, "Dai, non è poi così male."

sonic's looking back toward the trio, smiling, "he says he's here to take in the sights, and try out some new food."

"heeeey, sonic!!" amy's voice sing-songed the second that she saw sonic's quills and saw him shuffling past a group of people walk-dancing across the street to some of the more jivy music playing over the loudspeakers strewn along the sidewalks. she paused then, noticing that sonic was leading someone closer to them. she blinked, hand lowering a touch as her fingers curled, "tails, did sonic mention anything about bringing someone?"

"it's news to me too, just indulge him amy. sonic likes to bring new people for us to meet."

"that's a big hat," knuckles sounded amused by it, not really caring either way who sonic did or didn't bring. wasn't any of his business anyway.

"hey guys, sorry it took a bit t'get here! had to go get my friend." sonic's letting go of his hand, and motions towards him, "this's ian, he's not from around here and can't speak english too much. so sorry if he's quiet."

'ian' gave a short, very brief smile, nodding toward the trio.

🕯️

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.

⸻ he had nothing left, now. what little that truly mattered to him, naught but ash. not even a body he could hold. to mourn. to apologize. to possibly cradle. bootfalls rushing toward his location, rounding that corner and stopping once they saw the carnage and destruction. his chaos energy so out of control, rising and peaking and drenching the very air in this corridor that it caused the emergency lights themselves to short-circuit. washing julius in darkness, save for his red irises. his red irises were visible in that darkness, glowing brightly.

sound of a gunshot, muzzle flash as those G.U.N soldiers opened fire on him. the bullets impacted his skin, causing him to jerk slightly. felt them enter, blood pour, but then that healing and chaos energy made the bullets evaporate before they could exit through him. human weaponry couldn't truly harm him now. they fired at him more, their eyes terrified of how he wasn't going down to their weapons-

his eyes glowed brighter in that darkness.

silently, fueled by rage and hatred, he charged forward and blinked from existence before reappearing in front of one of the soldiers. using that momentum and rage to punch a hole through the man's face, yanking him forward to shield from those bullets, only to toss the corpse aside. glowing in his left hand now, a mini chaos plasma attack, like a knife. he slits the other man's throat with an adeptness that should startle him but doesn't. he's calm. blood sprays forward, coating him as that body slumps.

julius stands there, staring at the wall in front of him. no satisfaction at the sight, the knowledge. there was a slight tickling of that sensation, a barely there notion of enjoyment. numbed over from the reality of his situation at present. more footfalls nearby him, he glances over at the feeling of bullets piercing his shirt and entering his skin, only to heal and fizzle away again.

slaughters his way through the soldiers that between him and his end destination. a newly pristine living quarters, assigned to one james stone. julius stood there, staring down at that dark black jacket that james often wore. sounds of distant alarms from that open door, wash of red from the corridor. a slightly quaking hand reached out, hesitated before cradling that jacket. pulls it closer, hugging it, burying his face into it, inhaling. his scent. muffled, quiet, broken sobs wet that fabric. lowers onto his knees, clinging and pulling that empty jacket closer to himself.

inhaling, a small sniffle of a noise, julius pulled that jacket away from his face. stared down at it. he stood up then, discarding his old bullet ridden one, before pulling on james' old jacket. he has to pull the sleeves off as they're too short to fit his frame properly, but he can sew on new sleeves later on. his gaze lists, noting old sunglasses on the nearby table. walks over to them and lifts them up, a thumb roaming the frame, noting that purple tint. a shaking hollow smile, julius puts those sunglasses on. hoping, at least in some way, by keeping his clothes, by wearing these sunglasses, by holding himself in a way that james may have, that james stone may yet live on.

at the very least, in spirit.

🕯️

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

how could you. i trusted you. i hate you. i love you. you're nothing. you're everything. i'll kill you. get away from me.

"yes, you. I have a question."

not chaos energy, exactly, but not dissimilar in sensation. he couldn't tap into it though as easily as he could've with chaos energy. not that julius was going to try, currently, too spent from that dimensional hop to bother trying. so he'd been wandering around, not really caring how suspicious it may look that a total stranger was wandering about, peering in through windows as though looking for something.

honestly he was trying to gather an understanding of this universe. & sometimes that meant peeping through windows to look into businesses or homes to check things like decor, technological advances or lack thereof.

so of course someone ratted julius out and called the authorities. lovely. it seemed no matter what universe he found himself in, he'd need to deal with these uppity pricks. his gaze narrowed a fraction behind those sunglasses at this uniformed person's appearance: fishlike in all but how he stood. made julius think of mobians but if they were even more humanoid. hm.

where in hells name had he ended up.

"& what can i help you with, officer."

which tragic death would you suffer?

the betrayal.

you die at the hands of the person you love most. maybe there are tears in their eyes as they drive the sword into your chest, maybe there are none. there are certainly tears in yours. your mouth will open to ask 'why' only to spit blood instead. you will die never knowing if they loved you at all, wondering if you could've done something to prevent this, or if it was always going to end this way.

“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."

he thought that johnny looked far better than just 'fine enough' now, but julius didn't think saying that would be best at the moment. maybe another time. though at what johnny says about pompadours, julius' eyebrows lift in slight surprise, "really? er, sorry. i don't actually know what a pompadour is, hair style, wise," he wasn't exactly into the latest hairdos, never had been. mostly into fashion, but he guessed if he tried he could learn. nothing a quick read couldn't remedy.

"but i'll take your word for it."

then johnny's mentioning that he can show him around, nothing better to do. at being told he seemed like he made better company, julius' feels a blush warm at his face. at being told to lead the way - johnny was calling him by another name again. that confused him.

"i'll do that...." he motions for johnny to follow, and starts walking down the hall. speaks to johnny as they go, "i'm wondering, er, why do you keep calling me by different 'r' names? is robotnik difficult for you to pronounce?"

Awww, man. Of course this place expects him to be all formal-like about everything, too. Johnny was far from the formal type—he could hardly pull it together even if he tried. He felt like a fish out of water around here.

He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "Ah, right... Just Bravo, then. Heh... But I'm tellin' you, man—if you saw my hair then, you'd probably think I look a whole lot better than just fine enough. I had a big ol' pompadour that could make any lady swoon in two seconds flat!"

Okay, yeah, that was a major exaggeration, but Robotnik didn't need to know that. Nonetheless, the mention of receiving a tour of the base piqued his interest, at least a little. After all, if he's going to be staying here for a while, he might as well get familiar with it, he reckons.

"Sure, yeah! I ain't got nothin' better to do right now, anyway—n' you seem like you make better company than all them big boss guys who've been screamin' in my face all day, heh. Lead the way, Robertson!"

"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."

the outfit that 'ian' is wearing during this thread, in case anyone was curious!!

he blinks, noting the firmness of johnny's grasp, but also the quickened enthuse with which he shook julius' hand. at that, his gaze narrowed, a soft smile crossing his expression. especially at how casually johnny spoke with him. "actually, it's customary to only give your last name when speaking to others. part of G.U.N's protocols. wouldn't want you getting in trouble with the higher ups if they overhear you." or having another soldier ratting johnny out.

then, though, johnny calls him roberto and julius can't hide the skewed expression of light surprise and confusion at that- wait, roberto? not to mention, johnny was speaking far too informally, it'd get him in plenty of trouble. julius chews at the tip of his tongue as he considers how in the heck he's supposed to respond to all of that.

...the way that johnny's speaking, talking, going on, it's so bizarre it's oddly refreshing, in it's own right.

"i'm.... sorry about your hair. it's required and mandatory, a lot of things are around this place. but uhm, if it's any relief, i think the style you have now looks fine enough." he trails, thinking about the things johnny asked about how julius kept any sanity here.

"....well," he, didn't know how to answer that, "i just do as i'm told. and i try to keep my head down. i'd be perfectly fine as a rank-and-file soldier, boots on the ground," so then why was he so desperate in trying to gain more ranking here? his father. julius keeps any bitterness deep within, not letting that flint of possible fire any air to grow, "but... it would be nice to have a bit more, ah, leeway?"

"i'm sure you'll adjust in time, bravo." he clears his throat, and steps back, giving a small smile, "did you want to walk around the base? i can give you a mini tour of sorts. i know it took me a few weeks to really remember where every hallway led to, or where to rush to when an alarm went off."

Sheesh. Even just one year in this place sounded so overwhelming at the moment, it was hard to believe anyone would want to stick around for that long. But Johnny supposed that he'd already signed himself up for this, so there was no backing out now...

Johnny looked down at the other man's hand for a brief moment, then took it in his own to give him a shake—Robotnik would notice that he had a rather firm grip, and shook with a hasty enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm Johnny! Johnny Bravo!" Alas, he wasn't quite as familiar with the last-name basis around here yet, so he didn't give much thought to it. Then, he grew serious for a moment. "Alright, Roberto, so you've been here for a lil' while, right? So, lemme ask ya... How do ya do it? I've barely been here a day, n' I feel like I'm already losin' my marbles, man. They took my hair from me! My precious 'do! That's like... like a cat without claws! An angel without wings! How's a guy supposed to stay sane 'round here?"