Chapter Text
It was part of their routine that Stone had become pretty lax in, checking emails. Ever since they stopped working for the government what would you know it? People stopped sending as many emails. When they’d attached his old one to his streaming account they’d never thought much of it as only officials could email them, not the general public, yet as Stone decided to check it for the first time in a few weeks out of mere idle curiosity instead of reliable empty inbox there were in fact, 3, new emails.
“Sir?” Stone called out, knowing the Doctor was somewhere behind him.
Robotnik poked his head out nearly immediately and called back, “What is it, Stone? That’s your something unusual has happened voice,” He pointed with a pair of tongs at the other man, Stone had no idea where he got those from.
“You’ve been invited to a convention, I think I've seen this online before, a con.” Stone explained, not entirely certain what comic con was until he read more.
Apparently, the Doctor was similarly in the dark about this specific aspect of content creation and fame, “A what,”
He kept reading, “A Comic Con, well I don’t think it’s called that specifically, to like, present, as a live streamer, streamers go to these conventions to meet fans and the like. You’ve been invited by the convention staff to attend as talent.” He explained, probably very poorly. He didn’t really understand it. He knew the Doctor had fans, but wasn’t part of the fun that he was a mystery behind the screen? Well, he supposed not, some of these people seemed to believe the Doctor was a personal friend.
Robotnik hummed, clicking his tongs together again, where on earth had he found them? He wasn’t cooking that was certain. “I think we’ve already made a small fortune off my delightful persona, also if I ever show my real and touchable face rather than an untouchable camera feed in society again, we may be immediately hunted down and shot in the woods somewhere.” He said, walking fully into the room, wrapping his arms around Stone and placing his head on the man’s shoulder.
“Oh sir, I know your brilliant mind could work around that,” Stone teased, although he knew the other man was at least on some level right.
G.U.N would hunt them down and try and imprison them, or worse, if they knew. But luckily, they were very stupid and incompetent, and even though they were almost certainly aware of Robotnik’s streaming activities their constant moving via crab and G.U.N’s lack of jurisdiction over their platforms left them virtually untouchable. He was sure if they were careful about it, they could get away with nearly anything.
“Well yes, it could Stone, but do you want to do this?” Robotnik asked, using the tongs still in his hand to gesture at the screen in front of them, “I thought you’d much rather remain safely behind the cameras and be very peaceful in infinite domestic bliss here,” He nuzzled his face and slightly itchy moustache into Stone’s neck,
Stone hummed, moving his own hand to cover Robotnik’s, domestic bliss sounded nice, but really, where was the fun in remaining the same forever? “There’s no harm in trying something new,”
“I like the way you think sycophant,” Robotnik grinned, pulling back till it was just his arm around Stone as he read through the details of the email, “Why don’t you go ahead and write a response, affirming our presence, because you my darling are not getting out of this. Tell them I shall do a meet and greet and perhaps a panel if there is any interest in such a thing. There surely will be, I could answer questions live, much more fun,” Robotnik was nodding now, as though currently formulating his plans for all these events. “Hmm, yes I will announce my confirmation in a few weeks time to my delighted audience.”
“I see you’ve come around quickly, sir,” Stone said, unable to keep the teasing from his tone,
Robotnik clamped the tongs down on his arm, not at all painful, but a definite warning, “Quiet Stone, I am aware you knew I’d be intrigued from the beginning, I allowed this to happen.” He responded, continuing to read through the email, before pulling up his own screen to begin researching the convention itself,
“Of course, Sir,” Stone responded, but it didn’t stop him from grinning.
To say the audience took the news well was an understatement. In fact, it was an understatement to end all understatements. Robotnik had been streaming for about an hour before he decided to reveal it, he’d also decided not to warn Stone of his decision before hand leaving his reaction entirely up to chance. His presence too, considering he had been outside working on some surface-level repairs on the outer shell of the crab.
Look it was definitely Stone’s fault they had rammed into a tree the other week, but in his defence, he had been rather distracted by an overly touchy boyfriend at the time. Never distract your driver. No one should ever flirt and drive, especially when what you’re driving is your entire house. So he’d agreed to fix it, he was always the one to fix it, not that he minded, it allowed Robotnik to watch him and talk at him like a live never ending podcast when he saw fit, and it was sort of therapeutic to do manual labour sometimes. Even when it was alone.
He'd just finished replacing the damaged panel when he came back inside, once again in a state of physical disrepair. The viewers had probably come to expect him to look like this sometimes, they’d seen him in almost every state imaginable. Soaking wet? Check, half naked? Check, sweaty and covered in grime and mud? Sure, of course. Flustered beyond belief? Quite regularly actually. He was wearing what he usually wore to fix things, an older pair of tailored pants and a tank, why did he repair things in his normal suit pants? Habit alone, he used to do it in the lab because Robotnik forbid any other clothing choices due to his own physic damage from seeing Stone in ‘normal people clothes’ and it had stuck. The Doctor had even gone so far as to suggest directly that Stone could change such a habit, possibly from guilt, and that had only led to the aforementioned tank top and not much else changing.
Robotnik had been pacing back and forth, now gesturing wildly and explaining uh, something, for sure, Stone was not quite tuned in yet. His brain still working overtime to think about whether there were any other repairs needed, if the new device had been finished by their Badnik’s yet, where to dispose of the old broken materials. They were evil but they weren’t monsters, they weren’t about to leave waste products around in the woods.
He'd walked through and past the screen into their kitchen area, ready to examine the Badnik whirring away at their tasks, they were always perfectly in line but it never hurt to check. Watching them was fun anyway, the Doctor’s work was always excellent to marvel at.
“Aban!” Huh what? Aban? He sent a confused frown the Doctor’s way, momentarily forgetting himself and their wonderful plan to differentiate their real relationship via the wonderful mechanism of first names, “Just in time, I have a very special announcement to make to my audience,” Oh!
Stone hurried back, not bothering to clean himself up at all, it was far too late to aim for decency on stream, they had long since come to accept that. “What would that be, sir?” Stone beamed, he knew already.
To be honest, lying to their viewers had only become more fun since their big reveal a few months ago. Despite initial fears from Robotnik that people truly were only watching for the thrill of the romantic chase going on in the background of every single stream, he had been proven well and truly wrong. Viewership for Robotnik’s channel and grown well and truly of its own accord, his fame was earned through hard work and pure insanity on his part. A Robotnik stream could be labelled a ‘surrealist experience’ and that would be putting it mildly.
Despite no longer hiding an outward affection for each other and the occasional romantic sappiness, they still lied to the viewers. Where would be the fun for them if they were entirely truthful? Stone still acted oblivious much of the time to fan based and romantic situations, Robotnik still pretended to be embarrassed by Stone’s affection when in reality he was more often than not the one initiating it to begin with. Stone still hadn’t quite picked up on fandom stuff but he was getting there, maybe. He knew what the word fandom meant at the very least.
“We are going to a convention!” Robotnik said with a grin, “And I mean we, our dear Stone will be joining me, we shall be hosting a meet and greet where you can have the honour of becoming acquainted with yours truly and ask me whatever your heart desires,” He grinned, “And a panel too,” He added, after a moments thought,
Stone at Robotnik, “Uh, maybe we should say where it is, sir?” He said, hinting that perhaps he should give the viewers more than the bare minimum amount of information. Such as, where and when the con was at all.
Robotnik took the hint after a slight glare from Stone, going on to exposit more technical information, though it was clear he didn’t care whatsoever for that part of it. “It shall be a thrill to meet my adoring followers, the citizens of Eggman empire, the eggheads if you will,” Robotnik was nodding wisely as he said it,
Donation message: ‘Yo why is stone oiled up’ $30
“Now how the fuck is that relevant to my convention appearance?” Robotnik squawked, and even Stone was a little taken aback, he wasn’t even covered in oil this time, more so, uh, general grime and dirt. He needed to take a shower. “Stone is perfectly decent, it is your own minds that make these perverse claims,” Robotnik snapped,
Donation message: ‘CONGRATS ROB BUT HOW ARE WE MEANT TO CONCERNTRATE ON THAT WHEN STONE SO FINE ???????? GO GET UR MAN ????’ $75
He hadn’t been this targeted with harassment in a while, usually, it happened only once every few weeks and there had been a bit of a gap since the last incident. They both took it in stride, it was kind of flattering sometimes, but for others it was just bewildering. He couldn’t help getting a little flustered, the blatant desire emanating from these donators was a bit much for even a well-trained man to handle. “Thank you,” He murmured quietly, and Robotnik wrapped an arm around him almost protectively,
“I already have Stone random viewer, and you do not.” Robotnik said, “And for your information, he was doing important repairs and very charitably stepped away from such tasks to grace us with his presence, cease your madness,” He huffed,
Donation message: ‘will you be there both days? So excited!’ $10
Robotnik groaned, “Finally, a normal question, the answer is yes,” he said,
Donation message: ‘POGGGGGG WE EATING WELL TODAY’ $15
“What are you eating?” Stone asked, he’d seen that said before, about himself too. Something about his suit eating. But it was a suit so that didn’t make much sense. Robotnik let out a cackle beside him, once again proving that he did not have to fake his ignorance most of the time, it was just an inherent part of him.
Robotnik suddenly twisted him around, manhandling him a little too easily, making Stone’s breath catch and pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “Now off you go my idiot, your service here is done and my chat may finally stop treating you like a full three-course meal, you ravenous beasts,”
Stone’s breath had been successfully taken away, even as Robotnik’s arm held him upright, his hand grasping his waist tightly, warm, strong, fuck Stone was in way too deep. A thought he was having more and more as of late, how was it even possible to be this into to another person? “Is that another thing to do with the eating?” Stone said, slightly breathless,
It was a small laugh, warm and almost sensual like he was making fun of him but at the same time unbelievably attractive. “By god, you are a moron, off, no morons on my stream, go see if the Badniks are done,” He said, and gently pushed Stone away from him with a hand to the chest,
“Yes, yes sir,” Stone stuttered, scuttling out of the view of the camera with no further questions or complaints, as he left he heard the next few donations coming through,
Donation message ‘AYOOOO????? ROB WITH THE RIZZ?’ $69
“How hard is it for you imbeciles to type the word charisma? You bring shame to my empire!” Robotnik squawked out, and Stone had to suppress a laugh,
Donation message ’21 lol’ $21
“Fuck you specifically!”
Stone really had to get out of range, he was about to burst, and when the sliding door to their shared room where the other half of the Badniks were carefully working away laser cutting new parts was closed, Stone did burst out laughing.
The trip to the convention was easy enough, they parked the crab far enough out of the way in the nearest large body of water that it wouldn’t be a problem. If anyone found the crab, too bad for them because there was no way in hell they could open it. It was the first time they’d been in a well populated area in America in a long time. Well populated areas in the rest of the world were mostly fine, what were they going to do if Robotnik the wanted criminal showed up in New Zealand huh? They would leave him alone, the chances of him being recognised outside of his streaming persona were next to none. Let alone the fact it wasn’t even Robotnik leaving the crab, it was Stone.
They had packed a few bags, and decided to stay in a hotel for a few days rather than returning to the crab, immersive experience and all, it was what the other content creators were doing. Robotnik had done far more of the research for this trip, Stone’s job was entirely based in packing and booking. Even if they despised the idea of being part of the general masses, in this situation it would work to their advantage by not drawing extra attention to them. Hopefully, that was the plan at least, and the hotel had good reviews and a decent view, so there wasn’t much to lose at any rate. Like a holiday, but they were working, and would soon have an audience of real people in at least the hundreds, if not thousands.
“Did you remember the milk, Stone?” Robotnik asked as they climbed into the elevator, it was the third time he’d asked a similar question, “Because there is no way in hell I’m going two days without our normal coffee machine and without Austrian goat-“ The button to their floor was pressed without a second thought,
Stone let his hand brush against the Doctor’s, a small sign of affection, but also a way to cut him off, “I did, just like I remembered your backup goggles, your toothbrush and your uh, disguise,” The disguise was a whole different issue. Despite being the smartest man alive Robotnik refused to accept Stone’s insistence that wearing glasses, and a slightly different coat would effectively hide the massive moustache. If it worked for Superman, it worked for Ivo Robotnik, apparently.
“Because I will not forgive you if you forgot any of those items,” Robotnik reiterated, but Stone was never in any danger. He could forget all their luggage and lock them out of the crab forever and Robotnik would get over it within a few days.
“I know sir, perhaps we should go over the layout again,” They were cut off by a scream, the elevator door had slid open just one floor above where they were and a teenage girl dressed up in what appeared to be a strange imitation of a plumber’s uniform with giant overalls and a stupid hat was staring at them,
“Holy fuck are you Robotnik? Like, like the Rob?” She almost screamed out, and Stone was distinctly feeling like a deer in headlights, and if he had turned his head he was almost certainly to find Robotnik looking about the same.
“Doctor Robotnik,” The Doctor corrected almost instinctively like he couldn’t stop it. He shot a worried glance at Stone.
She was officially gaping at them, even as the elevator door started closing again, both Robotnik and Stone had absolutely no desire to hold it for this person. She stuck an arm out in time though and she clambered in, and following very shortly after a taller man in a pink dress and not very nice blond wig joined her, “I’ve been watching you for years, this is fucking incredible,” That was surprising considering he hadn’t actually been doing this that long, “Actually this is the best day of my life,”
It was at that moment Stone made the impulsive decision to slap over more of the buttons, best to disguise where they were getting off rather than have them immediately located and identified. “Shit, man, are you like Stone? The Stone that she always-“ the man had begun to speak, eyes widening as he did so before the girl slapped a hand over his mouth in an action painfully reminiscent of what the Doctor often did to him. It was going to haunt Stone not knowing what he was going to say.
“Shut up dude,” She hissed, before removing her hand and wiping it on his dress, another very familiar action, it was funny really. Stone realised then how long it had been since he’d had a normal human interaction that wasn’t buying groceries or speaking at a camera. Mind you speaking at a camera was not a normal human interaction, nor was this really.
“Uh, a pleasure to meet you,” Stone said awkwardly, even as Robotnik continued glaring at them vaguely as though they were G.U.N agents in disguise and not the first taste he would have of the hordes of fans to come. “Are many attendees staying here?” He asked, hoping to gather a little intel on exactly how fucked they were.
“Not really, I think it’s mostly creators, June’s being a weirdo but we’re both mods for a V-tuber here.” The man said, Stone didn’t know what most of those words meant, “So we’re sort of behind the scenes too, I guess, we’re not about to doxx you or anything,” He explained as though placating a dangerous animal. That description could have fit either of them though, Stone was trained to kill and Robotnik would probably just bite you quite hard, but neither was a pleasant thing to go through. Unless it was the latter and you were Agent Stone.
“Oh, oh that’s good, I did think this was the hotel with non guests for the most part,” Stone said with a smile,
June, he assumed that was her name, that’s what the man had said anyway, suddenly looked worried, “Fuck I’m sorry if I made you think you were about to get stalked by some rabid fan, not that I’m not a fan but uh, you guys don’t have that many in person encounters right?” Haha that was an understatement.
“I haven’t left the crab in over three months,” Robotnik responded, deadpan, and although they’d called the crab what it was before, it was likely still just as confusing as it sounded. “And you did cause a reasonable level of concern between us, though your enthusiasm is appreciated,” He added, rubbing salt in the wound.
“So sorry about that, it’s our floor now, we’ll just uh, leave you alone now, lovely meeting you!” The man called, they never had caught his name, and dragged June out with him, leaving Stone and Robotnik once again alone in the elevator.
Robotnik turned to Stone with a newfound frown, “Perhaps we should not try new things Stone, perhaps the familiar and safe should be appreciated.” He said, a little bitterly.
“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” there would be a rather long road ahead of them. This did not bode well for the average interaction between them and fans.
They started their foray into the actual convention behind the scenes, coming through a back entrance to get their pass and immediately bee lining to a creator's room, avoiding the actual hall entirely. There were various somewhat familiar faces back there, creators famous enough to burst through Stone’s bubble of obliviousness, whether it had been them trending on Twitter or their fans overlapping, or just being both on their streaming platform, these people were recognisably famous. Scarily enough, apparently so were they, Stone caught at least a few people staring at the two of them as they walked past, Robotnik confidently in the lead and Stone following loyally behind.
In a way it felt like they were back in those old familiar government facilities again, yelling at random insignificant bastards and glaring at higher-ups. Facing the scrutiny of a bunch of idiots who didn’t know any better than them. At least, these idiots were more self-aware on the whole, that’s why they were in comedy entertainment not politics and security. The government workers had been hilarious, but that was a factor out of their control and certainly not monetizable.
A coordinator approached them soon enough, looking a little frazzled but still greeting the Doctor with the appropriate respect and gravitas he deserved. “Sir, sorry Doctor Robotnik, your first scheduled appearance is at 3 pm which I’m sure you know, but your current pass allows you into pretty much anything so feel free to do anything you want here,” They beamed, “We are so honoured to be able to host you for your first public event,”
First public event, as though there would be many more in the future, and there might be if this one didn’t go horribly wrong. If the government showed up on the con’s doorstep, they would know exactly whose fault that was, but hopefully that did not happen. They had taken at least a few precautions against that.
“You should feel that way,” Robotnik said, “And thank you for the pass, I’m sure it will be of some use.” He added, and continued walking, ignoring as the coordinator called out the time to arrive before the meet and greet. Stone noted it down as he continued following the Doctor, shooting the coordinator a smile and a wave as they continued on. It was a lot easier to be blunt and dismissive to random government employees who did genuinely suck than people who were adoring fans.
“Where are we headed Doctor?” Stone asked, walking in pace with the man that was clearly on some kind of targeted mission. Robotnik slipped on his black-rimmed glasses, and Stone realised then that even they were a reference to Superman, next he put up his long hair- still no shaving stream- in a ponytail.
“Coat,” He said, holding a hand out, and Stone placed the coat he had been carrying about in it, a stupid trench coat. But, Stone was not about to question his boyfriend’s genius, the other man knew what he was getting himself into, especially considering Stone would just look like Stone, a moderately recognisable man.
“Sir is this really advisable?” He’d give it one last go, just to say I told you so later, not that he actually would. But it was a nice though, even as the Doctor shot him a glare and shook his head, likely scolding the other man in his mind.
Robotnik opened a door, apparently, he’d memorised the hall layout better than Stone had because they arrived right in Artist Alley right where Robotnik had previously mentioned he was most curious about. There was a fair amount to do at this convention, other panels for one, not that they were really interested in other talent that were here at the moment. If it was a panel of scientists or the latest up-and-coming academics for Robotnik to grill on their specialty subjects maybe, but other content creators? No, didn’t care.
There was a games room too, but despite playing video games on occasion Robotnik didn’t particularly care for playing them against other people, at least not in real life, he preferred them anonymous and easier to shout at. Stone preferred it that way too, less public problems if Robotnik didn’t randomly start yelling at people, though Stone would back him up wholeheartedly no matter what.
Artist Alley was packed, to say the least. They were surrounded by people similarly dressed up, from crazily well-constructed and brightly coloured wigs to fake weapons that seemed wildly impractical in size and ability this maze of artists selling their wares was filled to the brim with off-putting characters. Stone was immediately enamoured with the attendees, the detail on their costumes was genuinely impressive, especially if any of them had made them by themselves. As a man who also had a penchant for sewing, he could appreciate skill when he saw it.
“Behold Stone! Artist Alley,” Robotnik grinned, taking his henchman’s hand, introducing the space as though he’d been there before. He sort of had, just in map layouts and photos of previous cons. “You may ask me why I wish to come here, even very well disguised my persona is simply too recognisable to be ignored,”
Incredible understatement, Stone was genuinely impressed, the Doctor was certainly one of the most recognisable men in the whole world if you knew what he looked like at all.
“Well, you see my dear barnacle some of my most loyal followers swore they would be attending today, and some of these individuals will be selling their delicious art here today. I wish to support my Egglings, build economy within my empire, endorse the arts.” He waved a hand about as he spoke, and Stone nodded along loyally, although he was scanning all around them at a rate quicker than usual. He was always in protection mode when they were in public together, but it had been a very long time since there was this sheer volume of people.
Even if everyone in this room was a kind person with no intentions of physical or emotional harm to the Doctor, there was just so much to look at. From the walls and walls of gorgeous art, and surprising art, and seemingly inappropriate art, which now faced them to the people that inhabited the space Stone couldn’t help but scan the room with high intensity.
“Woah sir look, that’s a whole suit, are they on stilts? Is it a mech-“ Stone was getting excited now, not even responding to his boyfriend’s previous statement, getting way too invested in what seemed to be a large fluffy white and green dragon, with huge eyes, Stone wondered if they were functional or merely for display purposes. “That’s a person controlling that, not a robot,” Stone breathed, watching as the dragon guy walked past, long tail that could actually move following behind it, “They must have added some sort of motor to that thing, quite an impressive feat of engineering considering how untalented most people are, it manages to look like a stuffed toy yet maintained perfect range of motion,” Stone was saying, mildly awed by it. He forgot other people in the world could do mechanical engineering of any sort, that was something reserved for his Doctor after all.
“It’s a furry Stone, really you haven’t been paying enough attention to my lessons in fandom culture whatsoever.” Robotnik sighed, the Doctor had been giving him lessons in fandom culture as preparation for this event. After doing the research himself the Doctor had decided he must know, they started with cosplayers, to explain the overwhelming number of people in clear costumers. He was sure furries had been mentioned, something about body suits, dressed as animals, things like that. they continued through the hall, Stone turning back one last time to glance at the dragon, he wondered why it wouldn’t be called a scaly if dragons had scales, but he supposed it was because the suit itself seemed to be a furry fabric, not the animal it was based on.
Robotnik clearly had his eye out for something specific, scanning the booths in front of them with fervour, nearly running into various con goers in the process. They had wandered for almost two rows before he made a sudden stop, nearly making Stone run into him as halted suddenly.
“What is it sir- oh,” Stone had now processed what stall they were outside of, the art certainly looked familiar enough. Small charms of them together, hanging off each other were hanging on a display board, and alongside it stickers of various things Robotnik had previously said including a lovely ‘21’ sticker. Then there was art of them kissing quite blatantly with ‘i’ve come to make an announcement’ on the bottom. There were pins and other assorted items including what appeared to be a whole bag with an art piece of them dancing together. It was familiar in a way, he recognised most of the popular and even smaller artists that regularly created art of the two of them, especially romantic art.
It took a moment for him to look up and at the person actually helming the store he was currently looking at, while there was art based around other characters and streamers they seemed to be the overwhelming majority here. When he did look up, he came face to face with a person gawking at them widely, jaw practically on the floor, silently staring.
“I would like to purchase some of these pins and keychains,” Robotnik said, voice confident and grinning. Stone realised just then he’d probably made a list of their Eggman empire artists and crosschecked with the attendance list, hence he knew what he was looking for.
“Are, are you,” The artist was stuttering, Stone was still having the feeling that this art style felt familiar somehow. Although he didn’t know their face, they were wearing a red and black hoodie with what appeared to be a handmade imprinted Robotnik logo on it, impressive dedication honestly. They should start selling merchandise.
It suddenly clicked and Stone gasped, “Are you stobliker21 on Twitter?” He asked, knowing the artist went by other things on other platforms and that was not their official artist’s name, merely a joke Twitter handle that had stuck, and then stuck even more so when Stone had directly mentioned them on stream. Too bad for their artist’s name they were stuck as that forever now at least on one platform.
Their eyes widened, “Oh my god you’re Stone, and you’re-“ they turned to Robotnik, still agape but the Doctor cut them off before they could speak further, loudly announcing their presence.
“Uh, no I’m another unrelated person.” Robotnik said, “See the glasses, different,” He waved a hand in front of his face, looking very serious indeed, before going back to examining the prices.
Stone frowned at the Doctor, although he understood the idea behind the disguise it seemed a little ridiculous to try and pretend they weren’t who they were in front of a fan who had definitely spent too long staring at their faces. “Doctor,“ He began, intending to lightly scold the other man, but he too was cut off.
“Nope, just Ivo thank you.” The Doctor said, waving a finger at Stone, before saying, “A different Ivo mind you.” A different Ivo. Stone didn’t know any other Ivos.
The artist was beaming, as though this was the best day of their life. Just like the other fan, a little bewildering really, they had put so much effort into caring about the two of them. “I can’t believe this is happening right now, I’ve been a fan of you guys since forever, you look exactly the same, I can’t believe you remembered my handle, when you said it on stream I thought I was having a heart attack,” They gushed, and Stone couldn’t help but smile back at them, “And you want to? If you want to buy- I can just give it to you for free,” They said,
“No! I will be a patron of the arts,” Robotnik said quickly, “Donations are for streams, you deserve to be paid for your hard labour and adequately compensated.” He said, gathering up the items he wanted from the table, carefully selecting each one and examining it, “Not that I am Robotnik.” He suddenly added, as though it was a warning.
“Of course not,” The artist, that’s right their name was Deven, said. It was now a conspiratorial smile, like they were utterly delighted to be involved in whatever scheme this was. Honestly Stone suspected Robotnik hadn’t quite figured out how much trouble it could be if they announced their presence, hence the moving quickly and in a ‘disguise’ as a precaution.
He nodded, “Good glad we agree. Stone grab one of those bags,”
Stone nodded, picking up the tote that was vaguely gestured to, “Yes sir,”
“I’m coming to your meet and greet later, I didn’t realise you’d be exploring the convention earlier,” Deven said, leaning forward, showing off the handmade coat even better, it was an impressive effort.
Stone decided that even if Robotnik was trying very poorly to disguise his identity, he didn’t have to, “Never been to one of these, we were both curious. You are a very talented artist,” He complimented,
“Thank you so much, you have no idea how much it means to me,” Considering just how much stuff was based on them, he could take a pretty accurate guess, “Have you seen the guys dressed up as Rob yet?” Deven said, eyes wide,
Stone stared for a moment, before asking, “The what?”
“Oh yeah, you guys have a bunch of cosplayers around, very recognisable look you both have, especially that classic suit.” Deven waved a hand at Stone who was in fact wearing that same suit he always wore, that was a fair assessment, recognisable.
He was still a bit in shock, “People dressed up as us?” he knew people wanted to meet them, hell, he even knew about the art beforehand because Robotnik had mentioned it, he hadn’t realised people even wanted to dress like them.
“Obviously Stone, you’ve seen it on the internet before and mentioned it, it’s called cosplay, it’s not just for photos you idiot.” Robotnik piped up from where he was carefully examining the art prints, already having amassed a collection to purchase. “I am purchasing these,”
Deven frowned, looking at the large pile, “Please let me give you a discount, I’m so happy I even got to meet you, it would be no trouble,” They started to say before they were yet again stopped,
“Uh, uh, no, I’m paying full price thank you. Stone,” That was Stone’s cue to give over the wallet, which he did without saying anything, they paid quickly, Robotnik carefully arranging his hoard in the tote bag and then handing it off to Stone. “Much more to see I’m afraid, good luck with your sales eggling.” He waved, continuing to stalk through the hall, leaving Stone to follow behind him.
“Did you realise there would be people dressed as us sir? I had no idea,” Stone said as they walked, still speed walking, avoiding eye contact and human contact.
Robotnik rolled his eyes, “I think you have a terrible grasp of just how large our follower base is Stone, we are extraordinarily successful for creators so new to the platform,” He explained, it had been explained to him before. But Stone, after those first few times where he’d freaked himself out by realising how many people were watching them, had stopped checking the numbers, now it was only donations that scared him, the numbers on those things sometimes.
“I know sir, but it’s so strange when you’re actually here, like I don’t see any other creators in this hall,” He waved a hand about, wondering if he couldn’t see them because they also disguised themselves.
“They have learned the lesson to run and hide during moments where they are not expressly needed,” Robotnik grumbled, speaking softly, even his voice was recognisable, “However I am braver and infinitely more intelligent than them and am determined to financially express my support to our artists,” He said, “those fools won’t even know what hit them,” Except they would because everyone who knew him could recognise Robotnik.
The rest of their time in Artist Alley had been relatively normal, aside from one instance where a man dressed in a superhero outfit had practically screamed Robotnik’s name and almost chased after them, but Robotnik proved to be more agile than him and they darted away quickly before anyone else could register what was happening. They had amassed a huge pile of goods once they were done, Stone could Invision their office walls becoming covered already.
They were sitting back stage now, waiting just before the meet and greet started. He attached one of the keychains of the Doctor to a belt loop, smiling as he did so, noting it was iridescent. It was of him yelling out ‘idiot,’ with a funny little speech bubble, looking comically angry even in this cartoon style, Stone adored it.
“Stop being sentimental Stone,” Robotnik grumbled from his side, he was currently scarfing down lunch, preparing himself mentally to deal with whatever was about to happen, “You’re showing artist favouritism,”
“It’s cute,” Stone said simply, he was not going to remove it unless he absolutely had to.
Robotnik glared at him, “I’m not cute,”
“I beg to differ, sir, and I’m quite the authority on the subject,” Stone grinned, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his boyfriend, “everything going according to plan, Doctor?”
Robotnik finished his lunch, launching the container accurately into the nearest bin, “Aside from your little slip up, because I know for a fact that man in the ridiculous suit did not recognise me, yes, perfectly so. They always do, I am the smartest man to have ever lived.” He said smugly, grinning at Stone.
“Your brain is massive,” Stone nodded,
“Now you’re beginning to sound like you understand references sycophant, what happened to my oblivious half-wit?” Robotnik smiled at him, swinging his legs over to be on Stone’s lap and settling himself in, “Either way saying you have a physically large brain is actually irrelevant to levels of intelligence, phrenology is not an ethical or scientifically accurate field of study.”
Stone shook his head lightly, “I should have recalled, my apologies for the inaccurate compliment,” He said, grabbing the Doctor’s hand and intertwining their fingers,
“No need Stone, I already know you’re an imbecile. I have long since stopped questioning your more menial errors in judgment and memory. I love you too much to worry over that.” Robotnik said, smiling,
“I love you too, sir,” Stone said softly, he did not mind when the Doctor insulted him, it would feel more wrong if he ever stopped.
“Hm,” Robotnik responded, a pleasant little hum, “It feels strange being in public Stone, although I logically process our large audience, I have not had a visual comparison to properly grasp the magnitude of individual people it implies.” He said, turning Stone’s hand over, squeezing and unsqueezing it gently as though it was a stress relief. “I have never been affectionate with you in front of real people, in some ways I think it’s a shame, in others I am possessively pleased that no one has ever truly seen you except me,” He said,
“I think I feel the same, you deserve the world’s eyes on you sir, their praise and adoration is inevitable,” Stone said, leaning his head on the Doctor’s shoulder, “But, I think I like keeping you for myself most of all.”
“Jealous little barnacle, aren’t you?” Robotnik teased,
“Always, and protective too,” Stone agreed, “I think the meet and greet is about to start,” He checked his watch and sure enough, Robotnik would need to head out there a few minutes early just to get briefed on how these things actually ran.
Robotnik let out an annoyed groan, “Ugh, and just when I was getting comfortable, typical.” He said, and Stone pulled away, gently shoving the Doctor off him and standing up, “There’s no chance I’m convincing you to join me with them, Stone?” Robotnik asked,
Stone shrugged, pulling the Doctor to his feet, “I might, but it’s your empire Doctor, you deserve the praise,” He said simply,
“You’re a part of my empire, perhaps a larger part than I often give credit for,” Robotnik said,
He smiled up at the Doctor, “Sir, you know I don’t want credit, only you,” He pressed a quick kiss to the other man’s lips before separating his hands, allowing his boyfriend to escape.
“Sentimental Stone, horrifically sentimental,” Robotnik sighed, “Fine, abandon me then, I shall see you when this is over.” He complained, straightening out his clothes and running a hand through his long hair, it had been washed recently, much cleaner than before.
Stone smoothed him down even more, “I’ll come out in a while sir, but this is more about you, I’m not even in most of your streams,” he said, protesting, he was worried that once these photos went live, they would need to run away having given essentially a direct and current location to the government. He wanted to be prepared to run damage control if need be, but if that eventually occurred it would be evident in the first twenty minutes, so after he would join.
“Oh yes you are, and you know it, goodbye!” Robotnik threw a wave before walking through the connecting door back into the fray, leaving Stone in their little behind-the-scenes area alone.
The door was left a little ajar, just for Stone to stand there and watch for a while. He watched as the surprisingly long lineup of people was shuffled through in organised chaos to meet and take a photo with the Doctor before being shuffled along. He was signing things, talking to them, emotions on his face ranging from mad to excited to shocked. It was amusing to watch, he knew it was for the most part an act, the only ones he genuinely believed was when the Doctor looked shocked. He could identify that expression very well.
It was nice being able to watch the procession of people who all admired the Doctor, they all looked so excited to see him a stark contrast from the jokes and strange phrases of chat and donations on stream. He wondered just how many of these people he’d already met via passing message or donation, how many he’d seen responding on Twitter and other platforms. It was so different to see them all in person now.
He was tuning into the random things they said now, and the Doctor’s often slightly bewildered responses. “I almost called my boyfriend sir the other day because of you and Stone,” The next in line said,
Robotnik shrugged, it wasn’t his fault people were stupid, “Well, if you work for him that suits him well,”
“No, no I don’t,” they laughed, “He’d probably judge me hard,” they added, walking off after taking a photo,
The next girl in line was crying, “I can’t believe you’re real,” She sobbed,
“Quite real, not a simulation or a hallucination I’m afraid,” Robotnik responded, looking slightly concerned but taking the photo as usual,
Then came a duo, both were smiling brightly and brought Robotnik a postcard from the state they travelled from, “I’ve been watching so long, it’s so cool you’re doing public appearances now,” One said, and Robotnik thanked them for the support in his somewhat menacing way,
The other one, who had said nothing so far, just said “twenty-one” as they left leading to Robotnik letting out an irritated squawking noise, and leading to some laughter from the retreating figures.
The next guy was a random tall man in a hoodie, “I’m kind of in love with you man, don’t tell your boyfriend,” He said, wrapping his arm around Robotnik for the photo,
“I think he can hear us, and I would be telling him,” Robotnik responded, obviously taken aback.
He shook his head dramatically, smiling, “Damn, never had a chance.”
“He would kill you,” Robotnik added, glaring mildly at the man,
“I know!” The guy grinned, “Isn’t that cool?”, he said glancing over in Stone’s direction and doing a big thumbs-up before walking away.
Strange. He wondered if all of them would be so strange. It seemed like there was no concerning updates on the being spotted and taken into custody front, it was probably safe for Stone to let his guard down for a while. When he caught Robotnik’s eye next, he tilted his head slightly, as if indicating him joining. Robotnik nodded from where he stood. Stone decided to still remain slightly out of frame, if anyone wanted to talk to him they could, but he wasn’t in the way. He wasn’t even sure if he was wanted there.
That was proven wrong by the very next person,
“Stone! Oh my god I thought you wouldn’t be here,” The next girl ran out, “both of you inspire me so much, you helped me to come out,” She said, and then pulled up her sleeve to reveal- oh a literal tattoo? A tattoo of something they had said on stream, “the whole world should know that” Jesus Christ not from their fake confession, apparently the untold effects of their romantic reveal had stretched far further than anticipated.
“Wow,” Stone breathed, “I’m, I’m certainly flattered.” He stuttered out, already feeling flustered, he wondered how the Doctor had managed doing this for so long without becoming overwhelmed by it all.
“You’ve changed my life, I’m so happy I could meet you both,” She beamed, and Stone felt woefully unprepared, he stared over at the Doctor’s eyes wide only to find him smiling, it seemed to be a smile at Stone’s expense, but in a way only Stone would notice.
“Thank you so much, I hope you have an excellent life,” Stone stuttered out as she left, feeling very customer service like. What were you actually supposed to say to something like that? He was genuinely flattered as much as he was shocked. He really didn’t think his fake heat-of-the-moment confession was that memorable, the one he and Robotnik had in reality always felt closer to his heart although it was much less dramatic and a bit ridiculous.
“Is it always like that?” Stone asked, still probably looking terrified, and Robotnik, ever unhelpful to Stone’s plights, laughed at him.
The meet and greet lasted a lot longer than it felt, with everyone cycling through so quickly it was like a busy shift at any hospitality job, both feeling like it took a thousand years and five minutes. Either way they were both clearly exhausted by the end of it. The ride back to the hotel was one mostly done in silence, they were not sticking around after that, too tired.
Slamming open the hotel room door Robotnik immediately lay down face down in the bed with a groan, before turning his head slightly to speak, “I think Stone, perhaps were not meant for the public eye, I much prefer streaming. Less exhausting people, only donations.”
“I couldn’t agree more sir,” Stone said, he was similarly exhausted but had every intention of getting ready for bed properly before passing out. “At least we tried, and now viewers are aware we’re real people.” He shrugged, pulling his tie over his head and moving to unbutton his shirt,
Robotnik scoffed, rolling over onto his back, watching Stone from where he laid. “We were always real people; they would have to be the most foolish cretins imaginable to think we were fake.” He said, eyes following Stone as he laid out his clothes neatly for the next day, finally slipping off his trousers till he remained in just boxers.
Stone shook his head, “No, no I mean that we’re not acting. They think we’re real as in our personas are real, as you call them.” He waved a hand, moving over to the bed and sitting down beside where the Doctor lay, “Is personas the right word?” He frowned,
“Personas is right.” Robotnik replied, “It’s true, the only time I act is in order to trick them surrounding the nature of our relationship, incredibly amusing,” He smiled villainously, suddenly pulling Stone onto his lap, and although Stone let out a squeak of surprise he accepted the situation quickly, hands planted firmly on the Doctor’s chest, “We should kiss on the stage tomorrow, I want to hear their cries of fear.” Robotnik grinned, holding the other man’s hips,
“I think they would be cries of delight Doctor,” Stone said, “A lot of people are incredibly into the idea of our relationship,” Stone leaned down to kiss his boyfriend then, hearing the pleased hum from the other man as he did so, soft and slow and delicious, when Stone pulled away to breathe he frowned, “You really shouldn’t sleep in this, sir.”
“Dear me, is my henchman trying to get me to undress?” Robotnik teased, tone low and adoring,
“Yes,” Stone replied simply, moving to unbutton his shirt,
Robotnik batted his hands away, “So forward! Needy henchman, get off me and I will, shoo.” Robotnik unceremoniously shoved Stone away despite being the one to put him there in the first place.
With a small ‘oof’ sound Stone lay down on the bed on his back, positions reversed as Robotnik got up to prepare to sleep. Stone watched with half-lidded eyes bogged down by exhaustion, despite his comparative tidiness Stone was ready to pass out. He hadn’t had that much social interaction in literal years.
He must have passed out at some point, as the next thing he heard was Robotnik’s low laugh, “So much for needy, exhausted would have been more accurate,” He said, running a hand through Stone’s hair, and when Stone blinked his eyes open to see the Doctor laying down beside him.
Immediately he began smiling like an idiot, despite how long they’d been together he’d never get over his initial delight anytime he realised how close they were. How much he was allowed to have, to do with the Doctor, and how much the Doctor truly cared about him. So, in his tired state, he reached out to pull the Doctor closer to him, only quietly mumbling “bed,” before closing his eyes again, head buried in the Doctor’s chest.
“Sweet dreams my strange sycophant,” The Doctor said softly, it was the last thing Stone heard before falling asleep again.