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spacebatisluvd · 4 years

Text

LUVD

Summary: Adora can read the First Ones’ language. Hordak cannot. (Entrapta has some explaining to do.)

CW: This is fluff with hurt/comfort elements, featuring Hordak’s self-esteem issues, panic attacks, and rage.

A/N: Probably the last drabble I can manage before the final season drops. See you guys on the other side. (Again, I’m sorry for the readmore. I tried. The mobile app is garbage, but I wrote the drabble on my phone, so what are you gonna do?)

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The alliance had, reluctantly, asked Hordak to come to Bright Moon. An issue had arisen amongst the clones that had decided to settle there—and wasn’t that a wonder? they had decided—and apparently, neither the Queen nor her princesses were able to resolve it, and Swift Wind had, somehow, made the matter worse. Hordak had been somewhat reluctant, as he and Entrapta were in the middle of a time-sensitive experiment, but he had an obligation to go. He was the clones’ ‘cultural ambassador’—or some such nonsense; he hadn’t paid much attention to the title itself—and fulfilling that role was part of his reparations to Etheria. It was hard to go alone, but Entrapta didn’t really need him for the experiment, and she promised to record the whole thing for him to review when he returned.

So he went. While he worked with the clones—who had begun to collectively call themselves ‘Kin’ rather than ‘Horde’—he stayed in Bright Moon’s castle. The Queen insisted it was to honor his status. Hordak was fairly sure it was so they could keep a close eye on him. He was also fairly sure that’s why they had invited the She-Ra—or, rather, her avatar—as well.

He didn’t mind working with Adora. She was intelligent and efficient—and if a small part of him was proud of her conditioning, he certainly wasn’t going to mention that to anyone—but he really didn’t enjoy the way she looked at him at times. Or, rather, the way she looked at the crystal that powered his armor. He often caught her staring at it, and his hand frequently lifted to cover it on its own, before he was conscious of the action. He then felt obliged to clear his throat and do something else with his hand because this was ridiculous and he was making it worse.

He didn’t even know why she was staring, until he was nearly done with his work with the Kin. She was pretending to be busy, while in reality, she was minding him, and Hordak was actually busy, looking over the contested village plans. He sighed, crossing something out and re-writing it elsewhere. “So, how’s it going?” she asked.

He snorted in disgust. “While I am glad that my kindred are starting to form their own personalities and are becoming comfortable seeking out the things they want for themselves, I am afraid they are also going to have to come to understand that the nature of compromise means that they can’t all get what they want all the time. This should not have been as complicated as they made it out to be.”

She laughed a little, the sound shy and unsure. He ignored it; he hadn’t been joking, and he didn’t understand why she thought that was funny. “Yeah. I guess so.” She rocked on her toes a little, and suddenly, she was sidling over, invading his space. He straightened, perturbed by her proximity. She was looking at his crystal again. He clenched his hand to keep from covering it protectively. “How about you? You and Entrapta are...getting pretty close? Right?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I fail to see why that is any of your business. Move—you’re in my light.”

“Oh, sorry.” She stepped aside, though not very far. He gave her another suspicious glare before returning to the plans. “Uh, did Entrapta tell you I could read the First Ones’ language?”

He sighed. He did not engage in ‘small talk’. He didn’t see the point of it, but Entrapta had asked him to be nice, so he would answer the avatar’s vapid questions. “No, she did not. I do not believe she thought it would be relevant.” He said the last word very pointedly, hoping she might take the hint.

She did not. “Oh. Well. I can.” She looked at him very deliberately as she said it. His ears twitched before he returned his attention to the plans.

“How nice for you,” he said, taking care to keep his tone neutral and polite.

“Ugh! Hordak, I can read what your crystal says, okay?!”

Unable to stop himself, he cupped his hand over it. “I have no idea what you mean—it doesn’t say anything.”

Her eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet. “Oh. She didn’t...tell you...?” She swallowed. “Never mind! My mistake—you’re right, it doesn’t say anything!”

He caught her arm as she tried to leave. “What does it say?” he demanded, looming over her.

“Well. Um. It’s not really a word? It’s letters that sound like a word.” His ears flattened.

“What. Does. It. Say?”

She swallowed. “L-U-V-D.” He narrowed his eyes. “Loved—it says ‘loved’. She really never told you?”

It felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Hordak?”

He pushed her away, hearing the pounding of his hearts echo in his ears. “You’re mistaken.”

“Uh? No? I’m really not. Look, it’s a She-Ra thing; I can—“

“I don’t care!” he snarled, the writing stylus snapping between his fingers. “You are mistaken! It is either an unfortunate acronym or merely a coincidence. Regardless, it doesn’t mean ‘loved’—it doesn’t mean anything!” He straightened, trying to steady his breathing. “And I expect you to keep your ridiculous suspicions to yourself. Do you realize how badly you could damage Entrapta’s reputation by implying—?” He exhaled hard and leveled a hard look at her. “She does not need you wrecking everything she has built.”

The avatar stared back at him with wide eyes. “Have you talked to Entrapta about this?” she asked after a moment.

“There is nothing to talk about.”

“Hordak—“

With a snarl, he dodged her outstretched hand and stormed off. “We’re done.”

“Hordak, wait! Can we just—“

“I said we’re done!”

He returned to the castle, too frazzled to continue his work. He paced in his assigned room, hissing at Imp when he gave a curious chirp. Imp left with an abundance of angry chattering as he sought out more pleasant company. Hordak couldn’t blame him—he knew he wasn’t at his best when he was like this. He’d been working on controlling his temper, but the urge to start breaking things was strong.

He shut his eyes, trying to breathe through the rage. How dare she? How dare she?! Did she realize what such rumors would do to Entrapta? To Dryl? They weren’t some isolated nation—they were at best a city-state and heavily reliant on their trade agreements with their neighbors. Neighbors he had attacked and conquered!

Was this their revenge, then? To use Hordak to ruin Entrapta’s reputation, to destroy her small country’s economy? To play with his emotions, taunting him with—?

One of his vambraces started to spark, shocking him. He ripped it off with a roar and tossed it across the room, his breathing rapid and ragged.

Just then, his communicator started beeping. Entrapta. Something like relief wrapped him. Of course! He should have contacted her immediately! He turned on the monitor, barely waiting for her features to resolve when he said, “Good; we have something to discuss.”

“Oh. Yeah. Adora called me and—“

“I think we can get ahead of the rumors if we—“

“—said she told you about—“

“—form a plan. We’ll need to re-affirm your trade agreements—“

“Wait. Trade agreements?”

He nodded, glad she was listening. He started to pace as he laid out his plan. “Yes! You need to ratify your agreements, strengthen the bonds with your closest allies.” He beat one fist against his unarmored palm. “We have some inventions that might be useful to the others as well, things that other kingdoms can use. If we produce blueprints, show them how to—“

“Hordak.”

“—make them, we can endear ourselves to some of the kingdoms that—“

“Hordak.”

“—would be particularly upset by these rumors.” He hesitated. “You ought to...start seeing suitors.” It felt like his chest was being compressed. “That would certainly quell any rumors of—“

“Hordak.”

“—of impropriety.”

“Hordak!”

He looked at the monitor. “What?”

“Will you take a breath?” He blinked. “Just. A deep breath. Like this—“ She inhaled. Through pursed lips, as if trying to keep the air in, she said, “And hold it.”

Not sure why she’d ask this of him but trusting her nonetheless, he filled his lungs and held his breath. Entrapta nodded. “Good. That’s good. Now exhale real slow—like this.” She demonstrated, and he mimicked her.

“What was the purpose of that?”

“To calm you down. You were panicking.”

“I do not panic!”

“Why don’t you take another deeeep breath?”

“I DO NOT NEED TO BREATHE!” She raised a brow, and his words caught up to him. “Perhaps, you aren’t...incorrect.”

“You think?” He shot her a look, but let her walk him through some more breathing exercises. Finally, it felt like the band of steel wrapping his chest had loosened. Smiling fondly, Entrapta said, “Okay. Why don’t we try this again? Adora called me. She said she told you what the crystal says.”

“Yes. I’m concerned. Our...working relationship is bound to spark rumors, regardless of whether or not the She-Ra’s keeps her suspicions to herself. It’s something we should have considered before, as it will likely have broader effects on your kingdom.”

She started to play with her hair. “O-oh. So. You...don’t...? You don’t mind that it says ‘LUVD’? You aren’t...? Confused? Or...?”

He waved that off. “Entrapta, I know it doesn’t mean anything. It’s not as if you wrote it—“

“I did.”

“You?”

“Wrote it.”

“Oh. Well. I’m sure you didn’t mean—“

“I did.”

He blinked. It felt like he was drifting. Like his body was no longer tethered by gravity. “‘Loved’? You meant? That?”

She nodded, then smiled weakly. “Um. Yeah.”

“Oh.” He sat heavily on the bed. “I.” He touched the crystal.

“I didn’t really mean for you to find out. Definitely not like this. I figured that maybe if....” She lowered her welding mask.

“If?”

“I would have told you. If I thought you returned my feelings.” Her hair rubbed at her upper arm.

“I—“ His tongue felt thick. Cumbersome. His breathing was shallow and too fast. “What if. I did?”

She lifted her mask, eyeing him. “Is this just a thought experiment? Or...?”

He swallowed. “I have. Reason to be invested in your answer. What if I returned your feelings?” He couldn’t believe what he was saying, couldn’t believe he was allowing himself to entertain the idea that Entrapta.

Loved.

Him.

“Well.” She rolled the word around, tasting it. Her mouth quirked in a small smile. “We’d probably need to implement some of your ideas to keep our trade agreements in place. And.” She held onto her hair, combing one lock with her fingers. “Maybe go on a date?”

He just stared at the screen. Stunned. He swallowed, ears lowered. “I think I will ask if they can manage the rest without me. I would like to return home and continue this conversation in person.” He looked down. “I believe I will also offer an apology to the She-Ra.”

“Yeah. I think I might owe her a thank you.”

Entrapta smiled at him, and he nodded his agreement, rendered mute by the weight of his feelings.

His fingers traced over the crystal af his throat.

LUVD.

He was.

Loved.

(And he loved in return.)

#hordak #entrapdak #entrapta #hordapta #spop #Entrapta really doesn’t care about politics #Hordak super does though #he takes care of the details of running a kingdom #so his wife has more time for science #fight me #longpost #long post

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