It's a shiny morning on Dryl once Hordak and Entrapta arrive back home, five days after the meeting with the Alliance.
"Come on, Hordak. We have lots of things to do." Entrapta shouts to her boyfriend, who is still getting off his hovercraft. "First of all, a teleportation device to test." She walks towards the entrance of her castle.
"We have just arrived from a long trip, perhaps it would be wiser if we took some rest before starting to work on a big project such as a teleportation device." Hordak rubs the back of his neck, wondering if the princess will listen to him or not.
"But I have been waiting more than a week to test it." The scientist stops to turn around and look at him. "I'm really excited to find out if it worked or not." She crosses her arms, trying to make her point heard.
"I know work is important to you, however, honestly, I am the one that needs to rest this time." Hordak rubs the back of his head, still experiencing some levels of pain.
Even though his body is not deteriorating right now, it still takes a lot of time for Hordak to recover compared to his brothers whenever he accidentally gets hurt. It is not easy for him to admit it, but his body is still fragile and there is nothing he can do about it.
"Oh… right." Entrapta takes a few steps towards him. "You are still recovering from that concussion." She looks at her gloved hands, placing her index fingers together to distract herself. "Sorry, I forgot about that." She takes a deep breath before looking at him again. "Waiting a few more hours won't hurt me… I hope." She smiles at him. "This means you will get your gift earlier than I previously anticipated."
"A gift?" Hordak asks, confused. He didn't know about any gifts and, knowing Entrapta as well as he did, a gift could be literally anything. From a pet robot to a new device for him to test.
"Yes, your own navigation device so you can walk inside the castle without getting yourself lost." Entrapta starts to walk towards the inside and Hordak follows her lead, much more relieved now that he knows what her gift is. "I have finally finished it."
"At least I have already memorized where my room is." Hordak says in relief, remembering all the times he found himself lost inside that labyrinth.
"Well, about that…" Entrapta laughs nervously. "That is not your room anymore. I rearranged lots of things since the last time you were here. I hope you don't mind..." She looks back at him. "But, you have a bigger personal chamber now!" She giggles before picking up her own navigation device. "I know you didn't ask me for one, but I wanted you to be closer to me. You were staying so far away and there was this big empty room next to mine…" She taps her index fingers together once again to keep herself calm. "I thought it would be a good idea."
"You wanted to stay closer to me?" He raises a brow, realizing that they were an official couple for just a week, while that room has been ready for him for much longer than that.
"Of course, Hordak!" The princess points at the ceiling, using her index finger. "What if one of us has the biggest breakthrough of our lives? I don't want to run all the way to your guest room to tell you about it and, besides that, you are not a guest anymore." She slows down her pace. "But we can change it back if it bothers you somehow."
"It does not bother me to change rooms and if that is what makes you happy, you will not see me complaining." Hordak gives her a shy smile, trying to make himself sound comfortable with the situation, which, for the record, he is.
"That is great!" The princess claps her hands before using one of her pigtails to hold his hand and lead the way once again. "While you take a nap, I'll be inside my personal chambers, studying the schematics of the Scorpion Kingdom you gave me. I need to send the modifications to Scorpia soon."
"You do remember that Scorpia said the improvements of the buildings and houses could wait a few weeks." Hordak raises a brow at the princess, challenging her to explain why she is in such a rush.
"I know, but I want to be ahead of schedule." Entrapta says with a smile on her face.
"Will you mind if I ask you why?" Hordak asks in a curious tone of voice as he gazes at the scientist in front of him.
"Well…" Entrapta places her hands together, trying to put her thoughts in order. "I thought that, maybe, you will want my assistance while you help your brothers to settle down around the kingdom, as planned." She grins before looking at him for a moment. "But you don't have to answer me right away. I don't want to push you into making a decision." She looks back at the datapad being held by her pigtails. "I know you have W.H. to help you and he does understand what your brothers need better than I do, but, if you feel comfortable with me around, I would like to tag along, even if I just sit there and watch the whole thing." Entrapta shrugs before looking ahead again to watch where she is going. "I want to spend some time together like we used to back in the Horde days."
"Besides that..." The princess continues before Hordak can say anything about the matter. "I want to go on a trip to Beast Island soon. I have a few experiments that I want to test out there." Entrapta says, a little bit louder than she intended to, showing all the excitement in her voice. "I finally found a way to stop that signal once and for all." She points at the ceiling. "Soon that won't be an obstacle in my studies." She gives him a shy laugh. "Not anymore."
"I am relieved to hear such great news." Hordak sighs before smiling at her. "I find myself happy for you and your new achievement."
"Thanks, Hordak." Entrapta smiles back at him. "Once I disable the signal and get my teleportation device to work on actual people, I will be unstoppable!" She laughs in a mix of excitement and happiness. "That Island will practically become part of my kingdom." She winks at him before continuing her way towards his room.
"I believe that is Scorpia's territory, Entrapta." Hordak smiles at her, knowing that she actually didn't mean what she said about conquering Beast Island.
"I know." The princess shrugs. "I won't go to war against my friend because of an Island." She looks at him for a brief second before continuing. "But Scorpia told me I could come and go to Beast Island as I pleased. So, the fact that the Island is not actually part of Dryl won't be a problem, as long as I have Scorpia's endorsement."
"That is good." He rubs the back of his neck, not sure if that was good indeed. Even with the signal gone, the Island will still be home for numerous threats. That unchangeable fact is what makes Hordak feel uneasy about the whole place every time Entrapta mentions that she wants to go there.
"We are almost there." Entrapta tells him after staying in silence for a couple of seconds. "I am sorry to make you walk all this way. Your head must really hurt."
"Well, it is not as bad as it was." Hordak carefully places his hand on the back of his head, feeling the place where it hit the ground. "Getting away from everyone made it a lot better."
"I actually agree. The place got too noisy really fast. I was waiting for the moment you were able to stand up so we could finally come home." Entrapta giggles. "Catra and Adora really got mad at Glimmer and Bow for not telling them what was going on. It didn't surprise me when they started arguing, but it got really annoying after a couple of hours." The scientist shakes her head gently, remembering all the shouting and all the discussion she saw between the group of friends.
"Gladly I won't be there for the next meeting." Hordak chuckles.
"I think I will accidentally miss the next couple of meetings to avoid any possible hard questions about what happened between us." Entrapta gives him a gentle laugh before stopping in front of a door.
"I won't judge you for that." He says before stopping next to her. The hallway wasn't unfamiliar to him since it was not his first time there, however, he never gave any particular attention to that specific door next to Entrapta's room before.
"Well, that is it." Entrapta points at the door. "I will stop by later to give you your map." She places a strand of hair on his shoulder. "I will be inside of my personal chamber if you need anything." She says while pointing at the door across the hallway.
"Thank you, Entrapta." He gazes at her eyes before gently smiling at her.
"Once you have gotten yourself enough rest, please, knock at my door so we can test the teleportation device." The scientist asks while giving him an intense look.
"I sure will." Hordak says, turning around to open the door, however, before he could touch the door handle, he feels Entrapta's gloved hand holding his own.
"Are you happy to be here?" Entrapta asks him in a whisper, however, her lower tone of voice doesn't stop him from listening to her question.
"Why wouldn't I?" The former lord asks, without even turning around to look at her. "Do you want me to leave, Entrapta?" He asks in a gentle tone of voice, not sure why she is asking him such a question.
"No, I don't, Hordak." The princess takes a deep breath before resting her forehead against his back. "It just crossed my mind that, maybe, you agreed to come with me to the castle because you thought you had to since we are in a romantic relationship now." She sighs. "I don't want you to believe that you have to be here because of the current status of our relationship. I can't help, but I constantly feel that I am imposing this cohabitation on you since the day I asked you to move in." She closes her eyes, paying attention to the movements of his back caused by his breathing, waiting for him to react somehow.
"I do not believe that I am obligated to be here because of our relationship." Hordak finally tells her after a couple of seconds, which felt like eternity for the princess waiting behind him. "I am staying because I want to be near you, the one I care about the most." He slowly turns around to look into her eyes. "I don't want to stay another week away from you, Entrapta." He gives her a gentle smile before squeezing her gloved hand affectionately. "Your absence makes me feel uneasy… I always feel that something is missing whenever you are not around." The former lord places his other hand gently on her cheek, making her face turn red under his touch. "I know I sound like a fool saying such incoherent words after all those days I chose to stay away from you, however, I hope those exact same words make things clear." He gazes into her eyes once more. "I am staying in the Crypto Castle on my own free will."
"Ok." The princess gently says before nodding at him slowly, trying to avoid getting herself lost in his gaze. "I believe you." She finally says, trying to make her face turn back to its natural colors, however, the look on his face and the things he just said don't help her at all.
"Is that all you wanted to question me about?" He raises a brow at her, noticing there might be something else in her mind.
"No." Entrapta scratches the back of her head by using one of her pigtails. "There are lots of other questions that, if asked, would make a considerable amount of my insecurities disappear… probably." She takes a long breath before looking at the hand holding her own. "But, for now, I think what you said is enough to make me calm down." She tells him before using her hair to lift herself up to get to the same level as Hordak's face and give him a kiss on the cheek, making his ears feel warm.
However, it wasn't that kiss on the cheek that made his ears turn slightly red. What caused such a reaction from him was the calm look in her eyes and the bright smile she had on her face once she got to the ground again. Hordak can't help himself, but all he wants at the moment is to watch that big smile of hers for as long as he can.
"I- I am glad I could help you somehow." Hordak says underneath his breath, trying to pull himself together before cleaning his throat to speak out loud. "I am always available to listen to any of your questions."
"Thanks." The princess smiles at him before looking at the crystal on his chest for a brief moment, reminding herself that she didn't tell Hordak what is written on that piece of First One's tech in his necklace.
"Is there something wrong?" He touches the crystal above his chest, raising a brow in the process.
"Do you want to have lunch with me?" Entrapta asks him, really loud all of sudden, but with sparkles in her eyes. "We could go to the balcony of my room. You are gonna love the view! We can see the whole kingdom from up there." She jumps on her feet in excitement because of the idea she just had.
"I gladly accept your invitation, Entrapta." He says before holding her gloved hand and kissing the top of it with a smile, trying to be romantic in his own way.
"I will wake you up once lunch is ready for us." The princess tenderly touches his cheek with a strand of hair. "After that, you can come back and sleep for as long as you need, just like we initially planned." She tells him before quickly giving him a warm hug and resting her head against his chest. "Call me if you need anything." She says with her eyes closed, her voice lower than usual.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" He gently asks as he hugs her back.
"Later." Entrapta answers with a shy smile on her face.
"Is it something I should worry about?" Hordak asks in a calm tone of voice, however, with a bit of concern entangled in his words.
"No." Entrapta shakes her head in disagreement.
"Then why the sudden display of affection?" Hordak chuckles. "Not that I'm complaining, however, you don't usually do it all of a sudden." He says, bringing her closer to his body.
"Have you been analyzing me?" The princess asks, snuggling on her boyfriend's chest.
"I don't think 'analyzing' is the right word." He clears his throat with an awkward smile on his face.
"Studying then?" Entrapta giggles, noticing that his heartbeat got faster once she said that. "Don't worry. I analyze you as well, sometimes." The princess looks at him for a brief moment. "To understand the things that you do or don't like." She smiles before resting her head against him once again. "We are not so different, so, I am not surprised to find out that you know when I am most likely to do one thing or another." The scientist closes her eyes and places her pigtails around him as well.
"Are you comfortable with it?" He asks after a few seconds.
"You are learning new aspects about me and my life, just like I am learning new things about you. I don't see a problem here… I think it is fine to get to know your partner... in lots of different ways, even if it's not in a conventional one." Entrapta tells him before taking a step back. "And, just so you don't worry about me, I just gave you a hug because I was happy you told me that you want to be here. It made me feel a lot more confident about us living together." She gives him a comforting smile.
"I am glad…" He takes her gloved hand and answers her smile with one of his own.
"See you later, Hordak." The scientist says before gently squeezing his hand. "Have a good morning of sleep."
"Have a good morning, princess." Hordak takes her hand and gently kisses the top of her glove again, this time to tell her goodbye. "I hope you also find yourself time to rest."
"You never give up." The princess gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and turns around right after to walk towards her room. "I will ask them to serve your favorite dish for lunch." She says once she reaches her own door, waving towards him before entering the room.
Once inside, she sends a message to her staff regarding the menu they had prepared for lunch, asking them to add one of her boyfriend's favorite dishes to it. After having done that, it doesn't take much time for Entrapta to start working on her project for the Scorpion Kingdom, however, after an hour or so of working on it, her thoughts start to wander elsewhere...
To a certain lab partner of hers.
"I thought these would have stopped by now." The scientist sighs before leaving her desk to walk around the room. "He is inside the room next door. There is no reason for this." She tells herself while using one of her pigtails to hold her datapad. "There is no reason for being anxious about Hordak." She fakes a smile. "You talked things out and he is happy to be here. Soon W.H will arrive with Imp and everything will be settled." She let out a long sigh. "Things will go back to normal in no time."
Except for the fact that everything is different now, she thinks.
"I want to see him." Entrapta says while looking at the door. "Talk to him." She stands up and walks towards the door. "Even though I should be working right now, I also need to give him time to rest."
It has barely been three hours though, she tells herself.
"But there is always a possibility that he is not asleep." She touches the door handle, waiting for her mind to tell her otherwise. However, seconds later she finds herself crossing the hallway towards Hordak's room.
No one ever said Entrapta was an expert when it came to the word privacy. She just knows the basics of what that word actually means in real life, explanation to why she knocks on the door and calls his name before deciding to do anything else.
If the same situation had happened a few years earlier, she would just bust into the room, carelessly.
"Hordak?" Entrapta calls him, but he doesn't answer nor even a single noise comes from inside of his room.
"Are you awake?" The princess asks, slightly louder than in her earlier attempt. "I'm coming in." She says while pushing the door open, allowing a flash of light to enter the dark room before she quickly closes the door behind her, sliding her mask down on her face so she can use its night-vision goggles.
The room is pitch-black and it would be very hard to navigate without her goggles. However, she isn't impressed by the lack of light inside the chamber. Since her Horde days, Entrapta knew Hordak felt more comfortable sleeping in complete darkness than anywhere else. Maybe that is why she installed blackout curtains in his room when she reformed it, so no light would get inside if he didn't want to.
"Hordak?" Entrapta says in a whisper once she locates him still asleep on his bed. The princess walks towards the bed and sits next to it, trying to be as silent as possible. "I hope you don't mind-" She stops on her way to the ground once she notices how peaceful he looks in his sleep. His face is so relaxed that she can't help but wonder if she had anything to do with it. However, that was also the moment she realized that she shouldn't be there, watching him as he willingly allows himself to relax in the privacy of his room.
Privacy, the word rings inside her head like an alarm, telling her to leave before it is too late.
However, it was already too late, she realized, once Hordak started to move in his sleep just as if he knew that someone was watching his sleep.
Instinct, she thinks before meeting his red eyes in the dark, which, to her surprise, don't seem startled at all by the green light coming from her mask.
"Entrapta." Hordak says her name with a sleepy voice as he stretches out. "Is it lunch time already?" He rubs his eyes, blinking a few times before focusing on her form.
"Not exactly." She gives him a nervous kind of giggling. "You see, I was working and then I started to have these thoughts about you, which were getting in the way of my work, again." She rolls her eyes at him, even though he can't see them behind her mask. "So, I decided to come here because I needed to talk to you and settle down my thoughts in order to be able to work again."
"That is why you decided to sneak inside my bed chambers." He raises a brow at her.
"For some reason you don't seem surprised, at all." She points out, waiting for him to get angry at her.
"No." Hordak stands up and starts walking towards the curtains. "I came to the conclusion that it would happen sooner or later." He chuckles, opening the curtains in front of him to be able to get a better look of her. "I did not expect it to be this soon though." He turns around and lets his gaze fall on her.
"You expected me to sneak in?" She asks in surprise, sliding her mask up.
"Yes?" Hordak tells her, confused by her question. "That was how we had our first connection after all." He walks towards her to sit in front of her on the bed. "When you sneaked into my sanctum and found out about my portal machine. Then I concluded that it would happen again." He offers Entrpata a hand, inviting her to sit next to him on the bed.
"I'm sorry." Entrapta answers him shyly while taking his hand and sitting next to him. "You need rest." She squeezes his hand using her gloved one.
"Did you find time to rest?" The former lord asks in a kind tone of voice.
"No." She shrugs, trying to shake off his question. "I am not tired." She takes a deep breath.
"I must apologize then because I am still tired." Hordak informs Entrapta while lying down behind her. "I am going to make you a proposition so we can both be happy with the situation. What do you think?"
"I am listening." The princess answers her boyfriend without turning around to look at him, swinging her legs back and forth in the air.
"We talk and, after that, perhaps, you will stop lying to yourself and admit that you need to take it easy for a couple of hours." He tells her while closing his eyes to rest for a moment.
"I feel the urgency I had to talk to you fading away." Entrapta tells Hordak over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes towards him.
"Tell me, princess. What has been disturbing your work in the past few hours?" He smirks at the scientist, teasing her a little bit.
"You, mostly." Entrapta answers with no hesitation in her voice and without giving him the time to enjoy the teasing a little bit.
"Please, elaborate." The former lord raises his brow, using his elbow to lift his body just enough to have a better look of Entrapta's face from behind her.
"I don't know how to elaborate this." The princess takes a deep breath, leaning back against his waist and resting her back there. "Isn't that funny? And I'm a scientist, Hordak!" She chuckles, but without any humor in it. "I am excited about this whole new setting of our relationship and while I am working I keep thinking about things we should do and talk about…" She takes a deep breath. "It feels like we are running out of time. There are so many aspects of it for us to explore."
He knows she is talking about the fact that his body could give up on him at any day of his life and if that happened, his time with Entrapta would be way shorter than what he initially planned to. However, he decided to not get into that subject once again. Not today. They discussed this multiple times in the past and right now he decided that there is no point in starting that conversation again.
"If it makes you feel better, I am not going anywhere. We will have plenty of time to do everything that you are planning inside that brilliant brain of yours." Hordak says with a smile on his face while playing with a strand of her hair. "What is the other matter that is troubling you, Entrapta?" Hordak asks, knowing that there was more to her visit than what she is telling him. She would not just sneak into his room to talk about their time. Well, she would. But he knows that this time was not the case, judging by her behavior earlier that morning. "That one reason that made you sneak inside my personal chambers."
"Your crystal." Entrapta sighs, deciding to go straight to the point, using a strand of hair to touch his necklace. "I didn't get the chance to tell you what is written on it and that keeps coming back to me in inappropriate situations such as today's." She turns around to look at him. "That is why I asked you to have lunch with me." She places a hand on his cheek, gently. "And I tried to wait until then, but this brain that you admire so much doesn't seem to cope with me. It keeps reminding me that I didn't tell you."
"Luckily we can fix that right now." Hordak moves to the side, giving her space to lie down next to him.
"I am really sorry about this." Entrapta tells her partner as she finds a comfortable place beside him on the bed.
"I hope you realize that I am not bothered by your unexpected entrance into my room." Hordak looks into her eyes, searching them for any doubt in his words. "You, dear princess, will not see me complaining whenever you wish to talk to me. I realize I don't show it as often as I should, but I do appreciate your company."
"And I appreciate yours, Hordak." Entrapta looks down at his necklace. "Even back then." The scientist smiles fondly at the memory of the time she told him that imperfections are beautiful.
"When we were basically strangers, who understood each other on some levels that others couldn't and still can't." Hordak holds his necklace, looking at its crystal with a relaxed face, telling her without any words that he is ready to listen.
"It translates as 'loved', in our language." Entrapta begins telling him, after taking a deep breath for encouragement, while looking at the crystal on his hand, tracing the carved words with a strand of her hair. "When I used it to build your suit, I thought it was just the word 'love' carved there, but, even though that was not the right translation, it still means the same thing to me." The princess searches for his gaze in order to find out if he understood what she meant, however, once his gaze fell on her own, she could tell he didn't quite get it.
"It meant and it still means that you are loved. Even in your darkest days, when you think you are a failure, I want you to feel that you are loved." The princess closes her eyes, fighting the urge to run away and hide. "If not by yourself, by me then." She finally says, pouring her feelings out to him. "Your lab partner. Your partner." She snuggles her face against his chest, trying to hide the slight blush that showed up on her cheeks.
"This crystal has always been a reminder of you and I think nothing in this universe will change that." Hordak gives her a soft smile, watching her move in the bed to look at him. "It gives me a reason to keep moving forward even in my darkest days, as you said yourself." The former lord leans his forehead against hers. "Thank you, for not giving up on me back then." He tells the princess after he lovingly kisses the top of her head. "I love you, Entrapta." He lets the three words out, causing the scientist to widen her eyes in surprise.
"You… you said it…" Are the only words that come out of her mouth as she moves her face away from him.
"That I love you? Yes, I did." Hordak says with a smile forming in his face, but that doesn't last long once he realizes that his princess seems to be troubled by that. "What is troubling you, Entrapta?"
"Oh…" Entrapta blinks a few times before shaking her head to focus on him again. "I just got caught in a memory, that's all."
"Was it a bad memory?" Hordak asks, worried that his words could have triggered something she didn't want to remember.
"No… I mean, it was not bad. It was just a thought I had once." The princess takes a deep breath, looking away from him. "Back when we were having our picnic in the Scorpion Kingdom, I was pondering if I should just tell you the 'L' word or not." She sighs. "But then everything else happened and I didn't get the chance to say that…" She looks into his eyes once more. "I love you, Hordak." The princess tells him with a loving tone of voice and, with a smile, Hordak carefully places a hand on her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb while looking into her eyes, admiring her.
He realizes right there that he doesn't need to say anything else. Their feelings are written all over their faces. Pure love and admiration for each other and once Entrapta allows herself to feel his touch against her skin, she also feels that the moment is complete. He makes her feel secure and comfortable, the reason why she uses her pigtails to embrace him and close the space between them, finding her favorite position close to his chest.
Maybe she could even allow herself to close her eyes and get her sleep schedule right again. Sure there were her projects to plan and experiments to test, but staying like this with Hordak is so comforting and relaxing that she can't just let go of him.
Maybe even her nightmares would leave her alone this time.
"Entrapta?" She hears Hordak calling her name.
"Um?" The princess gives him a muffled answer.
"Good dreams." The former lord says with a grin.
"This does not mean that you won." Entrapta tells him in a sleepy voice.
"This was not a battle for anyone to win. However…" He presses a kiss against her temple. "Hypothetically speaking, I would have won." He places an arm around her in order to bring her closer, an action he knew by the look on her face that she would not oppose and, by the way, she did not. As time went by, Hordak got better at realizing when Entrapta was comfortable with physical contact and when she was not. When she wanted him to get closer and when she wanted no one near her personal space. Of course he still asked from time to time if he could or not embrace her from behind or touch her mask when she hid away behind it, but, sometimes, with just a look at her he could tell and, for some reason, that made him happy.
"I'm not commenting on that." The scientist yawns before letting a smile form on her lips. "I hope we don't oversleep…"
"I believe we will." He says, closing his eyes as well.
"Even if we do, Emily will probably show up to alert me once lunch is ready." Entrapta tells him, almost dozing off.
"If that is going to happen, we can allow ourselves to sleep without any worries then." Hordak takes a deep breath, allowing his body to relax.
"I suppose… we can…" The princess snuggles against him before yawning once again, allowing herself to get some proper sleep for the first time in weeks.
It doesn't take much longer for the both of them to be sound asleep in each other's arms. Little did they know, but staying in that position would be one thing they would never get tired of in the years to come.
Unconsciously leaning against one another so their bodies can remember that they are not alone.
Not anymore...
A.n.:
Hello there! How are you all doing?
Sorry for the long wait! It took me just eight month to write this chapter and I can't just believe that I was able to do it.
I wasn't able to write anything else. The block was HARD this time and the funny thing is that I have the other chapters planned and I couldn't move on because I was stuck in this chapter.
However, for some reason, inspiration came back to me and I was able to finally finish chapter 7.
I thank you all that haven't given up on me.
I promise you will have an end to this story because I have future chapters I want to show you (I just can't yet because they need context first. But we WILL get there.)
I hope next chapter comes out soon because it's one that I have planned in forever. I just hope I can write it without any 8 months writer's block messing up with me.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it.
I wanted them to say "I love you" since chapter 1, but I had to wait because, well, timeline, plot and stuff. But I finally got to write them saying it for the first time! I am so happy!
And I know I have been writing about Entrapta's sleep schedule in the last few chapters, but, please, believe me there is a reason to that and I gave you a hint about it in this chapter.
Well, that is all I can say for now.
Thanks for reading!
Comments are always appreciated!
Sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes.
I hope to see you there on the next chapter!