Perfuma was meditating in her private clearing in Plumeria when one of her citizens, Seneschal, rushed up to her.
"Princess," Seneschal cried and Perfuma noted a hint of panic in his voice, "You have visitors."
"Oh," said Perfuma, slightly annoyed that she'd been interrupted but trying to hide it, "Well, just give me a moment."
"Hi Perfuma!" Perfuma winced as Entrapta's nasally voice echoed around the clearing. She quickly painted on a smile and turned as Entrapta bounded over to her on her prehensile hair but the smile vanished when she saw the man behind her. Hordak glared at Perfuma silently as he sauntered after his girlfriend with the easy grace of a predator. Seneschal took one look at the angry look in Hordak's eyes and fled.
"Oh, hello Entrapta," Perfuma said nervously without looking at her, keeping her eyes fixed on Hordak, "Hello Hordak. Um, how's the reconstruction of Salinieas going?"
"It's going great," Entrapta said cheerfully, but her mood changed very quickly, "except Mermista hates Hordak even though I keep telling her that he's changed and he doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore." Judging by the look on Hordak's face, Perfuma wasn't sure about that but she kept silent as Entrapta brightened again, "But I got to study how the Sea Gate works and we're working on strengthening it."
"That's good," Perfuma said, "Um, did Mermista allow you to come and see me?"
"Well, no," Entrapta admitted, her hair fiddling uncomfortably, "But we checked out with Sea Hawk and we'll go back soon. Hordak wanted to talk to you about something."
"Entrapta informed me that you used to drag her around on a leash as if she was some sort of animal," Hordak growled. Perfuma shrank in on herself like a withering flower.
"Wait, that's what you wanted to talk to her about?" Entrapta looked genuinely surprised, "I thought we were here to see the statue she built of me. It's very detailed."
"We'll see whether the statue does you justice later," Hordak replied, "First, I want to know what gives this Princess the right to treat you like a pet."
"Well, we were in enemy territory," Perfuma mumbled, "And Entrapta likes to wander off. I was trying to keep her safe."
"Entrapta is 11 years your senior, possesses an IQ of 180 and is more than capable of taking care of herself," Hordak snarled. Perfuma took a moment to process the fact that Entrapta, who didn't look a day older than her, was actually 33 years old before focussing on the rest of Hordak's rant, "You had no right to treat her like a lesser being. She is worth far more than any of you self-righteous Princesses."
Entrapta blushed uncomfortably and lowered her mask.
"Hordak, it's okay," she said shyly from behind the mask, "Perfuma's my friend." Hordak scoffed.
"My understanding of friendship is that it requires respect between people," he replied, "This unworthy waif did not treat you with respect."
"Entrapta's different from the rest of us," Perfuma protested but shut up quickly as Hordak loomed over her. Realising how little weight that excuse had and how it could very easily be interpreted as bigotry, she prepared to summon her plants, ready for a fight.
"Good," Hordak said, "If she wasn't, I would never have found a worthy mate."
"A mate!" Perfuma squawked and blushed at both the implications and how undignified she sounded in that moment.
"Yep," Entrapta said, raising her mask back up and beaming, "Turns out Hordak's species have strong mating instincts and once they're activated, they mate for life! Isn't that great? Now Hordak and I will be lab partners forever!"
Perfuma went very red as Entrapta rambled excitedly about being mated with Hordak, being both too shocked and too frightened to interrupt as she started to get uncomfortably specific about their sex life. Hordak was smirking slightly, enjoying Perfuma's discomfort. He'd never understood why Etherians found intercourse to be a source of embarrassment or shame. Even Horde Prime, for all his religious dogma, had never been prudish, having been married countless times over the millennia and even allowing his clones to mate on the condition that they be purely physical relationships that never superseded their worship for Prime himself. Hordak had never been content to settle for a purely physical relationship and Entrapta was the only person besides Prime who rivalled him intellectually, which made her the only one worthy of being his mate.
"I believe you've made your point, Starlight," Hordak said once he realised that Entrapta was about to describe his body. Horde Prime had suppressed his defects but it had only been a temporary solution and he still didn't trust anybody except Entrapta to not take advantage of his condition if they knew about it, "Let's leave the Princess to reflect on this conversation. I do hope that statue captured your likeness accurately." He gave Perfuma a mocking bow and wrapped an arm around Entrapta, who waved at the shell shocked flower princess as they left.
Perfuma was never going to meditate in this clearing again.