The next two weeks flew by in a whirlwind. Hordak's every waking moment was devoted to one of two things: repair projects or clone maintenance. Etheria was doing everything in its power to heal from not only Prime's invasion, but the decades of war Hordak himself had waged on the planet. Repairs were necessary everywhere. It was as though nothing on the planet functioned as it should.

Hordak understood the need for him to be an active participant in Etheria's healing process. He even enjoyed certain projects, as they put him in the same room as Entrapta. Sadly, moments with his lab partner were growing increasingly infrequent. More often, Entrapta would take charge on projects exported to the rest of the planet, sending regular updates through Imp.

Meanwhile, Hordak dealt with his brothers' frequent existential crises. For every new batch of arrivals, Hordak led them through the personalization ritual and set them up for a new life in the castle. It was not an easy transition; the clones' freshly formed identities were fragile, breaking at even the slightest external pressure. With hundreds of clones running around the castle, there seemed to be a new issue arising every half hour.

As a clone who had adjusted to life on Etheria decades ago, Hordak was declared the best person around to guide the others through the process. Hordak questioned the logic of this decision, but he did not refuse the duty. Only resented it. When Spear cried about physical damage on his nametag "taking his personhood away," Hordak had come closer than ever before to breaking his still-new vow of non-violence.

"The tag itself is not your personhood. It is a symbol of your personhood that communicates your name to others." Hordak explained for the hundredth time. "Do you see a tag on myself, Brother Spear?"

Spear shook his head, unable to speak through his tears.

"Do you still need to look at your tag to remember your own name?" Another head shake. "Then it does not matter if your tag is dented. If others cannot read your name, they can ask you what it is. You can tell them. This occasion is not worthy of tears."

Somehow, this made the crying worse. "But… it was a g-gift. A personal item for me alone. A special ritual decreed by the G-Great Disruptor, Master Entrapta. I do not want her to know that I..." he sniffed. "I sullied her creation."

Hordak had a retort ready. Then he paused. He considered what he would do if part of his suit suffered a dent. It too was a gift from Entrapta. Even if the dent wasn't impairing the functionality of his exoskeleton, he wouldn't want to leave it tarnished in any form. The gift meant too much to him.

Spear's health may not rely on his nametag, but it was the clone's most tangible connection to individuality. Other clones had a cape the color of his. A nametag bearing the name "Spear" was the only physical thing unique to him. Of course he did not want to lose his one unique item.

Ugh. "...Would you like me to repair your nametag, Brother Spear?"

Spear's eyes went wide, turning a hopeful yellow as they did. "Will you, Master Hordak?"

"I will." Hordak held out his hand for Spear's cape. He closed his hands around the orange fabric, feeling the bent metal in his palm. "Come with me."

Hordak should have done this from the outset. Repairing Spear's tag took a fraction of the time it had to argue with him. Once Spear's name was again readable, Hordak held the cape back out to his tearful ward. "Remember, Brother Spear. Your name is more than a piece of metal. It is with you whether you wear your cape or not."

Spear let out one last sniffle, then accepted his repaired nametag back from Hordak. He thanked Hordak for "making him whole once more," then returned to his work disassembling Prime's leftover robots. The scrap would then be hauled into Entrapta's lab by the load, at which point Entrapta would repurpose it into reconstruction equipment. Using Prime's abundant scraps had proven easier than trying to resurrect shattered supply chains in the short run.

Because Etherian gangs were still attempting to murder every clone they saw, Entrapta did not allow any clones to leave her castle grounds. Instead, they relied on visitors to supply them with materials. Many now delivered fresh clones and old tech at the same time.

The clones adapting fastest to social behavior were tasked with greeting anyone who made the trek up the mountain path from their place in a watchtower. They had a habit of granting lavish nicknames to anyone they met. So much so that Hordak didn't initially notice when they declared that, "the Mighty Adora, avatar of She-Ra, Extinguisher of the Once-Eternal Light of our Fallen Lord Prime, has graced this lovely labyrinth with her presence! Following in her train are resources for the Great Disruptor and… and Catra, the Feisty Sister!"

"Really? Adora gets all that, and I'm just 'feisty'?" The familiar groan of Catra's voice claimed Hordak's full attention. He stiffened, freezing midstep in his walk through the castle courtyard.

"Uh…" Vineyard stuttered, trying to craft a better nickname. "Sister of the Indomitable Will and Audacious Spirit, Catra."

"Better. Now can you let us in? We brought tech for Entrapta, and Adora wants to talk to Hordak."

"Yes, dear sisters! So the Great Disruptor wills it, you are welcome within the castle grounds." Vineyard pushed the button to raise the gate. Hordak stood in the middle of the courtyard, eager to get this interaction over with.

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Adora. He still had not adequately thanked her for removing Prime's consciousness from his body, and today presented him an opportunity to do so. She had also been a great help to him and Entrapta at the peace negotiations. Hordak didn't understand when the pair of them had become allies, but he still owed her for it. More pertinently, Hordak wanted to know about Adora's plan to explore the universe. He had many memories of distant planets and wished to see if he could offer insight to her journey.

Unfortunately, it was Hordak's understanding that Adora and Catra were romantically connected. After years of fighting one another, the two now refused to be separated for any reason. Despite his willingness to set the past aside, Hordak knew he would not miss Catra while she traveled through the stars.

As the pair came into Hordak's view, Catra noticed him first. Her tail swished from one side to the other. She tucked a tuft of hair behind her ear, black claws reflecting the afternoon sunlight. Her classic twin trademark of nerves and intimidation.

When Adora noticed Hordak, she spoke up right away. "Oh, Hordak! We don't have to find you after all." She let out a nervous laugh. "That's a relief. I still have no idea how to navigate this place."

"It has its challenges." Hordak agreed. "I hear you have technology for Entrapta. I will show you where to deliver it." He turned his back on the two women, ignoring the instinctive alarm bells the act set off in his head.

The three walked silently to a side building in the castle's main courtyard. This building also had a passage into the main structure, but it was not one meant for guests. The false counter hid a dumbwaiter that dropped items into minecarts. Said minecarts moved autonomously after reaching a certain weight. The minecarts led into Entrapta's "receiving room," where Spear and his brothers sorted the mess into parts Entrapta could easily repurpose.

The most fascinating thing about the minecart system was that Entrapta had not built it herself. While she and Hordak had needed to do maintenance for its use to resume, credit for the invention belonged to Entrapta's grandmother. The more Hordak learned about Entrapta's family, the more he wished he'd pressed her fathers harder for an alliance during his warlord days.

After dropping off the tech, Adora decided to press the issue of speaking with Hordak. "So… um, Hordak. Catra and I didn't only come here to bring you tech. I also wanted to ask you about something. It's… a little personal."

Hordak paused. He turned to face Adora. "Personal to whom?"

Adora met his gaze. "Personal to me."

"Yeah, we're not here to ask about your personal business. We know enough. We've heard the song already." Catra inserted herself into the conversation. "It's full of crap, if you ask me."

Hordak's ears flattened in annoyance. "I fail to see how my personal matters relate to any song you might know, Catra."

After a second of internal debate, Adora decided she would be the better person to break the news to Hordak. "So there's some… speculation within the Princess Alliance about your relationship with Entrapta. When Mermista and Sea Hawk visited the two of you first, Sea Hawk got a few, um, details about your relationship from Entrapta. Details he may have turned into a song."

Hordak's eyes narrowed at Adora's revelation. That did explain Scorpia's humming from last week. And Perfuma's violent shushing, now that he thought about it. He didn't respond right away, preferring to lead them into the different out-building of the castle complex. This one contained only a small meeting room, one suited for ten people or less. "What about my relationship with Entrapta did this pirate include in his song?"

"Sex. Lots and lots of freaky techno sex innuendos." Catra grimaced. "The lyrics are as terrible as they are catchy."

"I mean, some of the lyrics were interesting. The portal/vagina metaphor was… creative." Adora blushed, undermining her defense of her friend.

Hordak hunched over the meeting table, his claws digging into the old wood. "The pirate has an active imagination. Entrapta and I have never held physically intimate relations. Nothing Entrapta told him two weeks ago ought to have given him that impression."

"That's okay. We didn't come here to talk to you about this." Adora rushed to change the subject "What you two do in your private time is none of my business."

That was strangely kind of her to say. Given what he knew now, Hordak was examining all the visits to Crypto Castle so far in a new light. Perfuma's disgust at their "unnatural pairing." Spinnerela and Netossa's pointed comments about how "it" couldn't possibly be good enough to turn Entrapta "evil" and that "no man was that talented."

Hordak felt twin sensations of disgust and defiance rise into his throat. Part of him now wanted to prove the rumors true. He enjoyed Entrapta's touch and would happily give her any pleasure she wished. Perhaps if he gave her physical intimacy, it would be the assurance he needed that she couldn't replace him with another being.

The sane part of him, the part that knew about his true nature, balked at the idea. A pit of dread settled in his stomach. Never had Hordak felt so defective over something not formally a part of his defect.

He forced himself back into the present conversation. To fully ground him in the current moment, Hordak focused on using a phrase hereto unfamiliar to him. "...Thank you, Adora. I have one more reason to be grateful towards you."

"Of course. I… know how it is to have my relationship questioned by the Alliance." She glanced at Catra. "People don't say anything to our faces, but I know they're thinking it."

"That's why you defended Entrapta and Hordak moving in together!" Catra realized. "The longer people spent talking about their relationship, the less time they had to worry about ours. Well played."

More to the point, Adora's position as She-Ra had given her the power to sway the decision when the rest of the table started out against it. Adora had saved the planet numerous times. Her power was both unlimited and unquestionable. Whatever Hordak had to do to keep Adora as an ally in the postwar order, he intended to do it.

"The remainder of my life will be well spent at Entrapta's side. She is a creation of true brilliance. Her genius surpasses mine. Despite not claiming the role of a soldier, her determination and strength are the envy of many. Her…" Hordak's hand rose to the crystal at his chest. "Her kindness is more than I deserve, and yet I cannot bring myself to reject it. The years I spent in pain are worth bearing now that I have the chance to see her smile every day."

Adora's eyes shone. "Wow. You really love her back, don't you? I knew how Entrapta felt about you. I hoped you felt the same. That's why I gave you a chance, but…" she drew back in her seat, "no offense, Hordak, but I wasn't sure you could love anybody. It's still a little hard to believe."

"Heh, you added a case over your crystal. Smart move."

Hordak ignored Catra this time. He kept his eyes on Adora, orange eyes shining in contrast with her blue. "It is a surprise to me also. Away from Prime, I am capable of more than I ever dreamed. I will love Entrapta for the rest of my life. Every day she is generous enough to love me back is a day I will treasure. Perhaps one day, I will be able to give her the pleasure the Alliance believes me capable of."

Catra wasn't done crowing, unfortunately. "I knew it! I knew you two hadn't done it yet. The first time I heard Sea Hawk say you had, I thought to myself, 'Hordak fucked Entrapta, huh? Him and whose dick?'"

Adora covered her mouth. Hordak's grip on the table became so tight that the side of the table splintered off. A growl dug into his throat, dark and low. His eyes flashed a warning red.

How did she know? How dare she tell others! Hordak couldn't allow this to continue. He ought to-

...No. She wasn't worth it. Hurting Catra was not worth Hordak breaking his vow. He had just explained how much life with Entrapta meant to him. He couldn't throw it away over something as useless and temporary as anger.

"Catra! How… what?!"

"Remember when I sent you Glimmer from Horde Prime's ship? Well, Prime's clones were not happy with me when I did that. I fought very hard and very dirty to get away from them, but… it didn't work." Catra rubbed a hand over the back of her neck as she explained. She stopped when she noticed Hordak watching her. "Anyway. I scratched those clones all over. They don't have anything don't there. No dicks, no balls, no vagina nothing. I don't even think they have a concept of sex, much less a way to do it. Isn't that right, Hordak?"

Adora cringed. "Uhhhhhh, not what we came here to talk about. Can we stop now?"

Hordak also wanted to stop. He should not have risen to Catra's bait, much less answered her question. "You know enough about Horde Prime now to realize us clones were created from his intentional design. Tell me: why would Horde Prime give his clones the ability to reproduce? What purpose would that serve him?"

Catra laughed. "Poor Entrapta. She's a freak, you know. She built a full size sex bot while she was living in the Horde. She based it on her personal fantasies and theories at the time." She rolled her eyes. "I had nightmares for days when she showed it to Scorpia and me. I wonder how she feels knowing none of her theories are true."

"Does Entrapta... know?" Adora asked in a small voice.

Hordak thought back to when he had awoken in Entrapta's lab without clothes. If Entrapta had had enough time to strip him, mount him on the table, and analyze his DNA, she would have had enough time to examine his body. There was no way Entrapta didn't know.

Still, he didn't want to tell these two that. "The matter is none of your business. Is that not what you said, Adora?"

She squared her shoulders. "You're right. I don't need to know."

"Now, what did you want to talk about from your life? Nothing sexual, I presume."

"No. We already know you can't help us with that."

"Catra!" Adora chided her, then turned back to Hordak. "No, I want to ask you about where I came from. You saw the universe before coming to Etheria. You found me after a portal brought me here. Do you know where I'm really from?"

Hordak did not, but he dove into the speculation process eagerly. Given Adora's status as a First One, there were a limited number of holdout planets she could have been from. Only a few planets with First Ones had survived the Galactic Horde's series of purges. One such planet was Eternia, the frontline Hordak had been sent to in his initial banishment all those years ago.

When Hordak mentioned Eternia, Adora jumped to her feet. She recognized that word! It was the password she used to enter She Ra's Crystal Castle. Given this information, Adora became convinced Eternia was the origin of She Ra and vowed to visit the planet on her trip through the universe. She pestered Hordak for every detail he remembered about the place. Details Hordak was more than willing to provide.

Catra said nothing else of importance during their exchange, but her earlier comments never left Hordak's mind. Was there more than mockery contained within her assessments? After the day they made his new exoskeleton, Hordak had attributed Entrapta's physical seclusion from him to their busy schedules. Entrapta wasn't the type to act on a hidden agenda. She seldom understood deception, let alone used it.

At least, she hadn't in the Fright Zone. Hordak was painfully aware of the several months that had passed between then and now. Things that had not been problems before were rearing their ugly head now.

Lacking reproductive organs had never bothered Hordak until today. He was a clone of the "exalted" Lord Prime. He had no need to reproduce with the lesser life forms scattered across Etheria. He lacked the weakness that came with having such a sensitive organ hang between his legs. He could not be distracted the way so many other men were with the need to expel semen. For all that Etherian men prided themselves on virility, Hordak had seen the matter as nothing short of a liability on all counts.

Then he had touched Entrapta. Feeling her warm, condensed form against his had changed him. After Adora lifted her hands away from Hordak, after he felt the last vestiges of Horde Prime leave his consciousness, Entrapta's arms had wrapped around his waist. He felt her joy as if it were his own. And when her hands and hair had attached his new exoskeleton to his body, he'd felt a similar warmth arise. Every touch he received from her increased his desire to feel more. Washing Entrapta's hair had been his attempt to bring her the same joy as a result of his touch. He had failed miserably in that regard.

Was attraction possible without physical arousal? Was it possible for Hordak to desire Entrapta when he lacked the parts necessary to copulate with her? Stranger things had happened over the course of Hordak's life. Even if Hordak was not capable of deriving traditional pleasure from sex, he would engage in it to make Entrapta happy. Seeing Entrapta happy brought him happiness as well.

As he bid farewell to Adora and Catra, Hordak considered what to do about his predicament. How would he broach the matter with Entrapta? Where would they find the space for intimacy in a castle crawling with clones? Needy clones that demanded Hordak's attention at every hour of the day?

At least the other clones were on the same footing as Hordak in this matter. This time, they were equally defective. In fact, Hordak's knowledge about sex gave him an advantage over his still-ignorant brothers.

It was decided. As soon as Hordak could catch Entrapta alone, he would proposition her. If she would have him, Hordak would learn ways to pleasure her. He could use his fingers, his tongue, and his ability to go without breathing to bring her to completion. The mere thought of Entrapta collapsing in his arms post-orgasm sent warmth all over his stomach.

After the war ended, Hordak hadn't been sure what goal to pursue next. Now, he would fight tooth and nail to make his new dream a reality.

A/N's: Hello all. I am extremely feverish from the side effects of a flu shot. Despite that, I still think posting the chapter I have spent over a month fussing over is a good idea. If I change my mind, I promise to only edit it. Not take it down.

At one point, this chapter took place in Scorpia's Fright Zone. Scorpia was a part of the conversation as well. Oh, and Sea Hawk's song lyrics were included in the chapter. All were taken out in favor of this.

Here you have it, folks. My take on the Hordick speculation. I understand why my headcanon isn't a popular one, but I hope you stick around to the end regardless. I think I come up with a good, unique approach to smut. But first, we need to get Entrapta's POV in the next chapter. She and Hordak need to have an actual conversation about their feelings and desires as well.

Hope you enjoyed. I've been very appreciative of the level of support I've received thus far. Thank you, everyone!