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Hordak has never been so vulnerable in his life.
He’s completely trapped, pinned by his own armor. His arms hang limply at his sides, and no matter how much he strains, his strength is no match for the dead weight of tens of kilos of metal weighing them down.
He should be terrified, or enraged, should be roaring defiance at the person responsible. Instead, he’s trying not to get caught staring.
It all started with what Entrapta cheerfully called “the zaps” in his new armor; moments where it would mismanage power and overload several servos. The resulting short circuits were annoying and painful, and Entrapta had decided to attempt a more permanent fix.
“And no time like the present!” she had crowed at him, her hair splayed into a dozen tails, each holding a different tool.
She had badgered him into straddling a low workbench while she reworked the interface that linked the power source—the First Ones crystal—with the rest of his armor. She’d had to remove the crystal, however, in order to make her changes.
So here he is, pinned by his own armor’s inert weight, completely at Entrapta’s mercy until she puts the power source back in place.
He is absolutely, completely helpless. And he doesn’t care.
He should care. He’s been mentally chastising himself for the last several minutes about how much he should care. What in the universe had made him think it was acceptable to allow himself into a position where he couldn’t even defend himself?
And worse, to have Entrapta so close while it happened.
She’s kneeling on the bench in front of him, practically in his lap, her hair and fingers deftly working at the collar of his armor. She keeps drawing close to look at her progress, her face just inches from Hordak’s, and her nearness is so damned distracting that he doesn’t care that she could easily kill him right now if she so chose.
“Right,” she says to herself. “The port upgrades look good. All that’s left is installing the regulator.” Her eyes flick up to meet his and she smiles wide. “How’re you holding up?”
“I am … fine,” he lies.
“Great!” Sparks flash gold under her chin as she welds something into place.
He’s infinitely grateful that his eyes lack Etherian pupils, and therefore can’t betray exactly where it is he’s looking. Because he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from her; from the way the corner of her mouth turns up in satisfaction when she finishes a change, or the way her eyes narrow in thought at her next move. She’s so close he can smell the fresh scent of the soap she uses on her hair, can actually feel the warmth of her skin radiating against his neck when she leans in to better see her next soldering point.
It takes every shred of willpower not to tilt his head the fraction of an inch it would take to rest his cheek against her.
What is wrong with him?
There is a strange sensation worming around his stomach that feels a little like hunger, and a lot like being dropped into zero gravity. He can’t stop staring at her mouth, and every time it moves something lurches behind his rib cage.
This is nothing like anything he’s ever experienced.
He is drawn to her in a way he doesn’t understand, his body trying to lean closer of its own volition. He isn’t sure whether he’s relieved that he can’t move right now or disappointed.
Entrapta mutters to herself and eyes his collar from a few inches away. “Almost done,” she says, and he can feel the puff of her breath against his throat.
He wants to close the distance between them and cover her mouth with his.
What is wrong with him?
His breathing is growing fast and shallow, and it’s taking an uncomfortable amount of effort to hide that fact. He doesn’t know what’s going on with him, but he’s absolutely certain it will be a world of awkward discomfort if he gets caught.
“And here we go!” Entrapta says suddenly, startling him. She fits the First Ones crystal against his collar and snaps it into place. “Haha!”
Hordak gasps as the armor reintegrates with his nervous system, and his body lurches as the joints and servos flare to life. Perched practically on top of him as she is, Entrapta grabs his shoulders to steady herself. Her fingers are a hair’s breadth from his throat and it’s absolutely terrifying how that isn’t terrifying.
She grins at him triumphantly from mere inches away.
“Ta-da! How does it feel?”
He tries to make his throat work, but it’s all he can do to keep his breathing under control. She’s like a gravity well, drawing him inexorably closer, and he has no idea whether or not he should be resisting.
He isn’t even sure what he’s resisting.
Entrapta blinks at him with open curiosity, tilting her head. Panic runs fingers of ice up Hordak’s spine. She’s noticed! He needs to say something. He needs to do something! But she just watches him, eyes flicking across his face with gentle interest.
“I think I’d like to try a new experiment,” she murmurs. She’s even closer now, the breath from her words ghosting over his lips. Something twists in his lungs and his skin feels oddly overheated. The overwhelming gravity of her has become more than he can bear, and he slowly draws nearer, helpless.
A tiny smile flickers across her lips, and then she closes the distance between them.
For half a heartbeat there is a timeless moment where the world disappears and there is only searing heat and incredible softness against his mouth.
It’s gone before he can even register what’s going on. He blinks, his mind trying to process what it is that just happened.
Entrapta is still incredibly close, a strange, dreamy expression on her face. “That was nice.”
It’s too much. She’s too close, too beautiful. His entire body ignites with sudden, overwhelming want. The lingering heat of her on his lips isn’t enough. He needs more, needs her.
He’s reaching for her before he registers he’s even moving, drawing them back together with the urgency of a drowning man finding air.
And the incredible thing is that she reaches for him too. Her arms curl around his neck and her body presses deliciously against his torso. She does something with her tongue that makes his pulse stutter, leaves him gasping against her cheek.
When they finally pull away they’re both breathing hard. Entrapta’s cheeks are distinctly red. It’s strangely appealing.
She’s also grinning up at him expectantly, and he has no idea what to do next.
“I—” he stammers. “That was—”
“That was a lot more intense than my initial hypothesis predicted!” she says with her typical excitement.
“I—”
“I figured it was possible you were having feelings of physical or romantic attraction to me, given your elevated heart rate and erythema on your ears.”
His what? “Entrapta—”
“And I’ve definitely been experiencing increasing impulses to act on feelings of attraction and affection toward you. But I had no idea it would go like that!”
Toward… him?
His heartbeat stumbles and the air leaves his lungs all at once. The odd zero gravity feeling in his stomach is replaced by a strange, bubbling exhilaration.
“I think,” he says, trying not to grin like a complete fool, “perhaps we should conduct the experiment again.”
Entrapta blinks at him.
His smile widens. “A good scientist never draws conclusions from a single data point.” Throwing caution to the wind, he reaches to cradle Entrapta’s face in his hands, gently threading his claws through the tangle of her hair.
She beams up at him, color spilling over her cheeks once more. He still thinks it’s ridiculously appealing.
“Good point,” she says, and throws her arms around him again.
Hordak tilts his head and presses his lips to her beautiful smile. He still isn’t sure what this is between them, what to call the strange fluttering behind his ribs. But it’s certainly pleasant.
Entrapta does something creative with her teeth, and Hordak can’t help the moan that slips past his lips.
She gives a throaty little laugh that makes electricity dance down his spine. “How do you feel about increasing our data collection to include additional forms of affection?” Heat blooms low in his stomach.
“An excellent idea.” He scoops her up, still pressing kisses to whatever bits of her he can reach. She laughs with delight as he carries her into the privacy of his bedchamber and shuts the door.
He may not have a name for the strange gravity that pulls him to her, but he is very much looking forward to exploring it to its fullest.