Chapter Text
“Working with a lab partner log #17, when you need to carry a significant number of items it can be beneficial to request their assistance.” Entrapta spoke into her recorder while she sat on the edge of a workbench with Hordak leaning over her and gently wrapping her wrist.
She had been carrying about eight different pieces of tech, scrap, and wiring in both her hair and her hands when she had tripped on a cable running to the vitrines. Rather than breaking her fall with her largely preoccupied hair, she threw out her arm however, she didn't let go off the important piece of tech she was holding and instead landed with all her weight on her wrist.
Her wrist didn’t like that.
The pain was pretty bad, she’d say about a 7.6 on a scale from 1-10. She screamed.
Curiously Hordak was by her side in about 3.7 seconds despite being halfway across the sanctum.
“Oh, I appear to have hurt my wrist.” Tears were beginning to well up and obscure her vision, she blinked them away to reveal Hordak wearing an expression she hadn’t seen before; similar to concern, but it was almost…gentler? “I’ll be fine.” She blurted out, hoping to dispel any worry that he might have for her.
She tried to use her hair to stand up but he simply picked her up and carried her over to the bench.
“No, I'm going to look at it properly. Wait here.” He turned, almost reluctantly, before disappearing around a corner.
She slid of the bench, with her injured wrist cradled close to her chest, and began picking up the dropped tech, wires, and scrap.
“Ughkk!” She whirled around to see Hordak walking over to her, some kind of box in his hands. “Entrapta! You are HURT, please just sit still for five minutes.”
For the second time her carried her over to the bench and gently reached for her sore arm.
“Tell me if anything hurts.” He poked and prodded and twister her wrist for three minutes before he decided it was only a sprain and began to wrap it. After two minutes of that Entrapta found that her five minutes of restraint were up and she sent a tendril of hair for her recorder. Hordak eyed it warily, but judged that it wouldn't hurt her wrist and went back to wrapping.
“Perhaps in future you can allow Emily, or Imp, or myself to assist you so that you don’t—“
“Drop anything important I know.” Entrapta knew she was being short with him, but she found herself rather tired.
“”No!” Hordak cried, catching her off guard. “So that you don’t hurt yourself.”
“Oh,” she looked down, “that too I suppose.”
“You need to be more careful.” Hordak was being particularly insistent.
“I know, my work is necessary for the portal.”
“No, I—“
“Are you done? I’m pretty tired.”
“Yes,” Hordak sighed and turned away, “I’m done.”
Despite what the Horde’s soldiers said when they thought she couldn’t hear them, Entrapta needed sleep and she cared about her personal hygiene. However, she was so tired that she decided she could shower in the morning instead.
She also realised that it was too difficult to move through the vents with an injured wrist, that’s how she found herself getting lost in the fright zone, the twisting hallways were so at odds with the perfect grid of the vents.
She turned to slump against a wall but whirled around at the sound of a screech.
“Imp! This is brilliant, would you be able to show me how to get back to my room?”
“AAAAAHHHHH”
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He ran off down the hallway and Entrapta trailed behind him. “You know Imp, Hordak was acting really weird today, I don’t like jumping to conclusions, I AM a woman of science, but I’d almost say he cared whether I was okay.”
“AAAAAAHHH AHHHA”
“Yes, I KNOW I care about him, he's the first lab partner I've ever had, of course I’d care if he was hurt, but I always just assumed I was a tool for building the portal, my recent observations seem to challenge that assumption. Maybe I’m just tired, and hurt and not seeing things properly.”
“AAAHAHAHA”
“Oh, we’re here, thanks heaps Imp!” Entrapta opened the door to her room and practically collapsed onto her bed, she didn’t even bother to plait her hair, or change into pyjamas. She’d worked really hard on upgrading the portal, then she’d gotten hurt, then she’d got lost in the fright zone. She fell asleep in moments.
“..I KNOW I care about him, he's the first lab partner I've ever had, of course I’d care if he was hurt, but I always just assumed I was a tool for building the portal…” Entrapta’s voice played throughout Hordak’s sanctum as Imp flew in circles above his head.
“Is that what she really thinks? Does she really think so low of herself?” Hordak put down the mess of wires he’d been detangling and stormed off into the inner part of his sanctum.
Entrapta woke up groggily, she was tangled in something, but that didn't make any sense, she only slept with a comforter and no sheets, she wore shorts to bed so her legs wouldn't get caught and she plaited her hair before— wait she hadn't plaited her hair, and she wasn’t even in pyjamas. She remembered now, she had been so tired after yesterday that she’d fallen straight to sleep. She untangled herself from her hair and set her jaw as she entered the bathroom to face the matted mess that was her hair.
Despite spending 20 minutes in the shower, and using the last of her conditioner she just couldn't get the knots out of her hair while she only had the use of one hand. Maybe she did need some help.
Hordak only needed about 4 hours of sleep a night, 2 if he was pushing himself. That's why he was working when the door the sanctum opened and Entrapta wandered in.
“Entrapta, I hope you’re feeling better after yest—“
“I need some help.” Entrapta’s voice was so soft Hordak wouldn't have heard it if he didn't have enhanced hearing.
“Of course, what can I assist you with…” His voice trailed off as he turned around to face her. She was wearing her coveralls and boots, and her wrist was still wrapped but her hair was a wet, dripping mess.
“I can’t untangle it with only one hand.” It was clear from her refusal to make eye contact, and the softness of her voice, and the redness of her cheeks that she was embarrassed.
“Yes, okay, uhhh,” Hordak really waned to be supportive, but he had no idea how to handle the situation. Luckily, Entrapta walked over to one of the benches and sat down facing away from Hordak.
He walked over to her and tried to gently run his claws through it, he found it to be rather “slippery?”
“I put conditioner in so that it would be easier to untangle.”
Hordak tried to be gentle, but every now and then he’d catch on a particularly bad knot and she would flinch.
“Usually I sleep with it in plaits so that this doesn’t happen, but I was really tired last night and I just fell asleep.”
Hordak pulled gently at the knots in her hair, “you really shouldn't work yourself to exhaustion like that, the portal is not more important than your health.” He tried to broach the subject that Imp had brought up last night, but subtlety was not his strong suit.
“Oh no, I wasn’t tired after working on the portal, I was exhausted cause i got lost on the way to my room, the hallways are much more complicated than the vents.” Entrapta tilted her head back to look at Hordak. “But it’s okay, Imp found me and showed me where to go!”
“This is unacceptable—“
“I’m sorry, I’ll try harder next time.”
“No, you shouldn’t have to, what’s unacceptable is that your rooms are so far away that you get lost and tired, you simply can not work in these conditions. I’m having my forces move you closer to the sanctum, especially so you don’t get so tired all the time.” Hordak had become huffy, but she couldn't figure out why. “That is, if it’s okay with you.”
“Yes, thank you.” Entrapta leaned her head forward again and closed her eyes, she was still kind if tired from yesterday, and the feeling of Hordak pulling at her hair to untangle it was making her feel even sleepier.
It had taken a full 30 minutes, but Entrapta’s hair was thoroughly detangled.
“All done,” Hordak announced. But she didn't reply. “Entrapta?” Hordak moved around to the other side of the bench where he found that she had fallen asleep. She really had to stop overworking herself, it was starting to worry him.
Well, he couldn’t just leave her here, she’d get in the way, and he wasn’t going to take all his time to carry her back to her rooms. His would do for now.