Work Text:
Hordak stared at himself in the mirror appraisingly. He had nothing on but his skirt, but for once was completely comfortable. In the months after the fall of Prime, his health had begun to decline again. The guilt and pressure of what he had inadvertently done to his brothers weighed heavy on his mind, making him neglect the care that Entrapta had taught him even worse than before. The whole of Etheria was busy rebuilding, especially the Princesses, leaving Hordak alone with the building plans and his own self-loathing. Finally, Entrapta was allowed back home with him and quickly noticed the state of her lab partner. She, along with his brother (now nicknamed Kadroh), quickly whipped him back into shape. Now, nearly a year later, he stood in his and Entrapta’s shared rooms, getting ready for her 31st birthday.
However, before he was fully dressed he had gotten distracted by the glint of his new earrings moving in the mirror. Then, after that he had moved forward to look at himself in the mirror. Hordak spun around to see his back, suppressing the ingrained urge to cringe at the vitiligo marking him. He had long since accepted that no matter how well he took care of himself, he would never have quite the same body as his brothers. His biceps would never be as large and his shoulders would always be a bit bony. Now, however, he was no longer gaunt, a healthy layer of muscle and fat settling onto his body. Hordak felt a light wash of pride at the sight of his bottom half. Even at his sickest, it had been his favorite part of his body. Recovery had only strengthened both his legs and his affinity for them. Before he could move back to the closet, the door to their rooms slammed open and Entrapta came bustling in. She stopped short from wherever she was going to whistle at Hordak.
“Oh hey there, gorgeous.” Even after all the years they had known each other, Entrapta’s flirtatious comments still made him blush. She walked forward, setting her mask down on the bed and wrapped her arms around his waist. Hordak met her eyes in the mirror, smiling at the fond look in them. “Is this supposed to be my birthday gift? If it is, I’m quite delighted by it.” She slid her hands up to his shoulders, giving them a squeeze and a kiss.
Hordak rolled his eyes, “Very funny, dearest. I was just getting ready. Your gift will come later tonight.”
“Mind giving me a hint?”
“Absolutely not, love. You won’t break me down that easily.” Entrapta sighed and leaned backwards to sit on the bed.
“Oh well. I suppose it's only a few more hours. Now-“ She whistled again and moved her finger in a circle. “Give me a twirl before you get dressed again.” Hordak didn’t hesitate to take his now balled up skirt and throw it at his partner.
“Go! You’re positively filthy!” Entrapta laughed, using her hair to leap back into the vent system before he could throw more articles of his clothing at her. After Hordak was sure his lover had left hearing distance, he laughed at her antics and stepped back into the closet.
An identical whistle to the one that Entrapta let out a few moments before sounded through the room. Rolling his eyes, Hordak looked out from the door to the closet to see Imp sitting on the bed, hoping for more attention.
“Go away. I’m changing.” Imp ignored his instructions and flew into the closet, picking up a dress from the back and throwing onto Hordak’s face. “Why are you like this?” Hordak mumbled into the fabric.
He removed the dress from his face and took a second look at it. He had planned on going to the party in one of his usual outfits, at most maybe putting on one of the few pairs of pants he didn’t use for work. He took a second look at the long and rather modest dark blue dress he had chosen for himself. Imp chirped again at him, annoyingly encouraging him to go outside of his normal comfort zone.
“Ugh! Okay! I’ll try it on!” Hordak pulled the dress over his head, straightening it out as it settled over his prominent chest. Imp adjusted the straps for him, pulling them down to the apex of his shoulders and allowing the flowing sleeves to reach his wrists. Hordak nodded his thanks to his son, giving him a quick pet before he flew away to make some unknown mischief in the vents of the Dryll Castle. Hordak steeled himself, pulling open the door and walking back out to the mirror he had started out in front of. He kept his expression carefully blank and his hope purposefully low. No matter how much “therapy” Sea Hawk had tried to instill in him, there was still only so much that Hordak could handle.
The dress, simply put, was beautiful. Hordak, on the other hand- No, he stopped the thought in his brain before it could come to completion. He took a deep sigh, closing his eyes and forcing his brain to start over again.
Objectively, the cut flattered Hordak’s hourglass (even he could admit that he had a nice shape) figure and highlighted his broad shoulders and thin waist. The color was the same as his hair, which now went down a little past his shoulders. He had forgone shaving the sides and back only a few weeks after the fall of Prime and now his whole head was an even length. The bright silver of his dangling earrings were highlighted against his dark hair.
Hordak hated to admit it, but he had been wrong about his previous assessment of how he’d look in this outfit. He’d have to thank Imp later for forcing him to try this one on. Perhaps, he would go to the party in this dress. After all, the only attendants were a few of his brothers, Imp, the Dryll Castle servants, & and the rest of the so-called “Best Pal Trio”. None in attendance would seek to harm him or go out of their way to insult him. Well, maybe Catra would- but only in good fun. Giving the mirror one last twirl, he prepared for another hour of meticulous primping and pruning.
………………………………….
The party had lasted a ridiculously long time, at least in Hordak’s opinion. And it seemed in Entrapta’s as well as she let out a long and loud yawn as soon as the door to their quarters shut behind them.
“Well, I hope you’re not too tired for your gift.” Hordak teased light-heartedly. Entrapta’s eyes lit up brightly when she brought her hands together in an excited gesture.
“Oh no! I’m not too tired!” She jumped up onto the bed, piling the blankets around her waist and patted her lap, signifying for the gift to go right there. Hordak laughed deep in his chest and opened the drawers underneath their bed to reveal a brightly wrapped box, complete with a purple bow on top. He placed it delicately on her lap and sat beside her, excitedly waiting for her to tear open the gift.
Entrapta purposefully peeled small pieces of wrapping paper, watching out of the corner of her eye at her lover’s impatient form beside her. She finally decided to give him some mercy and ripped off the last of the wrapping, revealing a small metal box, embellished with some First Ones writing on the surface.
Hordak directed her pointer finger to the middle, towards a nearly invisible button. Entrapta pressed her finger down, gasping when the sides of the box spread into a flower shape. Hordak leaned back, watching her reaction.
A small locket-shaped center opened up, revealing a small hologram of Hordak and Entrapta from a few months ago, both smiling at each other, ignoring Kadroh, who had taken the photo.
“Oh honey. I- I love this, it’s beautiful.” Entrapta had started to tear up, apparently being a bit too tired and tipsy for an emotional gift. Hordak’s lips quirked upwards, swiping in front of the suspended picture with the tip of his claw. The image changed to one of Entrapta and Imp laughing together, one taken by Hordak himself.
Entrapta laughed, “I didn’t even know that picture existed! It’s adorable!” She continued swiping through, cooing or laughing at the images that Hordak had encoded in her gift. Eventually, she reached the end, finishing up at the first image of them smiling at each other. Hordak gently took the gift from her, pushing a button on the bottom ‘til the box closed again, emitting a warm pink glow from the First Ones engravings.
“I’ll have to translate those in the morning. These look complicated though, so I may have to ask Adora for help. Unless, of course,” she wiggled an eyebrow at him, “-you’d rather keep these particular messages refined to the bedroom. Hmm?”
“Oh shush. There’s nothing bad written, in fact, I had Adora help me translate most of what is on here. Not this one though.” He pointed to the rune in the center, the same as which hung from the crystal in the form of a necklace around his neck.
“No, you’ve memorized that one, haven’t you?” Entrapta looked back at Hordak, who had moved behind her to lean back on the bed frame. She smiled at him, climbing onto his lap to press a kiss to his mouth. She slipped off of him, onto the floor, holding out a hand to help her beloved up from the bed. “Come on now, let’s go get changed. I think an early bedtime is in store for us tonight.”
Hordak laughed his assertion and followed her into the closet, making sure to close the door behind them. It wouldn’t be proper to allow the servants to hear their marital relations, of course. . .