Work Text:
New Year’s Eve
He woke up early that morning, around four. Sleep was for those that felt they needed the rest, but Hordak’s mind wrestling with itself. Staring up at the darkness of his room, he moved to the machine that he used to connect his mechanical parts to himself. With his clothing wrapped over him, he deactivated the machinery as he wandered the hall.
The calendar confirmed the time of year. He could not believe he was at this moment again, just like last year, and before that. He sat down and thought. The soft music that played above him, it did nothing but make him feel terrible. How did he get to this point? How did he find himself stuck here, still? No one here knew of who he was or where he was from, but he did, and that alone made his thoughts feel like poison.
He checked the time; an hour had passed, yet he’d just been sat there the whole time, thinking. Where would he be right now if he wasn’t such a disgrace? What planet would he be on? What victory would he be celebrating? How exactly would he feel?
Here he was empty. He was lost, trapped under titanium walls, pressed within land that kept him attached. He was stuck.
Another hour moved by. The music had become a collection of singular keys, and it’s tune seemed to make his emotions worse. It was strange how just a slow tune could connect one’s mind to the worse of thoughts.
“Hordak?”
He sighed, knowing that voice too well by now.
“Entrapta, you should be sleeping.” he said.
“What about you?” she retorted in a clear tone of concern. “I heard you walking up here.”
Hordak hummed. He supposed his slippers being armoured might need to be further analysed.
“I’m- on a walk,” he said.
In his defence, he wasn’t lying by any means. Though there was much he was neglecting to say.
His assistant moved towards him. She seemed tense, like the slightest misstep would cause a rupture between the two. What surprised him more was that he didn’t want that. She was so bright, so careless of her reputation around him. She seemed not to notice that he was feared by everyone else. She just wanted to talk to him, always, every moment she was near.
Yet unlike anyone else that resided in his base, he didn’t mind it.
“You have nothing to fear,” he spoke in a calm tone. “I am just- resting. Do you not have a day to plan for? The celebration. I thought you were excited about it.”
The year was ending, and his own Horde was closer to taking control of the planet than they’d ever been. It was all thanks to her. Every victory would have been unattainable if it was not for Entrapta’s genius. He was more than privileged to have her as a companion. But she didn’t know what was so important about today.
He felt her shoulder nudge against his as she sat beside him.
“I’ve installed over twenty firework bots around the Fright Zone’s borders,” she said, excitedly. “If everything goes correctly, I bet you could see it from space.”
Hordak let out a slight chuckle. For a moment, he’d forgotten what had made him feel so worthless, but the moment his smile trailed off, the thoughts shot straight back to him.
“Are you- good?” she then asked. “You seem upset. I have noticed you’ve been frowning for a majority of your time in this hall. I can’t even understand faces most of the time, so this must be serious.”
Hordak shook his head. “It is nothing.”
Suddenly, Entrapta stood. Leaning over him, she folded her arms.
“Hordak. I know that look,” she said, straightforwardly. “Tell me everything!”
He blinked. It was useless to deny her the truth, but she didn’t know any of this. She didn’t know he was a clone or of the Horde he had come from before. All she knew was that he was from another planet. He got to his feet at looked back at her, exhaustedly.
“Today marks. Actually, I don’t know how long it’s been. When I was lost on this planet, the first thing I heard were the fireworks that rung in the year that had begun. That morning was a celebration to many, but to me it was an abyss.”
It was the best explanation he had. He knew to spare her the thoughts of the screaming, the hole he dug on the beach he washed upon, hoping to find a way back home within it. He did not tell her of the hours that passed when he watched the sun rise as he attempted to keep his sanity. It was pathetic, as he had been. He was a failure, that was why they had left him there.
“Hordak?” she softy spoke, and realised he had tears that were slowly falling from his face.
“Please,” he said back to her. “It is no reason for any concern.”
He wasn’t going to tell her about the original Horde, or his creator, or how getting back home was the only true objective. No. She understood there was a portal to be made and that was enough. Out of nowhere, he felt something around his shoulders, her arms. Balanced on her hair, the scientist had wrapped herself around him.
Suddenly, she shot back.
“I’m sorry. I think- I got a bit carried away there,” she stuttered.
But he felt no irritation from it. In fact, he felt...
No. He felt nothing.
“Do not worry.”
“Would you,” she went on, “would you be interested in watching the display with me, tonight?”
To watch something like that, to relive the memories. It was something he would have felt insane to wish. But when he looked at her, when he saw her eyes upon him, the happiness he could see irradiating from her. It was like pure bliss.
As bell rang from the moment the clock hit twelve, the cheers of the new Horde captains from below was the hindrance he had predicted. Beside him, Entrapta looked up and the firework display she had made. It was her turn to cry this time, and yet under the red sky, he saw no sorrow upon her. She looked wonderful; he felt like an animal pulled to bait. It was only when she looked back, he felt the need to turn away.
Perhaps this time of year didn’t have to be so distressing. Maybe it could be something more.