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Most of the things that Hordak wanted were things that were actually important. He wanted to take over Etheria. He wanted to signal to Hoard Prime. He wanted to finish the portal. Other people wanted silly things, and while he had no issue enjoying the frivolities that Etheria offered him, he was never driven to distraction by silly wants.
He had a plan, he had a goal. The only “Want” that drove him was the want to take over Etheria, to prove himself.
Well, It had been. Last week, he had been suffering with another want that actually distracted him from time to time, and it was all Entrapta’s fault.
She just couldn’t keep her hands to herself. She just had to start playing with his hair.
Not that she had done that in the last week, and not that he had been able to enjoy it when she did. The first time, she had forced him to rest, and started playing with - no, by her explanation, studying his hair. He had been tired, and had fallen asleep almost instantly as her gloved fingers ran through his sensitive hair. She didn’t know if he actually had feeling in his hair, and despite himself, he had found it very relaxing, very soothing.
The next time she did it, he had apparently had his brain shaken up by some bad first ones tech. He remembered pain, and then everything went foggy for an hour or so. Entrapta had taken him to her room where she slept, since she felt it was more private, and more comfortable. She had spent the entire time holding him with her long pigtails, playing with his hair while he rambled on about stuff he still wasn’t entirely sure about.
He had only vague memories, and he got up as soon as he came back to his mind, brushing her hand away, and leaving to get his armor fixed, trying not to agonize over what he might have said while he was dazed.
Twice, she had played with his hair. Nobody had ever done that before, and now his scalp was tingling, and the strands of his hair almost felt itchy.
He really wanted to have his hair played with. Admittedly, when he was alone, he had tried to play with his hair on his own, something he had never really done outside of just working it down so it was neat on his head. But for some reason, it wasn’t the same.
He frowned, and glanced over at Entrapta who was climbing over the pieces of their portal, hanging over a panel with her hair, tinkering with something. Hordak himself was actually going over some reports from a recent attack. But he couldn’t focus on it.
If this was the first day he was dealing with this, he’d have ignored it. Second day and he’d probably be irritated but he’d still ignore it. He was not one to just give in to foolish wants, especially when they required someone else to … be affectionate. He didn’t need it.
But it had been a week, and while it wasn't constant, if he saw her hands, if his hair shifted the right way, or even if he remembered her playing with his hair… he wanted her to play with his hair.
And it was distracting him.
He cleared his throat as he looked over to Entrapta, who didn’t look up from her work.
“I recall.” He said slowly, carefully, “That you had said you were... Studying my hair?”
Entrapta looked up from her work, and looked over at him, lifting her goggles. She looked confused for a moment, chewed her lip as she thought about it, “Oh! Yes! I had almost forgotten about that!”
“What did you conclude?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, looking confused, “Well. You told me that it helps you sense environmental pressure, and uh- particles in the air.”
“Ah.”
“There might be secondary functions, but none that you’ve at least noticed. You - uh- told me when you were all confused from the first ones corruption.”
“Right.” He said slowly.
“It has small nerve endings in it too, so it’s slightly thicker than normal human hair.”
“Right.”
She watched him for a moment, then went back to his work. He turned aside, and tapped his fingers on the edge of his chair. He had hoped that maybe Entrapta would say she wanted to do more experiments, and he could begrudgingly allow her to examine his hair. Damn.
Imp had been running across the room, bringing tools and supplies to Entrapta as she worked. He stopped, looked up at Hordak, and Hordak swore he gave a little eye-roll. He frowned and watched as Imp walked off.
He sighed as he went back to the reports he was working at.
“What’s wrong?”
He frowned, he didn’t realize he had sighed loud enough for her to hear. “Nothing. Just issues with these reports. Logistics that Shadow weaver or Catra would have dealt with.”
If this were anything else, he thought to himself, How would I deal with it?
The answer was actually easy- he would order it done. He had been ordering people to do what he needed to be done most of his life. Sometimes people didn’t understand his reasoning, but it was carried out anyway. Why was this different?
Logic told him it wasn’t.
“Entrapta.” He said, putting weight behind his voice.
“Yes?”
He turned to her, his words caught in his throat. He felt his ears starting to tilt down, warming up. He looked away, Why was this bothering him. It was a strange request. He’d made strange requests before.”
But none that felt so intimate.
He shook his head in frustration, throwing his report to the ground, “These reports are beyond useless” he hissed, “Update me on the checks to the portal.”
“Oh! Yes, of course, well, I was checking these fuses here, and a bunch of them were burnt out.” She swung over on her hair, and hovered next to Hordak, showing him a diagram she had drawn up to reroute some power.
She was close. Maybe he could just shift his head, move to better read the diagram she had provided. She shifted, moving in to let him see better.
Perfect. Maybe all he had to do now was shift, or wait for her to move her hand, and she might just absently start playing with his hair. She did that sometimes, just absently played with something nearby while her actual hair did all the work. She pointed to something on the page, then pointed to the portal. Hordak was certain if he just moved a little more-”
Imp jumped onto Entrapta’s shoulder to feign looking at the diagrams. He had trouble gaining purchase , and slipped off. Entrapta caught him before he fell to the floor, and held him in her arms, one hand idly moving to scratch at Imp’s head while she continued to talk about the power flow of the portal.
Hordak went through a series of curses in his head. He could have just thrown Imp across the room.
Imp looked at Hordak, a smug expression on his face, and stuck his tongue out at him, causing Hordak to bristle with rage.
He suddenly noticed that Entrapta had stopped speaking. She was looking at him, her expression one of confusion and slight concern. She looked to Imp, still in her arms, getting head scratches, then back to Hordak.
After a moment, she set the blueprints down, and gave him a small smile.
“Hordak.”
“What.” He snaps, looking away.
“.... Do you want your head scratched?”
He hesitated for a moment, feeling his ears flick down. “Yes.” He muttered.
Entrapta gave a little laugh as she set imp gently down in his lap. Before Hordak could turn and snap at her, she had her gloved hands in his hair, playing with the strands, scraping at the scalp. He felt his muscles, which he hadn’t noticed had been so tight and knotted, relax, and unwillingly, he sunk into the chair, his eyes half closed in relaxation.
Entrapta sat on the arm of the chair, and let Hordak lean into her as she played with his hair, “Silly.” She whispered, “All you really had to do was ask.”
He didn’t respond. This was the first time she did this when he could enjoy it. Somehow, playing with his hair made his whole body relax. His ears drooped, and he felt his jaw relax - he hadn’t even known he was clenching his jaw.
He Idly wondered how long he had been clenching his jaw for when he heard an odd noise. Like a chirping, soft low. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from him. He tensed up slightly, and the noise stopped.
After a moment of brief consideration, he relaxed again. A moment later, the chirping continued. This was the first time he’d been able to really enjoy this, and he wasn’t sure he cared if Entrapta heard him chirping.