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Fanfic #1: Rainbow
Fanfic #2: Tattoo
Fanfic #3: Evening
Time for the Day 4 fanfic!
(Featuring a character I had thought I would never write about!)
Purring
The Lord of the Fright Zone sat wearily on his throne, shrouded in the solitude of his agitated thoughts. He was exhausted, his mind spinning with images, plots, and strategies. Weighed down by conflicts both internal and external.
He was in desperate need of rest.
Even Lord Hordak could not sustain more than a few days without sleep, despite his irritation with this insidious weakness.
He had resorted to his habitual measures: attuning the atmosphere of his sanctum to that for which his biology was most accustomed, dimming the lights to a dull glow, adopting an energy conserving posture, and minimizing the stimulus levels within his armor connections.
But this was one of those nights when these meticulous preparations proved insufficient to, at least temporarily, still the endless buzzing of his brain.
He ran his fingers through his hair with an agonized groan.
At once he felt a sudden warm, sympathetic weight perch upon his shoulder.
Yes. Perhaps it was one of those nights.
The Imp could obtain what he required. It had done so before.
How and where had always been immaterial.
As long as it served Hordak's need.
"Yes. Go!" he grunted, pushing the little creature away.
"Find it! Now! Wherever you must!"
Immediately, with a flap of fleshy wings and a whip-flick of the tail, the Imp darted away on its given mission.
-----------------------
Adora lay awake on her mat, listening in the night.
Above her, she could just barely hear Catra.
She was glad that Catra had stopped crying. Now she was just moaning a little, pitifully, to herself.
Shadow Weaver had been mean to her again.
Adora frowned.
It wasn't unusual. All the grown-ups were a little mean. especially in training. That was okay.
But Shadow Weaver had been extra mean this time.
And it made her sad to see Catra feeling so badly about it.
But Adora knew one thing she could do that would make Catra feel better.
She quietly pushed her blanket back and stood up.
Adora was big enough now that if she stood up and stretched she could touch the bottom of the upper bunk. So she put up her hand and tapped softly.
"Catra?" she called in a little voice.
The moaning stopped abruptly.
"Why don't you come down here?" Adora smiled as she spoke.
There was a little grunt in reply.
Adora tried again. "We could have another sleepover," she suggested brightly.
"Mmm-no." Catra's voice sounded pouty.
Adora wrinkled her little forehead in thought. Then she grinned.
"C'mon, Catra. Let's talk about Kyle! He's a boo-boo-head!"
He wasn't really, of course. Kyle was nice, and he was silly. But he did make some boo-boos, and Catra always thought the name was funny.
Catra hopped down from her bunk and crouched on Adora's mat, her tail perked up and wiggling. Adora thought it was cute, and now Catra was smiling with only a couple of tears left on her face.
"Yeah!" Catra giggled, "Kyle's a boo-boo-head!"
And so they talked, first about Kyle, then for a long time about . . . you know, whatever.
Finally, Adora was tired, and she lay back on her mat with the blanket pulled up. And Catra curled herself up at the foot of Adora's mat, across Adora's legs, and began to purr softly and contentedly.
It had been a great sleepover, thought Adora, as she drifted off.
(Neither of them noticed the grayish figure that detached itself silently from the overhead ducting and glided away.)
-------------------------
Hordak smiled a little as the Imp alighted near his feet.
He sighed. "And what do you have for me, little spy?"
Without expression, Imp sat up tall and opened its mouth wide.
A soothing, soft rumbling sound emerged and continued as a steady stream.
Hordak immediately felt his tension begin to ease.
"Ahhhhhhh . . . excellent." This unusual pleasant noise was just what he needed.
He closed his eyes, and a relaxing calm began to soak through his brain.
Gradually, he was able to settle into the healing bliss of sleep.
To the sound of Catra . . . purring.
