Something strange was going occurring in the Kingdom of Dry.

Over the past few weeks Entrapta & Kadroh had been working on a "special project" that had them behaving quite strangely. He had offered his assistance of course but was refused each time. When he pressed for a reason the pair had admitted -eventually- that the project was meant for him & it was "imperative" that he not see it before its completion. When he'd inquired about an estimated time of completion, he had been slightly surprised to hear them guarantee it would be ready by a specific day.

That day had come. However the strange behavior had only continued, first Entrapta had insisted that he & his brother had to go on an "urgent resupply mission" which was in-and-of-itself wasn't entirely unusual. What was unusual was the nature of the supplies being requested. Items that Hordak was certain they had sufficient quantity of, indeed some of which they'd just restocked. Furthermore there were items he couldn't recall them ever using before. If Hordak were being honest, the more he reread the list the more it seemed that his Brother & Lab Partner had filled it with whatever random things they'd happened to think of in the moment.

Speaking of his Brother, Kadroh was acting particularly peculiar. He was constantly checking their pad, which Hordak had surmised to mean he was expecting a message from Entrapta. He was also trying much to hard to appear "casual" which of course only succeeded in making his behavior all the more bizarre. He was being uncharacteristically quiet for starters, with none of his usual excitement or expressive features. He also seemed to be getting somewhat stressed as the day wore on which manifested as him becoming even more withdrawn. Hordak was finally about to say something when the pad let out a *ping* signaling a message had arrived. Kadroh nearly dropped the device as he scrambled to open the message only for his mood ti change instantly as he read it.

"Brother, Entrapta needs us to return to the Cyrpto Castle at once!" he exclaimed in what sounded like a mixture of excitement & relief.

"But we have yet to gather all the supplies requested" Hordak pointed out.

"Yes well Entrapta has discovered extra supplies of those items therefore we can conclude this journey" Kadroh seemed to be having to think quickly as he said that.

Hordak decided against pointing out the obvious flaw in that statement -he hadn't specified which items they'd yet to collect- reasoning that the sooner they returned home, the sooner he could see the source of his loved ones strange behavior. So they paid for the provisions they'd already amassed & made the trek back to the castle.

No sooner had they returned home & dropped the purchased goods with the castle staff, Kadroh claimed that they were needed in the castle's solar at once. Determining it was best to "play along" as the Etherians called it he followed his Brother towards whatever he & Entrapta had arranged to take place.

As they entered, the door to the room closed behind them, leaving them in total darkness. The faint hum of a machine activating could be heard seconds before laser lights shot out from seemingly random spots on the walls. A brief flash of panic shot through him before he realized that these were holographic lasers. The multicolor streams of light meet in the center of the room & began to spell out a message.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Hordak

Happy birthday to you!

Before settling on an image of himself, Entrapta, Kadroh, Imp & Emily standing together in pose that looked like something one might expect from the family portraits wealthy Etherians often had commissioned. Eventually the image faded & the lights of the room came on to see those same people surrounding the opposite end of the table. in the center of the room.

"Surprise" his lab partner & brother exclaimed. Emily beeped in agreement & Imp raised his arms in the "surprise" gesture. Entrapta broke from the group & approached him on her hair. "What did you think?" she asked looking up at him with that infectious smile she often wore.

He had to take a moment to collect his thoughts before responding "The display was lovely" he began with as much sincerity as he could "but i am unsure of the reasoning for it"

"Well you recall how i assigned the clones birthdays as part of the initiative to help them fit in with the rest of Etheria's populace?" Entrapta said in reply "well i took the liberty of assigning one to you as too".

"But why? i didn't sign into that part of your program" he was getting slightly confused.

"True but it didn't seem fair that all the Brothers got a day dedicated to them but not you" Kadroh said entering the conversation "Plus Entrapts said 'if anyone needs a day of others celebrating them it's you" he continued earning a slight blush from the diminutive scientist & a snicker from Imp.

"I may have said something to that effect" She began awkwardly before composing herself "and it's true. You've done so much for me over the years I've known you that spending one day a year honoring you in return is the literal least i can do" she said in as firm a voice as he'd ever heard her use.

They stayed like that for a moment just staring at each other before she pulled him into a hug "I love you Hordak"

He was about to respond before Kadroh & Imp also grabbed ahold of them with even Emily wrapping a leg around the group.

"I love you brother!" Kadroh exclaimed sound on the verge of tears. Imp repeated the proclamation & Emily let out an affectionate whir.

Hordak stood there taking in the love of his family before taking the lot of them into his arms & saying the only thing that made sense in the moment.

"I love all of you too"