Normal
"April, please, tell me what's wrong." Mrs. Cohen frowned and reached out to put a hand on April's shoulder.
"No!" April shouted, jerking back. "Don't you fucking touch me, you... you freak!" Mark and Mrs. Cohen both started, not expecting that reaction. "I'm not like you people. I'm not some supernatural freak. I'm normal. I'm not like you!"
"Darling--"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" April pressed her hands over her ears. "I hate you. I hate all of you! Just... don't touch me, I'm not like you!" She shook her head and tore out of the store at a sprint, crashing into Mr. Cohen as he came in, pushing past him. Mark stared for a moment.
"I'll... I'll go find her," he said faintly, and tried to ignore the tears in his mother's eyes as he left.
Reply"Okay." Mark looked around the store and chewed his lip. A month of the shop being closed had made for quite a bit of dust and cobwebs. But they needed money, and the shop was theirs, so... "We have to... clean. We should start with the-"
"Dusting," April finished with a slow nod. "On the shelves and stuff. Then sweep and mop. We should probably-"
"Do an inventory, yeah." Mark sighed. "God, I don't know how they did this. It's just too-"
"Overwhelming," April whispered. Mark slipped his hand into hers. "Can we really do this?"
"Yeah," Mark replied, giving her hand a squeeze. "We can. And we will."
Idiot"Stop laughing," Roger snapped. "You promised you wouldn't."
"I know," April gasped, laughing hysterically. "But... it's just... it's so damn funny!"
"It's not. Stop laughing."
"Roger..." April managed to get herself somewhat under control. "Roger, I'm sorry, but... you screwed up a spell to make yourself more powerful, and you ended up with a soul." Roger's scowl deepened. "You really are the little vampire that couldn't."
"Yeah, well... just don't go spreading it around."
"Of course not." April patted his hand, then hopped up and jogged across the hall to her apartment. "Hey Mark! Guess what?"
Sunset
"April, stop looking out the window, please," Mark said without looking up from the account book he was trying to balance. April sighed and bounced a bit.
"I just want the sun to go down is all."
"Yeah, I know," Mark sighed, shaking his head.
"It's our anniversary."
"I know."
"Our very first."
"Yes, 'Ril, I know."
"So, I want the sun to go down so we can go on our date!" April said, exasperated.
"Yes, well," Mark smiled a bit, still not looking up. "Looking at it won't make it go down quicker. Now come back here and finish with those amulets - they're getting picked up at eight."
Brood
"Don't sulk," April said, climbing into Roger's lap and smiling innocently. She looked like a little child - it hurt to see her smiling so sweetly.
"I'm not sulking," he sulked.
"Your face goes all frowny," she said, tapping the space between his eyebrows. "Like when you go pointy, all pointy."
"Stop that."
She sing-songed, "Roger pouts, little girl, love you."
Roger sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah. I love you, too, baby."
Overhear
"April." Mark frowned, worried, and smoothed her hair back. "It's okay, calm down..."
"No no no, it's not," April said, sounding somewhat hysterical. "Not okay. Hear too much, there's too many feelings, too many memories, I shouldn't remember this, I didn't say this, make it go away Mark, please..."
Mark smoothed her hair back and hummed soothingly, slightly off key. There was nothing he could do but hold her and try to ignore the panic he felt in the back of his mind, spilling over from her.
True
"Going all dimmy again," April said, frowning slightly as she combed her fingers through Tyrone's hair. "Don't like you all dimmy. Makes you sad."
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Tyrone murmured absently. "I never have." April played with his hair a bit more, then got up.
"I'll make happy tea," she declared. "Make you happy. Still dimmy, though." She rambled to herself as she wandered off to the kitchen.
Unseen
She sobbed for hours after they rescued her. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep in Roger's arms, as he held her tightly and stroked her hair. After that, they couldn't get her to talk for weeks. She moved like she was in a trance, when she moved at all. Stared at nothing, most times. It wasn't right, and they all knew it. Nate did her best to ignore it, most of the time. Chris didn't know what to do other than pretend it wasn't still a problem. Nigel tried to get her to talk - less, as time wore on. Roger tried every day.
And April still stayed silent.
"He'd want you to talk, baby," Roger whispered almost every night. "He wouldn't want you to shut down like this."
And finally, one night, she whispered back.
"I can't feel him anymore. All empty."
She started crying, softly this time, for the first time since that first night. And Roger held her.
Laundry
"Why do I have to do the laundry?" Roger asked sullenly. April rolled her eyes and scooped Bekah off his lap.
"Because I'm making dinner for the entire group tonight, and Mark's bringing his boyfriend, and I want to make a good impression. And Bekah doesn't have anything clean." April leaned over and picked up a toy to distract Bekah. "Neither, for that matter, do I."
"I still don't want to."
"I still don't care." April grinned and kissed him. Bekah laughed and patted his head. "Just be sure not to put my red bra in with the whites this time."