Long lost words whisper slowly to me

April's world is in October. So being transported to a world where it is January is a little chilly. She is quick to teleport a warm coat and mittens to cover herself.

"That is a tall building."

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Yugi shrugs, smiles, and says, "Luckily, they have elevators. C'mon."

The apartment they're going to is on the tenth floor of the building: number 1024. When they get there, Yugi knocks in the rhythm of "shave and a haircut". There's a slight pause, during which a brown, bespectacled eye appears in the peephole, then an answering knock—"six bits"—before the door opens, revealing a girl about the same height as Bakura, with dirty blond hair currently tied back in a ponytail, and brown eyes behind a pair of narrow, black rimmed glasses. She's wearing black slacks and a burgundy turtle neck, and no shoes.

"Hey guys," she says, sounding weary but obviously making an effort to be cheerful. She tries to avoid Bakura's eyes as much as she can.

"Hey!" Yugi replies. "This is April. April, Kat."

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"Hi Kat. Nice to meet you." April smiles. Always friendly to new people.

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Kat smiles back apprehensively. "April, is it?" she asks. She's a mid-range soprano with a Tidewater (native to the Maryland/Washington DC/Virginia area of the US) accent. She extends a hand. "Nice to meet you too." Then she gestures for the group to come in. "Come on in."

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The invitation meant a lot to April. On one level, her species of vampire couldn't enter a home without an invitation. It didn't apply to April... but still it was a great relief to have it.

"This is a lovely home."

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((Floor plans; disregard the room labeled "Ed's Room". it's currently empty. In a couple of weeks (for us)/a few months (for them), it'll be occupied ;).))

Lovely, yes, but also chaotic. Upon entering, Yugi casts a look around the apartment, then up at Kat. "Still not finished unpacking, huh?"

She shakes her head and smiles sheepishly. "What can I say? I'm a master procrastinator." And indeed, many open boxes are scattered here and there, a lot of them stacked up over each other. But the furniture's all in place: a loveseat and a regular sofa are pushed up against one wall, and Kat invites the group to take a seat either there or on one of the two bar chairs looking into the kitchen (which can easily be moved around to face the den). Bakura opts for this option, while Yugi and Yami both settle down on the loveseat.

Kat flops down on the couch, then stands up again as if realizing she forgot something. "Oh! Can I get anyone anything to drink? Got cola and ginger ale."

"Is the cola caffeinated?" Yugi asks brightly. Kat gives him an even look.

"The last thing you need is more caffeine," she says, mock-sternly. "Besides, me equals insomniac, therefore caffeine equals bad."

Yugi sighs. "Ginger ale, please."

Kat smiles a bit and goes into the kitchen. While she's retrieving soda, she asks April, "So, I know how I met these guys. How'd you meet them?"

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April will also order a ginger ale. She can't have caffeine right now, being pregnant and all.

"I met them in the Nexus." A place where she met many of her most valued friends.

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Actually, none of the soda Kat keeps on hand (and only guests ever drink it, for obvious reasons) is caffeinated. Also, it's all the regular, sugary kind; when she was mortal, Kat hated the taste of diet soda.

Kat grabs a second ginger ale for April and returns with both those and a Fruit Punch-flavored Powerade bottle filled with... something just slightly too thick and opaque to actually be fruit punch-flavored Powerade tucked under her arm. April will probably be able to guess what it is. (It's blood; specifically, B-Pos.) She's also set a tea kettle to boiling on the stove, and hands Bakura an white mug reading "Coffee from Hell - HELL, MICHIGAN". The "Coffee" has been crossed out on both sides and the word "Tea" is handwritten next to the word in Sharpie. "As I recall," Kat says to Bakura, quietly, "Earl Gray is your favourite." Bakura simply nods in response, smiling slightly.

The astute observer will note that both look rather... embarrassed (and uncertain) and are deliberately avoiding each other's eyes. That crush Kat has on Bakura (which Yugi mentioned earlier) appears to be mutual.

Kat gives April a Quizzical Tilt. "The Nexus?"

Yugi lets out a barely audible sigh. "The name's almost Exactly What It Says On The Tin. Dimensional meeting point." He arches an eyebrow at April for a moment, then turns back to Kat. "Yami and I go there for advice sometimes. Today was Bakura's first visit; April wanted to meet him." He smiles. "Once you've settled in, maybe I'll take you there sometime."

Kat's silent for a moment before she flops down on the sofa. "Yeah, better wait awhile on that," she says. "I'm still having a bit of trouble with the Massively Multiplayer Crossover Reality thing." After a slight pause, she smacks her forehead in annoyance. "Oh, duh, Kat, not supposed to mention the supernatural until you've confirmed everyone in the room is actually part of the supernatural community. Idiot girl." This is directed entirely at herself.

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The smell of blood in the room does get noticed. And April holds her ginger ale for a moment, wishing for something else as the hunger instincts kick in.

She is far too accustomed to drinking human beverages when around humans. And so doesn't complain. Or make a fuss. But there is a moment... just a moment where her true aspect is reflected in blood-red eyes. Before they go back to her human blue ones.

April can also sense the unspoken crush from both Kat and Bakura. She smiles at the sweetness of it.

At the look from Yugi, April just shrugs her shoulders. He never told her not to mention the Nexus. And how else could she explain meeting him... without lying.

"From the sounds of it, your world is a lot like the Nexus. Different people from different places all in one place, interacting and getting to know each other. My husband and I aren't even from the same universes."

"And... don't worry. I am not sure I fit into any of your supernatural communities... but I am not human."

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Aaand Kat takes notice of the brief switch in eye colour. It causes her to frown and knit her eyebrows before she takes a gooood whiff of the air. "Oh. Oh! You're also a vampire!" She looks like she'd be blushing right about now, if she still had circulating blood. She takes another, more subtle sniff. "Whedon-Greenwalt. I'm guessing." The frown deepens. "And... you're pregnant? What?" She does a very passable imitation of David Tennant's surprised/bewildered "What?!" in Doctor Who on the last word, minus the accent.

Oh, good, Kat and Bakura appear to have gained another Shipper on Deck. Kat's other friends (and Yugi and Yami) have been nagging both of them to ask each other out on a date pretty much ever since they got to Dominion.

Kat shakes her head. "Yeah, well, apparently we've got multiple realities overlapping. I was surprised to find out that the Old World of Darkness was real; I used to play Vampire. Then I got Embraced, and..." she shrugs. "Well, the good news is, I already know all of the Rules about being one of the Kindred. The bad news is... still in shock, from both the Embrace and finding out that an RPG is actually real."

"Canon puncture is a bitch," Yugi replies, laughing. "Show her the DVDs, Kat."

Kat rolls her eyes, stands up, rummages on one of her bookshelves, and tosses a DVD case to April. It's one of the volumes of the 4Kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Yami's on the front cover. "Recognize someone?" she asks wryly. At this, Yami snorts and rolls his eyes too, also shaking his head a bit.

Upon hearing that April's husband hails from a different universe than her own, Kat asks, "Who's your husband? Anyone I might've heard of?"

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"Whedon-Greenwalt?" April frowns at that. It takes her some time to remember... "Oh... the writers for the Buffyverse."

She is aware of the fact that her world is considered fictional for some.

"I was born a vampire. A rarity in my world. Was always a vampire. And now... yes... I am pregnant. Reaching my second trimester."

April doesn't recognize the words World of Darkness. And is confused about the wording used to play vampire. She looks over the DVD, and smiles softly at Yagi and Yami. "I was confused by finding DVDs of my world. I don't exist in their version."

"My husband is Clark Kent. Most know him as Superman."

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Kat nods. "Yeah. Them." She smiles a bit.

Good, she's already been canon-punctured.

Kat's eyebrows rise even further. "Wow. Well, then again, Darla and Angel... Well, congrats, then." A sudden thought crosses her mind: Connor? "Who were your parents?" she asks curiously.

Yami smiles tightly. "And apparently my old friend Methos doesn't exist in that." He points to the DVD case.

"Kat wasn't the one who canon-punctured us, though," Yugi adds. "It was her friend Chris. And she did it entirely accidentally."

Kat gapes at April for a moment. "Superman? Wow. Kryptonian-Vampire hybrid child is going to be bad-ass when he/she grows up."

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"Darla and Angel had Connor. He does exist in my world. I am not his... replacement or anything like that."

"My parents were Drusilla and Spike."

"You were made vampire on accident?" April was unhappy to hearing that. She smiled at the next statement.

"We are not sure what the baby will inherit. Time will tell."

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Kat frowns, then nods. "I see." Then her eyes widen when April mentions who her parents are. "Oh, ouch. I would not want to have Drusilla as a mother."

She shakes her head. "Sort of. But what Yugi meant was that he was told he was a fictional character by accident. ...Unless I'm misinterpreting what you were responding to. Entirely possible. I do that all the freaking time."

She leans back into her spot on the couch and rubs a spot on the left side of her neck. "From what Chris-chan and the others told me, the bad guys Yugi and company were fighting at New Year's had faulty information. They thought I was one of the Saviours chosen to stop them. But, nope, wrong. I wasn't. They wanted to turn a couple of the Saviours over to the Dark Side, so to speak, so they sent a couple of assassins after me and Chris. One Kindred, one dog-demon with an enchanted katana. I was basically knocked over the head and Embraced against my will.

"Not surprising, apparently. My Sire's name was Zechiel; he was a Sabbat vampire, and that's the Sabbat's standard Embrace proceedure." She shrugs. "Zechiel was from Clan Gangrel, but I've sort of been adopted by the Toreador instead. Feels... more correct to me than Clan Gangrel. Don't think I'd really belong to them, deep down."

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April is quiet for a moment at Kat's comment. "i didn't have her as a mother for long. She gave me up to demons after I was born."

But Drusilla's voices are still with her. They always will be with her.

"I think I was the one who told Clark he was fictional in some worlds. I sort of knew." Her voices always told her that there was something different about her.

"I don't get any of these... clan references." April admitted. "All vampires in my world belong to the same origin. All have the same tendencies and rules."

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Cue another wince and grimace from Kat. "Wouldn't want to be raised by demons either. Though, not all of them are bad. Case in point: my friend Chris. Granted, she's half-demon, but still."

Kat smiles and chuckles. "I haven't had a chance to canon-puncture anyone yet."

She "inhales" slowly, then "exhales" again. "Right. Kindred have thirteen different Clans, each originating from a member of the third Generation of Kindred. Each one is a little bit different, with different strengths and weaknesses, and slightly different powers. When you're Embraced, you inherit your Sire's clan, and thus their abilities.

"Toreador are the creative Kindred. Or those who simply admire creativity. Or those of other forms of talent, like singing or other forms of music. They love things which are beautiful, and can become entranced by them if they're not careful."

"Never try to catch a sunrise if you're Toreador," Yugi notes matter-of-factly. "Might get stunned by the beauty of it and then dusted."

Kat snorts. "We're also very social, and the closest to mortals. The Gangrel, on the other hand, don't like hanging around people. They prefer animals. They're closer to their inner Beasts than most other Kindred. They're able to communicate with animals, and even take on animal form themselves. Just two, though: Fight, and Flight."

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"For 18 years I lived in Qua-Toth, a place of eternal darkness, ruled by demons. It defined who I was... and still who I am."

April listens carefully to Kat's description. "The vampires in my world were created when the Old Ones, powerful demons, were banished from Earth. The last one fed on a human and mixed their blood, creating the first vampire. Every vampire since has been a demon inhabiting human corpses."

"Like I said, most of the vampires in my world have the same powers. Abilities. The older you are the stronger you are. Angel is the oldest vampire I know."

"I see that sunlight is still a common weakness..."

"And that the hunger is still a common desire..."

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"Yeah, I remember Quor'toth was described as a really nasty place," Kat says with a grimace.

Ket smiles tightly. "Yep. Knew that already. We've got your variety of vampire around, and I remember the history from watching Buffy and Angel. Yugi might've already mentioned that we've got more than one flavor of vampire lurking about."

"Yep," Yugi confirms. "That I know of... Whedon-Greenwalt, Kindred, Kuei-Jin, Red Court, White Court, Black Court, Jade Court."

"Assuming the Kuei-Jin and Jade Court aren't one and the same," Kat notes.

Kat makes a strange face and rocks her head from side to side for a second. "Eh, sort of, for me. The PTBs granted me an immunity to the whole 'direct sunlight burns you to ashes' thing, but not to the 'daytime makes you want to sleep' thing that Kindred have. Mostly I think as an apology for getting me wrapped up in all of this by accident."

She nods seriously. "Oh yeah. I subsist on donated blood from the blood bank. If it matches my own blood type, even better." She shakes her head. "I'm not going to take the risk that I'll accidentally kill someone by feeding directly. I get ridicule from the rest of the Dominion Kindred community; they call Kindred like me, who get their blood from blood banks, 'Bankers' or 'Vegetarians'."

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"Any one I might know?" April asks when they mention having other Buffyverse vampires around.

"Because of the human soul, sunlight doesn't bother me. I tend to sleep later in the day because of the nocturnal tendencies of the vampire."

"The Powers That Be? The ones from the Buffyverse?"

April shrugs lightly at the confession of where Kat gets her blood. "I drink animal blood myself. Or frequent the odd blood bank when the desire for human gets too much."

"The thing we worry about is how pregnancy cravings might affect me..." April places a hand at her stomach. "But Clark has reassured me not to worry too much about that aspect."

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Kat shrugs. "Like I said, I haven't met any yet. If Angel and Spike are still 'alive', so to speak, then probably them."

Kat smiles. "Something we have in common, then, if for different reasons."

She nods. "Yep."

"They're our Bosses," Yugi sighs.

"Animal blood isn't as potent for Kindred," Kat replies. "We don't get as much... 'nutrition', if you could call it that, from animals. And in order to keep school up, I have to have every bit of blood I can get into my system in order to even stay awake."

Kat grimaces. "As I recall, in Angel, when Darla was pregnant with Connor, she craved the blood of children." She pauses. "I'm sorry, that's probably not reassuring at all." She smiles tightly at April. "But you seem like the kind of woman who has very, very good self-control."

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"You guys have direct contact with the Powers That Be..." April is amazed. And a little sad. The PTBs watch over heroes. And she... she doesn't know what she is anymore. Her hero persona had to be put away. And it was so long ago since she felt like the world depended on her to save it.

(It is a whole different story being married to Superman, who the world does need to save it. Often)

"I have craved human blood." April states simply. "As luck has it... Kryptonian blood is much more potent than human blood. And thus... Clark and I have an agreement."

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Yugi makes an ambivalent gesture. "Well, not all of us. Some of the Guardians, certainly. Most of the rest of us got our marching orders from them. Ryou—not Bakura, but one of our Guardians—is most often the one that has contact with Them."

Yugi's always been good at picking up on people's emotions, and he can tell that April's a little bit sad. "If you want," he says, smiling, "you can always help us out from time to time. Whenever you're able."

Kat glances over at the pair, then nods. "The world needs more people looking out for it," she adds with a smile and a wink. "And I think that lot"—she means the Saviours—"could use all the help they can get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yugi asks, mock-offense in his voice. He is smiling, though, to let her know he's not angry or anything.

"Nothing! You guys are very capable, but everyone can always use good help," Kat explains, raising her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "The more, the better. Strength in numbers, and all that."

Kat arches an eyebrow, though she's still smiling. "Yeah, somehow, that doesn't really surprise me. I'm not sure why it doesn't, but it doesn't."

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"I have to be careful with physical activities..." April smiled softly. "Because of the baby. And just recently I hung up my Dark Oak cloak. So I am still a little sad about it."

"And I do like helping my friends, and helping my husband when he needs it." The difficult thing to explain is that being the 'help' doesn't feel the same as being the one that destiny called to save innocents. She knows that role of helping is still important...

"Well you know me... if the voices speak about anything while I am here, I am going to share." She is trying to find strength with just using her voices. Her warnings. Her premonitions.

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"I know," Yugi says. "That's why I said 'when you're able'."

Kat, Yugi, Yami, and Bakura exchange a brief glance, then Yami smiles and nods. "Sometimes, that's all you need to get an edge," he replies. "Any advice you can offer would always be welcome."

They haven't yet created an official "Ally" position—and won't for another eight years or so—but so far as Yugi and Yami are concerned, April is already among the Saviours' Allies. Even though, at this point, she only knows four of the members. (That Yugi and Yami know of. She actually knows five.)

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