slayers_desire | Don't feel like picking up my phone (Part Three)

Clark is worried. He hasn't heard from April in several days, and while she was answering the phone before, she isn't anymore. His instincts are telling him that something's wrong.

He arrives at her apartment shortly after another failed attempt to call her. Unlocking the front door, he steps inside, looking around at the uncharacteristic mess. The place feels strangely empty. "April?"

April doesn't answer. But the sound of the opening door does get someone elses attention.

Warren as he is known in the Buffyverse walks out of the bedroom, and stares at Clark. His mind working a mile a minute to come up with a plan for the unexcepted.

"Were you invited in?"

Clark immediately goes on alert when he sees the stranger in her apartment. It's rarely a good sign, especially when they say something like that. "Who are you?" he demands.

"Warren." There really is no need to lie after all. The most shocking thing about this man is the fact that he has no skin. None at all. "I was invited."

"I doubt that." This feels more and more wrong, and he's seen some strange things before but he hasn't seen someone skinless since his x-ray vision first started kicking in. "Where's April?"

"In her bed." Warren gestures behind him to the bedroom.

He could sense dedication and diligence from Clark. And wasn't about to challenge him.

It's good that he's not planning to try to stop Clark, because he's making a beeline right for April, intruder or not. He can see her under the mass of blankets, and he leans over her, worried for her but not ignoring the unwelcome presence in the house either. "April? Are you okay?"

April lifts her head slightly, then rubs at her eyes. "Clark?" Her voice is hoarse. "What are you doing here?"

He's looking over her in a flash, searching for injuries, because this isn't right. She seems almost groggy, not like she's drugged, just... exhausted? But why? By the looks of things, she hasn't gone far in a while. "You haven't been answering your phone. Are you all right?" It's a rhetorical question. After all, he can see that she isn't. "And who is this guy in your apartment?"

"I'm tired." April yawns. She has no injuries, but her body is showing stress from being in such a relaxed state. "There is what in my apartment?"

He gives her shoulder a shake, maybe a little rougher than he should, but he doesn't like this and he does not want her falling asleep. "A man with no skin. He says he was invited."

He turns his head, looking for Warren, not trusting him to not interfere. His superhearing hasn't picked up anything, but this is wrong.

April struggles to sit up more after Clark shakes her shoulder. She might receive some bruising, considering the fact she hasn't been eating either.

"I... I don't understand."

Warren is at the door frame. "You invited me in. Miss April."

Pleased to see that she's looking more awake, he turns to face the intruder, his emotions darkening towards anger. "What have you done to her?"

Warren smiles. "I am surprised you were able to defeat Adam, if this is how you react to every situation."

"I have only done what she asked. Allowed her to let go and give up."

Well, that confirms a fear he'd had, something he'd suspected but not hoped for. "You're one of the Sins." The fact that they've managed to infiltrate here is a somewhat chilling one.

"She wouldn't ask for something like that."

"Sloth."

Warren picked up a newspaper off a pile of unsorted papers. "After she saw this... she did." The headline is a reminder of the criminals who had stolen from the Senate building, and her first failure as a hero.

He risks a glance back at her. Warren doesn't seem violent, but of course Clark doesn't trust him. "No. April, tell me you didn't." He doesn't believe she would ask for such a thing, not consciously. It seems to him more like he preyed on her in a moment of weakness.

"I failed... yes. And was upset... then..." April pulls at her hair. "Just wanted to not do anything anymore."

"You can't live like this. You failed that time, but you were going to learn more to fix your mistakes for next time. There are people out there who could use your help. Taking a break is fine, but not... this." He gestures to her apartment, the disarray from days of not doing anything to clean up. And shoots a smoldering, angry glare at the intruder in the apartment. "And definitely not with any 'help' form him."

"I only wanted a small break." April doesn't even know how it got so bad. "I just... I just..." She just can't find the words to describe the lack of interest or passion in her heart right now.

"A small break is fine. This is not right. It's him, doing this to you." He may have zero concrete evidence of that, but his experience with the other Sins tells him he's right.

"How do I make him go away?" April whispers.

And that's the million dollar question, isn't it? Clark's first thought is to bodily throw him out of the apartment, but he knows that won't work. "Tell him to leave. Get out of bed and go do something." He's not sure how to get her out of this mire she's stuck in, and he's lucky he's not facing Wrath at the moment because he's not sure he could get out of that unscathed.

"There's nothing to do." April sighs. Feeling the pull back to bed quite strong.

"There's lots to do. Work on your designs. Paint. Visit Topeka with my mom. Explore the city. Clean your apartment. And have you even been to classes since this started?" He's worried for her health, because this much sleeping can't be good for someone, and he's upset that he can't do anything about it. He can't force her to care, not when Sloth has his claws into her head. She has to do it herself, and he can only try to steer her on the path.

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