Benjamin opened his eyes to find himself face to face with...with April. On top of him. He gasped and attempted to sit up but was weighed down by the woman's weight on top of him. Weight that he didn't phase through. And she was warm, lor! Was she warm! He could almost feel her beating heart through his jacket. When she got off of him, he sat up holding his head and gave it a good shake for extra measure. He couldn't be dreaming, could he? He had to be able to sleep to dream, and he hadn't slept since 1844.

A quick glance around and the familiarity hit him like a truckload of bricks. “It's...it's home...” he murmured to himself, brought back by a solid poke to the cheek, squishing it in. Turning to narrow his eyes, he stopped his death glare when he realized what this meant and he leapt to his feet, patting his body, “Lor! I'm alive! It's amazing, a holiday miracle! I'm alive!”

But, his eyes widened with the realization, “We might have actually done it. We might have gone back in time...” He grabbed her by the wrist, “Which means that my parents are here, or at least Mother is...and father will be home and you—you---You're from 2017. This won't do. This simply won't do. You need to blend in...and we need to check the date. I could be getting... ehm...murdered...at any moment now...”

Benjamin nodded his assent and continued tugging on her wrist for her to follow him. "I have a room that no one else knows about...You haven't even found it yet. You'll be safe there," he said over his shoulder, leading her through the halls no longer plagued by the emptiness of a house owned by one, but filled with light with voices drifting out of various doorways. Benjamin recognized them all. They were certainly back in time, back when his parents were here. He could hear their staff and even his mother speaking with the head maid.

Ducking into his room, he lead her to an adjoining room. It was an office by its appearance. A large desk sat facing away from an open window and bookshelves took up the vast majority of two walls. Benjamin stepped up to one of the shelves and acted like he was picking out a book, but instead of the book coming out in his hand, part of the bookshelf broke away as a door, revealing a small but private study. The room he now led her to was small but it had a desk as well. There were a couple of stacks of books sitting perched beside and on the desk, books that were more his flavor when he was alive, and a majority of his recent journals sat on that desk.

To Benjamin, the sight was unnerving. He'd become so used to that room being plagued with dust, his journals so covered with the stuff that they would be hard to read. Now, here it was, everything in perfect order, right where it was when he died but looking as if someone had just been in there. He flicked on a gas lamp and turned to face April, "You should be safe in here. I'll...I'll see what I can gather in terms of women's clothing..."

Benjamin sighed, not knowing the answer to that. He didn't know how to explain to them why she was here, and he wasn't able to explain it to her either. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair and looked at her raising his eyebrows, "And why can't you be someone I'm courting? You could be from the countryside, in to see the city. We've been communicating via letter for some time...They don't need to meet your parents! The uh...time, my time, I guess so to speak...it isn't until the night time. We need to check the date for sure, but it's a lie that we may be able to keep up given the time we have." Benjamin spoke faster and faster as his little idea drew steam. He grew silent with her last contention, "Well, we will just have to try to prevent that, shall we?"

Benjamin laughed heartily, reveling in the fact that he could actually feel the warmth that came from such an action. "Hayseed hick? No, certainly not. Not all of those that dwell in the country are uneducated. You and your family could be of property, we've been writing each other for a while, you and I, and came to London for a vacation. I offered up our residence knowing that there are plenty of women here you can associate with--" He ran a hand through his hair again, obviously thinking that this little work of fiction wasn't his best, but it would be easier than painting her up as homeless. "But I will need to get you the proper garb first. Lucky for us, my play shortly before my passing received high praise and I made quite a profit. Surely, I can pick a dress up for you." The mention of his needing to be married off to someone of high social status struck a chord with him, the name Sarah echoing in his head. But he said nothing on that, instead saying, "That's why we paint you up to high class."

He froze and looked at her. He'd never imagined actually rewinding his murder, his being able to live out his days to old age. Having a wife, children. Having a career in play writing. All of that was taken from him, and he'd seen it as gone. Sunk costs, as his father would say. Something he could never get back. Finally, he spoke, "I don't need to be happy. I need to be gone. Soon, I will be murdered, but hopefully...hopefully I can just know who did it. Don't worry, I won't feel pain. Not if the person who did it does it in the same way. Except this time...this time I'm hoping I won't wake up again." His eyes focused on her now and he ignored his gentlemanly manners if only for a moment to grab hold of April's hands, "I want you to promise me that if we find out who is going to do it--and why--that you will do nothing to stop it. You must let it happen. I don't want that life. I've...I've been on this world for far longer than any man has any business being. Another forty or so years would be...it would be terrible."

Benjamin shook his head, his lips pressed together in firm line, "I was meant to die. It's fate. Just as you were meant to be born. I was never meant to have a family, to keep going. I had my chance. I refuse to take yours away." He was resolute with this, and April would be able to see it in his eyes. He'd made his decision.

"If you do anything to prevent it," Benjamin continued, "I will kill myself in an equally as gruesome way. It will be difficult, as an ax to the back of the head is quite gruesome." He shook his head again at April's grasping at straws. A simple running away would do him little good. Despite his resolution, he managed to be tender, taking his finger and wiping a stray tear, "Listen to me. I was there; I watched it all. I saw the discovery of my body. I saw them take it away. I watched as...I watched as my mother scrubbed the hardwood. She scrubbed and scrubbed. The stains never lifted, my blood seeped into all of the cracks. They tried staying. They tried covering the spot where my body lay with a rug, and then the rug served as the reminder that at that spot their little boy died. My running away would further force them to stay, they'd have hope. They'd stay right where they were planted, knowing that their little boy would have a place to return to. Your family would never move in. Events that took place behind various bedroom walls here...events that eventually led to your conception, well, they would have never taken place." He paused to assess the look on her face. "My life was taken from me. I refuse to let that happen to you. I will not allow it."

Benjamin's face softened and once more he reached to wipe away one of April's tears, "It can't...it can't happen, April. I'm not a pet who exists to greet you when you get home and be left waiting any time your life beckoned you away. That empty home that you came home to...it trapped me. That empty home was all I knew for several decades. Not even days, but decades, April. Can you imagine that? I've...I've grown fond of you as well, but I simply must pass on."

Benjamin swallowed some saliva that had gathered at the back of his throat and looked down, "I know it's sad. They don't call it a tragedy for no reason," he stopped to chuckle before continuing, attempting to keep that look of mirth still alive in his blue eyes, "I saw what the tragedy did to the people I loved. That...that tragedy is going to continue until I can pass..."

He stopped to look around the room and grabbed a book from the top of one of the stacks, "It may take me a little bit because I'm going to see what the date is, and, unfortunately I have friends everywhere. Appearances are everything in this time period, and so long as I am part of it, I must adhere to those. I will move as quickly as I can, but I can't spurn anyone that sees me." He handed the book to her and grinned, "Here. It's my favorite novel of all time. Perhaps it can keep you entertained while I am out?" The novel in question was The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. He'd loved it as it came out in installments so much that he purchased a novel version of it. "I know Dickens was a man of my time, but if any of his works survive, you should read them."

With that, he turned to go, casting a look back before he went, offering her one last smile before he went on the small quest he'd been tasked with.

Benjamin knew from experience that being left behind was not a fun endeavor. He at least hoped that he gave her something to do while she was in his private study, like she had for him while she was gone, but he knew that wouldn't be good enough. Once out of the room, Benjamin picked up his pace heading for his father's own personal study. If he could find his father's most recent papers, he'd be able to find out what the date was.

"Benjamin, is that you dear? You've gotten up late again today, haven't you? It's nearly ten o' clock!" the voice belonged to a female, and it was that feminine voice that he'd grown the most familiar with over the course of his very long life. That of his mother. Benjamin froze and leaned over the staircase rails catching her as she was donning her bonnet for her morning stroll.

"Don't worry, mother. Yes, it's only me. I actually didn't sleep late today, I just started with some reading. I wasn't hungry yet, you see," Benjamin said with a lie that made the absolute most sense. He'd skipped many meals in favor of the written word or rushing off to the theatre, so it was perfectly believable.

"Well alright, Benjamin, just don't forget to eat. You'll get even thinner and wither away," she flashed him a smile and he came down the stairs to see her out.

"Again, mother, don't worry," he replied, grinning. He'd forgotten just how much his mother loved and worried about him. It was no wonder the murder affected her so hard. "I'll eat a short time from now, but for the time being I have some errands of my own to run. I'll return and we can eat together, how does that sound?" Even as he was saying this, he cringed a little bit knowing that as they ate, April would be locked up in that room. "Say, mother, do you know what the date is? The days have been sort of blurring together as of late."

"I'm glad to hear you'll at least be getting a little sunshine today. It's October twenty-third, dear. I really think you should start paying a little bit more attention to the world around you."

Benjamin laughed, "Have a nice stroll, mother. I'll try to be here when you return." With that, his mother disappeared out the door, looking as pretty as she ever did. Benjamin would have to remember to thank her for her part in his genes before he was taken from her.

He donned his own hat, hailing a carriage and making his way to the downtown district. As expected, he was stopped en route to the clothing shop by well-wishers who had seen his play and wishing him upcoming successes on more, of course asking if he was writing anything more to which he responded with a smiling "Always." He did, eventually make it into the shop but when in there, he had no idea what to look for; women's clothes were as foreign to him as Oriental China and he sighed as he slunk to a clerk to help him.

"Benjamin Wright! What brings a gentleman like you into my humble shoppe?" the shopkeeper said, beaming at his appearance. Benjamin scratched the back of his head and offered her a sheepish smile.

"Well, as you might have guessed, I'm here to purchase women's clothing...for a woman that-that-that I'm trying to court," he stammered, peering at her from the tops of his eyes, quite bashfully to any onlooker and the shopkeeper herself.

"Oh isn't that just lovely?" came the heart-filled reply. The shopkeeper's cheeks were flushed with excitement to be aiding him on his endeavor, "Just who is the lucky woman?"

"Her...her name is April," Benjamin stammered, "I want to get her an entire outfit, not just the lovely outerskirts, but everything she would need for a date out in the town. I intend to escort her everywhere, so if they could be comfortable as well, that would please me to no end." He flushed realizing that there were other garments that went with outfits that he should probably not lay eyes on, "Ehm...for the underskirts...She will certainly need those, but if-if...if you can package them in a way that I won't see, so as to keep her honour, you see, it would be much appreciated."

The shopkeeper kept her giddy smile as she practically danced to one of the shelves, "Ah, so by everything, you did mean everything! What a good gentleman you are, Benjamin. Very well! Let's get everything we need then, shall we?"

By the end of his shopping experience, he was baffled by exactly how much went into a woman's outfit for an everyday adventure and he hoped that April would be able to figure it out. There was one problem, however, he had no way of explaining that a corset was out of the question, and the shopkeeper had already packaged everything up for him. She would have no other lady to help her with it. He gulped, paling a bit as he heaved the heavy package under his arm, a reaction that the shopkeeper anticipated as nerves. He returned long before his mother did and stole away to the study, panting and thankful that none of the servants or the maid saw him.

"Here we are," he said, chipper, "An entire outfit of everything you'll need. Ehm...do you ah...think you'll be able to figure it out?"