[Crystalkitsune85]

When she saw him question the 'boy next door' comment she chuckled. "It's like...Someone who is approachable. It's a saying we have now. You have this quality about your appearance that makes it look like you're easy to talk to. Someone who isn't just there to pretend to listen just so he can get into your pants." she said. "Oh and, in case that stumps you, getting in your pants means...doing anything he can to eventually have sex with you." She explained.

"Steven? Oh yeah, I guess you did see him. He's a friend of mine. We go way back. He's always there for me." she said with a smile. "I'm guessing you're probably really exhausted...or whatever the ghost equivalent is. I think we can stop here for now and pick it up again tomorrow. I have some things I actually need to do away from the house but I'll be back." she said and left her computer on. "If you get the energy to type anything else out, just do so. Any questions or anything you have, I'll answer them when I get home." she then grabbed her coat and keys and bade him goodbye for now and left the house.

[sylvanSpider]

Benjamin, having figured out that the sunlight seemed to give him energy, was rarin' and ready to write more. It was the first time he'd "spoken" to anyone for nearly two centuries and he wanted to get better. With the sex comment though he quickly typed out: sex/// without marriage///. The concept was foreign to him as he couldn't imagine hurting any woman's honor like that before the wedding night.

He listened as she spoke, thankful that she was leaving the computer in a spot that was decently lit by the sunlight so he could type all he wanted to while she was gone. It was so long since he last was able to write! Of course she would have to leave. She did have a life after all. So, he would use the opportunity as best he could. He glanced down at the photograph. Strange to think that this was once the best technology they had. He could see himself there, posed, serious. His lips were pressed in a thin line, his brow slightly furrowed. In the black and white photo, one couldn't quite gauge the exact shade of his hair save for the fact that it was too dark to be blonde, too light to be black. It was wavy, cut short about the ears. His eyes too were light, typical of an Englishman. They looked as though they could have been a blue or a green, perhaps hazel. Even with such a stern looking countenance, those who knew him would say that that wasn't Benjamin. That was some serious bloke. Couldn't have been the fun-loving writer they all knew and loved.

Tearing his eyes away from the picture, he focused on the screen and wiggled his fingers. He was going to write. Kind of. Certainly, he would be writing down a series of questions. Not necessarily the most creative of tasks, but he was up to it. He wrote:
what do you do for a living/
do i scare you/
can you find out where my parents went and if they were happy when they lived/ then added on the same line, i understand if not.
and finally what kind of books do you enjoy reading/

[Crystalkitsune85]

After her errands kept her away a few hours, she came back home. She called out to Benjamin to let him know that she was back. she studied the computer and saw he asked a few questions when she was gone. When she felt the familiar cold spot settle in behind her. "What do I do...nothing right now. I just moved here so I actually need to get a job. I put a few applications in at a couple shops in town while I was out. I actually have some groceries I should bring in before I continue." She said and told him to wait there as she spent a couple minutes bringing in some plastic bags filled with food. The fridge that was still in the house (although super old) still worked surprisingly enough. Once cleaned up and plugged in, it worked like intended so she decided to keep it for now.

Once groceries were in, and as she put them away, she answered his other questions. "Nah I guess you don't scare me. It's weirder then scary. I wish I could see you, then it'd be better than talking to cold air." she chuckled. "I don't suppose you can...show yourself that is?" she asked. "Not sure if that's something ghosts can do. I know the ones in the ghost hunter shows, are mostly masses of light with no real distinctive features." she murmured. She shook her head and then read the next question.

"Once I get internet, I can try searching for your family and see where they ended up. Might be hard since it's been so long ago. If anything the local library should have records from then."

She put the last item away in a cupboard and then leaned against the counter. "Books...well I don't actually read much these days. I guess as a kid I liked fantasy stories more than anything. The last book I read was something for a college class I took a while back. Nothing too terribly interesting though."

(( Too much fun but I must be going to bed now. I shall post tomorrow!))

[sylvanSpider]

((Sounds good! I need to legitimately focus on my paper now anywho, I was about to say that, but was having too much fun. x3))

Benjamin listened intently as she prattled away sitting situated in front of the computer in case he needed to respond to anything. He could understand it being weird essentially talking to cold air, but some part of him hoped that her seeing his picture would put a face to the chill, so to speak. It obviously didn't, so maybe he would have to try. How would he go about that? Thinking really hard about being seen? He couldn't help but think about all of the trouble he'd gone through to simply get her to know that he was there, now he had to work to get her to see him? He'd never tried before, but he supposed it would be a nice gesture to try: this may take time. i have never tried before.

In response to the answer on his family he nodded glumly and typed thank you in advance for looking. it means everything to me. Of course, he wanted to know what happened to Elizabeth too, but he couldn't bring himself to bring her up. Benjamin was disappointed with the last answer, saddened that he'd made it this far into the future and had no idea what was being read these days. But, life was time consuming. Even he could remember that much from so long ago. With all the answers either typed up or having been answered audibly, he closed his eyes concentrating on visibility.

[Crystalkitsune85]

She noticed that he went from small one word answers to ones with more words. "Is typing getting easier for you? Oh also you need to hold this key down..." she started and showed him the 'shift' key. "And / to make a question mark." she explained. She demonstrated by clicking on the screen and then proceeding to make question marks by holding shift and making them. "You also make Capital letters by doing that too. Hold shift and the letter to make it capitalized."

When he had responded to going visible she smiled "I mean I have a picture now, but if it's too hard or you can't do it, it's okay. Just use your energy for typing."

[sylvanSpider]

Benjamin was glad that she seemed to notice that it was getting easier for him as well as he could articulate somewhat more complicated sentences, closer to that of what he would have written in life. He tilted over his head peering over her shoulder and watched as the elusive question mark and capital letter were produced on the screen.Aha! That's it! He looked at the rest of the keys and figured that that would be how to write an exclamation point, a whatever the a with the circle around it was, a pound sign, percent, and even &. That would be easier for him to type than actually writing out the word "and".

Taking his station in front of the computer he now typed.The window helps, I believe. Maybe something to do with sunlight? Seeing the proper punctuation coupled with an actual question mark elated him. He held down the shift key and drug his finger across the second row producing !@#$%^&*()_+ He laughed. Finally, it was making sense.

April had been gone most of the day, but with the last rays of sun he moved to the proper window to get what he could from them and, standing beside the window, concentrated on making himself visible, hoping that it would work. If not, they would have to wait until the following day. But, he would make it work. He'd come this far. Why would he stop there?

[Crystalkitsune85]

April watched as he tested out the question mark and the capital letters. She laughed as he drug across all the characters at the top of the letter keys. "Having fun?" she asked and chuckled. When he mentioned the sun, she nodded "I guess that makes sense. Sunlight gives us energy as well, so I don't see why it wouldn't charge you up. I'd be sure to leave the curtains open when I"m gone so you can get a lot of sunlight." she said with a nod. As she spoke, she saw something flicker near the window. "Hey! I think I'm seeing something! You're starting to become visible kinda." she exclaimed excitedly.

[sylvanSpider]

Benjamin grinned and typed out Of course! making sure to make use of the newfound exclamation mark. He decided that her musings were more musings and to not use more energy typing and instead focused on revealing himself. Her eyes were on the window now, so if he was going to, now was his chance.

It lasted but a moment, but for an all too brief second, the flicker flared and he was there. In that moment, he turned to look at her a small, somewhat sad smile gracing his lips. He'd done it.

He just hoped she didn't blink.

[Crystalkitsune85]

"Oh yay I saw you!" she exclaimed. "It was for only a small moment but I saw you. That must take a lot of energy." she said with a smile. "You still look like you picture, just see through. Still handsome." she chuckled. "So, I'm sure you're still curious about things. Any other questions you have? Best time to do it now before your energy runs out too much."

[sylvanSpider]

Benjamin shifted over to the computer, thankful that she did see him. During the day, it was possible that he might be able to appear visible for longer periods, too, to enable for conversation. He wondered if maybe someday he'd be able to actually speak to her. For the moment though, he was forced to type.
You are quite handsome yourself, April. When will you get 'internet' set up? What is 'internet'?
The concept was new with the last owners of the house and there was no computer to speak of in the house. However, he'd seen technology evolve to an extent, he was just a couple of decades behind was all. The house sat empty for entirely too long, but it wasn't now, and the owner wasn't afraid of him this time.

[Crystalkitsune85]

When she was called handsome she blushed. "Isn't the correct term pretty?" she asked and then chuckled. "Well let's see, they said they'd come and hook it up Monday, and today is Friday. So 3 days." she said. "The internet consists of much information as one could possibly learn in a lifetime in one neat little package pretty much. If you had Encyclopedias, it's basically a HUGE one, in a small space. If I wanted to search about bananas, I could type it into a search engine and come up with different kinds, how to make things with bananas, places to buy them online, and companies that grow and sell them. All with one simple search word."

She then went on to tell him more about the internet the best she could.((Cus I'm lazy and don't wanna type it all out lol)) "So in order to find out about where your parents went, I'd just need their names more than likely and I can find out where they went, where they died etc."

[sylvanSpider]

Benjamin shook his head, again, as if April could see him; remembered; and leaned forward to type, Did 'handsome' cease to be part of the vernacular in reference to ladies? Pretty, then. He hoped the joking tone he was trying to convey actually translated and then sat listening to her description of the Internet. So, essentially, it was like the best encyclopedias got an upgrade but it was all available on this thing that he was now using to type. This day and age was amazing. He typed out a response to April's well thought out explanation: So the 'Internet' contains information on everyone past and present? Doesn't that seem...invasive? He wondered what the Internet told about him.

[Crystalkitsune85]

"It can be yes. There are dark sides to the internet as well. I won't get into all the bad stuff, but in some cases, the internet can be bad. But the intention of most of it is good. Google is a great way to search for things." she explained. "A lot of things have changed since your time. Best way to describe a nice looking woman is pretty, and a step up from that is "Beautiful". Handsome is mainly to describe men nowadays." she said.

She leaned back a moment. "So many things that you had back in your time, are upgraded tenfold. Fridges keep food cold, so it doesn't spoil. Freezers can freeze food in moments and thus keeping it fresher longer. Ice comes from a tray placed in the freezer or from an ice maker. Microwaves can cook food that would normally take hours your way, in minutes. Phones have come a long way as you can see from my cell phone." She said pulling it from her pocket. "Not only can I call out, but I can play games, get a map of where I want to go, I can message friends instantly without using the mail. So much different from your time"

[sylvanSpider]

Of course much had changed since his life. He could see that even with the old constituents of the house. He watched it evolve as more and more technologically advance items started entering his household. The refrigerator was one of the more interesting ones. It was true that his family owned something similar, but in the 1910's the couple that owned the house brought in the first refrigerator he'd ever seen and the family that lived in his home in the 80's had replaced it. That was the one that squat in the living room now and he could just remember wondering why they put full meals in there and it took him days of watching to figure out that the contraption actually worked as a more efficient system than his own family used for food storage, him not being able to feel temperatures. He wrote, I'd be curious to know what other words have changed since my time. I have seen microwaves before, actually! The last family owned one. I am not sure I want to know about the dark side of the "internet". Of course, he'd be figuring it out soon enough. If the "internet" was used through this device, he might be able to power it himself while she was away, provided she did not take this fancy contraption with her.

[Crystalkitsune85]

"Well just listen to me talk and if anything I say confuses you then just let me know and I'll explain it." She offered. "I honestly don't know how you spoke back in the 1800's so, me trying to pick things out specifically would be a chore. Best you just ask me if you catch anything."

She sat there a moment her stomach rumbling. "Oh jeez is it that late already?" she looked at the time. "I'm starving!" She said and then got up from the counter and her laptop and then started throwing together something to eat. She made a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk. She came back moments later nomming on half of the sandwich, while the other half remained on her plate.

[sylvanSpider]

The word Certainly appeared on the screen followed by, You've been wonderfully helpful. Thank you.

Benjamin laughed hearing her stomach rumble and typed out, I can't remember the last time I was hungry. Or the last thing I ate for that matter; it's been so long. He sat on the counter beside where she was making the sandwich. He recognized the bread and the jelly, and even the peanut butter though he'd never had the joy of trying it when he was alive. The stuff didn't come around until a few decades later, but the last family ate quite a lot of it so he assumed it was good. He wished he could at least try a little.