The strange events of Rue Ruine

Chapter II: In The Morse Of The Night

Zayra was peacefully reading a book about mental illness on the couch as the new tenant was cooking a simple dinner of roast beef and potatoes.
It had been a couple of days since Raphael moved in but he said that he couldn't pay the rent just yet, for the moment he would've helped him around the house, which upon better observation was actually a huge mess, until he could find a job.

"Where did you learn how to cook Mr. Fauxar?" Asked Zayra curious about the culinary background of his new flatmate
"Back when I lived in Cardiff my family didn't have any cooks, my mother teached me some basic stuff" said
"Well they must really know how to cook in Cardiff Mr. Fauxar because the smell of those potatoes is not half bad" Raphael grinned a bit after hearing this, he was pleased that all the years of living on potatoes paid off.
"Question"
"What is it?" Said Zayra looking away from his plate for the first time since he discovered potatoes.
"Why the hell do you eat here?"
"It's our house where else should I eat?
"At a restourant! If I had our money I would always eat outside, never in the same place know all sorts of interesting people" said looking at Zayra with dreaming eyes from the kitchen.
Zayra laughed a bit
"Oh trust me Mr. Fauxar, the members of the high class are all but interesting"
"And don't you call me Mr Fauxar anymore! I ain't no Mr. Doc" Yelled Raphael
"As you wish" replied smiling.

Raphael placed the food on the table and shortly after Zayra closed his book and came to eat.
"Just call me Raph', it's how everyone called me back in Brighton"
"Very well, Raph..." said awkwardly, not used to these abbreviation
"Did you travel a lot in England?"
"I've moved a lot, not exactly the same thing" he said with wide eyes "And I did not always want to, but overall it was not a bad experience. I guess I've seen more places in the past 10 years than most people will see in a lifetime, what about you Doc?"
"Oh I traveled a bit, mainly for work" Answered while cutting a strip of roast beef
"A doctor moves a lot?" Asked amazed
"Well no, not usually at least, but I also have done some research so I visited our share of places, I traveled basically all the Provence with my parents when I was a kid, I went to London to study but I actually never left the school's grounds so it barely counts... I've been to Berlin for a short while and than back to France"
"Paris?" Asked Raphael full of curiosity of how the city of art was
"Only once and only for 2 years" Said, but there was no emotion in his voice
"Was it like they say?" Raphael was ecstatic to hear more
"It was...nice" Zayra's eyes were empty
"Yes but..."
"I don't really want to talk about Paris right now" said raising his voice a bit
"Oh" Raphael enthusiasm was dampened, maybe he pushed on a sore point for his flatmate
"How about you tell me what you did back in the UK?" Asked noticing that Raphael was now staring at his plate avoiding eye contact "What's your craft Mr... Raph?" Corrected himself.
Raph' was still a bit thrown off by the sudden change of behavior of the man but decided that it was for the best to change the argument.
"I am a painter" he said proudly "at least I am trying to, if you don't come from a rich family you cannot sell anything apparently"
Zayra regained a little bit of life and laughed, Raph was happy to get over that awkward moment.
After the dinner they stayed up and talked about this and that until they went to sleep.
The next day Raphael came back home from his daily roam of the streets of Marcalme in search of a job.
"Doc? Are you home?" There was no answer.
Raphael began to tidy up the place a bit, broomed the floors and shook the dust off the carpets, he cleaned the dishes and when he finished his chores he wandered around the empty house.
He looked at the various books on the library, surprisingly Zayra had a wide collection of english books, most of them of medicine but there was some weird things too, he reached for "Compendium of the creatures of the Black Forest and other Deutch Folklore tales" but as soon as his finger got close to the book he heard a hissing sound.
Looking back he saw Mr. Jenkins looking angrily at him, he decided that it was best not to piss off the cat.
He then heard the door open and Zayra got in, he was wearing an elegant 3 piece suit and holding a leather briefcase.
"Oh hello Raph, I'm dreadfully late today, there was a lady in the outskirt with
All the kitchen didn't need help and clearly there was no painter needed anywhere.
But apparently there was an open spot for an accountant at the hameçon et ligne, a fishing business down at the docks.