Zoey sighed, opening the door and walking in from the rain. England. Of course it was another slow-moving, rainy Monday.
As she was taking off her coat and hanging it on a nearby coat hanger, she heard footsteps pad into the hall.
"Hello Zoey" a warm cheerful voice grinned. Zoey turned to see Mr McKay, the landlord.
"Morning Mr McKay" Zoey smiled back.
"Rythian's...up in his room" he said, frowning slightly, glancing up at the ceiling, as if he could see him through it.
Zoey merely nodded her appreciation as she slipped off her wet boats, leaving them by the door. She began to climb the stairs when Mr McKay called out again.
"Tea Zoey?"
"Yes thanks, that would be lovely!" She called back, not dragging her eyes away at the door that lay at the top of the stairs.
She stood outside it, taking a deep breath and bracing herself for what would be inside. She reached out and grabbed the brass door knob, turning it and nudging the door open.
The room was dark, but she could still make out the mess that spread across the room.
And the hand with a gun in it.
It shot the wall to the left three times, before lowering back into the mess on the couch, which had been turned from it original position to face the wall.
"Jesus Rythian, when was the last time you opened your curtains and cleaned a little?"
Two magenta eyes opened in the darkness, glowing as they normally did. Zoey loved his eyes, always full of mystery and excitement. She made her way across the room, tripping over everything possible, and opened the curtains, getting light to immediately pour into the room.
Before Zoey turned to see Rythian's state, he hissed and rolled off the couch, cowering behind it as the light showed Zoey his spot on the couch. It was surrounded by blankets, guns, and...boxes.
Zoey picked up one of the boxes and read the side. Her eyes widened and she looked around, suddenly noticing the white bags on the floor.
"Rythian? Have...have you been eating tea leaves?"
Silence.
Then;
"They're surprisingly addictive after the sixth one"
Zoey groaned and began scraping together the boxes and ripped packets of tea bags.
"Tea leaves are bad for you. Why didn't you just make tea with them like normal people?"
"Nanny refuses to make me tea until I clean up. So I ate the tea leaves for sustenance"
Zoey stood there, all the tea related items now on the kitchen counter. She stared at Rythian.
"What am I going to do with you?"
Rythian made his way back onto his chair, with what looked like a hangover, while Zoey picked up a nearby discarded newspaper.
She read the front page and smiled.
Perfect.
Someone tapped her shoulder and she turned, gratefully accepting the cup of tea Mr McKay presented to her.
"Thanks Mr McKay" she said, sipping from it.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Nilesy" he said, scowling at Rythian on his way out.
"Hey Ryth, guess what?" Zoey smiled.
He groaned in protest, his eyes narrowing in boredom.
"Murder. Five times, all in locations that have no connections. Police are baffled, and don't know where to start. Sounds like your kind of thing"
Rythian pondered this momentarily.
"Give" he commanded, reaching out for it.
"Not until you clean your apartment" Zoey replied.
Rythian groaned in protest again and rolled off the couch, lying on the floor before scooping up some cushions and dumping them on the couch. He began to tidy the apartment as Zoey flicked through the rest of the paper, reading anything that caught her eye.
"Rythian, look your brothers in the paper. Again"
"I hate my brother" he mumbled, throwing some blankets behind the couch.
Zoey shook her head in disapproval.
"What's wrong with Duncan?"
"Everything. He's so happy...constantly...it frustrates me" Rythian growled.
Zoey quietly laughed to herself. He hadn't changed at all in the past few days.
"Done" Rythian sighed, standing in the middle of the room, which now looked better and tidier. Zoey opened the rest of the curtains as Rythian got changed and followed him downstairs.
Zoey put on her boots and her wet coat as Rythian put on his normal trench coat and scarf.
"Where on earth are you going now?" Mr McKay asked from the bottom of the stairs.
"Dear nanny...we, are going to solve a murder" and with that, he turned and left, Zoey following beside him.