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The excitement from earlier was finally dying down a little.
Or rather, was moving over to the side, where Lili, Dorothy, and Joffrey were still barraging Kit with questions about his apparent secret lineage as true-blue aristocracy. Shin had only just properly met Christopher—Kit? –today, so as surprised as he was to be attending an academy with actual royalty, he couldn’t help but feel disconnected from the level of flabbergasted shock and awe being expressed by his friends who had all seen Kit running around in muddy shoes and eating charcoal-stained bread and sleeping in the grass and dismantling pocket watches.
That Shin himself would get to visit the vacation home of such an esteemed estate was a shock, too. Sakura would be ecstatic that Shin happened to be in the right place at the right time among the right group of people to be pulled into the blanket invitation preferred to Kit’s friends. He was still a newcomer among this crowd.
He felt more than a little out of place, outside of his connection to Lili. Lili, who seemed to be the closest one to Kit out of everyone there. Part of his attention was on her, cracking a smile at her exuberance and the animated back-and-forth she was currently having with the son of duke, and that fire in her eyes she always met the Englishman with. She was someone from the same area of the same country, who’d come this same way and arrived at this same school. He’d thought that Lili and himself were basically two of a kind. But seeing how naturally Lili played off of Kit’s energy and how fervently she poured her focus into him made Shin feel oddly like a tagalong. There was some distance between himself and Lili that Shin hadn’t felt was there until this moment.
And outside of those thoughts, a part of Shin’s attention kept straying to someone else.
Shin’s eyes kept making their way back to that man from earlier. Tall, with long curly hair. A friendly, composed disposition. Pierced ears and even more piercing eyes, all the more piercing when he noticed Shin’s stolen glances at him and turned his gaze back towards Shin. Peter Anthony smiled his wide, good-natured smile and patted Shin on the shoulder.
“You look like you have something on the tip of your tongue.” Peter hooked a thumb in the general direction of the gallery entrance. “Shall we go grab a bite to eat somewhere quieter? Despite Dorothy’s gluttony, I think there may still be some refreshments left.”
Shin cast one more glance at Lili and Christopher, who seemed to be in the middle of a heated staring competition now. Shin nodded to Peter. “Oh, yes, I’m famished. Lead the way.”
When they arrived at the refreshments table, they could see that Dorothy had indeed done quite a number on the supplies, even without taking into consideration. The pastries provided by the gallery were being restocked by the staff.
Once the staff member was finished with the restock, they scurried off towards the others. Presumably hurrying to clean up the shattered pieces of broken plate from when Dorothy had dropped her food earlier. Shin watched them go.
“It is astonishing, isn’t it?” Peter prompted.
Shin turned back towards Peter, and found that Peter was presenting Shin with a plate of assorted pastries that he had already made.
“Oh! Thank you so much.” Shin’s fingers brushed against Peter’s as he handed off the plate to him. “Yes, astonishing,” he echoed back at him, sampling one of the shortbread cookies topped with a red dot gumdropped in the center. Some sort of candied cherry, if Shin had to guess from the taste and texture, though this wasn’t his specialty. Sakura would be better able to identify the novel dishes than him.
“I must admit, I’m taken aback, too,” Peter mused aloud, which brought Shin out of his thoughts. “Blown away, even.”
“Yes, I agree, these are delicious!” Shin exclaimed excitedly, picking up another cookie and turning it over in his hands, marveling at it like it was another one of the works of art in here. “Desserts here are so different from what we have back home. They’re very rich and buttery. But as it stands, I think I still prefer Japanese sweets. Back home, the flavors are more subtle, and the designs are more artistically vibrant. And the texture. These are so dense and flakey. Have you ever had mochi—”
Shin stopped short at the bewildered look on Peter’s face. Peter blinked owlishly. The silence felt very loud.
“You… weren’t talking about the food,” Shin gathered, embarrassed at how far ahead of himself he had gotten.
“I was still reeling over the realization that the lazy genius ne’er-do-well oddball Kit Church was part of that family of Churches.”
“Yes. Of course that’s what you were talking about,” Shin said, flushing slightly in his embarrassment at the misunderstanding. “My English tutor taught me about English history and customs, but I must admit, I’m not familiar with England’s contemporary famous families…” Shin trailed off in his waning confidence. A slight pink tint spread over his cheeks and up to the tips of his ears.
For his efforts, Shin earned a soft “pfft”, a pat on the back, and an amused smile on the man’s lips.
“…I say, this selection of refreshments really is something, isn’t it?” Peter belatedly responded, reaching out a hand and grabbing a perfectly golden-brown triangular pastry from the table. He bit into the apple turnover, speckling his lips with a light dusting of powdered sugar. His tongue flicked across his upper lip, but his bottom lip was still coated with sugar when he grinned. “The food here is definitely distinct. I agree with you that it won’t replace my favorites from home. It’s why I’ve brought a spice mix from back home. Masala. I sprinkle it on some of the dishes here if it ever feels… bland.”
Shin brightened up and grinned back, feeling the awkwardness fading away just as quickly as it had come. “I did the same! I knew we wouldn’t be able to get miso here, so I brought some miso paste with us when we came.” Once again, he felt like he and Peter were on the same page, that he had found a kindred spirit here. The same way he felt when Peter had been appraising his artwork so generously earlier. He grinned and gushed, “Miso soup and rice are staples for my sister and me. Whenever we have it, I don’t feel so out of place. It’s nice to have the taste of home from time to time, isn’t it?”
“It is. No matter how far we go, there will always be traces of where we came from somewhere in us. It’s nice to have something tangible to hold onto, isn’t it?” Peter agreed, and if his tone was anything to go by, he seemed to have more complicated feelings about that. “By the same token… I cannot allow my homesickness to get in the way of appreciating the delicacies beyond my homeland. I’d love to try a taste of your homeland sometime or give you a taste of mine.” The soft smile on Peter’s face and the gentle sincerity made Shin feel truly welcome here in a way that felt warm and inviting. Peter placed his hand on Shin’s shoulder again. “But you should take full advantage of your time away, too.”
Shin opened his mouth to speak but didn’t get a chance, when Peter pushed a pastry between his lips instead. “For example, you have to try this donut. It’s simply scrumptious.”
Surprised, Shin took a tentative bite of the foreign delicacy. The fried pastry flaked under his lips. A crisp, glazed exterior topped in flaky chocolate crunched easily from a bite, crumbling and then melting in his mouth as it opened up into a soft, airy interior with a tender, chewy crumb. The sweet chocolate glaze hit his taste buds first. Then the rich taste of butter came through.
A delighted grin spread over his face as he chewed his way through a few more bites.
“Mmph, this is delicious!” Shin mulled, chewing thoughtfully on the dessert. “I’ve never had anything like this before!”
Peter held out the rest of the half-eaten donut to Shin, and he accepted gratefully and took another bite of it. “It’s a big world, and if an artist’s goal is to change that world,” he said loftily, “we have to broaden our horizons to do it.” Shin picked up another donut and placed it in a plastic to-go bag that was provided at the table. “Your sister as well. You should bring some back for her,” he said, handing it off to Shin. “I hope she’s able to experience many new things during her time here with you.”
Shin accepted the to-go bag, adding the rest of the desserts from the plate that Peter had made him earlier. “Thank you. She’ll appreciate it. I can’t wait to let her know we’ve been invited to a fancy English Duke’s estate.”
“…I am curious though.” Peter asked as Shin continued to prep the leftovers for his sister. “If that dazed look on your face wasn’t about the Duke’s family, then what was on your mind? It was clearly something.”
“Well… With all the excitement from the Duke’s arrival, our conversation earlier was cut a bit short, wasn’t it? I wanted to say…” Shin swallowed his mouthful of food and cleared his throat. “You’re very knowledgeable about woodcarving, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Peter insisted.
“No one else was asking me questions as detailed as yours at the exhibition or knew as much about my art as you did. It made me think you must have been a fellow student from the sculpting department. It felt like I had found a kindred spirit in you. I was looking forward to getting to carve alongside you in class, so I was surprised when you told me you were an oil painter.”
Peter laughed again, good-natured about the brief misunderstanding. “Were you disappointed that we wouldn’t be in the same track?” Peter teased playfully, complete with a very slight, apologetic bow. “I’m very sorry to disappoint you.”
“Oh, not at all!” Shin shook his head and waved his hands. “We’re still fellow artists. I’m happy with that. I’ve always just gone through the motions and done the art my family has always done, so it’s nice to see different types of artists at work.”
“…Well, I may not participate in the craft of woodworking myself, but I was looking forward to seeing what you had on display. I am, above anything else, a lover of art.” Peter placed a hand over his heart. “I’ve heard of Buddhist sculptors and the high quality of their work, and I’ve studied them extensively. But yours was a cut above anything I’ve seen in photographs or books. Japanese woodwork is world-renowned, and I’ve read about it since I was a child, but that was my first time seeing it up close. You’re truly elite, Shin. I’m already a fan of yours.”
Shin rubbed the back of his neck, feeling almost embarrassed at the praise. “I would say it goes beyond being a simple fan. Not many would be able to instantly recognize that I used the core and outer edge of kurogaki, or correctly identify the finishing pain I used to color the bird’s crest.” Shin’s cheeks flushed pink. “…Would you like to watch me at work sometime? I’m not used to having an audience outside of my family, but if you would like…”
Instantly, Peter reached out with both hands and grabbed Shin’s hand, shaking it emphatically. The way in which he held Shin’s hand was firm but gentle. Just as gentle as his smile. “I can’t think of anything I’d love more! I’ll have to take you up on that after the break!” Shin’s heart fluttered, excited to be met with just fervor and passion over something he’d made while traveling.
Shin looked into Peter’s eyes and squeezed his hand around Peter’s. “…Thank you. I’ll be looking forward to it after our trip.” Shin’s smile Between Lili and Peter both being here, Shin felt like he’d truly found his people, all this way from home. “In the meantime, maybe you could show me the piece that you submitted to this gallery. I would like to see your works in your true area of expertise.”
“Gladly. Right this way.” Peter tugged him forward, and Shin followed back, letting Peter lead.