Z.A.Y.N.

TRACK 5

From the sitting room of Zain's flat, a small whistling can be heard over the gentle strums that Liam's producing with the acoustic guitar that's usually in its stand. If it wasn't for the singer taking a break to write down a couple of chord progressions on a scratch piece of paper he stole from Zain's printer, he might have missed the way the sound traveled from the kitchen into his surrounding space.

Like the last time he visited, Liam was hesitant on venturing over to the seedy side of East London, but he was quickly reminded on why he had agreed to the meeting place when Zain opened the door looking just as sleepy as he had standing in that spot the week prior. Also similar, the way cooking the two of them lunch snaps him out of that daze, a fire igniting in his eyes as soon as his guest allows for crawfish - Shanghai style.

It's not a food that's included in Liam's diet. Or at least he's guessing not, since it isn't a meal he's accustomed to knowing the macros of off the top of his head. Sure, he can text his trainer to find out, but Liam's too intrigued to see what the shellfish tastes like to do so, and there's no way he's willing to do anything that will jeopardize Zain's excitement at being able to cook Liam something new.

When he sees the man walk into the room, carefully balancing a tray with two plates and glass cups atop it, Liam sees that the time he's spent alone, banished to the sitting room, hasn't done anything to ruin that enthusiasm either. Zain looks over the moon at being able to serve someone new and hear what they have to say about his cooking.

A staple of his favourite city, crawfish found its way into the chef's mental recipe book two summers ago during his first visit back to China since studying. It's lovely listening to Zain speak about the Chinese friend's he made while living there and how one in particular had welcomed him into his home (and subsequently his family) for homestays any time he wished to go back.

"Do you always eat on the floor?" Liam asks when it becomes evident that's where the two are going to enjoy their meal.

Once the tray's safely sitting in the center of the floor rug, Zain sits cross legged, watching Liam lower himself down from the sofa to do the same. "No, I usually sit at the desk." Liam steals a brief glance at where there's a new stack of books on the left side of the computer keyboard. "At huge family gatherings sometimes we eat on the floor, as a cultural thing. Not as much anymore though." Taking the lid off the large center bowl, reveals a huge mound of red crawfish, still in their shells. "The kids have grown up and the adults are getting older. Maybe once a year we'll sit in a circle instead of at the table."

Hearing that Zain's culture contains traditions including seating arrangements like the ones they were currently in, makes Liam want to know more. He thought all he wanted to know about the other's life was what inspired the songs that Liam held so dearly, but the more the two spent time together, the more he's starting to see that in order to better understand the personal troubles behind Zain's lyrics, Liam needs to better understand who Zain is as a whole. Knowing how the writer processes the world, and in turn, his feelings, would fill in the blanks a lot better than simple stories being relayed.

Liam's impatience stems from the urge to have all that information now. They're on the same page of just wanting to talk, and hopefully music will come from that, but little things, like a peak into Zain's culture has Liam coming up with question after question. A small sense of fear comes from their inundation; there's just too much that he wants to know. If he doesn't get answers the moment that the questions surface, who knows if Zain will let him come back to them later. Or worse: Liam forgets them, only to remember what they were long after their constant writing sessions are over.

Anxiety aside, the one question that needs immediate answering is: how does one eat crawfish?

"You use your hands," Zain says with a simper as soon as Liam's searching around to see if his fork's hiding in between the other settings. "Want me to show you how to do it?"