Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 09:04:50 +0200 From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com> Subject: Luminous Encounters 06/13 (Adult Youth) ---------------------------- LUMINOUS ENCOUNTERS by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2007 written on October 12, 1993 translated by the author English text kindly revised by John ----------------------------- USUAL DISCLAIMER "LUMINOUS ENCOUNTERS" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest. ----------------------------- CHAPTER 6 Silvano and Giusto invited Dario for a supper. He came bringing a bottle of good wine and a record of their music. When he entered Silvano's home, he was agreeably surprised - he had imagined the home of a professor to be different, more traditional, more greyish or anyway more classical. Instead, the flat was luminous, modern, cheerful and full of beautiful and interesting objects. The kitchen was all in white and very light blue, including some hand-made glass objects exposed on the shelves. Giusto was laying the table. Silvano took Dario to see the rest of the flat. On the corridor walls some of Silvano's beautiful graphical works were displayed. They were pastel drawings of handsome male nudes, of an incredible realism, that Dario at first believed to be art pictures. The bedroom was small, really a soft alcove, like a nest, with the bed, if could it be called that, from wall to wall, about three by three meters in size. The walls were equipped with video, stereo and shelves with books and objects, and skillfully concealed lights... On the floor-bed were cushions of various sizes and two eiderdowns were rolled to one side. The window was a colored stained glass creation, also made by the professor. The whole room shimmered with different shades of very light green. Then there was the large bathroom, in black and white with a wide shower enclosure. And last the studio-workshop. This was the widest room of the flat and here an agreeable confusion ruled. The room was all white, but enhanced by the various colors of the objects in it. Some adjustable lamps flooded it with light. "So, it's all here." Silvano said, while they were going back to the kitchen. "It's wonderful... I never saw such an agreeable flat. You really are an artist, Prof." Dario said, sitting at the table. "Also this kitchen seems to come out from an interior decoration magazine. It must be pleasant living here." "A flat is somewhat like the portrait of who lives in it, especially if one can furnish and design it as one likes. I feel well here, of course. Exactly because little by little I made it as I wanted it." "Yes. My home, on the contrary, is rather... tasteless. I possibly never cared enough for it, neither I nor Gustavo. But now that I've seen yours... as soon as I can have my own flat I would furnish it better. It's worth doing so." Silvano went to bustle about cooking. Giusto sat in front of Dario. "By the way, Curley... I have good news for you. The day before yesterday Steno, you know, the producer, came to visit Videosei. He wants to organize a kind of Jazz Tour of Italy and is contacting various private TVs, one in each region, for the video covering of the event. And he says he wants a band for each region, and I can give it 95 percent that he wants you for our region. I think he will get in touch with you very soon..." "Wow! It would be a stroke of luck. Steno is one of the best in Italy and is also well placed abroad. I wonder if he already contacted Marce..." "I think he would soon do so. This tour will be orgnized more or less like a soccer championship. Each band will play both at home and as a guest. And after each meeting the telephone calls from the TV audience will decide which band is the winner and with what score. So a score list will be compiled and at the end, the winning band will be proclaimed Jazz Band of Italy. For a prize it will have its repertoire recorded on disc and will also do a European tour. He is investing billions in it, I think... and he will pocket much more." "But... and the other bands?" That depends on where they are in the score list. Anyway, the losers will have their expenses paid and they'll enjoy the national publicity but that will be all." "Does he choose the bands?" "Each regional TV has to propose three bands to him and he will make his choice. Videosei proposed you, the Think Pink and the Raemen..." "Two good bands, especially the Raemen." Dario said, thoughtfully. "Yes, but it seems that Steno is decidedly oriented towards you." "Bah, let's hope so. It would be a really good stroke, even if we couldn't win." Silvano served the supper and they started to eat. "Hey, Prof, but you are better than a professional cook! You never cease to amaze me!" Dario said, savouring the food. "What else are you able to do so skillfully?" Silvano smiled but didn't answer. Giusto said, "Making love!" Dario looked in Silvano eyes and noticed that the man, for the first time, seemed embarrassed. "It is good being skilled in making love..." Dario then said, "It is not just a question of technique, I think. Even though technique has its importance..." "Same as for music, isn't it?" Silvano said almost in a murmur. "Yes, exactly so." Dario assented with conviction. "It's a question of feeling, of accord... more of souls than of minds. More instinct than reasoning. You have to use the brain, the reasoning, when you start to lay out a piece... but afterwards it must be different. And if in a band there isn't great harmony, the piece comes out cold, dead, even if it is technically perfect. The members of a band, after all, have to be somewhat like... lovers, or else it is not a band, it is a... what? It is a gathering of people playing instruments... I'm not able to express it better..." "No no, Curley, you express it perfectly. It is somewhat like the difference between screwing and making love. On both occasions there is sex, and possibly also an agreeable, great sex. But if there is also love... everything is different. It is not only agreeable, it becames sublime." "Ah, Prof, you are an incurable romantic!" Giusto merrily exclaimed, "Anyway it's really good making love with you." He added caressing the man's hand. "You charmed me, Prof. Were you ever charned, Curley?" "Charmed? No, I don't think so. I'm not even sure I know what charmed means..." "To charm is to attract or please greatly, to enchant, to allure, to fascinate, to delight somebody. But the one who charms never has a feeling of superiority, but rather one of amazement that the other lets himself be charmed, and also of gratitude. He doesn't get a feeling of triumph but of astonishment. The real charmer is at the same time charmed by the other. And when the charming is reciprocal, it produces real passion. This kind of passion manifests itself in an availability without reserve, in greed for the other's body and soul, in deep desire to be involved with all the five senses - taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing... Tasting the other's flavour, recognizing his smell amongst a thousand others, feeling all his body with all his own body, admiring the other from head to toe, being delighted at the sound of his voice, of his moans... And it provokes a shameless lack of restraint, a sweet and full immodesty. It is an unexpected and therefore wonderful metamorphosis. And it culminates in the triumph of the sexual act, which is fullness of communication, fusion,ecstasy. And all the senses are finally appeased. One feels both vanquished and victor..." Silvano said with such a low and warm voice that made Dario shudder. "No... I never experienced something like that... unhappily. But I think it can happen just once in a life, isn't it so? Admittedly it happens..." "No, Curley. When you love, it happens again at each encounter, at each intimate moment. Charming renews itself day after day, hour after hour... At least when there is love." "You are able to give a special flavour to words, Prof. I mean - normally it is said 'charmed and then deserted'... But as you say..." "Well, each word can be used in different ways. To charm also means to bewitch, and thus to bind, to bind from what is right, from what is good. But I don't use the word in that meaning." "I should say it is evident. Who knows if it would ever happen to me to be charmed..." "Or that you charm somebody. In love, charming has to be mutual." Silvano noted. "I never felt I was a charmer." Dario murmured. "Every man is... or can be a charmer." Silvano answered. "Especially one as beautiful as you are..." Giusto said, winking to Dario. "Yes, beauty can be of help. But it isn't an essential element. What really charms is the inner beauty. One should care more for the inner beauty than for the physical beauty." Silvano said. "Hell, how many things I have to learn! You are a wise man, a decent man, Prof. Go on and tell me other things like these!" Dario exclaimed enthousiastically. Silvano bashfully smiled, "And what should I tell you? I've already played the wise owl too much today..." Giusto went to make a coffee. "How much sugar, Curley?" "Without, thank you." "For your figure?" Giusto asked. "No, I like it without sugar; it leaves a better aftertaste." After they drank the coffee, Giusto proposed to go to listen at the recorrds that Dario had given them. So all three went to the bedroom, pulled off their shoes and laid down amongst the cushions, while Giusto was turning on the stereo at half volume. "This room is really fantastic. It gives the feeling of being in a nest..." "Yes, Curley, the Prof thought to make it exactly as a love nest, right, Prof?" "Yes, sure. I wanted a place where one could feel welcomed and protected... Where if one is alone, or else with friends like now, one could feel totally at ease. Here... I tried to eliminate the sensation of limit that a bed gives. Therefore the floor is all a bed and blends with the walls, without corners, without a real change. I had in mind the interior of an egg, more than a nest. Or a womb, so to speak - soft, wrapping, safe..." "It is so, Prof, and you succeeded perfectly. In here one feels embraced. Even if one is alone, as you said." Dario tried to guess what making love would be like in that room... and thought that all bedrooms should be done in that way. In that way or else like the clearing on the small island. A traditional bed is something like... a boxing ring, he thought wryly. >From the studio came the ring of the telephone. Silvano used the extension there in the bedroom. He exchanged some words then said, "Just a moment, I'll go to the studio phone so I can check my notes. Hold on..." While he was standing up, Giusto asked him, "Who's on the line?" "The publisher, for my book." "So late?" "He has no working hours. Sorry, I hope not to be too long..." he said and left the room. "You are lucky having found a man like the Prof, Giusto." Dario said when they were alone. "Yes, I think so. He is a charming guy. Not beautiful, for sure, but fascinating. Even though at times..." "At times what?" "At times one like you sends me into orbit..." Giuseppe answered, stretching out a hand to brush Dario's check. "No... what are you doing? He is worth ten times me..." the boy said, stiffening a little. "But you are so beautiful, so sexy..." the other insisted, lowering his hand to lightly caress Dario's chest. "No, stop it... it isn't fair..." "Wouldn't you like making love with me" "Yes, I think so, but... but only if you weren't his boy. How can you... also that day at the river... with Verio and Carlo..." "It was just curiosity. Moreover, the Prof is not jealous..." "No, I don't like it. If one is a couple... Stop it, Giusto, come on now!" "I could come to see you, at your place..." "No." Dario sharply answered, pushing the boy's hand away. "For the seven months I have been with him, that time at the river was just the second one... and with you it would just be the third..." "But, excuse me, aren't you settled with the Prof? Is he not enough for you?" "Well, yes, normally yes... But at times... I'm just eighteen. I have the right to enjoy my life a little, don't I?" "But then don't stay with him. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to do as you like, leave him." "No, I don't feel like leaving him. I feel too good with him. Silvano makes love wonderfully... and makes me feel special." "So, then, don't cheat on him!" "You're more of a petty bourgeois than I thought." "It's not a question of being bourgeois, this. It is just a question of respect towards yourself and towards the one you choose to be with. And this even more with a person like the Prof." The man came back to the room and laid down near Giuseppe. "Good, he says that he will publish my book for Christmas." "Wow! And you will give the first copy to me, right?" "Sure, Giusto." "What is it, a novel?" Dario asked, curious. "No, it's a set of my drawings." "Like the nudes in the corridor?" "There would be two or three, but also others of my drawings. A survey of my works, annotated with extracts of my writings. And quite possibly with an introduction of Bruno Munari, my master." Dario liked the expression of almost childish joy that was lighting up Silvano's face. That fresh smile made him seem ten years younger. He also liked the tenderness with which he was lightly caressing the body of his young lover. Giuseppe curled against him like a purring kitten. And Dario thought it incredible that the same boy, just a few minutes before, made those advances to him. He is still an immature boy, he thought, almost with tenderness. But then he also thought that the Prof deserved a more faithful lover. "What do you teach, then?" "Advertising graphics." "Do you like it?" "Very much." "Do you also work in the advertising field?" "At times, as a free-lance, and only if I like the product to advertise." "Would you feel like making a poster for my band?" "Oh, yes, very much." "But are you expensive?" "I don't think so. We can agree on a price anyway. " "I want to talk with the others and, if we all agree, I'll call you. I would really like having a poster made by you." "Thank you." They chatted for a while and then Giusto stood up to go to the toilet. "Prof, in your opinion, is fidelity important in a couple?" Dario asked. "Well, yes. But it has to be above all a mental fidelity, more than a physical one. And anyway fidelity must be a gift to the other, not a claim on the other." "I... I would not be able to accept cheating from my boyfriend." "Yes, you said so there at the river, do you remember?" "That's it." "Oh, well, it's a complex matter. Fidelity requires stability of the emotions. And that stability requires maturity. And maturity comes from experience. Fidelity must be a matter of belief, not something established by cold logic..." "It could be so. But I would be faithful... and expect faithfulness." "Men, in their erotic fantasies, desire everybody, they dream of making love with everybody." "But they have to remain just fantasies... if one loves. I haven't yet really loved, nor felt really loved. But I believe it is so." "Possibly your experiences have matured you." "But you... are you faithful?" "I think so. I got to be faithful. But when I was a boy... I believed that everything was allowed me, do you understand? I was not really faithful. With one like you... I would have tried at once, at that time. That's why I can understand Giusto." Dario looked at him, surprised. Then Silvano smiled. "Did he try it with you? I know he feels strongly attracted to you..." "And this... doesn't it wound you?" "No. For Giusto, you see, I represent only one moment of his life. An important one, I hope. But sooner or later he will leave me." "Why do you say so?" "Because I know him. He is a really good boy, but he doesn't yet know exactly what he wants. What he wants from life, from others, from himself." "But you cannot logically deny that he can understand you are exactly the right man for him. Can you?" "Certainly not, I can't deny it. And I would be glad. But I don't believe it. Giuseppe needs somebody younger than me." "Age is not important..." "Oh, at times it is, at times it isn't. But Giusto sees in me more a... a teacher than a lover. And the pupil, sooner or later, always parts from his teacher. He has to part. For the moment Giusto is fascinated by me. But sooner or later he will meet the lover who will really charm him, and so he will leave me." "Is not all this... sad?" "No, on the contrary, it is beautiful." "But so, you... you will remain alone." "I hope not. I hope I too can find my lover, sooner or later." "Before Giusto, didn't you have a lover?" "Yes, more than one." "And... how did it end?" "Well... the first had to move far away because of his work. The second decided to marry. I had to send the third one away - he was developing a strong liking for sadism and I could no longer stand him. The fourth died of Aids complications, three years ago." "Did he... infect you?" "No. We knew he was positive when we became lovers, so we took our precautions." "Did you make love... to the end?" "Yes, of course." "Did you suffer very much?" "For him, of course. But at least I succeeded in making him feel loved until the last day." "For how long were you together?" "Seven years. Giusto is coming. He doesn't like hearing these speeches. He gets scared, I think..." Silvano gently said and when Giusto entered the room, he stretched an arm towards him and pulled the boy down with him. They chatted a little more, then Dario left them and went back home. ----------------------------- CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 7 ----------------------------- In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to read them, the URL is http://andrejkoymasky.com If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help revising my English translations, so that I can put on-line more of my stories in English please e-mail at andrej@andrejkoymasky.com ---------------------------