The Teacher's Last Lesson
According to his recollection, it had been ten years, but Cal said he was already two hundred!
Where had the chronicles of over a hundred years of his life gone?
At what point did he learn to control his spiritual power?
Ling was very disturbed by this question and stepped out of the merger. Something was not right.
Looking at Cal sleeping quietly, he felt that a huge chunk of his life had been stolen from him by someone more powerful and the memory had been deliberately erased or hidden.
Perhaps it was done by someone who wanted to conceal his identity and the fact that he knew Cal? The thought frightened the young man.
Was it worth discussing with Cal and with the Teacher? About thirty years had passed since then, according to the Teacher, and the mysterious figure from Cal's past had never appeared.
But what if this person is just as long-lived and he, for example, planted some idea on Cal to turn him into an obedient slave or a killing machine on demand?
Ling shuddered at these thoughts, and he felt uncomfortable. Cal woke up, looked at Ling, and immediately frowned. Within seconds he already knew everything the young man was thinking, including the temporal discrepancy.
«More than a hundred years disappeared from my memory?» he asked.
Ling was surprised, but suppressed his emotions and nodded. We will have to discuss it.
«Your guess might be right. I might have stumbled across someone who could have helped me with my inner power and taught me, but he never gave me any valuable techniques, and maybe he was weak or dying and never finished my training. But my memories of him are erased or lost. Should I be afraid of this man?»
«I don't know.»
Ling saw his soft and gentle gaze again and wanted to hug him. He had forgotten that they were connected mentally, and the next moment Cal had already pulled him to him.
Talking quietly, they met the dawn. It seemed that Ling and Cal had just fallen asleep when someone was already knocking on the door. Barely opening his eyes, Ling saw the figure of the Teacher.
Someone had come to visit the «newlyweds.» But after assessing the surroundings, he was disappointed. Tapping Cal on the shoulder, he asked with one eye, «Where's the mark, and what's the matter?»
Cal held up his hand and showed him the tattooed wrist. The teacher rounded his eyes and shook his head.
«I'm still here with you,» Ling felt much more confident around these two after the exchange of memories.
Suddenly Cal's warning not to mention the fusion technique sounded in his mind, for the Teacher did not know that Cal had studied it. They mentally exchanged a few phrases and ended with an imaginary kiss.
«Okay, I don't know what's going on here, but I feel like a third wheel,» the Teacher declared, breaking the romantic idyll between the lovers.
Ling and Cal looked at Teacher with puppy-dog eyes. He laughed and suggested they go somewhere to eat. As lunch drew to a close, the Teacher asked Ling:
«So you like Cal, but you're still holding on to your past love?»
«Kind of,» Ling wiped his lips with a napkin, hiding a smile because at that very moment Cal was mentally telling him a funny story from his life with Teacher.
He hissed at Cal and finished his lunch with a serious look.
The Teacher rolled his eyes. What was to be done with him? He had such a treasure in his hands and he was showing off. The Teacher could only look at him sympathetically and shrug his shoulders.
«You have missed your chance in this lunar cycle...» The Teacher said thoughtfully.
Ling asked Cal mentally:
«What is the Teacher talking about?»
«You can only make a mark on the night of the full moon.»
«Does it hurt?»
«No, but we have to have sex.»
Ling choked and coughed. The Teacher handed him water and patted him on the back.
«You didn't tell him?»
«Yes, I did,» he said.
«Just now,» Ling sneered mentally, but immediately blushed, because Cal cocked an eyebrow and asked him again:
«So you don't mind sex, you just don't want the tag?»
This straightforwardness made Ling completely confused. He got up from the table and ran to the bathroom. When he left, the Teacher asked Cal:
«How was your time?»
«I had a pretty good time,» Cal answered evasively.
«That doesn't sound like you, why did you leave the best for last?»
«Do I have to explain my decisions? Maybe I don't understand it myself.»
«What about his first love, is it serious or just a trifle?»
«I don't think that man was serious about Ling. He made promises to him that he didn't keep. Now he's married to a woman pregnant by another man. But that doesn't diminish Ling's feelings; he's attached to that man.»
«I see, you're planning to drive a wedge through the wedge?»
«Will you help me?» Cal looked up.
«Warm him up enough to beg for mercy?» The Teacher grinned slyly.
«Exactly,» his assistant nodded.
«It's my favorite game! Done!
When Ling arrived, the men were chatting about life as if nothing had happened. Then Cal remembered something and asked: «can I call you by your real name?» Ling nodded, and the Teacher threw a meaningful look and said nothing. After saying goodbye at the Academy, they parted ways for a while.
Ling had time to attend several classes before it was time for his private lesson. What awaited him this time, he again had no idea, but he was already ready to be part of the festivities if he was called.
Fortunately, Cal couldn't hear his thoughts now - or could he?!
While there was a time before class, Ling suddenly became obsessed with drawing little Cal. His striking eyes, like black stars, and delicate baby face... Ling's hands were creating on their own, without asking permission. He turned out a very sweet Cal, lying on a field of daisies, his dark eyes reflecting the clouds floating in the air.
Barely finished, Ling glanced at his watch... What?! How could he paint a picture in ten minutes? Had the clock stopped?! But no, the seconds were succeeding each other.
Ling had a frightening hunch. He decided to test it and quickly got a blank canvas. He started the stopwatch, put the phone down, and drew young Cal.
There he was, pacing merrily down the side of the mountain with a bundle of brushwood. His black eyes sparkled with mischief, his nose was a little pink with cold. The wind blows his beautiful hair. He is young and fresh.
The snow creaks under his feet and rare white clouds float in the sky. There is not a soul around, only a snow-covered forest. This time Ling paid special attention to the color of his skin and the graceful line of his eyebrows.
Ling had worked so hard that the image of Cal could jump off the canvas and hang on the young man, inviting him to take a walk together. Satisfied, he picked up the phone again - it had only been seven minutes! Suddenly he heard Cal's voice in his head, «Stop fooling around, put them away, we're going in.»
Ling hastily hid the pictures and stared excitedly at the door. Just at that moment Cal and Teacher walked into the auditorium.
«It's great to have that kind of connection,» Ling thought. He almost embarrassed himself.
«I'll look at them later,» Cal whispered, «I missed...»
Ling's heart pounded harder as the stern, reserved figure approached. Cal was wearing a handsome black three-piece suit, no jacket. The vest accentuated his attractive figure. He looked especially handsome today! As if to confirm his words, the man nodded at him.
The teacher came up first and hugged Ling as if he hadn't seen him in a month. Cal refrained and sent him a memory of a kiss. The embarrassed young man sent him back, «Hello.»
«Today we want to ask you to draw yourself. But you have to add some detail to yourself. Anything, a birthmark, a tattoo, a strand of hair of a different color, a more imposing household, anything but defects. You can also draw yourself very rich, powerful, or famous.»
«Also add one social trait that you don't have. You can also put in one feeling: hate, envy, love, compassion, etc. You should think about this assignment very seriously, imagine that by drawing this, you will change according to the drawing, so don't take this lesson lightly. Do you understand?»
Ling nodded stunned. But he had so many questions.
«Painting at home, get ready, we'll wait for you in the car. Take a big canvas, the bigger the better. If you can find a full-length one, that's fine.»
Cal stood modestly on the sidelines the whole time, but as he left he whispered in his mind, «this will be a new experience for you, you'll see that you can do more than just outrun time...looking forward to it...»
The man walked out and Ling went in search of the largest canvas. After paying a lot of money for it, he loaded the purchase into the car and jumped into the seat. The car started and took them to the ocean.
While Ling unloaded his purchases, the men went for a walk on the beach. They were talking about something, but Ling couldn't hear. Of course, they were close; they had been together for more years than Ling had been alive! He couldn't even dream of that.
But how great it would be to live together with them, travel the world, paint and sell very expensive paintings, help his mother to restore the restaurant, and provide for his family's future!
Thinking about it some more, Ling wished he could learn not to grow old, to become powerful... Then he changed his mind, no, better to find his love and all his life, sincerely love this man, enjoying his love in return. He blushed.
Most likely Cal had already heard his thoughts. Whether he had or not, the young man didn't know; he was just embarrassed that he was such a child.
When he finished carrying his belongings into the studio, he opened the window and sat down in front of a blank canvas, and thought about his assignment. What would he want to add to his image?
Ling immediately thought it would be good to paint himself with long hair, to match Cal, like some ancient warrior. His hair was naturally softly curly, and at great length, it would be charming. Resolved, why not?
Next, he thought about social standing. He had some money to study and live in a foreign country, but not enough to build a new restaurant for his mother, much less move her here.
«It would be wonderful, though,» Ling thought.