Keith had been alone his entire life. He has lived in a small, wooden hut in the heart of a forest where trees did not grow since he can remember. There is one wide window that sits above a dusty and bare countertop, one fireplace that is seldom lit, and a twin bed with an uneven mattress against the back wall. One white flower in a glass jar sat on the windowsill.

He usually sat on his bed all day, re-reading the same twenty books he owns or scribbling poetry on spare canvas. He felt most at peace running his fingers along the backs of his books, tracing the worn leather and crinkled pages. The books, since they were made of dead materials, were invincible to his touch.

Keith was born with the uncontrollable, unstoppable, and powerful gift of death. Everything he touches dies, and Keith hates it. Perhaps because he could never have it, Keith was fascinated by life and living creatures. He tried many times to befriend birds, deer, and even the insects that wandered into his home, but since he accidentally killed a rabbit, he has been too afraid to approach creatures.

Near his hut, there was a small patch of pale white flowers that bloomed in the night, and Keith managed to pick one and put it in a jar with water without touching the plant. The flower sits by the window, and it is the only sign of life besides Keith himself in his hut. The flower is also one of his most prized possessions.

Children gossiped about Death's hut in the middle of the forest, but none were brave enough to actually get anywhere near Keith. They said his fingernails were long and black, like claws, his skin so pale it reflected the sun, and that if you looked in his eyes you would see how you're going to die. None of this, of course, was true, but the rumors were the reason Keith spend almost all of his time alone and inside.

His skin was pale, but it was not monstrous. His skin was soft, smooth, and unblemished, and had black marks and symbols scattered across his body. His marks looked like tattoos, but he was born with them. Teardrops, stars, and phases of the moon were sprinkled under his eyelids, on his chest, and down his back. His hair was jet black, and barely long enough to touch his shoulders. His shadow was a galaxy: alone and unexplored.

Even though he feared harming the plants and animals around him, even Keith couldn't stay in his hut all the time. When he did wander outside, he did so carefully, and tried to limit his path of destruction. Skinny and spidery veins of death lead away from his home, venturing into the nearby forest. There was a small creek the east of the hut, and the path to the creek was the most defined with almost no life regrowing where Keith walked.

One afternoon, Keith brought his water bucket to the creek and walked along the rocks until he found a deeper part of the water where he scooped the liquid into his bucket. This routine was normal place for Keith, and his trip was seeming to be uneventful, when he heard a stranger's voice say, "Hi."

Keith, startled, looked up at a man standing on the opposite side of the creek. He had dark brown skin with white marks similar to his own black ones. White symbols of the sun, flowers, swirls and dots so small they could be mistaken as freckles appeared on his face and chest. The man was wearing shorts and a robe, but no shirt, and his entire chest was on display. Keith, now finished with his observations of the stranger, stood up and replied, "Hello."

"I'm Lance. What's your name?"

"Keith."

Lance looked at the small patch of decayed plant life at Keith's feet since he inadvertently stepped back into the grass. Lance motioned to the dark patch and said, "Did you do that?"

Keith looked down, his eyes widened and shoulders stiffened, then he said, "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't-"

"That's great! Can you come with me? There's something I think you could help me with."

Keith looked at Lance with confusion, perhaps waiting for him to change his mind and reject Keith. When Lance's expression didn't shift, Keith said, "Okay."

Lance clasped his hands together and said, "Awesome, follow me I'll show you the way." Lance started to skip away from the creek, and everywhere his feet touched, the plant life grew taller and more vibrant. Only after watching plants grow beneath his feet did Keith notice the abnormally tall patch of grass mirroring his own dead patch on the other side of the creek. Keith hesitantly stepped over the creek, and began to follow Lance.

After a few minutes of walking a few paces behind Lance, Keith ran to catch up with Lance. He said, "Lance- how do you do that? With the grass? How do you make it grow?"

Lance looked over at Keith, smiled, and said, "I don't know, it just happens. I've always been like this," Lance motioned to the dark path Keith was making, "has it always been like this for you too?"

Keith looked down and said, "Yeah it has. I hate it."

"Why? Our abilities are nothing to be ashamed of."

"That's easy for you to say, everything you touch grows. Everything I touch dies."

"There is no life without death."

Keith and Lance shared eye contact for a moment, and then Lance said, "We're here."

Lance brought Keith to a clearing surrounded by boulders and tree saplings. Keith said, "What is this place? Why did you bring me here?"

"I need you to kill all the plants in the clearing. I would do it, but every time I tried to move the vines out of the way I just made it worse."

"Why do you want to kill them?"

"If you clear the floor, I'll show you."

Keith slowly walked toward the clearing. When he stepped inside, his feet went from stepping on spongy soil to the familiar cool hard surface of rock. Keith understood that there was a rock floor covered by invasive vines, and quickly worked on removing all the vines from the area.

When Keith was done, he turned to Lance and said, "Okay, I finished. What were you going to show me."

Lance Jumped into the rocky clearing, and twirled around. He said, "I used to use this clearing to dance, since it's hard to dance with plantlife grabbing at your ankles."

Lance jumped, twirled, leaped and leaned with no particular routine in mind- he was happy to let his body move however it pleased. Keith studied his movements intently, not letting himself blink in fear of missing a single moment of the dance. His eyes were wide and cheeks flushed as he watched. The movements were so free flowing and intimate, Keith almost felt like he was intruding Lance's space.

As Lance finished his improved dance, he sighed and said, "Wow I really missed that. Thank you."

"I'm just glad I could help."

Lance and Keith stared into each others eyes, both felt drawn to each other, but were tentative since their situation was so nuanced. Their shadows were long and growing. Keith looked at the horizon and noticed the sun setting.

He said, "It's sunset, I should get back while there's still light."

"Me too," said Lance, "Thanks again. For the clearing."

Keith replied with a small smile and then turned back toward his home. That night, Keith dreamed of Lance, the sun, the moon, and the stars. In his dream, they danced with each other through the galaxy, exploring the infinities of space in each others arms.

The next morning Keith wrote down his dream and started a few poems about the boy with a sun on his cheek. He was in the middle of a poem about an eclipse when there was a knock at his door. No one had ever knocked at his door before. Keith tucked his journal of poems away and slowly reached for the door handle. He held the handle for a moment, and then the knock returned, so Keith pulled open the door, wincing at the sudden burst of sunlight.

Lance stood in the doorway. "Hi," he said.

"Hello," Keith said, looking Lance up and down, "what are you doing here."

"I wanted to see you again. Lucky for me you were pretty easy to find. Just follow the path of death, right?"

Keith glanced outside; there was now a parallel path of tall grass beside his blackened trail.

Keith said, "Okay. This is where I live."

"Give me a grand tour."

Keith chuckled and said, "I can give you a tour but there won't be anything grand about it." Keith moved to the center of the room and said, "This is my windowsill, there's the fireplace, that's my bed, and here's my bookshelf. That's about it."

Lance looked at the bookshelf and said, "Can I read one?"

"Sure," Keith said as he pulled a book off the shelf, "this is one of my favorites. It's about fairies that play tricks on humans, but one day a girl wanders into their part of the forest, and she can see them so none of their tricks work on her."

Lance smiled, took the book, and sat up on the ledge by the window. Keith took another book from his shelf, this one was about dragons and knights, and sat on his bed. The two read together until the sun dipped under the horizon, ridding their eyes the light necessary to keep reading.

Lance said, "I should get back. I enjoyed the book, I can't wait to finish it next time I'm here."

Keith blushed at the mention of a 'next time.' Keith said, "When will I see you again?"

Lance jumped off the windowsill and held the book out for Keith to take back. Keith stood and held the book, but Lance did not let go yet. He said, "Meet me in the rocky grove tomorrow when the sun is at its highest."

Keith and Lance were closer than they ever had been before, so when he searched Lance's eyes he noticed that they were blue and gold, and he couldn't find anything menacing hidden beneath the vibrant colors swirling in his iris.

"Okay," Keith said, "I'll be there." Lance released his grip on the book and took a glance back at the window. Lance walked to the windowsill and fingered the leaf of the white flower which stretched up toward Lance and bloomed.

He said, "You like morning glories?"

"Is that what they're called?"

"Yeah. Beautiful, right?"

Keith nodded. "They're my favorite flower. And the only one I could keep alive," he said.

Lance grinned, then he said, "Don't be late," and left Keith without shutting the front door. Keith watched Lance disappear into the darkness, and then shut the door when he could no longer see him. That night he dreamt of Lance again.

In excitement, Keith woke at dawn the next morning, shifting awake the moment the first sunbeam entered his hut. He rose, opened the door, and discovered a bush of morning glories in front of his hut. He stuck his head out and looked in both directions and saw morning glories wrapping around the edge of his home. He darted to his one window and looked down at the grass- this side of the house was also covered with morning glories.

Morning glories surrounded his house, and Keith realized Lance must have put them there. His heartbeat sped up, and the corners of his mouth stretched into the biggest smile he ever had in his life. He went towards the door, ready to run to the opening in the forest and Lance, but his feet froze at the edge of the doorframe.

Morning glories blocked his only exit, and Keith couldn't bring himself to walk through them, know what destruction he would bring. He knew that Lance would be waiting for him in a few hours, but he Keith was caged to his house.

The sun continued to rise but Keith stayed in his home. A few moments before sunset, Keith saw Lance in the distance making his way to the hut. Keith felt began to fiddle with his fingers and his shoulders hunched over. Lance reached the doorway. He stood in the morning glories, and the flowers were curling around his legs rapidly. His arms were crossed and eyes narrow.

Lance said, "You didn't show."

"I'm sorry," Keith said, "I couldn't get past the flowers."

Lance's eyebrow raised with annoyance as he said, "You can walk through flowers."

"I'd kill them."

Lance saw the panicked look in Keith's eyes, then his shoulders relaxed and his expression became more caring.

He said, "That's okay. I'll bring it back to life."

Lance held out his hand, encouraging Keith to come with him.

Keith said, "I can't, I'll kill you."

Lance smirked and said, "I highly doubt you can kill me. Trust me, take my hand."

Keith held out his hand, let it hover over lance's fingers, and then gently pressed his fingertips against the palm of Lance's hand. Their skin buzzed, but neither were in pain. Lance properly grabbed Keith's hand and pulled him outside of the house. The morning glories Keith touched died, but Lance knelt down and brought them back to life.

Lance took a few steps back into the small meadow and said, "Dance with me."

"I don't know how."

"I'll teach you. All you have to do is take my hand."

Keith reached out for Lance, and he spun Keith around. "Thank you for the flowers. I love them," Keith said, "they're beautiful."

Lance took Keith's hands in his own and said, "follow me."

They danced together, barefoot and under the moonlight. Lance took the lead and showed Keith some simple twirls and footwork. Patches of black and green followed the two around as they meandered around the meadow, like yin and yang. When the Moon was at its highest, Keith held Lance's face in his hands and gently pressed their lips together. Lance responded by kissed him back and threw his arms around Keith's neck. They separated, and pressed their foreheads together. For the rest of the night, they gently swayed in the meadow, trading gentle kisses and watching the moon and the stars.