THE COLOR ARIA

“My pops used to tell me this old story about love. He told me two people who genuinely love each other can see the world in color—like the old days. He told me my mom’s skin was the color as chocolate, which is like a brown, like—like a really dark...something.” Koh said. “...and her eyes! He said here were violet or purple—like a Morning Glory. The flower with these pretty, erm, light-ish, but deep kind of petals. I’m not sure if he was kidding or not but the story always made me hopeful!” 

“About the flower?” Jett teased. 

Kohl walked ahead of Jett and cleared a path in the debris. Jett followed close behind with a finger hooked through Koh’s belt loop. Koh threw a playful look over his shoulder. 

“No! About love! I want to be in love so badly so I can see the world and all its colors—like what color is that over there?” 

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Jett smiled. 

“About you? Always.” 

Jett ducked under a low hanging spider web. He ran his free hand through his thick hair as he passed under the vast, silk spun net. 

“Where are we?” he asked. 

“You’ll see!” Koh trudged ahead and cleaved a path of brightness through the sea of encroaching shadows. “This place used to be a center for the arts, but nobody saw much of a need for art after The Fade. People saw shows, but it wasn’t the same. So, the place shut down.” 

Koh and Jett crept down the corridor toward a jagged crevice in its dilapidated walls. A glimmer of light leaked into the dark hall and Jett made out the abstract patterns of bulbous letters painted on either side of the man-made entrance. 

Koh tugged Jett’s hand free from his belt loop and clasped it tightly in his own as they moved toward the center of a vast stage. Save for one token of radiance, the space was completely dark. The ghost light at center stage pierced the looming shadows and, beneath a swaying chandelier, Koh squeezed Jett’s hand. He pulled Jett into his arms and brushed a few coils out of his face before he spoke again. 

“Close your eyes.” Koh commanded. 

Jett arranged his features into a playful pout. He raised a thick eyebrow at Koh who smiled down at him with an endearing gleam in his shadowed gaze. Jett gave a dramatic roll of his own eyes before he squeezed his lids shut. 

“Don’t peak!” 

Koh’s voice echoed around the stage as he receded into the looming shade. Jett shifted from foot to foot as the distant sounds of his boyfriend’s gleeful work reached his ears. The singular light of the nearby bulb warmed his eyelids, and a shiver ran down his spine as the house curtain whizzed past him. The hot and stale breeze wrinkled his nose as Koh’s steps grew louder and Jett relaxed as Koh’s robust arms curled around his waist. 

Koh planted a kiss on Jett’s forehead and Jett filled his hands with the slippery fabric on Koh’s back. 

“My pops also told me about the first time he and moms kissed. He said it was like the world around him exploded. Everything around him just sprang to life—colored itself in...like flipping a light switch!” 

Koh pulled back and, with a shaking finger, tilted Jett’s chin until his bright eyes filled with his own reflection. 

“Everything in my life—like most—is gray. My apartment. My, my bed clothes. Everything I’ve ever seen is gray and then I met you and I thought—I knew things would be different. This is not the most eventful place to live, but I met you here and my entire life is worth living because you love me.” 

Jett’s radiant eyes welled with sparkling tears and Koh dashed his thumb through their running streaks. He lifted his thumb to his mouth and tasted Jett’s warm tears. He smiled. 

“I want to explore this world with you, Jett.” Koh breathed. “And I want to do it with all the colors we learned about in elementary school. I want to know what green looks like! Or if my eyes are violet! I want to know if your dog’s hair is actually golden or pink or orange or whatever those words mean! Most importantly, I want to see you...in every shade you give me—even the hues you don’t want me to see.” 

Jett gasped as Koh bent low and kissed him. He closed his eyes and surrendered to the fervent warmth in Koh’s lips—his tight grasp on the small his back. Jett pressed his body against Koh’s hulking form and felt the world tilt backward as Koh dipped him low to the ground without breaking their kiss. 

Koh pulled him up and Jett opened his eyes. He looked at Koh whose eyes were fastened shut—and dot of a rich, sultry pigment blossomed on the tip of his round nose. It spread rapidly across his cheeks and down the collar of his vibrant shirt. The glistening patch of hair at his chin melted into a fiery shade with streaks of brightness. Koh’s faded pants held alight pattern of ducks from waist to ankle; and his polished dress shoes saturated with a woodsy ochre close to that of his boyfriend’s skin. 

“Open your eyes, Koh! You must see what we did! It’s...breathtaking!” 

Jett pulled on Koh’s sleeve as he cast his glittering gaze into the spacious void. Waves of vibrant hues unspooled from their embrace. The decadent tones washed over the sea of seats in the distance. They crawled up the towering walls and ensconced the looming banisters—and mezzanines beyond—in blazing metallics. The walls, etched with drawn figures, now swam with pale complected angel whose scantily clad bodies were sheathed in calming, earth toned ribbons of silk. Their giant wings framed the fathomless and void with iridescent opulence and Jett’s laugh reverberated through the auditorium. 

He pressed Koh’s open palm to his lips and beheld the contrast between their skin. Jett’s skin was noticeably brighter than Koh’s, but he found the difference more similar than opposite. The dark ink between his Koh’s quaking knuckles looked poisonous in its muted and winding patterns and Jett traced them with his fingernail. He placed a hand on either side of Koh’s face and spoke softly to him. 

“Look at me!” Jett demanded. 

Koh’s eyelids fluttered open. His delicate eyelashes dusted his cheeks as they hung low over his coruscated irises. 

“What do you see?” Jett asked. 

Koh’ clutched at Jett’s waist with trembling fists full of his rough shirt. He looked down into Jett’s gleaming eyes and mumbled in a solemn voice. 

“It’s gray.”