They always come that first time wearing what brought them like glowing signs, bright and easy to read in their faces, the way they hold themselves: anger, fear, loneliness, pain, the weight of expectations, the weight of questions.

Byron takes their hand and shows them into the dance, he takes their problems and shows them how to spread it among the dead and the dancers, to let it be lifted from their shoulders by a dozen voices and hands, until it doesn't feel so heavy and nobody has to be alone.

They come weighted and leave smiling, and Byron can forget his own loneliness for a moment when they do.