Perspective

"Your mouth tastes like mints."

Max smiled at Fang. "Really?"

No. Not at all.

Nodding his head, he leaned in closer to her again. "Let me have another taste."

Max turned her head slightly though, not allowing him to. "Let's talk."

Ugh.

"Let's not."

"Fang-"

"Hold on," he sighed, shifting so he was sitting slightly away from Max, a safe distance for when he no doubt said something she disagreed with. "Go ahead. What's up? More Europe stuff? Asia? Or island crap?"

"It's about Ig-"

"Max, they broke up. It's okay. He'll heal."

"Oh, no, he has healed. He's over Ella."

"Really?" Fang was picking his nails then, hardly looking at his girlfriend. Ella and Iggy had broken up three weeks ago. And yeah, Fang felt bad for Iggy, they were boys. But still. He felt like Max was taking it harder than anyone. She kept whining about how they'd lost their couple friends. When Fang asked what that was, he was quickly told to be quiet, that he knew exactly what she was talking about. He was pretty sure he didn't though…

"Oh yeah," Max said, nodding her head. "He has a new…girlfriend."

"No shit?"

He got hit for that. He knew he hadn't moved far enough away…

"No cursing," Max reprimanded. "And stop messing with your nails. We're having a conversation, Fang."

God, when did Max turn into such a girl? Looking up at her then, he said, "I haven't seen Iggy in two days tops. And in that time you're telling me that he not only got over the girl he's been with for a year now, but also got a new girlfriend?"

"Yes," Max said, looking off the cliff they were on. It was so secluded up there that she didn't mind being a little blunt. "But there's a problem."

"With?"

"Iggy's girlfriend."

"What's the issue?"

"She's a…" Max looked around, not even certain they were alone in their secret spot. Then, moving closer to Fang, she whispered, "Dyke."

Fang turned to full on look at her. "Iggy's with a lesbian?"

"What?"

"You just said-"

"Dyke, Fang."

"…What do you think that means?"

"A really ugly girl."

"Babe, that's, like, an offensive term for lesbians."

"What?"

"Yes!"

"Since when?"

"Since forever."

"Oh, God." Max looked stricken. "How did I not know that?"

"I have no idea," he said, staring at her. Seriously? "So, he's not with a lesbian?"

"Oh, no, of course not. I'd have told him."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They both settled down once again. Then Max looked at her boyfriend again.

"He is with an ugly girl though."

"Max-"

"She's is. And fat."

"Fat?"

"Fat."

"Do I know her?"

"No."

"Then-"

"Someone has to tell him," Max said.

"Why?"

"Fang, he can't freaking see. He has no idea that he's with a dyke."

"Stop calling her a dyke! That is not what it means."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting."

Groaning, Fang moved to lay on the ground, staring at the sky. "I have to see this chick to see if she's worth telling him about."

"She's seriously hideous, Fang. And he's going to expect her to hangout with us now. And you know what that will do to Ella? Do you?"

"No."

"This girl is Iggy's rebound. Ella will compare herself to her and think that because Iggy's into this girl, who's ugly, that she's ugly too."

"Why are you being so mean?"

"You have to see her."

"It's his choice, Max, who he dates."

"Just tell him. I can't bare not telling him. And if he knows and still wants to be with her, fine. Then I'll get to know her or whatever."

Fang turned his head slightly, staring at his girlfriend. "Wanna make out some more?"

He got a look for that. "What do you think?"

"I think I should get another taste. See if that mint thing was just a fluke."

"You think it was?"

"I think it was."

"Then I guess I'll have to prove it to you."

"Guess so."

Moving to lean over him, Max hovered above Fang's face, smiling down at him. "After you go talk to Iggy."

"Max," he whined.

"No buts. Iggy can do a lot better."

"Maybe the girl has a stunning personality."

"Fang."

"Is that it then, Max? My body you like? Not my personality?"

"Exactly. Now go."

"I'm going," he grumbled, pushing up then. "And for the record, babe, I like both on you. Most of the time."

"And I like your body more than your personality. All the time."

"I am pretty hot."

"Go!"

Grumbling, Fang unfurled his wings before looking over the side of the cliff. "You owe me a blow for this."

"No matter how many times you say that, Fang, you're still not getting one."

"I don't say it a lot."

"Every single time I ask you to do something you say you'll do it for a blow."

"I'll still do it in the end. Even if you aren't a very good girlfriend."

"Fang-"

"I'm going," he sighed, glancing back at her. "I won't be long. 'kay?"

"Okay."

"So stay here. Stay minty."

"G-"

"I'm going," he said as he took a running leap to the side of the cliff. "God."

It wasn't incredibly hard to find Iggy. He was where he typically was. Everyone on the island found their own special place to go to think. Iggy went to his a lot. It was a little run off from the ocean, forming a pond of sorts. The blind teen liked to sit there alone to think. Fang usually left him alone, but with making out on the line, he had no choice but to seek him out.

…Other than, like, not making out with Max. But that was just unacceptable.

"Hiya."

Fang blinked as he came into the little clearing, slightly shocked to find Iggy wasn't alone. There was a girl there with him. Just from looking at her, Fang immediately knew she was who Max had been talking about.

She wasn't hideous like Max said. Then again, Max had recently taken to over exaggerating when it came to mundane things. She mostly did this these days because she knew it was the only way Fang would pay attention. If she had just told Fang Iggy was with a fat chick, he'd have just shrugged and went on with his life. Still, he did kind of feel the need to tell his buddy. Kind of.

"Uh, hi," Fang said, nodding at the girl. She was short and plump. That was a good word for it. Plump. Not a dyke. Because that was offensive. And also the wrong terminology. She just wasn't…pretty. At all. She had really light brown hair, acne, and all together was just gawky looking.

"Oh, Fang, is that you?" Iggy turned then, to his friend's general direction. He and his…girlfriend were sitting close to the pond, apparently having been speaking beforehand. "Hey, this is Nora. Nora, Fang."

"Hi," she said, smiling at him. Fang just stared at her for a second. Most kids on the island had the same basic genetic makeup as far as their metabolism went. Some though were different. She was clearly different. Fang wondered for a moment if she was even able to fly. Did her weight hold her down?

…He was as bad as Max. They deserved one another.

"Hello," he said, coming off as more formal than he would have liked. It was his nerves, really. Not that Fang would ever let anyone know that he was nervous. Oh no. That would be a direct violation to his anti emotion campaign. He was pretty good at it these days.

"I, uh, need to talk to you, Ig," Fang said then. "Sorry, uh, Nora. It's important Flock business. So, I'll be seeing you around, huh?"

"Of course," she said, standing up then. She smiled at him again and Fang had to give it to her, she did have a good smile. And a nice name. Nora. "It was nice meeting you, Fang."

She spoke with a slight accent, but Fang was unable to place it. He just nodded at her as she walked by before moving to take her spot in the dirt next to his friend. His brother. His blind brother. It was his duty to tell him this. Because they were boys. They were cool. Tight. Out of sight.

…Fang really wanted that blow…

"So…what was up, Fang?" Iggy asked after the two teen boys had sat there in silence for a good two minutes. "Because Nora and I-"

"Nora's ugly."

"Excuse me?"

Fang swallowed, figuring being as frank as possible was the best way to go. "She's a dog. A hog. A beast. A-"

"Would you shut up?"

If there was any command Fang could follow it was that one. Blinking, he looked straight ahead. Iggy wanted quiet? Fang could give him quiet. Fang could starve off quiet like it was nobody's business. Seriously.

"She's not ugly. At all. You hear me?" Iggy hit him in the arm. "I said did you hear me?"

Frowning, Fang rubbed his arm while staring at his blind friend. "God, Iggy."

"She's not ugly."

"She kind of is, bro."

"Stop saying that."

"It's not my fault. I just wanted to tell you," Fang said lamely. "You know, since you can't see her and stuff."

"And? So?"

"Max just thought-"

"Right. Max."

Fang scowled at him. "Why you gotta say her name that way?"

"You know why."

"N-"

"Max is just all put out because I'm not with her sister anymore."

"Well, it was a lot simpler, you know, when the two of you were together," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "For all of us. And Max is kind of upset about the whole breakup thing."

"See? Told you."

"But, Ig, that doesn't change the fact that she's ugly. I mean, not ugly necessarily, but certainly not pretty. Nothing close to Ella." Really, to Fang, Ella wasn't even that good looking. She was real whiny too. Total drama queen. Fang would take the oldest sister over the younger any day. "We just don't want you to get duped or-"

"We?"

"Well, Max and I."

"Since you and Max got together, it's like you can't think for yourself."

"…Max has been thinking for the both of us since we were, like, three, so maybe you could lighten up some, huh?"

"I like Nora, Fang."

"I know. I can tell."

"Then why do you want-"

"I just thought you should know is all."

"I can't see, Fang."

"I'm aware."

"I can't see at all. But I can feel. I can hear. I can taste. I can smell. And you know what? I don't think Max stacks up so well in the rest of those categories."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Iggy said, shaking his head slightly.

"You better watch who you're talking about."

"Yeah? So should you," Iggy said then. "Because guess what, Fang? I can hear better than you. And Max's voice? Horrible. The sound of her laughter makes me cringe."

"Take that back."

"It's true! When Max finds something really, really funny, which is rare I'll admit, she let's out this creepy, shrill giggle that makes me want to claw my own eyes out only after strangling her."

"Her voice-"

"And she never uses lotion or anything. Most girls around here do. They'd freaking trade their rations for hair supplies or body wash, lotion that people get off the island. Not Max. Never Max."

"Max's is perfect."

"To you, Fang. You don't notice those things, but I do. I can't stand most things about Max. I can't tolerate her a lot of the times. Do I care about her? Yes. But I don't love her." He shook his head slightly. "You do though. Do you get it? You don't notice the things I do because you're not me. Your main sense is apparently sight. And I can only assume that Max is very hot."

"She is," Fang said stiffly, clearly angry with his friend now. "And beautiful."

"Okay, and that's all well and good for you. Me though, I have different needs."

"Different needs."

"Right. You need something to look at. I don't. I like Nora's voice. I didn't like Ella's. Not at the end. She yelled at me. A lot. Not yelling like that bossy thing Max has going on, but literal yelling. Do you know how scary it is to be yelled at when you can't see the person yelling at you? When you don't know what they're doing? Imagine being yelled at in the dark, Fang. It's horrible."

"Sounds that way," Fang muttered.

"Nora's funny. We both think the same things are funny. We can talk about things. Ella and I couldn't talk anymore. We had different points of view on everything. Like take you and Max. You guys thrive on fighting. It, like, makes the two of you hot for each other or whatever."

"Not hot, I wouldn't say, no," Fang mumbled.

"Me though? I don't like arguing. I don't like disagreeing."

"That makes sense, I guess."

"And so yeah, maybe she's big. I don't know that. It doesn't matter to me. It doesn't mean anything to me. For all I know, Fang, you're fat too. It wouldn't matter though. You know why?"

"Because I'm not?"

"No," Iggy corrected slowly. "Because I can't see you, Fang. I know you though. I know the things that you like, the things you don't like. I get to really know you, because I can't see you to judge you. I know that you liked chess when we were kids because when Jeb tried to teach us all to play, you were the only one who understood so it became the you twos special game. I know that you love Max more than anything. I know that you're still torn up about letting Maya die. And I know that you hate mustard."

"It's disgusting," he whispered in agreement.

"But I don't know what your face looks like, not anymore. I don't remember the color of your eyes. I don't know how tall you are or if your skin is pale or tan."

"I-"

"And honestly, Fang, I don't care," Iggy told him. "Get it? I live in my world. It's based on different things. Things that let me really get to know the person. You live in your world. And maybe your world is good enough for you, but to me it sucks. It literally sucks."

Fang just let out a long sigh. "Well, can you just tell Max that we had this talk? So she'll believe me?"

"Sure thing."

Jumping up then, the dark haired teen turned to walk off, but stopped halfway and turned back to look at his blind best friend.

"And for the record, Max's laugh is the best sound in the world. And she does not stink. She smells…real. Not all fake like these other chicks around here. You hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you."

"And if you ever say anything like that again, I'll kill you."

"If you call Nora fat again, I'll kill you."

Fang severely doubted that, but still nodded. "Deal."

"So?"

"…So?"

Max huffed as Fang sat back down on the ground next to her. "Did you take care of it?"

"Turns out there was nothing to take care of."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. There was nothing to take care of."

"Fang-"

"Max, he doesn't care if she's fat or ugly or whatever." He smiled at her. "Those things don't matter to him."

"Bull."

He just shrugged. "It's what he said."

"That's such a lie. Of course he cares."

"Maybe he's just a better person than you."

He got a light tap to the arm for that one. "Watch it."

"What is up with people and hitting me?" Fang shifted slightly, staring into her eyes now. "Besides, Iggy said that what she looks like doesn't matter to him because he can't see what she looks like. Get it?"

"No."

"If you aren't affected by it, why should it bother you?" Fang simplified. "If I stank, but you couldn't smell it, would you care?"

"That's different."

"Not to Iggy. He really seems to like this girl. And I know it sucks, losing our…couple friends, but Ella and Iggy are still both our friends. Just our separate friends. Separated, I should say."

Max moved closer to him then, leaning into his arm. "I just think it would suck, you know?"

"What?"

"Breaking up with someone on this island. You can't get away from them."

"Good thing that will never happen to us."

"It won't?"

"'course not. We're in this forever, babe."

"In sickness and in health? Till death do us part?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with no. That whole death thing sounds pretty final."

"It is final."

"I'll have to think about that one."

"Fang-"

"I love you, Max." He wrapped an arm around her. "More than I love myself even. Way more. You're my world. My life. My everything."

That made Max giggle, that shrill giggle that Iggy apparently hated. Fang just kissed Max's head though, loving every second of it. That giggle made his heart swell in a way, knowing that he was the one making her so giddy. Who cared what Iggy thought?

…And who cared what Max and Fang thought? Not Iggy. Not Nora. Maybe that's the whole point in this life. Finding that one person that really cares about what you think. And even though Fang had already found that person, had always had that person, he had to be willing accept that it might take his blind friend a little bit longer. Because he and Iggy were two different people and their tastes would never be the same. It was all about perspective, after all.

"Hey, did you want that taste now?" Max was looking up at him then, smiling. "See if you can still taste mints?"

Fang just smiled back at her. So what if Max did kind of stink a little? Fang knew for a fact that he stank a lot. It was part of life. And for Iggy apparently, so was fat. And ugly. Or whatever.

"Baby, I'll always taste mints," he mumbled, leaning down then to capture her lips.

"Maybe you have an illness then. Like how people taste pennies in their mouths might have some kind of infection."

"You infected me? Is this your way of telling me you have an STD?"

"I don't know. Will that keep you from asking for blows all the time?"

"Not at all."

"Then I guess I don't have one."

Pushing her down now so she was on the ground of their little clearing, he said, "Then I guess I can still love you."

"I guess you can."