Intrepid by J.D. Brewer

this new experience of pain. “See. You’re okay,” Iago whispered over and over again. “You’re okay.” And suddenly, I felt okay.  
    My chest heaved up and down like my heart was going to tear out of my chest with velociraptor claws. I examined the marbled cracks in his eyes, and the way they spread out every shade of green.  
    “Thank you,” I whispered.  
    He smiled, but then we heard the door hinges move.  
    “Um… Iago…” Crystal said from the open door. She looked at us with stories forming on her tongue as Iago dropped his hands away from my face. “You’re Homecoming King,” Crystal said what she came in there for. “They’re waiting on you to start the dance.”  
    “Tell them I’m not here,” Iago said, but there were already faces peeking into the restroom.  
    I couldn’t move or breathe for a different reason. It wasn’t what it looked like—Iago and me standing in the bathroom with my face in his hands—but even I knew that rumors were things with wings.  

Liam

    A twofold tale I shall tell:
    At one time it grew to be one
    In solitude
    Out of many:  
    Another grew apart to be many
    Out of the singular.  
    Double is the birth of all things mortal,
    And double their destruction,
    For one is brought to birth and destroyed by the coming together of all things,
    The other is nurtured and deconstructs to drift apart again.  
    This continual exchange refuses to cease.  
    But it is Love all coming together into one,  
    Only to be deconstructed into the hatred of Strife.  
    The two exist always in this changeless cycle.  
    Love being the coagulator,  
    Strife being the deconstruct-or.  
    And in this, we know that one cannot exist without the other.

    -Empedocles  
    -S-1200, V-49098-L9098645678, Prod.

Chapter Twelve

    I pulled the line in, and the wire re-spooled around the reel. The hour Nobu was supposed to be gone came and went, which meant he was visiting a certain someone. I wished he had hurried on his supply run because we could have spent a couple more hours tracking Arti, but now the bottom of the sun kissed the waves and Arti would have to wait.  
    Instead of being upset by this, I decided to revel in the peace and quiet because, even though it was only Nobu and me on this boat, it was nice to know I was completely alone in this space and time.   The only fish biting were the green-gills, with their rainbowed fins and squishy eyes. They weren’t my favorite, but they were tasty when fried.  
    I cast the line back out, and waited for another bite. After ten more minutes of this, the sun was all but gone from the sky. The green-gills never bit in the dark, so I reeled it back in one last time.  
    “Catch anything?” Nobu’s voice drifted from the deck above, and although it startled me, I didn’t let on how much. He was a sneaky bastard, and he loved giving me crap anytime I wasn’t as aware of my surroundings as I should have been. He was all about keeping me on my toes.  
    “Enough for my dinner, but you, my friend, are shit out of luck.”  
    “Then no ice cream for you!” he yelled and held up a bag.  
    “You didn’t!”
    “Mint chocolate chip and raspberry crème.”  
    I laughed. “Fine. Fine. I’ll share my fish. Meet you in the galley,” I called up to him, but he’d already headed that way.
    I latched the hook on the third ring of the rod and dropped the pole off in the gear cupboard. Then I grabbed the three fish I did catch and headed to the galley. Nobu was already in the kitchen putting the groceries away and humming a tune that only meant one thing.  
    “Supplies, huh? How was Biiii-ly ?” I stretched out the name and falsetto-ed my voice to really dig in and felt a sense of victory when he blushed. His “supply runs” kept lasting longer and longer lately. Last week, he was gone an entire day.
    “Mock all you wish, but one day, you’ll understand.”  
    I shook my head no and pulled out the fillet knife and a cutting board