Behro / Atau

Behro placed his mouth on the desk, shaping the lips into a silly sneer he hoped would make Atau smileside. He deignited the light and headed back to his quarters when an idea floated up and returned him. He sent a directive to his mouth to do a chattering teeth gag in case of physical touch application. That might go as far as making Atau chortle wag.

There were few ways left to surprise it seemed. Homesafe, Behro smeared the remains of his face into a hodgepodge lump before loosing it into the spander. His eyestalks quivered, itching to unform. He occasionally missed living basal, but the constrictions were too frustrating. And boring. This was not only better, it was fun and fair. Atau was a sympath so she was top-level understander and caught his core functions true. He was as yet assigned another similar, but surely that could be changed. Everything else was possible, so why not that?

*

Other mornings were preferable—at this rate, eternity was going to take forever. Atau made her way to her station and dismissed Behro’s mouth without a glance. It was amusing the first time and the chattering teeth had made her laugh, the first time. She brought up service and skipped through all the unnecessary prompts, having committed ideal reactions to functional instinct. She paused at one of the few recents she couldn’t clear and frowned. Moving forward would be problematic with the blot on her subcon. She looked over at the crooked mouth on her desk and sighed.

So odd that her lines converged with Behro. Most were unlike, but he was far to the un without the awareness. Once he accepted his similar, the two of them would be excellent together and go far in society. And yet she couldn’t manage to get him to believe it. Her cos were starting to think she was egoblasting even though she had no more headspan than the rest of them. At least they weren’t assuming incompetence. It was her only anomaly for decade years and her primary at this point, so she’d have to keep at it. Not a lot of options considering there was only one line that fed correct. 

*

Behro unpaused—today was the right kind of day. He tried to smile, but clicked mouthless instead. Good, Atau would be stationary and predisposed to his mood. He put on his face and selected a more sensual mouth with pre-moistened lips excited to quote kisses. His eyes stretched and formed blue, likewise moodgood. There was the small matter of his assigned similar, but she could wait. Forever wait if need be. She would understand and feelfollow his lead. He wouldn’t expect to coerce or force charisma, only that she would be likewise inclined. If so for him, must be for her. As same with Atau, so the fun and celebration were in part the novelty. So rare outside of living basal, oddly enough. With everything so much better correct and all options possibled, somehow the element of clumsy surprise had gotten dismissed. Behro still remembered a few happy accidents and was excited to update and copy/paste. This felt so exactly right, so well-worn path and comfortable shoes, almost like living basal true pure heartbeats in sync. If it felt so, it was so.

Behro lovesmiled at Atau and she echoed professional, but with sidenerves. The quirk of this made Behro even more certain: today is/was the day.

*

The timing was telling. Behro unannounced and lacking sched flashed a smile obscene with promise. Atau demurred, shifting stacks for show. Inside she identified a small pearl of doubt surrounding a grain of fear. Her cos were sure to rebroadcast. She would join his similar in ruin. Behro would be stripped and cored. Doubt would virusbloom.

Unless.

Atau smileside, tilting head affect touching Behro’s hand. Soft and slight, like the secret memory their mistake would become. She could give so he could forget. Atau felt cold and heavy. A sacred hate burned in her belly. Better to fold Behro like the treadwelts. Better to rip that lurid mouth off his facile face. But neither were easier. Neither so quiet. A sacrifice she could live with until the next time.

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About Jerry White Jr. 

Jerry is a filmmaker, musician, writer. He began making films as a teenager through home movies and public access television in Metro Detroit, later studied at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and has continued to move across film, writing, music, and collaborative creative communities.

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About TANGENTS

TANGENTS is a new recurring literary section for flash fiction, short prose, and fragments that move outside fixed categories, published by STRATUM. It is a dedicated space for compressed narratives, strange turns, and writing that sits ambiguously between fiction, memory, humor, unease, and dream logic.

Edited By Yuyang Hu