Laughter Lines

When Everything is Beautiful

The sun was out in full force and barely a breeze to stir the air this far inland. Shoes clung to blacktop for a fraction of a second too long, releasing with a sticky smack and the wafting stench of tar. Kay encountered the oil and grease aura of the shop further from the building than usual today.

Why would Arthur ever pick a salt breeze over this? It was this smell that truly embodied calm. Soothing. Home.

She glided past Ben and Pat on the tips of her toes. They were too busy digging at the underbelly of a Toyota Corolla to acknowledge her wave. She tapped the desk bell to shave-and-a-hair-cut as she glided past it toward the back.

"Sure, why not. Just make yerself at home why don'tcha," called Lance. "No need ta say hi to anyone else'r anythin'."

Veering off course, Kay rounded the desk to intercept him with a warm shoulder squeeze.

"Good t'see ya." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he wiped his hands on a rag. "Artie was moonin' all over the last few days. One more day and he'd'a stormed the labs. Membrane kid still got ya hopping?"

Dropping her tote bag, Kay shrugged, sheepish. Things had calmed down a lot, thanks to Dib's intervention, but there was still tons of work to do. The existence of sirens had been deemed "need-to-know" information which the public did not, in fact, need to know. According to Dib's genetic simulations, as there was only one full-blooded siren in the world, obvious siren traits would weaken and vanish within a few generations. However, Dib was still required present a report to the inquiring branch of government that had allowed him access to their case in the first place. It disclosed all that was known about siren physiology and included a proposal for Kay and Teles Pepper to work with the Membrane Institute to rehabilitate previously untreatable mental cases that were currently consigned to asylums and group homes. There had been some rumblings about using the siren voice for national defense, citing the success of Dib's first few studies and the mysterious deaths surrounding Aji's jailbreak. Teles had flatly refused, adding that they could not force a siren's cooperation with an undesired project, as anyone who tried would likely be dead or under sway in seconds.

Dib backed their position as much as he could, calling in favors and promising loads more research and the development of other non-lethal uses for their voices-all of which, he noted often and loudly, would be much easier to brainstorm and develop with the cooperation of the sirens.

"More R&D in the local psych ward," Kay admitted. "I think we're wrapping that project up, though. Mom wanted to make sure she took care of the people she affected when she was chasing you before we move on, but we've almost worked our way through everyone there."

"All balanced out?"

"Yeah. Most of them are getting released back to their families. There's still a few that need more sessions, though. After this we'll get a few weeks' break while the higher-ups wrangle about which cases to send us."

"Well, hope that break's soon."

Kay considered the pay for her work to be quite generous, but it often meant packing a three-day bag and bunking with her Mom in Dib's lab. Arthur always made a sad face when she left. It was just too long to be away.

"Me Too. Where's Arthur?" she asked.

The words hardly left her lips before a pair of arms-one flesh, one metal-circled her waist from behind. His face pressed into the crook of her neck, just below the edge of her knotted silk square, inhaling deep as if memorizing her scent all over again. She twisted around in his arms, wrapping herself around him. Her feet left the ground as he hefted her, spinning.