"You're a Mutant?" He asked, his voice level.
Aislynn nodded. He wasn't running for the phone yet, trying to keep her here until the authorities could take her away. That was good, though surprising.
"You're not going to call the police and tell them you found a Mutant?" She asked, disbelieving.
"No, why would I?" He said, his voice shocked.
"Because everyone else would immediately turn one of us in." Said Aislynn.
"I'm not one of those people." He said.
"I've taken in several Mutants, kept them safe until they left on their own." He said.
"I would never put one of you in danger."
Aislynn stared at him for a little while longer, not believing what she had just heard. A person who didn't want to turn in Mutants for the reward they gave you?
People got payed in this effed-up world to bring in Mutants. Most people acted like they cared and then backstabbed them for the reward.
"You aren't going to betray me, are you?" She asked him.
"Is it that hard for you to trust me?" He asked, coming over to her.
Aislynn nodded.
He sighed.
"What's your name?" He asked her.
"Aislynn." She answered.
"Yours?"
"Cole."
"You have a very beautiful name." He said.
Aislynn blushed.
"Thank you." She said softly.
She had never had anyone compliment her, and felt good, that one tiny spark of joy.
Cole moved around behind her and and opened the cabinet, bringing out bandages, salve and a soft washcloth.
He ran the cloth under some cool water and turned to Aislynn.
"Do you mind?"
Aislynn shook her head, setting the harness down on the floor. She sucked in a sharp breath as Cole began to gently clean the cuts made from the harness. By the time he was done her back and shoulders were on fire, but the cuts felt so much better. He put salve on the open wounds and covered them with the bandages.
"There." He said, stepping back and surveying his work.
"Hold on." He said, putting the salve and the bandages on the counter.
He came back a moment later with a shirt that had two holes cut in the back. He helped her get it on, helping her slip her wings through the holes in the fabric.
Aislynn then slipped on a clean pair of pants and quickly washed her hair, putting it up in a ponytail when it was dry.
"Does that feel better?" Asked Cole when she was done.
Aislynn stretched out her wings as far as they would go, filling the living room.
"Yeah." She said, her voice still soft.
She folded her wings right to her body and looked at Cole. It had been a long, long time since someone had been kind to her, and the fact that Cole had given her a home and had helped her cuts to heal was something Aislynn had a hard time comprehending.
Why would someone help a monster like her? Someone who was very different from themselves?
"Thank you for everything." She said.
"I haven't even given you dinner yet." Said Cole, his eyes sparkling.
"Has it really been that long since you've been shown this much kindness?" He asked, walking to the kitchen as the oven timer went off.
Aislynn followed him.
"Yeah," she answered.
"It has. My family abandoned me when I was 16." She said.
"I've been living on the streets for seven years now. I've had to keep my wings a secret." She said.
"I got the harness for my 13th birthday."
"That's cruel." Said Cole as he took the pizza out of the oven and set it on the stovetop.
"The things people do to things they don't understand." He said.
"Mutants are human beings born with powers we can't understand. That doesn't mean we should persecute them like we're doing now. It's wrong. I can't imagine what living as a Mutant must be like."
He looked up at her, gazing into her mismatched eyes.
"Having fear as your best friend." She said, looking into his eyes.
"Knowing that at any moment you could be captured. Knowing that if you use your powers to defend yourself you will get branded as a monster." Aislynn's voice was bitter.
"When you have to hide from the world because not only are they afraid of what you are, but you yourself are afraid of what you are, what you may become."
Aislynn looked at where Cole had the shades drawn across all the windows.
"When you have to do this to conceal our presence, because you know that you will get in trouble for harboring a Mutant, and I'll get put in a camp."
A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another.
"I'm sick of it."
Those words carried all the pain and guilt that she had felt over the past seven years of living in the streets, all the hate and anger, all the fear and hunger.
Aislynn then felt Cole come over to her and him wipe her tears away, something no one had ever down to her.
"You don't have to worry about any of that while you're here with me." He said.
Aislynn smiled.
"Thank you." She said again.
"Want some pizza?"
"Yes, I'm starving." Said Aislynn, as her stomach rumbling, all of her earlier thoughts buried beneath her want for warm food.
Cole laughed.
"How long has been since you've even had pizza?" He asked.
Aislynn thought for a moment.
"Six years." She said.
"Now that's just sad." He said, looking up at her.
"No human being should have to go six years without hot, delicious food." Cole said, handing her a plate.
"Thank you."
Aislynn then went and pulled out a chair, Cole sitting down across from her. She savored every bite, and ate almost the whole pizza before she was full. After both of them had eaten they talked until Aislynn got tired and went to bed.
Cole showed her to an empty room where the bed was made neatly, the pillows and blankets undisturbed.
He bade her goodnight, and Aislynn snuggled up under the covers, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.