"Luke can't tell me what to do, he's not the boss of me." Gio fumed as he hopped from one rooftop to the next. "So what if I helped a human, it's not like she'll ever find—" he stopped and almost slammed into the next building as he noticed a very familiar face walking around the area. "August?"
Sure enough, the young girl was seen wandering around with a plastic bin in her hands. Curiosity getting the better of him, he made sure no one else was around before he approached her.
"I wonder if he's here..." she said aloud, to no one in particular.
"Who's here?" Gio asked and August jumped, nearly dropping her bin in shock.
"Gio!" She said, happily. "Don't scare me like that! I almost had a heart attack!"
He wouldn't have admitted it, if you asked him, but he smiled at how excited she seemed to hear him again. "What's in the bin?" He asked, looking down at the container in her hands.
"Oh, I made you cookies to thank you for rescuing me,"
"You bake?"
"Just a little, but um, here! I hope you like them," she held out the bin and Gio gently lifted the lid and sniffed the contents.
"Hm, oatmeal,"
"Yeah, I wasn't sure if you liked sweets or things like chocolate or raisins, so I went with the safe option,"
"No, no. You did good, chocolate or raisins aren't good for me,"
"Oh, good! I mean, not the allergy thing, but I'm glad I was able to make something you'd like,"
Gio's face fell as he suddenly remembered that he was speaking to a human and not someone who wouldn't be afraid of him, if they could see what he really looked like. "You really shouldn't have done this,"
"But I wanted to, afterall, it's not often that I make new friends. People tend to avoid me, because of the whole blind thing,"
"Really?" He was genuinely shocked.
"Yeah, some people see it as a hassle to deal with, but don't worry, I'm used to it. Now are you going to help me eat these cookies or what?"
Gio looked around and saw that no one else was nearby, but he didn't want to risk being out in the open for too long. "Let's go back to your place,"
A few minutes later, August and Gio were enjoying cookies on her couch as they listened to the staticky music of the radio next door.
"So, why don't you get along with your older brother?" August asked, continuing a conversation that had been going on since they started walking.
"Sorry, but that's sensitive information. You have to be a level twenty-five friend to unlock that info and unfortunately you're still at level one,"
"Hey, I gave you cookies,"
"Ok, fine, level two," he said as he bit into his fifth cookie. Gio knew that interacting with August for too long was dangerous, but this was the first time he had ever talked to anyone outside of his family, and he actually liked her company. Even he was amazed by that last fact. Although he was happy to meet someone that he felt he had a connection with, he knew that it couldn't last long since she was human and he was just a mutant. I've got to do something about this, fast. He thought.
Suddenly, he heard a tapping at one of the windows.
"What was that?" August asked. Gio looked up and saw Luke and Lori staring at him from behind the glass. He grimaced. Luke was glaring while Lori looked sheepishly apologetic.
Gio: "It's uh... my older brother and sister,"
August: "Luke and Lori? What are they doing here?"
