That Ollie was still able to feel defensive for her, even in his current state of inebriation and while facing down his sister's wrath, made Allie want to forgive him, to forget about the whole thing and curl up and go to sleep. If it had been someone she cared about less, doing so would've been easy. But this wasn't a fight with a fling she didn't truly care about. This was her brother. He'd put himself in danger all for a night of fun. That made the bitchy lady inconsequential.
Hugs, as they were wont to do, had the instant effect of calming Allie. She felt more of her anger slipping away, and in its place bloomed the feeling of safety. The world could do with a bit more hugging. It was a silly contemplation; that people could just hug all the nightmarishness away and the world could be all sunshine and roses and cute puppy butts again. The world probably never would recover, but Allie hadn't given up yet. She was still dreaming. Still wishing.
Ollie answered truthfully that he'd made a friend, and Allie fought to keep her expression neutral. She wasn't thrilled with the idea, but neither was she disappointed. People liked Ollie. Genuinely. At least until they realized he was stealing from them. Allie, on the other hand? Before the outbreak, she was used to mingling with people, used to working her charms on them. Now, her charms were essentially useless. She was tolerated, mostly because she was Ollie's sister.
"I'm glad," Allie replied softly. There was laughter when he said he'd been expecting a drag queen. "There just aren't enough drag queens in the world anymore. The day we come across a drag queen who can kick some zombie ass, is the day I will have found my new best friend." Her grin was halfhearted, but nonetheless sincere.
Allie dropped her gaze once more when Ollie explained that he hadn't planned on his venture ending this way. She nodded. "I know. I believe you. If you had planned on it happening this way, I wouldn't have let you walk out that door. Instead I would've latched myself to your legs so you couldn't move."
Normally, when the prospect of a present came into play, Allie would leap onto her brother's back and demand that he hand it (whatever it may be) over right this instant. However, this time, with Ollie looking worse for wear, Allie didn't want to risk hurting him more. So she simply stuck out her hand and said, "Hand it over, then," with a smile playing along her lips.