The Virus Within (Original rough draft)

Chapter 106

I took a deep breath, "Nicky... I thought you were only going to paint Luke's door?"

Nicky was unrepentant, "I never said that. Besides, when I took that can of paint back, this one literally fell off the shelf and into my hands. I couldn't pass it up. Then a smaller can hit me in the head so I had to take that one too. Then I grabbed a few more."

"And you just had to pick my door?"

Nicky was far too happy about her accomplishment, "Of course! It just suited you perfectly! Inspiration struck!"

Inspiration struck indeed. How she had managed to pull this one off in so little time had me baffled. Luke looked amused, "Well, she does have a point. It suits you perfectly."

I crossed my arms as I regarded the new paintjob on my door. She had managed a rather detailed sun and moon scene. Half of my door was yellow sunbeams with an orange and red sun while the other half was a star spangled dark blue with a full moon. The tiny specks of yellow were actually tiny stars that she had painted and not just dots of paints.

To be honest, it actually looked really good. My apparent irritation had just been my instincts talking since she had touched something that belonged to me. I was far better at covering up my happier emotions with a gruff exterior though. It was habit at this point.

With a heavy sigh I walked toward Nicky. I looked directly at her as I approached and she ducked her head, "Ummm.... Can I ask for forgiveness? Or perhaps repaint your door with a color you choose as an apology?" I hid a smirk, she thought that the direct eye contact combined with doing something she wasn't supposed meant that she had crossed a line.

I was within reach of her now, "No."

Before she had a chance to respond I wrapped my arm around her shoulders in a one-armed hug. "Thank you. I really like it."

Her jaw dropped, "And you made me worry like that for no reason?!"

I chuckled at her dumbfounded expression. Luke looked surprised that I came into contact with her, but still grinned at the two of us. Nicky attempted a growl, "Grrr... I should have known that you weren't actually upset. You didn't growl or snarl and those are usually dead giveaways unless you are about ready to kill someone, but even then you usually give some sort of warning."

I was amused that she had picked up so much considering that she had only seen me mad a handful of times. She started to laugh as she hooked one arm around me in a hug.

"If you had attempted to paint my door that bright pink, then you would have been running for the hills."

Nicky snickered, "Hey, I actually found a similar shade of pink. I am saving it for Nina's door. No one will ever take her seriously after that."

I rolled my eyes and responded dryly, "You are aware that she does work with zombie blood and chemicals all day long, right? For all you know, she will turn you into a zombie for that stunt."

Nicky just laughed harder as she dropped her arm and took a step back to give me some room, "No she wouldn't! If I turned into a Terror, it would be her worst nightmare come true! Even if I ended up a Nightstalker the two of us could tag team Daniel. Wouldn't that knock him off of his high horse?!"

I don't even want to contemplate that scenario. She is hard enough to manage when she is human. As much as I want to see Daniel taken down a peg or two, having Nicky turn into a zombie is so not worth it. That would be a nightmare...

I was able to fend her off with my greater abilities during her insanity blitzes and I was capable of packing her around by force if I had to. The thought of her being just as strong as me or even stronger was not something I ever wanted to see.