The Girl Next Door [Ophelia]

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

Mina hadn’t seen her brother in a while. He had made a few visits here and there to her while she was at work, but those had become less frequent lately. Work on his end, for one thing, and then there was that other thing. She didn’t really like thinking about the other thing. Had it come as a shock? A little. More like she completely went off the rails for a few days and missed work. That was the only time she had done that since she had gotten back home. Callisto kept telling her to stop being weird about the whole thing, but it was too hard not to be. It was all just so…infuriating. At least the surprise hadn’t been when it was actually born, that really would have thrown her through the ringer. Mina had enough trouble dealing with her daily antics, having to worry about her brother working, playing Quidditch, and raising a child was too much at times. Plus all the heartbroken fangirls when they found out…he wasn’t even married yet! They would understand at that point. Maybe not. Fangirls were crazy. She knew.

She had the day off, and after nursing a minor headache from the night before, off she went to Dakoda’s house. The walk wasn’t bad and she brought her dog with her. Little Titania got along with Koda’s dogs well, and he had a ton more space for them to run around than her tiny apartment. The London streets were frigid as usual this time of year. She definitely hadn’t missed that while she had been in America, having spent most of her time traveling through the warmer states and Mexico. Not that she didn’t make it to the north at all, there just wasn’t much going on up there that interested her. The same could be said for London right now, but she was making money working at the store so it didn’t really matter much to her. Whatever she had to do to get money, she’d do it.

The throngs of muggles finally broke as Mina turned onto the street that Koda’s townhouse sat on. It was nice and quiet like usual. Normally that would bug her to high hell, but this neighborhood and the bookstore were really the only places she was comforted by the silence. Hopping up the steps to his front door, she reeled Titania in so she wouldn’t jump inside immediately upon Dakoda opening the door. Jamming down on the doorbell, Mina scratching her dog’s ears as she idly waited out on the front steps for her brother to answer the door.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia had spent the night again at Dakota's house, something that was becoming a bit of the norm since she had entered the second trimester of her pregnancy. She found that she slept better in the bigger bed in a townhouse away from the loud noise she'd grown accustomed to in her own flat. Plus, Koda's presence next to her stopped the baby from kicking at all hours of the night, which Ophelia appreciated greatly. He'd had a shift at Saint Mungos early that day, allowing Ophie to sleep in on her day off. She'd woken up just an hour ago, still dressed in her pink tank top and plaid pajama bottoms, and had just finished up breakfast when the doorbell rang. Curious, she looked around to see if Koda had left a note to tell her he was expecting company only to find nothing. The person at the door was insistent, so Ophelia shuffled her way over the door, one hand resting on her protruding belly.

Imagine her surprise to find Mina Wulfe, Koda's younger and slightly...obsessive sister standing on the doorstep with her dog.  "Mina!" Ophelia exclaimed.  She knew Koda had told his siblings about the baby and had figured Mina hadn't taken it very well.  "Do come in, Koda's at Saint Mungos but he'll be back soon," she added quickly, stepping aside so the dog could bound in along with the younger woman.  "Is everything alright?" she asked, sounding concerned.


mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

The look on Mina’s face had to have been a sight to see. What had probably been something that looked strangely like a smile with a hint of giddiness to see her brother, had turned to one of confusion and wonder then quickly to utter shock and horror. Taking a few steps back, this was how it all went down.

First, the door opened. In it stood a woman, only a few years older than Mina was. It didn’t immediately register in her brain that she knew the woman, but instead Mina leaned over to make sure she was at the right door. She was. Upon realizing that she was indeed at Dakoda’s house, it then clicked that she recognized the woman as Ophelia. That seemed normal since she was friends with her brother and Imogen. They had all graduated from Hufflepuff in the same year.

Second, Ophelia was in her brother’s house. Again, that seemed normal until she mentioned that Dakoda was at the hospital working. A little strange, but maybe he had told her to let herself in or something like that. He had done the same thing on numerous occasions with both her and Callisto, so it probably wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that this was the same deal. Except for the part where Ophelia was there ridiculously early in the morning and was wearing pink pajamas. That, of course, led to the last part.

Third, there was obviously something going on between Dakoda and Ophelia. Mina wasn’t stupid, she’d known the two of them had been more than friends for years. It was hard to miss. There was nothing wrong with that, and the fact that this looked like it was the next step in a direction they had all seen coming was almost a moment of relief for Mina. Until she saw where Ophelia’s hand was resting on her stomach. At this point, Mina had dropped the leash in her hands and Titania bolted inside to find Dakoda’s dogs the second Ophelia stepped to the side.

Even though she had been invited inside, Mina stayed planted on the front step, finding it extremely hard to pull her eyes away from Ophelia. “It’s with you?” She half shouted, half screamed, jaw now fully dropped. This was unbelievable.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia watched as Mina’s expression went through several different stages before finally resting on incredulity. She stepped aside as Titania bolted through the doors; she could hear the barks of Koda’s dogs greeting their fellow canine, but they were usually fine together so Ophelia wasn’t worried. What did worry her were Mina’s words. Koda had told her that he’d gotten his family together to explain that he was going to be a father and that Ophelia was carrying his child. She was also quite sure that he had specifically mentioned Mina being there, as she had been less than happy about the news. Mina was the most...attached sibling of Koda’s, so Ophie had somewhat expected her to not be all that happy with the news. Blacking it out of her memory though? That was a bit unexpected.

“Yes, me. Koda did tell you I was pregnant with our baby right? He told me he did; he wanted it to come from him of course, so that there would be no unexpected surprises like….right now,” Ophelia responded finally, the smile coming back to her face. “Come in though Mina, it’s cold out,” she said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder to push Mina towards the foyer. As she closed the door, Ophelia crossed her arms over her stomach. “How are you? You’ve not been back from America for very long right? I’d love to hear about your trip,” she said pleasantly, trying to make conversation with the younger Wulfe.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

Somewhere in the back of her head, Mina knew all of this already. About Ophelia here having that thing with her Koda. She had tried to ignore it as much as possible when he sat all of them down and told them about it, doing what she usually did and creating a little mental game of how much she could actually not hear, but the part about having a child with this one before her hadn’t escaped. When it came down to that, she immediately went out drinking after Koda had left and made sure she forgot. Unfortunately it didn’t. Still, she had hoped maybe it was another Ophelia, one that she didn’t know of already. That would be better than this one. Not that she had anything against the other girl. Ophelia was just too happy. All. The. Time. There was no way someone could actually live their life like that right? It seemed unnatural to her. That’s what got to her, and made her distaste for Koda’s “friend”, or baby carrier, whatever she was considered now, so much greater. They were simply on the opposite sides of the positivity spectrum. Mina didn’t hate her per se, just didn’t like her upbeat attitude.

“I like to pretend that conversation never happened. It works most of the time, ya know? Except when this-” Mina motioned her arms in front of Ophelia, “-happens.” She hesitated slightly when Ophelia put her hand on her shoulder and pulled her inside. The only reason she let that happen was because she needed to get her dog back before leaving. As of right now, at least from the sound of barking and jumping, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. She hated pulling the dogs away from each other when they were playing, plus it tired out Titania so she wouldn’t be bouncing off the walls later. Amazing how she could find a positive thing in this debacle.

“America?” How to answer that. Fun? A blast? Wished she had never come back? Any of those were the correct answers to be honest. There were a few events that she would omit from her travels if given the chance to return again. “It wasn’t bad.” That was a lie. “I was lucky enough to get this as a parting gift.” She held up her right arm to show Ophelia, the large scar from the Rougarou she encountered in Louisiana. “Thought I was going to be like Koda for a second there too. Was positive the Rougarou was a werewolf. The local voodoo practitioners said it wasn’t though, and I haven’t turned yet, so that’s that.” The rest of her time over there, the entire one and a half years, didn’t even come close to the last few months she had spent in the swamps hunting that creature down. Crawling out wounded like she had was the most alive she had felt maybe ever, as messed up as that sounded. The possibility of turning into a werewolf like her two oldest siblings terrified Mina; it was one of the reasons she came home so fast, hoping that if she turned it would be near family.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia knew Mina meant for her to be offended by her passive ‘I don’t care’ attitude towards her, but having known Dakota for so long meant she knew about his sister as well; especially Mina. She knew Mina was the head of Koda’s “fan club” and in Ophie’s private opinion was far too invested in her elder brothers’ personal life, but she was never one to judge people too harshly. “That’s alright, I know it’s a lot to take in. We’re only twenty-four and technically we’re not in a monogamous relationship,” she started, shrugging a little bit. She looked down at her belly and a small smile appeared on her face. “But somehow it still feels right.” She followed Mina into the living room where the dogs were playing with each other; Ophelia laughed as one of Koda’s dogs bounded over to her for a pat. “Hi Hawk,” she cooed, giggling a little as Hawk licked her hand before rushing off to play with the other dogs.

Ophelia listened to Mina talk about America; she could sense that the girl was holding back a few things, feelings perhaps, about America, but Ophie didn’t push her. She wanted the Wulfe girls to be accepting of her, and her and Koda’s child, and she knew that most people didn’t quite understand her always sunny disposition. Especially not Callisto or Mina. “I’ve heard that it’s incredibly easy to mistake a rougarou for a werewolf, so I don’t blame you for taking precautions.” Ophelia almost said ‘being scared’, but she figured Mina would get defensive to that. “Do you need any salve for that? I’m learning more about Healing so I can pass the exams and become a full time Healer, and I find that I am gravitating towards the Creature Induced Bites and Injuries section,” Ophelia explained, gesturing to the books spread upon the coffee table. She was very proud of herself for getting as far as she had with Koda’s help, and was relieved to see she was finding a niche in the area.

“Excuse me for a moment, I’ll go dress,” she said. She went up to Koda’s bedroom, Hawk following behind her like an obedient dog. Ophelia changed into a long sleeved black maxi dress and tossed her hair up into a bun before coming back downstairs. “Do you want anything? Tea, something to eat?” she asked as she reached Mina.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

Mina had to look away from Ophelia to hide the face she was making. In a way, she thought it was admirable that the other woman could easily deflect the cynicism so well; obviously Mina had to get it out now before Koda came back. Then she would turn to faking her “happiness” or whatever it was they were supposed to do. She knew Koda could see right through that, but he would probably think she was being nice to Ophelia. Quite the opposite, but there was no reason for Mina to feel obligated to be nice about any of this. If anything, Ophelia’s statement about them only being twenty-four and not even in a real relationship was enough to keep Mina’s decision the same as it had been. At least both of them had decent jobs, and she figured her brother could be a somewhat good father. He treated his dogs like children, so there was no reason he couldn’t do the same with a baby right? Couldn’t be that much different.

She kicked her shoes off at the front entrance before crossing the room, tossing her jacket on one of the many chairs. Titania still had her leash attached to her, but there was no use trying to get in the middle of the dogs to pull it off. If Koda was here, maybe she would have, but roughing around with the dogs with Ophelia watching her seemed a little too immature, even for Mina. She gave Ophelia a smug look about her precautions with the Rougarou, knowing that it was a compliment of sorts. That had been a tough fight after all. Even resulted in losing her first wand, only to have her spoils of victory put into a new one. She decided to keep those details out, since that might have been a little too graphic for so early in the morning. “It’s fine. Rather keep it and pretend it’s a werewolf scratch. That way degenerates will stop trying to get into my pants.” Subtlety seemed to have escaped her over the years. She figured Ophelia wouldn’t care though, she was knocked up after all.

“Oh fun!” Mina said over her shoulder as she tried to get her dog to stop playing. The leash thing was really bugging her. Ophelia had started to step out of the room to put more clothes on, so Mina raised her voice, continuing the tug-of-war with her dog’s leash. “That way you can fix up anyone Koda bites!” Titania let out a yelp-like bark as she reached for the leash again, clicking her tongue at the dog as it ran into another room. “Not that I want him running around biting people, last thing we need is more wolves in London.” That and their uncle would take an interest in who was turning people, returning to finish his business with getting the rest of the human Wulfe siblings. She wasn’t exactly keen on becoming one at this point in her life.

“Tea I suppose.” Mina said with a sigh as she saw one of Koda’s dogs following behind Ophelia. Why couldn’t hers do the same? It was like the little demon was intent on being exactly like its owner. That’s what Callisto kept saying at least. “Green if you have it. Can’t be rocking this hangover all day on my only one off for the next eternity.” The walk over had done a good job, but now that she had stopped moving the pounding in her head had come back. Fighting over the leash with the dog probably hadn’t been the smartest idea in the world.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia chuckled at Mina’s quip; it was oozing sarcasm, but if she really thought about it, there was always the small possibility that one day someone would stray into Koda’s path and face him as a fully formed werewolf. Highly unlikely, but possible. Speaking of, Ophie had to check when the full moon was; she knew it was coming up soon, and it’d be the first since the news of the baby. Her and Dakoda really just needed to have a discussion about their status with the baby coming anyway, so it would just be added into the conversation. “Well my advice to anyone Koda bites would be to get to Saint Mungos first and foremost to get a supply of Wolfsbane potion,” she reasoned brightly. With werewolf bites, she knew that some of the more seasoned Healers only could work with them, as a precaution.

Ophelia noticed that Titanias leash was still on, and as Mina mentioned her hangover it all clicked together. She walked over to the dogs and crouched over, whistling to the girls’ dog. Titania came over and Ophie gave her a few scratches behind the ear as she removed the leash from her collar. As the dog bounded back to play with its’ friends, Ophie wrapped up the leash and set it on the kitchen counter. “We have plenty of green tea,” she said; it was her favorite as well. She brewed both of them mugs and came back over to Mina, setting hers down in front of her. “A lot of water helps too,” she added. She’d had her fair share of crazy nights, mostly with Koda, that she’d woken up with a hangover from. She doubted Mina wanted to hear about their crazy antics though, as they mostly involved them ending up doing things she didn’t want to know her brother did.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

She knew all too well what the follow up was to a werewolf attack. That was, if you managed to survive it. All depended on what the wolf wanted to do. In her case, if it ever came to that of course, she would more than likely be left alive to suffer the same fate as her older siblings and their parents. Uncle Fenrir wasn’t exactly the cuddly one of the family apparently. Death was probably better than a revenge turning, especially at this age. Had she grown up a werewolf like the oldest two maybe it would be different. She hadn’t though, and the fact that he could come back looking to do that at any second of the day was terrifying. Other than that, having four members of one’s nuclear family wolfing out once a month greatly increased the risk of being turned, so the precautions had been made her entire life in case it did happen. At least all of them were pretty good about the potions and whatnot. It was too bad not all werewolves were like that. “I heard it tastes awful. Don’t really want to find out either.” Mina uttered quietly.

Silently watching Ophelia approach the dogs, Mina’s jaw dropped as Titania went over to her so easily. The leash was off in a matter of seconds. Titania never did that for Mina. Ever. Somewhat frowning, Mina turned away from Ophelia to hide her look of contempt. She had to remember that the dog was bound to listen to a total stranger over its owner. It was like a rebellious phase or something. Callisto had said recently that it made sense that Titania didn’t listen. Mina didn’t understand what she meant by that.

At the mention that there was green tea, Mina turned back around. That was good. This impending headache, or whatever it wanted to be today, needed to be killed off fast. Mina nodded her head back and forth at the comment about drinking water. She thought she did that, but apparently she drank too much again. Nothing new there. Everyone probably thought she was a functioning alcoholic by this point. They were probably right. “Guess you’re saved from this suffering for a couple more months. Lucky.” Mina said, lifting her mug up to her lips. Simply inhaling the steam coming off of it was enough for now.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia didn’t say anything as Mina quietly admitted she didn’t want to find out what Wolfsbane tasted like. She didn’t blame the girl of course; she knew how much Dakota hated the full moon and what it did to him. They always made sure their rendez-vous were several days before or after the full moon just to be on the safe side. Having to always make sure he was careful in both taking the potion and isolating himself from civilization during his transformations was not the life she knew he wanted to live, especially not now that they were having a baby together. She always wondered if there was any werewolf in existence who actually enjoyed the transformation other than Greyback himself; the only one who she could think of would be Koda and Mina’s other sister, Sarah. Just thinking of the other Wulfe sent a shudder through Ophelia.

She busied herself making the green tea for Mina and chuckled softly at the girls’ comment. “Yes, no more hangovers for me. However, I do have morning sickness which has me making friends with the toilet bowl most every morning. And then the baby kicks at odd hours when he or she is feeling rather jumpy, so they like to wake me up.” She pressed the mug of green tea into Mina’s hands. “The only time they really settle down is if I’m here with Dakota. It’s like they know he’s their father or something,” she said with a smile and a shrug. She didn’t really know how their unborn baby knew who Dakota was just by his presence, but Ophelia wasn’t going to let the opportunity to sleep comfortably slip through her fingers.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

Morning sickness or hangover. Most of Mina’s hangovers resulted in the emptying of her stomach contents at some point or another if she wasn’t smart about it, which was like, almost never, so it didn’t matter to her what she had. She could never have a child. She’d seen what Sarah had continued doing even after hers, and there was no way Mina could do the same. Other than the fact that she hated whiny little children, it would restrict all of her freedom to do what she wanted. If that wasn’t hell, than it was a very close second to passing over from purgatory. Staying where she was right now was far better for both her and everyone around her. Taking responsibility for herself was hard enough, adding another thing to that was even worse. Except for animals. They were different. Fur babies loved her and she loved them. Apparently human children were the same, but they would eventually learn how to talk back. Plus there didn’t need to be a little her running around, seeing as that practically existed already in Bunny.

“Do you know what it-” She cut herself off, realizing that maybe that was a little too impersonal when inquiring about the baby. In the end she was all for whatever made Koda happy. If that meant being with Ophelia and having this child, then she would have to get used to it. There was no changing that. “Do you know what the baby is going to be?” She restated. “Boy or girl?” For some reason she figured her brother would want a boy, especially having three sisters directly behind him. Bunny was also seven years younger than Koda, so there was that.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia smiled as Mina tried to ask whether she knew if her unborn child was a boy or a girl. Koda’s sister was a little awkward about it, but then again this was Mina. She was so protective of Dakota; most of the time it was rather sweet, but Ophelia had to admit sometimes it unnerved her a bit. “I don’t know yet, I can find out in a few weeks if I desired, but I don’t think I will,” she told her, then leaned in conspiratorially. “I am hoping it’s a girl though, I’d just love a little daughter to spoil,” she admitted with a giggle. She’d bonded instantly with one of the little girls at the orphanage during her first volunteer shift; she was a tiny thing at five years old but had snuggled into her lap when Ophie had read them all a fairy tale bedtime story. She could take a daughter to ballet, dress her in pretty clothes and let her hair grow long so she could style it however she wanted. She knew Koda would spoil a little girl rotten too. Still, if they had a boy she could always discuss adopting the little girl from the orphanage with him.

The girl hadn’t been far from her mind lately as her belly swelled more and more each day. The bond they shared had not subsided; each time Ophelia went to the orphanage that little girl had been the first to greet her with a big hug. She was fascinated by Ophelia’s pregnancy too, but was sad when she told her that when the baby was born she’d have to rest and be with the baby for a few months. She hoped by then though someone would have adopted her; she was a treasure and deserved loving devoted parents. Snapping out of her reverie, Ophelia smiled at Mina. “What about you? Would you want a niece or nephew to dote on?” she asked, curious of the younger Wulfe’s preference.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

So they didn’t know what the child was going to be yet. Wonderful. Great. Let’s make it a surprise! Didn’t everyone do that these days? Typical. Mina had to mentally roll her eyes or else Ophelia would easily see right through her. That was, if she didn’t already. Mina hadn’t really been hiding the fact that she wasn’t happy about this whole thing. It was strange though, since this hadn’t really happened with Sarah when she had Sebastian. Then again, that was Sarah and this had to do with Koda. And Ophelia too, since she was half the credit. She knew she had to get over it eventually, but the whole thing being dropped on her like that wasn’t cool. Not that there was an easier way to go about it, but still. “Well surprises aren’t bad!” she put on a fake smile as she lifted her cup up to take another sip. Koda would definitely want a boy. She was positive of that. Not knowing until it arrived might be the best chance for that though, or at least at that point they’d have to deal with whatever the other had preferred. It was all too much for Mina to think about though.

Then the question she hoped wouldn’t be asked, was. What did she want? Obviously whatever Koda was happy with. Sure, she already had a nephew, but she could totally see being kept away from a niece. Bad influence or something like that. And if it was fine at first, it would definitely become an issue as the girl got older and Mina didn’t become responsible, or whatever it was that was expected of her. “Doesn’t matter to me, really.” She lied. “At the end of the day, family is family. Kinda stuck with them no matter who or what they are. Like Callisto being forced to live with me.” Mina was positive that her sister wasn’t happy about that at first. It was like babysitting an adult, which Mina was made aware of constantly that she didn’t qualify as one yet. Responsibility this, responsibility that. It was always something or other.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia looked at Mina curiously after she told her they weren’t finding out the gender of the baby. “What does it matter if you find out today, tomorrow, six weeks from now, or when the child is born? The genders’ not going to change between now and the birth,” she reasoned with a small shrug of her shoulders. She had told Koda if he wanted to find out, he was more than welcome to of course. Ophelia planned on having a part of her room in the flat she shared with Clodagh dedicated to the baby; she had already purchased several stuffed animals from the classic Winnie the Pooh collection, which was her favorite as a young child. It reminded her of her parents; her mother agreeing to get her the Piglet stuffed animal, her father reading the stories to her before bed. Octavian had even liked them; he would hover around her bedroom door more than several times pretending not to listen when he really was.

Ophelia took a sip of her water and reached down to scratch Hawk’s ears; the husky had come to sit next to her while the two girls had been talking. Hawk had seemed to take more of a liking to her than Darsha; both dogs tolerated her of course, but Hawk had been a constant by her side whenever she was here at Koda’s townhouse. She giggled softly at the Callisto comment. “My brother used to think the same of me when I first moved out on my own; I lived with him for about six months before we drove each other completely man.” Ophelia’s stomach grumbled slightly and she chuckled, patting the protruding bump fondly. “Do you think you can stomach some food yet? I’m going to make popcorn and perhaps watch a film,” she asked, hoping Mina would accept. People didn’t have to talk during movies, and she was hoping she would be able to spend more time with Koda’s sisters, since they’d be their baby's’ aunts.

mina pandora oliveira

[mina pandora oliveira]

Ophelia Mae Teller

Ophelia seemed to have a constructive comment about everything pertaining to the baby. Obviously she did, it was hers after all. The point concerning the gender not changing was fair. She was right, it didn’t really matter until it was born. Mina could never raise a child, mostly because her family would take over for her. It wouldn’t happen to begin with anyways. The dog was enough as it was, and quite the hassle at times. There seemed to be a mutual understanding in the Wulfe family that she was the least responsible and trustworthy of them all. Funny though, since Sarah and Bunny weren’t too far off either. She supposed that it had something to do with one already having and raising a child, and the other still being in school. Being stuck in the middle wasn’t exactly the greatest thing in the world. And they always wondered why she acted out too. The three older ones were all a year apart, and the two younger ones were closer as well. Then it was a two year gap on either side of her. While Mina liked to think she got along well with her brothers, it didn’t change the fact that she was still on her own age wise. “Guess it doesn’t matter until the day of, right?” It was inevitable that there was going to be another Wulfe now. Like she had just said, family was family, and there was no changing that.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like living with her. It was either that, or with Mum and Dad. I need to be in the city. Going home would be like giving up on life.” Was that a tad too depressing? Probably. She knew that was how things would be. There would be no night life, no messing around, her job would be something dull and monotonous, and there most definitely wouldn’t be as much alcohol as there was now. It would be like caging a bird. Koda and Sarah needed their space as well, so off it was to Callisto’s place. “Well, it’s almost six months now, so if you end up attending my funeral, you’ll know what happened.” That was the only way Callisto would ever manage to get rid of her, if Mina didn’t do herself in first from something stupid.

The mention of food had a twofold effect. Mina desperately wanted something to eat, but she wasn’t sure if she could stomach it right now. The tea was helping, and the headache was almost down to a dull throb. A few more hours and she’d be saved from the hangover until another day. Then Ophelia said she was planning on making popcorn. The only thing greater than alcohol and ice cream was popcorn. There was something about it being light and dry that made it easy to eat in this condition. Normally she’d opt for greasier foods, but crackers and popcorn seemed to do the trick as well. The catch? Accepting the popcorn most likely meant having to stay for the movie. Looking around to see where her dog went, she spotted her crashed on the floor with Darsha. Perfect. Now she really was stuck here for a while. “I don’t really have anything planned and that one looks comfortable,” she said, motioning to Titania. “So I guess I’ll stay…” For some reason, Mina felt bad that it came out like she was being forced to stay. But the popcorn and tea was enough to keep her a little longer.