redhead excused herself to go to the washroom. With no intention of going back, even if it might tick her dad off, Tatum made her way outside. It wasn't smoky anymore and things had been cleared up, but there was still a deep divot in the ground nearby. Something flying off and skidding the ground as she went, she guessed. Scuffing her foot through it, she sighed.

She was always prepared, and as she walked and neared closer to the woods, she reached carefully into her shirt; pulling a joint from her bra. She lit up carefully, head ducked and oblivious to the person standing around and smoking a cigarette nearby.

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Mackenzie hadn't gone into the hall, she had opted to walk along the edge of the forest instead. Kia had gone off with the rest of the healers to take care of the more critical victims and Hunter had probably gone to comfort Michi. Mack didn't really care to hear the loads of angry parents yell at the headmaster, she was sure that they would be debriefed about the events during training the next day anyway. Besides, there was no one for her to go check on or comfort, the only people that came to mind was Michi and the Donnelly sisters. Mack had seen Michi, but she was sure that she would like a little alone time with Hunter. Both of the Donnelly sisters had made sure that she would stay away from their father too, and Mack knew that he was already angry enough. She didn't want to start anything by showing up and pissing him off.

Sighing, she plopped down on a rock and lit a cigarette, noticing for the first time that day that she had blood on her hands. She was sure that it wasn't hers, but it still made her stomach turn slightly. There hadn't been bleeding victims in their simulations, or people who were distraught and crying. She had managed to stay focused all day, and she was sure that they had helped a lot of people, but now her hands were shaking slightly as she took a drag from the cigarette. Hunter had freaked her out earlier by running off like that, she couldn’t protect the tall blonde if she just took off into danger. It could have very well been any of the few people she cared about with hot shrapnel in their faces.

Shuddering she ran a hand through her hair, pulling her bangs away from her face. As soon as her hand traveled over her eyebrow, she hissed in pain. Perhaps some of that blood was her own, she pulled her hand away quickly and prodded gently in investigation. It seemed that she hadn’t walked away scott free, and she wondered when exactly she had acquired the cut above her eyebrow. It didn’t feel too big but it was definitely deep. She took another drag from her cigarette and ran through all the events of the day just like her instructors had taught her. It was useful to be able to describe ever detail of an emergency, especially if you ended up with an injury you didn’t remember. She was so deep in though that she didn’t see Tatum approaching, or lighting up until she had determined what had caused her injury. It must have been one of the small explosions that occurred while her and Hunter were standing in the parking lot. Once the flames had reached other vehicles there had been a few more explosions before the aurors had gotten it under control.

Looking up she finally noticed Tatum, and a tired smile appeared on her face. She was just happy to see someone familiar who wasn’t bleeding or injured. She watched the other girl silently for a few moments before, clearing her throat. “Couldn’t handle being in the hall any longer?” She asked, dabbing gently at the cut over her eye. It was throbbing slightly now that she had gone and irritated it but she didn’t feel like healing it at the moment. It would be so much easier once she had a mirror. “You’re definitely a sight for sore eyes.”

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Just as she usually did whenever someone snuck up on her, even if they had technically been there first, Tatum practically jumped out of her skin as the blonde girl cleared her throat so nearby. She rounded on Mack quickly, spluttering a bit on the smoke she had just successfully swallowed. "F-Fuck!" she managed to get out, clapping herself on the chest to try and stop the coughing.

"D-Don't fucking do that!" she eventually added, once her coughing had died down to a dull wheeze and she was able to start smoking again. She glanced back toward the hall before doing it, taking a long haul and then exhaling in gentle smoke rings. "Fuck the hall, they're all just.. being assholes," she muttered.

She made a little face as Mack called her a sight for sore eyes, sticking her tongue out instinctively at the older girl. "Whatever," she sighed, in her typical response. "What happened to your head?" she asked, catching sight of the little gash over the other girl's eyebrow. She scrunched up her nose a bit, stepping closer and peering at it. "Did you e-even heal that? What's wrong with you?!"

Already, she was reaching for her wand in the waist of her jeans.

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"I didn't do anything," Mackenzie shot back, slightly irritated. It had been a long day, and while she might enjoy getting under the younger girl's skin, she was getting tired of always being the bad guy. "You wandered into my space kid. Stop treating me like the bad guy here." She took a drag moodily from her cigarette, glowering slightly. She didn't know what had made her snap at the younger girl, but she didn't say anything else until the redhead had stopped wheezing and spoke again.

She was about to respond and say something about how parents could be stupid like that, when Tatum was suddenly interrogating her about her cut. She raised her unwounded eyebrow in question as the girl reached for her wand, wanting to make a bitchy remark about how she thought that Tatum wouldn’t touch her at all. She kept her mouth shut though, wondering where this would all go exactly. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t heal it herself, but it wouldn’t be terrible to be taken care of and pampered a bit.

“I got hit with some car shrapnel when I was in the parking lot,” she offered matter of factly. She shrugged, and took one last drag on her cigarette before stubbing it out and looking at the girl with interest. “I cast something to stop it from bleeding but I guess I was kind of more concerned about the injured people around me. It’s just a scratch, it’ll heal up alright on its own if I don’t heal it.”

She bit her lip, contemplating what to say next. The blonde had found that Tatum was extremely hard to talk to, which was something that confused Mackenzie. She never had trouble talking to girls before the redhead, but it seemed like every little thing that left the her mouth offended the other girl. She didn’t want to ruin this potential bonding moment by saying the wrong thing. Sighing, and pulling out another cigarette, she looked back at the other girl. “I wouldn’t object if you wanted to heal it,” She said softly, lighting the cigarette and puffing out a plume of smoke. She had charmed the cigarette packet so that the exhaled smoke would swirl into celestial shapes and fancy winding wisps. “I’m not trying to be a scum bag or anything,” She continued quickly, looking slightly panicked. “It…It’s just been a long day, and I guess a little TLC wouldn’t hurt. I promise not to be weird about it, or whatever. I can always heal it when I get back to my room and have a mirror.” She backpedaled, nervously tapping the ash from her cigarette.

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It had been a long day for everyone, and Tatum was getting more than a little used to being snapped at. It didn't even seem to phase her as it usually did, taking everything personal all of the time. Her mouth just pulled down into a slight frown on one side, as she listened to Mackenzie explaining what had happened to her head. "You were in the parking lot?" she asked, realizing what the blonde had said.

She swallowed thickly, surprising herself by actually feeling some late placed dread about the thought. What if something had happened? How close was the idiot if she was getting hit by flying pieces of hot debris? The thought made the redhead's frown deeper. This was exactly what she always meant when she said the other girl was always trying to be some stupid hero. "Y-You could have been like, fucking k-killed or something, you're crazy," the younger girl finally spluttered out, taking a drag from her joint and turning her head to exhale.

"That was nice like.. to d-do for people, but y-you're not i-invincible, even though I guess you like.. wanna be Supergirl or Xena or something," she muttered. "I guess more Xena in your case. S-She's like a gay icon, right?" she asked, as if she didn't already know.

Taking another toke from the joint, she found herself a little bit hypnotized by the shapes made by the blonde's smoke. She almost didn't hear her saying that she wouldn't mind being healed, until she began to ramble off more awkwardly, snapping the redhead out of her daze. "Huh?" she mumbled, somewhere after hearing 'TLC'. Which was so not what this was going to be. She had already made an ass of herself in basically lecturing the older girl a few seconds ago. She sounded like Sera or something.

Her wand was still held loosely in her hand as she stepped forward a bit, squinting at Mack's forehead in the semi-darkness. "Do you know how to do it without leaving a s-scar?" she asked quietly. Girls like Mack probably loved scars, thought she was supposed to find it sexy or something. She fought the urge to sigh, mostly because it was true. It would be kind of hot, but she was pushing that thought down before it even really had a chance to fully surface. She used the end of her wand to push some the girl's hair away from her face, giving the cut a little prod with the tip of her wand once it was revealed. "Sore, huh?"

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Mackenzie was pleasantly surprised at the amount of concern that Tatum was showing about her proximity in the parking lot. She found that while scolding usually pissed her off, she actually enjoyed getting it from the redhead. It made her feel cared about, something that she didn't get from most people she knew. She stuck out her lip a little anyway, and pouted, playing up the scolded child role. "I didn't get killed though," she pointed out. She messed with the hem of her sleeve a little, looking up at Tatum and smiling. "It's kind of my job to help people and respond to emergencies you know. Besides, I probably wouldn't have been in the parking lot if Hunter hadn't run off."

She hesitated here, biting her lip in a small show of weakness. She was still extremely shaken by the taller blonde running off on her. She was hesitant to share this with Tatum though, while she was sure that the younger girl didn't have it in her to use the information against her, she was still hesitant. At the same time, she was positive that the girl was just going to start in on what idiots the two of them were unless she shared the whole story. Sighing, she looked at Tatum, "I had to make sure nothing happened to her, you know? She...she's my partner and my best friend. I've got to protect her."

"I wouldn't be Supergirl or Xena either," She said quickly, her usual smirk back on her face. She hoped that Tatum wouldn't read too far into that one moment that she let her walls down. Her plan was to just change the subject fast enough to distract the other girl. "I'd be Batman, or Batwoman I guess," She continued, grinning happily. "They're the real deal man, they don't need superpowers to help people!"

She noticed that Tatum stepping towards her out of the corner of her eye, and saw her inspecting her eyebrow as she spoke. Mackenzie was about to answer her question when she felt the girl prod at the cut with the tip of her wand. Flinching backward, she hissed lightly in pain, her eyes squinting and watering. She had dropped her cigarette somewhere out of shock and she fumbled around for it before giving up. "What'd ya do that for?" she asked, slightly upset. Unsquinting her eyes, she rubbed gently at the skin surrounding the cut, frowning the whole time. "I can heal it without leaving a scar if I want 'ta, but I have to see it in a mirror to make sure I get the whole thing. You're the one training to be a doctor here anyway, shouldn't you know how to do that?"

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"I didn't do anything," the redhead retorted, echoing the older girl's words from a few minutes ago. It was too priceless not to.

"And for the record, I do know how to do that by the way," Tatum went on easily, keeping her face rather stony as she watched the blonde squinting at her. "I was asking if you knew.. just like, a question. Calm down, isn't that what y-you're always telling me?" she went on quietly, reaching out with her fingers this time and pushing the hair aside properly again. With a little exasperated sigh, she gave her wand a little flick and within a few moments, the cut above the other girl's eyebrow began to heal.

"I think I'd be Spiderman," she continued, as if she hadn't just upset the other girl at all. She squinted herself, making sure the cut was going to disappear entirely, before she readjusted her view and looked the older girl over. "You're an a-awfully big wimp for a hero.. d-didn't you say it was just a cut. I guess it hurt more than you thought," she shrugged.

"Besides, you're like.. lucky I don't have a muggle first-aid kit. Then you'd be in p-pain," the redhead joked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Ever heard of iodine?"

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As usual, Mackenzie had a comeback all loaded and ready to go for the younger girl. She was just opening her mouth to use it too when she saw Tatum reach out a second time to brush her hair out of the way. She could feel her heart speed up a bit and was completely lost for a moment as Tatum healed up her cut. If she had been anyone else, and not the lady killer that many referred to as Mack Daddy, she would have been positive that she was blushing. Things like that never happened to her though, so she was sure that she must just be imagining things.

"I'm not a wimp!" She protested, snapping out of her slight daze. She stuck her lower lip out slightly, and pouted at the other girl. "It just caught me off guard is all, you did poke it pretty hard. It's been open all day too, you know, it was probably irritated from that." She tried not to think about how attractive she thought it was when Tatum teased her like that. Or how she secretly enjoyed the redhead taking care of her.

"I've got no idea what iodine is," she answered honestly, turning her head to the side. She seemed to remember Kia talking about muggle medicine once, but she hadn't been paying attention. Her older sister had always threatened her and Hunter with using muggle first-aid when they would come in all scraped up. She had never actually used it though, even if the showed up even worse off then the time before. "Why would muggle's have such painful healing methods? Do their doctors enjoy torturing people?"

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Tatum was sure that she had to be imagining things in the darkness, because it almost looked as if Mackenzie's cheeks were flushing with color. Tatum's own were still a little warm, as she squinted at the other girl's forehead and let her speak. "No scar," she confirmed, looking at the blonde and raising an eyebrow. "You're a total wimp, I b-bet you almost cried," she added.

She rolled her eyes at the older girl's excuses, shaking her head. "Well, take like.. better care of yourself. D-Don't leave your head cut o-open all day if you're gunna whine about it later," the redhead retorted.

She tried her best to stay neutral, and a little irritated, but her face surprised her with a little smile as Mack asked her about muggle first-aid. "It's not e-easy but it works. And it's fascinating, r-right? I love like.. I dunno, all that stuff. I wanna be able to like, do both," she explained, going a bit more off tangent and sounding dreamier than she planned.

"Y'know so like I can have s-spells for good patients and like.. bust out the iodine and other painful stuff for whiners like you," she joked.

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"I don't care about myself when there are people to help," she returned, shrugging slightly embarrassed. While she was incredibly selfish about most things, she really did enjoy helping people when she could. It wasn't something she shared with most people, but she always liked being a hero. "Thank you though, for healing it for me. I'll try to take better care of myself in the future."

She couldn't help but feel the usual flip in her stomach when she saw the girl's small smile. She loved it when Tatum really smiled, it wasn't something that happened often. Usually the redhead's smiles seemed so forced, but this one seemed genuine and Mackenzie couldn't help but stare as the girl rambled off about her first-aid.

"That's really cool," she admitted, giving the redhead a small smile in return. "You should do both, you seem really passionate about it. I bet you'll be a great mediwitch!" She blushed a little again, and looked away trying to hide it. She prodded at her forehead where Tatum had healed her cut, just for the sake of having something to do besides look at the girl with interest.

"I am so not a whiner!" She protested again, sticking out her tongue at the shorter girl. "I just think you'd enjoy torturing me with your painful muggle medicine!"

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"You're.. w-welcome, it was simple," Tatum murmured back, wishing she didn't sound as sheepish as she felt. She slid her wand away, fidgeting a bit and rubbing her hands on the top of her jeans as she listened to the older girl speak. "Uhm, I dunno. Maybe I will, I mean I-- I guess I will. That's what I'm supposed to do," she murmured back, looking away as Mack did the same.

She watched the blonde prod her forehead, and it made her crack a weak little smile. "Stop it, you'll like.. I dunno. Irritate it," she warned her almost automatically. Her smile widened a bit as Mack protested against her new whiner title. "Okay, maybe I'd like.. enjoy it a little bit. I could stitch you up real good! You know, like.. for practice," she joked.

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The blonde girls brows furrowed, what Tatum was supposed to do? She had always thought that the shorter girl really liked the idea of being a mediwitch. "If it's what you're supposed to do," She asked timidly, glancing at the girl thoughtfully. "Than what is it that you really want to do T?"

Scowling playfully at the shorter girl, she obediently put her hand down and sighed. "Yes m'am," she drawled, laying on her accent thickly. She smiled back as she saw the girl's grin widen, it was nice to see Tatum really smile at her. "You can practice on my anytime you want, I get hurt enough. Kia always used to threaten she was going to use muggle medicine on us if we kept getting scraped up the way we did."

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"I grew up with it," Tatum informed her, giving another little shrug and a weak smile. "Mom only ever r-really.. used magic on Sera if she was b-being a big baby. Dad used to m-make us go to the doctor for e-everything and like.. you know, m-muggle stuff. Bandaids and casts and all that shit. He doesn't like magic healing, thinks it's kinda risky for some reason.. guess that's why I wanna do both. Make everybody happy," she explained softly.

That about summed up how she tried to do things. She was always making sure everyone was happy but herself. Whatever mold her parents put her in, she stretched herself beyond recognition to fit it.

When Mack asked her what she really wanted to do, she hesitated. She knew the answer but she had never really told anyone. No one really asked. She had told Sera once off-handedly, and the brunette had promptly informed her that she would be a total Emma Pillsbury, whatever that meant. She would probably just end up a regular mediwitch anyway, she didn't have the fight in her to argue with her parents about it. They'd never let her drop pre-med for the lesser important form of doctoring that she wanted to do.
They were expecting surgeon, not a life coach.

"I-I wanna be a shrink," she blurted, biting her lip instinctively, a little harder than necessary. "I k-know that's like.. fucked up, cause like I'm fucked up, if a-anybody needs a shrink it's me but I just-- I dunno. It's just w-what I wanna do.. dunno maybe I could relate. I w-wanna.. help p-people with eating disorders too. I d-definitely wanna help them," she went on, adding the last bit absently and frowning a little at the image it conjured.

Shrink or no shrink, she was pretty sure Frankie had been beyond the point of saving. Perhaps even before she actually met her. But it didn't stop her from being her inspiration of sorts. She would much rather have a quaint little office and talk gently to people than cut them open in a big operating room or something. "L-Less blood and guts too," she joked weakly as an afterthought.

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