😎

tatum clark. 18. mutant. "sometimes it physically pains me to hold back my sarcastic comments"

[zeldaniles-blog]

“No.” Zelda’s response came a little too fast for her liking, and she slightly cringed. If there was one thing Zelda knew about Tatum, it was that she didn’t like being told no. “There’s no point, is all I’m saying.  I’d bet money on you winning, totally, but he’s an asshole with pheromone manipulation. I just know he’d use it on you.” Jed was as much a sore loser as Tatum was, grossly so. If he thought he was losing in a fight to a girl then he’d definitely use his power, just to save face. Unable to keep from fidgeting, Zelda folded then unfolded her arms about five times before decidedly shoving her hands into her pockets. However, at the mentioning of brownies, Zelda’s brows perked up. 

“That’s your solution for everything, I swear to God.” A tiny smirk tugged at the corners of her lips as their eyes met, feet already stepping in the direction of the kitchens. It was just as they turned the corner that Zelda decided to lop an arm over Tatum’s shoulders, as if it were a customary thing to do between two friends. She didn’t see why not. “You know, I’ve been thinking, I haven’t seen much of you or Ben lately – and like, I totally know that that’s my fault because I’ve been busy with other shit. We should get together tonight. All three of us. Dunno where to, but who cares, right? Plus it’s kind of fun seeing you guys fight over who gets to sit in the front when we go out in my truck.”

[tatumclark-blog]

The reminder of the danger of Jed’s power only ricocheted against her cocky attitude (that would surely cost her an ass kicking one day) as she had proved time and time again there wasn’t anyone she wouldn’t at least try to fight but it was the seriousness that overtook Zelda that prompted a begrudging, “Fine,” to spill from her mouth. The blonde’s restlessness that came from the mention of Jed in general was enough to curb Tatum’s thoughts of literally strangling him.

“That’s ‘cause it works for everything.” Tatum pointed out, flashing her friend a grin, she barely reacted to the feeling of Zelda’s arm around her shoulder as it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and instead nodded, “Yeah, that sounds cool -- I miss you guys... And I miss seeing Ben’s face every time I beat him to the front seat.”

[tatumclark-blog]

[TXT] LMAO DAGNY HOOKED UP WITH ANDERSON

[TXT]: OMFG ARE YOU SERIOUS

[TXT]: wait is this like the last time you said that b/c i got excited but im pretty sure you hallucinated that, you had a lot of ecstasy that night

[TXT]: now that im thinking should i even ask why you were hallucinating about dagny and anderson 

[tatumclark-blog]

(Cash) [TXT] props to you have zel for getting sammy like that. it was pretty funny. heads up though she's going to get you both back somehow

[TXT]: thank u

[TXT]: can u tell her to get us back after we finish off this free wine bottle thanks

[tatumclark-blog]

[Marielle] "This doesn't have to be awkward. We can just put it behind us. It'll be easier, don't you think?"

Tatum hadn’t even bothered to turn around to address Marielle’s words or even her presence as she took a swig from her water bottle before lazily turning to face the other woman with a single raised eyebrow, “Would it be easier? Sure. Is it gonna happen? Doubt it.” The brunette shrugged, stating her words as if they were law which, in a way, they were. She was stubborn, she knew this, she could admit this: Tatum Clark was hard-headed and argumentative and almost seemed to be fueled by holding a grudge. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Marielle as a person – she hardly knew her as a person – but all she saw when she looked at her was the imagery of her and Zelda --that didn’t make it very easy for her to call everything even. “I get that you want us to be cool and sing kumbayah or whatever but I don’t care. I just don’t.” She sighed, “Come on, are we sparring or what? And don’t hold back just because you want us to call everything even.” She paused, “In fact, first hit’s all yours, Ms. Durant.”

[zeldaniles-blog]

Zelda’s shoulders hunched slightly at the sound of Tatum’s voice behind her. She’d been staring so intently at the disappearing back of her ex-boyfriend that she’d failed to notice anyone else approach her. A frown immediately marred her brows as she turned to look at her friend, a small grimace across her lips. “Couldn’t be better.” The way she grumbled her answer opposed the definition of better completely. Zelda was so annoyed with Jed that she wasn’t even trying to hide it, and briefly lifted up her arms in exasperation. “Jed’s just – being Jed, except worse. Jed squared.” Glancing at the random students who walked by them, Zelda stepped closer to Tatum and attempted a tight smile. Eventually. She didn’t want her best friend thinking this was bothering her too much, lest she later find out that there’d been a fight between Tatum Clark and Jed Williams. “It’s whatever, though. Asshole isn’t over me, I guess. Which, you know, I can understand why. I’m a fucking delight.”

[tatumclark-blog]

“I could always beat him up for you.” Tatum offered with a smirk, her words were light and anyone who didn’t know Tatum Clark would assume she was joking. She wasn’t. “One of these days you should just mind control him to punch himself in the face.” She suggested in a sigh of annoyance for her friend; as their conversation went on, the hall seemed to grow fuller with students only furthering her annoyance, “Come on, let’s just go somewhere else.” She paused, “We can brownies.” Tatum offered with a shrug as if getting high off junk food would make the entire Jed situation seem insignificant in comparison, “Well, I can make ‘em, you can eat the batter.” 

[zeldaniles-blog]

“Leave me alone, man. I don’t want anything to do with you.” Zelda put a hand out to stop Jed from getting any closer, cursing when she was suddenly pulled back. “Jed!” She raised her voice, turning around to face him just as he walked off in the opposite direction. She was left standing in the middle of the corridor, exasperated and a little helpless.

[tatumclark-blog]

The yelling coming from the other corridor was just loud enough to overpower the music blasting through her headphones making it impossible for Tatum to ignore it. If she hadn’t recognize the voice as that of her best friend’s she would have went about her day, ducking by the kitchen to scrounge for leftover desserts and binge-watching The Walking Dead in her dorm. That was hypothetical, of course, because what stuck out to her was that it was Zelda’s voice, bringing her to round the corner and find the blonde alone in the corridor, her back facing a retreating figure that was blurry in the distance. Tatum’s eyebrows furrowed as she paused the obnoxiously loud sound of the Arctic Monkeys drifting from her earbuds, glancing at Zelda, “You okay? I heard weird noises.”

[tatumclark-blog]

(Adalwolfa) "I have an opponent you can spar with today. I've been training her as well. Marielle?"

Tatum was half waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out of the bushes and tell her she was being punk’d but to her dismay, no camera crew popped out – it was just her and Adalwolfa and a tempting offer she already knew the answer to. “I’m not sparring with her.” Her words were concrete and her face fell into indifference that faded as her pride was quick to chime in, “Not because I can’t or anything. I just… Could be doing better things with my time.” The brunette shrugged in disinterest for only one reason: Zelda. It was so fucking annoying being in love sometimes because god, she wanted to get her hands on Marielle but Zelda’s face kept popping into her mind, shifting her attitude from aggressive to passive in moments; from the moment Marielle’s name was spoken, the choice had already been decided. “If anyone else is in the mood to get their ass kicked, though, I’m there.”

[tatumclark-blog]

"Are you even listening to me right now? What -- are you fucking FaceTiming my mom? That's my mom. What the hell, man!"

Tatum muted the call with a sigh, glancing up at her girlfriend with raised eyebrows, “What? She said hi.” She told her with a shrug as if that tidbit of information explained the entire ordeal. “Your mom’s cool.” Tatum shrugged, filling the awkward silence to which Colette had only responded to with confused expressions and eyebrows raised miles high (which weirdly looked just like Zelda at that moment). That was really the only explanation Tatum could give to her girlfriend because she genuinely liked talking to Zelda’s mother, much more than her own, even. “By the way, she’s pissed you still haven’t followed her on Instagram.”

[tatumclark-blog]

[TXT:] why would you tell ben that you think im jealous of you and that guy you're sleeping with??? im not jealous?? why would i be???? we're just friends

[TXT]: ok fine you’re not jealous

[TXT]: is there another reason why you started a rumor that he has gonorrhea or.. ?

[tatumclark-blog]

[Sammy] [MSG:] [blurry picture of wine] THIS IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TXT]: ok wine mom 🍷

[tatumclark-blog]

[text]: Should we discuss the rug burns on my back or just save that for a separate conversation

[TXT]: you weren’t complaining about it before lmao

[tatumclark-blog]

“ i’m not talking about this ANY more. ”

Tatum’s eyebrows rose into her hairline and she was quick to actually stop herself from saying something that could start a fight. Instead, she took a seat next to Zelda on their worn out futon couch, taking her girlfriend’s hand in hers. “I know you don’t wanna hear this,” She paused, trying to think over the best way to make the blonde consider the topic at hand, “Last week we had spam for dinner, Zelda. Just spam. We were out of bread so we just had plain spam and it was gross. I’m pretty sure that was alien meat from Area 51.” As Tatum reflected on how nasty their meals had been for the past couple of months, she quickly had to remind herself what they were actually talking about, “We can’t afford the truck, Zel. We just can’t. Those repairs are more than our fucking rent, the thing is barely standing and it’s older than me -- we couldn’t even sell it for parts!” So much for tact. “We can’t keep it. I know you don’t wanna hear it but it’s the truth.”

[tatumclark-blog]

"If I wanted anyone else I wouldn't be with you"

Tatum shifted her gaze from her gaze from her girlfriend to the bland landscape outside the window. A red car sped up beside them and she focused on squinting to make out their tacky bumper stickers (”Honk if you’re horny” and right underneath, a “Romney 2012″ sticker that was beginning to peel) instead of offering up a response. The radio had turned off as their voices grew tired of yelling and resigned to arguing with each other using inside voices so the only thing bridging the gap between them was a silence they weren’t used to. Silence wasn’t a bad thing, not the with Zelda, she didn’t feel the need to rush to fill the space – it was comfortable – but now it was just tension filled, the entirety of the argument seeming to rely on what words spilled out of her mouth next.

It always seemed to circle back to Marielle. Always. The woman was like goddamn herpes, you could never get rid of her. A combination of insecurities she would never vocalize and past (or maybe current, Tatum sure as hell didn’t know) feelings Zelda never wanted to divulge always brought them back to Marielle. “I don’t believe you.” The words were blurted in a murmur but the only sound in the car was the humming of the car engine, allowing Tatum’s words to be loud and clear. She didn’t believe her.

[tatumclark-blog]

MOODBOARD → TATUM CLARK [3/?]

[dcgny-blog]

None of the Morgana students could officially enter any of Hollental’s arena fights because of their guest status; not only that but if they did manage to find themselves fighting against an Ermengarde, a real one wherein they shook on it first, then they would likely die. But they could spar if they wanted, and training was compulsory either way. Dagny had been watching Adalwolfa and Brutus fight when, Agna, her aunt, had struck Tatum right across her face with such a force that the brunette had fallen flat on her ass more than a few inches from where she’d originally been standing. It’d taken all of Dagny’s attention, and for the next several minutes she’d watched their spar in concerned silence. Her family did not go easy, not for anyone. In fact, many of them forgot that a lot of the outsiders wouldn’t be able to take the sort of blows that they dealt; Dagny was frightened that one of them would end up dead sooner or later, accident or not. Eventually the fight ended, and when it did Dagny wasted no time in jumping over the barrier to follow after Tatum. With how long her legs were, and the elongated strides she took, it took only a minute. She noted the already bruising eye as she slowed to a stop, a slightly apologetic, if uneasy, smile appearing across her lips when she was addressed. “Dagny’s aunt was harsh on Tatum.” Dagny admitted, with a large hand coming to cup the back of her own neck. She rubbed at it. “But Tatum also has bad habit of thinking she is best fighter there is, so Dagny is… not surprised by what happened back there.”

[tatumclark-blog]

Tatum leaned back against the wall in silence, her fingers traced over bruised knuckles and her expression remained blank, almost disinterested not only because the last thing she wanted to talk about was why she lost but also because any major facial expressions came with a familiar stinging that coated the entirety of her face. Bruised knuckles and black eyes, no matter how alarming they looked at first sight were usually accompanied by a smug grin spread across the brunette’s face which assured anyone for miles that the other guy looked way worse than her. And Dagny was right, she was arrogant and at this point, expected to keep up her winning streak -- it came as no surprise her cockiness became her. Instead of agreeing, she glanced up at Dagny with raised brows, “Thanks.” If she sounded bitter, well, it was because she was: it’s one thing to get your ass handed to you and it’s another it beaten into another dimension in the fucking thunder dome. “It’s whatever.” She shrugged, pushing herself up off the floor. “My face’ll heal.” And so would her pride... Eventually. 

[zeldaniles-blog]

Zelda batted her lashes at Tatum but had no comeback, so she just smirked. “My superior driving skills is probably why I always beat your ass at Mario Kart, you know.” She glanced at her girlfriend. “That and you’re really bad at staying on Rainbow Road. Probably because of your crappy eyesight. Maybe you should try sitting closer to the television next time.” A nacho appeared in front of Zelda’s face, and she snatched it up between her teeth, humming her thanks as she tilted back her head and ate it. “Mm!” She swallowed. “You can’t tell me you weren’t impressed when I drove with my knees!” Zelda’s eyes read a sign they passed, and didn’t bother to flick on her indicator, nor check who was around her, before turning into a junction. Someone’s tires screeched behind them, followed by a horn and a couple angry voices. “At least it’s just my mom, not my mom and dad. Fucking asshole.” She murmured the last part, and shook her head. Then an abrupt laugh escaped her at Tatum’s words. “Oh she likes you alright. I feel like she already knows way too much about you, uh – not because I ever spoke about you a lot or anything.” Which was a lie; Zelda spoke about Tatum all the time to her mom, even before they’d started dating. “She’s just super nosy. Stalked you on, like, every social media outlet you’ve got. Also I’m pretty sure she’s told her friends about you.”

[tatumclark-blog]

At Zelda’s Rainbow Road comment, she stayed silent because, in all honesty, her girlfriend was probably right on that one. In a half assed admittance she gave a shrug in agreement before popping another chip into her mouth. "Oh yeah, completely. And the way you nearly swerved out of the lane? I was amazed -- why else would I make you pull over?” She smirked. At the honking and ambient groans of complaints coming from the cars behind them, Tatum instinctively stuck her middle finger out the window before continuing to speak, “So what you’re saying is your mom and I have never met but she’s already seen my ass.” She chuckled, effectively tip-toeing around the subject of Zelda’s dad mainly because she wasn’t sure how to approach it. Parents sucked -- she knew this but she also knew talking about had a tendency not to do shit but trace worn scars.

[tatumclark-blog]

Aside from the whole, being a mutant thing, which, admittedly, pushed her a bit past ‘ordinary’, Tatum could admit that she wasn’t a very talented person. A majority the things she excelled at were hardly PG-13 and the other was fighting. It was inevitable, really, growing up with six siblings she was forced to learn how to take a punch and she later found her power was put to much better use learning how to roundhouse than pirouette. She was good and she knew she was good -- which explained the dumbstruck look painted across her face when she felt herself fall flat on her ass after stepping into the ring at Hollental. It took her a moment to register the situation before rising back up to her feet only to get a punch squarely to the jaw. The cycle of spitting out blood and getting back up hadn’t stopped until she couldn’t feel her legs (and not in the good way). Out of all of it, the only thing she had walked away with was a black eye and tarnished pride.

Tatum is and would always be, above all, a sore loser. Which is why she usually preferred to win. So naturally, she had gone to be alone to lick her wounds and convince herself the whole thing was rigged but it seemed there was no place not crowded with people at Hollental, so at the sound of footsteps all she could do was roll her eyes and cover a bruise gracing her face. “Did you enjoy the show?” The brunette deadpanned.