boys do what they can

[rylan christopher hudson]

.

for the most part, rylan was a responsible person. he got things done on time, and he took care of whatever was asked of him. however, as he sat on a stool he’d pulled up to the kitchen counter in his shared apartment, he was starting to feel incredibly irresponsible. the past few days around the apartment had been hard. no, there was no fighting going on between him and his girlfriend or him and max. that hardly happened anyway, seeing as rylan wasn’t the fighting type. no. the problem was actually rather simple. they had run out of food. rylan and max could go through food quite quickly, but that was to be expected from two boys who frequently had the munchies. (we’ll not get into the reasoning behind that just yet.) currently he was sitting with a pen in hand and a small piece of paper in front of him. the paper was blank, as was his mind when it came to sitting down to make out a grocery list. it was hopeless. how was he supposed to know what he’d be in the mood for later tonight, tomorrow, or the next day? finally out of a small amount of frustration, he pushed himself off of the stool and headed into his bedroom.

one of the essential things he needed to do before going to the store was to get himself ready. it was around one in the afternoon, but rylan was still in his boxers from the night before. why did he need to change before he left the apartment? surely his roommates wouldn’t care if he just walked around in his boxers for a while. after all, he was living with his best friend and girlfriend. it wasn’t like the two of them hadn’t seen it before. if he were honest, max had probably seen it more than his girlfriend. that just meant he was comfortable with his friend though, which was a rather good thing in rylan’s opinion. plus he was the only one in the apartment at the moment. he wasn’t too sure where the other two were, mostly because he never asked questions. they had their own lives and business, just like he had his. if they had something to do, then who was he to stop them?

he stepped into his room with a yawn, stretching to touch the top of the door frame as he passed through. once inside he stopped and looked around, observing the area as if he wasn’t too sure where he was. in reality, he just wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do first. there was a pair of jeans sitting in the corner, most likely tossed before he got into bed the night before. walking over to them, he picked them up and held them to his nose for a second, breathing in their scent. they smelled fine to him, so with that he pulled them on and buttoned them before heading to the bathroom. his hair was a mess, still tangled and pushed in all sorts of directions from sleep. running a hand through his hair, he sighed. it would probably be best to wash it, but he didn’t really feel like taking an entire shower. so with that in mind, he turned the faucet in the tub on and stuck his head underneath it. it was quick, easy, and it made him feel clean. after washing his hair, he grabbed for a towel and got as much water out of his hair as he could. even at that, he still had to take a dryer to it. it didn’t take too long though, and he was soon back in the bedroom looking for a shirt to pull on. in the end, he ended up going through his closet before pulling out a random t-shirt and pulling it over his head. satisfied with himself, he headed back into the bathroom to brush his teeth before grabbing his shoes and heading out the door.

on his way to his car, he pulled his phone from his pocket so he could shoot max a quick text. hey man, i’m heading to the store to pick up some food. meet me there in ten? going grocery shopping by himself seemed a little odd and boring. plus, he really had no idea what he was wanting to buy thanks to his failure of a shopping list. at the very least, max would be able to help him pick out some foods. maybe he had a better grasp on his cravings than rylan did, although rylan really doubted that. who actually had a grasp on their cravings? he pulled into walmart with a small sigh, not exactly looking forward to the battle that was held within it. however, he was in desperate need for some food. just last night he’d experienced the horrible feeling of having the munchies without any food available. it was at that moment that he broke and decided he really needed to go shopping. typically, he wasn’t the one who did this. if he could, he’d leave it to his girlfriend. it seemed like a girl thing to do. shaking his head, he stepped out of his car and headed to the door where he hoped to meet max.

884 words for tati as max. wow this sucks.

template by eliza @ shadowplay

[maxwell orion monroe]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://www.swimchick.net/resources/stock/ls1.jpg), border: solid #ffffff 5px; width: 400px; height: 500px;] max hadn't lived on his own in his entire life. whether it was with his parents, or with friends, or with other random family members, he always lived with someone. it wasn't because he couldn't take care of himself, because most of that time he did spend on his own, or with other people who weren't contributing to the rent. he was just always with people, always needing company. besides, living with rylan was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to him. he had a built in best friend, roommate, drug buddy, everything. even with rylan's girlfriend living in their los angeles apartment as well, it was never awkward. just fun, to be living with his best friend in the entire world. he no longer had to smoke a solo bowl when it was three am and he wanted to toke up... he could just knock on the door next to his and make rylan come outside with him, or convince his girlfriend to hit the bong with him. the two were perhaps the most chill boys in the entire universe, usually high and always in bliss. he had gotten up early that morning, one of his other friends had invited him over to try their new gravity bong and there was no way max could pass up an offer like that. afterwards he hung out on the beach for a little bit, explored the city. he was always moving, always finding some new adventure to go on. he liked to live day by day, rather than paying much attention to what the future held. his parents had instilled that mindset into him. to live every day as if it was his last, to do what made him happy and to not bother with whatever negative crap was going on, because tomorrow was always a new day. yes, they were full of helpful cliches. when he recieved rylan's text, he was laying in the sand at the beach, basking in sun rays, getting a nice summer glow that he had missed so much. he was a kid who thrived off of sunlight, and spent nearly every moment outdoors if he could. he wasn't the most sports oriented, no, but if he could be at a bonfire, or having a picnic in the park? yep, he'd be there no questions asked. no problem. he replied, thinking back to the last time he had examined the cupboards in the house. oh, it was true, the two boys went through food faster than he would ever imagine. not only were they young men, but they were usually high, and max was full of all sorts of culinary highdeas, which usually lead to disaster, or at least used half the food in their cupboards. max tried to be healthy, he usually bought organic and didn't really like fast food, but he was also always on the go, and half the time wasn't home long enough to cook a proper meal. whenever he was at the apartment, he was either hanging out with rylan or sleeping, as he did spend quite a lot of time at the recording studio, or walking around the city looking for inspiration in every nook and cranny. max got up out of the sand, brushing off as much as he could from his jeans, and walked over to his car. god, he hadn't gone grocery shopping in forever. and whenever he did, it was usually just to pick up a couple of items he needed for whatever he was planning on cooking that night, not restocking their home. he honestly hadn't done this in years, and the last time he could actually remember spending over ten dollars at the store was when he was helping his mom buy food for thanksgiving... this was going to be an adventure for sure. he sped over to the mart, not wanting to keep rylan waiting. rylan was honestly one of the only people in the world that max trusted with his entire life, and he hated being any kind of inconvinience to him. he parked out front and walked over to the main entrance, spying rylan walking up from the other direction. "hey man!" he waved, making sure he wasn't going to hit anyone as he flailed his arm in the air. "alright, i'm warning you, i haven't gone grocery shopping in... forever. this could be a disaster." he chuckled at himself, knowing that it was all in good fun. max was an adult now, and even though he still acted like a dumb teenager sometimes, he knew he had to do adult things every once in a while. whether it be paying his bills, or getting his oil changed in his car, or just getting out to the dang super market, these things needed to be done. this was yet another reason why he had such a good roommate - rylan wasn't going to let them starve tonight, especially since he assumed the plan was going to be the same as every night. smoke, eat, watch a movie, pass out on the couch. predictable. NICOLE - 854 - LOVE THIS FRIENDSHIP

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[rylan christopher hudson]

.

one thing rylan knew not to do before going shopping for food was to get high. it was tempting, very tempting. in all honesty, he’d probably do it someday. someday soon, actually. it would be highly amusing to see what he got home with whenever he was walking around a grocery store with the munchies. however, when he was going shopping to completely restock the apartment, it didn’t seem like the best idea. see, there’s that responsibility again. he had it. he truly did. it was just whether or not he really wanted to use it that mattered. a lot of the time just chilling with a blunt or a bong was a lot more appealing than doing anything even close to responsible. living with max just made that so much easier too. whenever one of them wanted to smoke, the other normally would too. if both of them were home, there was no such thing as smoking alone. it was a lot more fun that way though, and rylan was always glad to have max’s company. high or not. when rylan had first mentioned the idea of living with max to some of his family, they’d been against it. it wasn’t that they had anything against max. they didn’t, at all. it was just that everyone had heard horror stories about how living with your best friend could ruin a friendship. that wasn’t anything he’d been worried about though, because he knew that living together would be good for them. and he was right. the two of them were probably closer now than they were before.

it was no surprise that max agreed to meet him at the super market. not only was max highly reliable to rylan, he was highly reliable when it came to food. there was no doubt in rylan’s mind that max would soon be on his way to meet him, and the text message he received only proved him right. now all he had to do was figure out what kind of stuff they needed to buy. between the two of them, max was the healthy one. rylan typically let his stomach lead him to whatever food he ate, and it wasn’t always the healthiest thing in the world. while max was eating his organic food, rylan was eating a big mac and some chicken nuggets. rylan could devour some chicken nuggets. that’s why this whole shopping trip was going to end up being interesting. at the least. yeah, they’d probably find a way to eventually agree on some food. or they’d just end up buying both. another problem rylan had was his concept of money. he knew that when you spent it, you didn’t have it anymore but that didn’t really matter to him. he never really thought things through. his laidback attitude toward life always had him living in the now, no matter how much that hurt his pocket. somehow, he always managed to stay on top of things. it wasn’t like he was hurting for money. sure, he could definitely be a lot better off. but he was happy the way he was.

walking up to the entrance with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, rylan let out a small sigh. why had they let themselves get so low on food? he had no idea how to shop for groceries, what to look at, and all of those other important things. hopefully max knew more than he did. speaking of max, he saw the other boy walking toward him, waving as they approached each other. ”hey,” he greeted with a bright grin, hands still deep in his pockets. the next thing out of max’s mouth wasn’t exactly what rylan was hoping to hear, but it was something he’d have to deal with. the two boys would manage. somehow. ”yeah, i haven’t either.” he removed one of his hands from his pocket, ruffling his hair a bit. maybe he should have tried harder on that list. at least then they’d have some idea of what they’d need to go looking for. ”i guess we can just get a cart and pick out random things.” it seemed like the best idea. they could start in the front and work their way back, picking out the things that seemed important and of course the things they just wanted.

turning to head inside the store, rylan motioned for max to follow him. hopefully the people inside didn’t realize exactly how lost the two of them were. they probably did though, seeing as two guys in their early twenties weren’t exactly fit for grocery shopping. as long as they didn’t cause some huge scene, things should go somewhat smoothly. rylan gave the greeter a small nod before taking one of the carts and pushing it out of the other shopper’s way, turning to max. ”i figure we can just go look around and find some stuff. i tried to make a list, but i couldn’t come up with anything.” he gave a half-hearted shrug, knowing that max probably wouldn’t expect anything more from him. ”all i know is i want some of those chewy chips-ahoy cookies. i’m not leaving this place without them.” that’s probably how this whole trip was going to go. even when he wasn’t high, rylan usually went for the sweeter foods. that’s why he needed max here with him. the healthy one in this friendship would probably have to straighten him out just a bit.

916 words for tati as max. wow this sucks.

template by eliza @ shadowplay

[maxwell orion monroe]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://www.swimchick.net/resources/stock/ls1.jpg), border: solid #ffffff 5px; width: 400px; height: 500px;] max followed his best friend into the grocery store, trailing behind him has rylan pushed the cart. the last time he was in contact with a grocery cart he was pushing his buddy around in it, high as a fucking kite, in the middle of a parking lot. this was a lot different though, shopping was serious business. he looked around at all of the various customers, most of them in their early thirties, some of them with babies, some of them as old as eighty. he didn't see anyone their age.. maybe they were smart enough to not run out of food? "yeah, sounds like a plan. i don't think i could have made a list either, i don't even... know what you're supposed to have in a standard kitchen." he laughed half heartedly, looking around at the different aisles, trying to figure out where to even start. oh, adulthood was a drag sometimes. "cookies? alright. oh god, we should get some peaches... and some hummus! not together. but yeah." fuck, maybe shopping after smoking wasn't a good idea after all, he felt like he could purchase the entire store and still not have everything he wanted. oh, stoner problems. he could feel his stomach grumbling underneath his shirt, and put a hand over his belly to shush the beast. he could at least wait until they got home, he was always iffy on grocery store rules and felt uncomfortable opening things before paying for them. max walked in front of the cart, heading for the fruit aisle. it was no secret he was kind of a health nut, or at least, tried to be. max always took his vitamins, he exercised regularly, and he ate his spinach, all to make up for the cigarettes and weed that he smoked on the daily. he had to make up for his vices somehow, otherwise he'd turn into old hippie slobs like his parents. he loved them dearly, but neither one of them really knew how to take care of themselves, and well, even if being an adult wasn't really fun for max, he definitely wasn't planning on croaking any time soon. he wanted to be eighty years old and still cool, still fit, still smoking weed... and he knew you couldn't get that way by letting yourself go. "uhh... will you eat this?" max held up a bag of corn, wondering how it was possible that he lived with rylan but had no idea what he would eat and what he wouldn't. he knew rylan had a sweet tooth, but he also wanted to make sure rylan lived a long and healthy life by his side... maybe he needed to invest in a cookbook and start cooking more meals in the apartment, yes. he added that to his mental to do list and carried on. "how about these?" he threw a bag of cherries into the cart, hoping that rylan's sugar cravings could be fulfilled by some sweet fruit, rather than by lots of sweets filled with high fructose corn syrup. if there was ever a time max wished his mom was around to give him some advice, it would be now. what was the best way to compromise on food? as a child he had always been more of a fan of fruits than chocolate, and never really saw the appeal of burgers and fries. yes, he was an odd child to say the least. he wondered what this trip would turn into, or if they'd end up running up a grocery bill of over two hundred dollars and calling it good for the next month or so. he grabbed a few peaches, some apples, and a few other random fruit and stuck them in the cart, knowing he would want to eat them the minute they got back in the car. peaches were his weakness for sure. "alright, i suppose we should find some... real food...." he tried to mentally picture their kitchen back home, what had gone where, which cupboards were filled with what. it was a struggle for him though, he had the memory span of a goldfish. he couldn't even remember what he had added to his mental checklist just a few minutes ago, let alone what they could be missing back at the house. "oh, and what does your girl want? i can never remember if she's a picky eater or not." he laughed, realizing that even though he lived with rylan and his girlfriend, he could never remember the most trivial details about them or their preferences. he got everything so mixed up in his head all the time, he could barely even remember his own birthday. "milk? butter?" he thought out loud, again trying to remember what the contents of their fridge looked like. oh well, if they ended up with extra of anything, there was no doubt it would end up eaten by the end of the week. NICOLE - 827 - LOL SORRY THIS SUCKS

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[rylan christopher hudson]

.

as hard as he tried, rylan couldn’t even begin to picture the way the cabinets back at the apartment had once been arranged. you’d think this would be an easy task, but seeing as the boy never really paid attention when he went to grab food, it wasn’t all that shocking. this was probably why he’d failed to notice that they were running out of food to begin with, which led to this whole disaster of a shopping adventure. he had the cart, max close behind. the people passing them seemed to be a lot more in place than the two of them were. what made them do this with ease while rylan was struggling to figure out what he needed? was it an age thing? surely not. people their age lived alone all the time, thus they had to go shopping too. ”yeah, i don’t either. have we even gone shopping before? i thought our cabinets grew food or something.” he shrugged slightly, knowing that their cabinets didn’t really grow food but still confused about how they’d gone so long without restocking. maybe, well most likely, his girlfriend took care of it without acknowledging the two of them. it was probably better that way though. ”peaches and hummus?” rylan rolled his eyes before settling them back on his friend, who was quite obviously still floating a bit. it was at this point that rylan realized max would be no help to him. not that he would have been much help with his feet completely on the ground either.

soon enough, max had taken the lead, and rylan was making his way behind him. it was no shock that this lead him into the fruit and other wise “healthy” section of the store. even with the munchies, max tended to lean on the healthy side. it was something that had always fascinated rylan, seeing as high or not, he almost always went for things like marshmallows, graham crackers, and a hershey’s bar. yes. that would be the combination for a smore. once, rylan had attempted to make smore over the oven in their apartment. it hadn’t worked in his favor, and he’d ended up making a mess of things. glancing at the bag of corn, he gave it a small shrug. ”maybe if someone cooked it, but i wouldn’t go out of my way to make it for myself.” rylan was a man of ease in everything, especially his foods. when he was hungry, he wanted quick and easy access. there was no waiting around to cook something when it came to him. however, if someone was going to cook something, he’d be one of the first to dive into it. he would never pass up good cooking, no matter what it was.

leaning against the cart, rylan watched as max started tossing various foods into it. cherries were good, and they were pretty easy access too. all he had to do was pop open the jar and pull the cherry off the stem. ”yeah, i’ll eat those.” actually, he’d probably just take the jar and eat all of them in one sitting. they probably wouldn’t last long once he got to smoking. max was still grabbing random fruits and tossing them into the cart, so rylan took this as his opportunity to grab some things he wanted. just an aisle or so over was the freezer section, full of ice cream and other frozen goods. somewhat sneakily, rylan crept away from max and started filling his arms with as much as he could hold. he grabbed some fudge cars, drumsticks, a box of strawberry toaster strudles, and a bag of freeze pops before heading back to where he’d left max. dropping the items into the cart, rylan arrived just in time to catch what max was saying to no one. he probably hadn’t even realized that rylan had snuck away. ”uh yeah. real food.” he ran a hand through his hair and looked around as if he was looking for which way to go next, although he could really care less at this point. he had his junk food, and he actually wanted to gather some more of it. however, deep down he knew that max was right, and they probably needed to go find some food to eat at meals and the like.

when asked about his girlfriend, rylan realized that he really had no idea. you’d think he’s know what his own girlfriend preferred to eat, but it wasn’t something he paid a lot of attention to. ”uh... i don’t think she’s picky...” he tried to think about it, but nothing really came to him. typically whenever they ate together, he just let her fix whatever she wanted. if they went out to eat, she always ordered her own food and he never paid much attention to it. it was all trivial to him. ”she’ll eat whatever we bring back. or she’ll go get something herself. it’s fine.” with that he shrugged it off, figuring if she didn’t like what they got she could come back and get things herself. she would probably do a better job of it anyway. ”milk and butter sounds logical,” he agreed with a nod. it seemed like the typical thing that you’d find in a fridge. ”what about cereal and eggs and pancakes and stuff?” maybe if he went through the meals of the day, rylan could figure this all out. it seemed like a good idea. so he started with breakfast, then he could work his way up.

928 words for tati as max. mehhh.

template by eliza @ shadowplay