A year into their college career and both are surrounded by homework, stress, and... a lot of food.

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Maz © & Artwork:

Clyde ©, Riley © & Writing:

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The first year of college wasn’t a year. It wasn’t a set of full revolution of the sun. It wasn’t just a bit of time away from home learning things that they didn’t know. Clyde and Mazaku knew exactly what that first year of college was instead. It wasn’t twelve months, nor a bunch of classes and breaks and time spent wandering the large campus of NSU. It wasn’t hard; it was worse. It wasn’t fun; it was the opposite. It wasn’t a slog; it was slower and faster than that all in one whirlwind of molasses.

It was hell.

Clyde and Maz had stuck to their rules they had agreed on for exactly 72 hours. 3 days, and then the rules about keeping things clean, keeping dishes organized and food labeled, were thrown out. Clyde agreed after a full 24 hours of staying up and studying for the evening. Mazaku proposed it after the same studying session; both of them sharing almost an entire class schedule for their first year. One professor they shared seemed to have it out for freshman, and proposed a paper for their first week; a large, involved paper that needed sources and formatting and more research than they had likely ever done. The two found out about their shared schedules on the first day, the paper on the second, and by the third? They were done with rules and hatred for each other; they were too tired. Nothing in high school had prepared them for having to cook, clean up, manage money, study, do their laundry, and everything else… All on their own.

This wasn’t to say they weren’t ready. Mazaku had been handling most things on his own for a while, and Clyde had been raised to be independent not long after he had been born. They had been brought up in different environments, sure; Clyde with a nanny to ask for help and more money than he knew what to do with to fix anything that came in his way, and Maz with a brother who helped out whenever he was stuck. This difference didn’t mean much when it came to taking care of things though; they both knew how washers work, how dishes are cleaned, how to mop… So everything would get handled. But, they didn’t do things the same way. Arguments about dishes being cleaned and not dried, or the mop going in one bucket instead of two… Those were similarly ended after those 72 hours of introduction to what college would be. A full day of studying and writing and researching and working put an end to the strictness Clyde had imposed, as well as the good habits that Maz’s older brother, Vorax, had instilled in him.

By the end of the week? The whole rulebook was gone. Riley was over almost every night studying with them until 1 in the morning, Clyde had dropped some of his façade and was much less pompous, and Mazaku? Mazaku was just about to explode from the stress. Work, work, work… It was all work. There was no stopping it. One paper had already turned into 4 by the time that week ended. Three professors were on all of the trio’s shitlist for their teaching habits; telling stories instead of teaching topics. This made the homework basically the lesson, and the dragon and the llama were both struggling with this. Riley, who’s course load was slightly different but still somewhat similar given that the first year of college was more generalized… Well, he was going through the same kind of mess for his own classes. It was not one bit what the trio had expected going in to college, but now that they were there? They could see very, very quickly why old friends from high school had fallen off the face of the planet the second they had gotten into college.

Another thing that had fallen away from the stress of being in college was cooking. Steaks on the first night, fried chicken on the second, and then ordered food late at night for the rest of the nights. The school’s cafeteria was also a frequent stop; it could be studied in, and was easier than trekking back to the dorm between classes. The food there was passable, but it’s nutritional benefits were dubious at best. Clyde knew this, Mazaku knew this, and yet the two were there and eating as they studied. Both were somehow stress eaters, and the stress of being under a class load that was utterly overwhelming to them both? They ate a lot more than usual… And none of it was fresh cooked or salads like they had grown up on. It was a lapse, and both Clyde and Mazaku said they would be back to eating healthier next week; that was common ground for them both. Maz didn’t want to get fat, and Clyde didn’t want to have to worry about his clothes fitting… As well as avoiding getting fat. That too. It was just a lapse, a blip, and the two would adjust and get used to the work that they had been given to do. The pair weren’t going to stick with this diet and this amount of stress. Of course not; there would be no way for them to keep this going.

And yet… They didn’t change.

The first semester bled into the second, and the two weren’t making any changes. The kitchen had dust on the counters, dishes were piled into the sink, and most of the cooking implements hadn’t been used since that second day of classes. Clyde was annoyed every time he walked by the kitchen, but that annoyance was quickly turning into exhaustion. There was just no time; between trying to eat, getting a few hours of sleep, and then struggling to keep up with a class load that felt like it would kill him ate up every single second of the day; and made him wish he had a few more hours in the day. Maz was in the same boat for that, getting just as little sleep as Clyde and having to work through most of the same classes with the same homework, and the same issues. Things just weren’t getting easier. They were getting harder, if anything, as sleep deprivation and forgetting to eat was becoming more common. Sniff tests for clothes were quickly the norm, a couple bags of trash that took over the kitchen… The suite the pair shared was matching their exhaustion bit for bit as the year ground on.

Winter break was the solace they both needed, with Maz going home for the break to get away while Clyde stayed, cleaned, and got the house in order at long last. Both caught up on sleep, got through their studies and got caught up on some class work that they had fallen behind on. Really, it was a time to recharge, reflect, get things in order… And see some changes to the both of them. Specifically, weight, and the addition of it from their less than stellar diets at school. College food and the freshman 15 were normal, of course, but to Clyde at least? The llama immediately got angry and decided to start working out and going on a diet. Crunches, push-ups, walks, and whatever else he could do along the two weeks of break time that he had was what the llama did. The weight was just a little bit after all, maybe ten pounds or so, but it was enough on his tall frame to be noticeable, and to make all of his clothes a lot tighter than they had been. He had been ignoring this while struggling through classes and trying to get whatever sleep he could between papers and projects. Now, however, on break and able to see what all that had done to him, he wanted to fix it. He made a fitness plan, a diet plan, wrote it all down, and promised himself that he would stick to it.

Of course, that lasted as long as the rules had.

Nothing lasts when hit with college classes, and the working out made it three days into classes resuming for Clyde. Maz had returned and tried to keep his own workout and diet going too, but it wound up being merely the diet that the two were mostly able to keep up with because of their complete and utter lack of time. Salads were ordered, light workouts were tried on days that the two were at least somewhat ahead on their class work… But really, none of it stuck. The whole entire plan fell apart piece by piece, and by the end of their first month back from break, the two were back to burgers and pizzas and whatever else they could eat fast and with their hands. Studying and working took over, diets were forgotten, cleaning was brushed aside, and everything else fell away. All of it for studying, writing, tests, and just about anything else the two had to do.

Things went this way until spring break, which again was another call to arms for both Maz and Clyde in terms of getting their weight gain under control. Both needed new wardrobes, or at least part of them, as they had gained enough weight to go up a size in their clothes. Clyde was livid; a few of his designer items were expensive and not made in the next size up. Maz wasn’t too pleased either if he was honest because he had old sports clothes that he could no longer fit. Sure, they both had plenty of clothes because things were made larger and comfy relaxing clothes were much more the norm for them. But they had to toss things away, hiding them in closets and promising that they would lose weight to get back into shape. They both also promised to be cleaner, promised to diet, promised to study less and keep up on their lives more. It was a new year! They were closing in on being sophomores for Pete’s sake! They had to get a handle on their college lives, and get things sorted out so that they weren’t just constantly overwhelmed. Where was the partying, the lack of care, the freedom? Neither had seen it, just studying and keeping their grades amongst the top of their class so that they were getting the most out of the schooling. Something had to give so that they could keep lives, and keep their grades… But neither knew what.

Returned from spring break with renewed focus, plans for change, and promises to themselves to really keep up on their weight loss and their balance of school and life, the two felt like new students all over again. Two weeks away, to just get their heads and space in order, was plenty for them both. There had been some teasing about their new weight at home, sure, but neither had taken it lying down. Maz had been going for jogs every day of spring break, and Clyde had spent hours on his bike every day too. They had lost weight because of this, not much, but enough that they both were feeling like new furs as they went back into their dorm, cleaned it up in relative silence, and then went to their rooms tog et back to work. This felt different. Winter break had been one thing, just their first time to get a break, but this time? They knew what they were going to face. They were ready. They were strong. They could totally do this and would lose their weight and get back into fighting shape in no time!

Except, they didn’t.

“Mazaku, do you have the notes from Stevenson’s class?” Clyde asked, turning towards the horned dragon with a heavy sigh. The llama looked exhausted as he did, his eyes drooping and large bags under them. Maz, for his part, didn’t look any better; puffy scales and a light frown on the dragon’s face.
“Yeah, one sec…” Maz replied, sending the notes over to Clyde’s laptop via their shared server that themselves and Riley had set up to share all their work with one another to help each other through class.

“Oh, shit, I needed those too Maz, thanks,” Riley said, the roo looking just as exhausted as the other two. None of them had slept well since getting back from spring break, and they were really starting to flag in their late night study session. Yet another late night study session.

“You have the notes from LeGrange, right Riley? Can I see those too please. Ferguson has something that overlaps with both those and I wanted to get all that in.” Clyde said, running a paw over his face to try and wake himself up. The llama reached over and took a long sip of his coffee, loaded with sugar and cream just like he liked it. Sure, it was horrible for him; the llama didn’t dare think of how many calories were in the thing. However, he also didn’t dare think of what would happen if he couldn’t get that liquid elixir of energy and flavor into his body. Past his cream-colored lips and down into his stomach, along with the two muffins he had scarfed down earlier, Clyde sighed and just gave a light shake of his head. The hooved fuzzball knew what he was doing to himself; he wasn’t on his salad and fruit diet by any stretch, but this was just one slip. Just one little misstep; he wasn’t as bad as Mazaku! That dragon had a burger sitting on his table still! A burger! Muffins were totally less terrible for him, and he could justify them saying that they had coffee flavor in them, and they would help keep him awake.

Still, this was a cop-out and he knew it. Mazaku was looking at his food the same way that Clyde was; forlorn and annoyed, but still needing it despite what it was doing to him. Riley was the only one not doing that in the small study space, down in the lower floor of the dorm rooms. The roo was instead intently munching on a celery stick and working through his latest bit of classwork, humming away and sounding almost content. It made Clyde angry… How could the roo not have gained a single pound, and yet he was putting on weight. Maz, for his part, was so envious of Riley’s fast metabolism and complete dislike of anything meat that his green scales seemed apt for that moment. Neither spoke to the roo about it, but… Well, their weight gain was getting hard to ignore. Riley was never one to ignore things either, and had brought up their softening frames a couple times in some light teasing. Neither Maz nor Clyde had taken that well, so the roo had stopped… But, today was a bit different.

“Say, Clyde, Maz, you two up for a picture?” Riley asked, getting a frown from the both of them.

“No,” they said in unison, but the roo already had his camera up to his face and was looking at the pair as they studied. Maz noticed, perking up and trying to suck in his stomach. Clyde, however, was still focused on his studying and slouched in his chair. The question he was working on was a doozy, and he would need at least an hour to really get to the root of the whole thing.

CLICK

“Damnit Riley…” Clyde said, turning to face the roo and frowning in annoyance. Riley just grinned and pulled out the next polaroid from his camera, shaking it a few times and then grinning with pride as he looked at the picture. “I said no pictures, please.”

“You two look so dejected and bored.” Riley said, studying the picture. “I got an assignment to get a picture that shows college life, and this one definitely shows it you two.” Riley then grinned again, still getting the stink eye from both Maz and Clyde. “The weight barely shows though, so I don’t think you two need to worry about that.”

“Riley…” Clyde said, his tone low and voice showing some anger in it. “Didn’t we agree you’d shut up about that? Not all of us are as gifted with a metabolism as you are.”

“Yeah, Riley, can you not talk about that?” Maz asked, less annoyed than Clyde but clearly not liking it. The roo held up his paws in surrender and smiled, looking just a bit regretful of his choice but not at all ready to apologize for it.

“Sorry, sorry, I won’t say anything else. Just sayin’ that it’s not as bad as you two think it is, so maybe don’t focus so much on that. I mean, you two are like… The top two in our class. So why stress over something like a few pounds?”

“Because I don’t want a few pounds,” Clyde replied, his annoyance still showing through heavily. He had calmed down in the near-year since the trio had met, less pompous and full of himself, but he still had quite the temper. The llama sat up and fluffed up the collar on his shirt; he refused to not wear a collar because that would be beneath his standing. The collar fluffing was always what happened before the llama went on a tear too, so Maz sank back into his seat, turned towards Clyde, and waited to see what the llama was going to be mad about this time. Well, Maz knew what Clyde was mad about this time to be fair, and the dragon wasn’t too plussed about it either. Still… This was going to be good.

“I can’t fit my favorite shirts, I feel slower and less like myself, I hate every time I eat, and you keep poking that with me and Mazaku. I know that he doesn’t like this either, and yet you not only aren’t putting on a pound, but you’re pointing out that we are.” Clyde lowered his hands to his stomach and pat it a couple times for emphasis. The llama had a small potbelly, nothing large or noticeable, but a far cry from the flat stomach he had started the year on. A few pounds was little, but it was noticeable… And it felt just wrong to have that softness around his stomach. Another couple pats, and then the llama looked up at Riley with the same frown. “Don’t bring it up again. If you want to bring up weight, then tell me how to lose all this so that I can start dressing how I wish to.” Clyde finished, and then turned back to his work without another word. A shorter rant than his usual, but his low tone and stern words had definitely sucked the air out of the room.

“Sorry, I won’t bring it up…” Riley said after a few moments, looking at the picture and then sighing. The roo clearly hadn’t meant to make Clyde that upset; the two were begrudgingly friends after all. Still, the kangaroo had overstepped, and Clyde was right to be angry. “More veggies help, like apples and stuff. And if you can get a home ec elective in next year, that will help too. Cooking in class means less ordering out. I’ve been taking it so I don’t have to order out like, ever.”

“Huh,” Maz said, and then gave a bit of a nod. “I don’t really know how to cook, so… Not a bad idea, right Clyde?”

“Yeah, not too bad Riley. I do know how to cook though, so if we actually use our kitchen instead of just doing nothing, it would have the same effect.” Clyde replied, still focused on his work as he sat there.

“Well, use that kitchen then. I can help too; I’ve been learning a lot about cooking.”

“Well alright, I suppose you can cook for us at some time then Riley,” Clyde replied, getting a grin from Maz.

“Rad, fresh food.”

“Definitely, you’ll both like what I can make.” Riley replied, the green-and-pink kangaroo almost bouncing in excitement as he had soothed all the drama and made the two less stressed as a result. His bright colors seemed a bit more vibrant too with that happiness, his green eyes sparkling as he seemed to be planning dishes already. Clyde wasn’t paying attention, lost in his classwork, but Maz grinned at Riley and gave a nod to the excitable roo.

“Well, what can you make?” Maz asked after a few moments of bouncy Riley, getting a beaming grin in reply.

“Well, I know some soups and some pasta dishes, I just made a really good pasta sauce with vegan noodles, stir fry stuff… I mean like, whatever you could want for things that can be made in one pan. I haven’t mastered stuff that’s complicated like big burgers, and I haven’t worked with any meat or anything, but like I can make a few baked good like muffins and cross-“

“Riley, uhm…” Maz said, getting a bit of a concerned look from the dragon. “Can you not tell me all that right now? You’re making me hungry.” Clyde’s stomach gurgled in agreement, loud in the silence of the studying room. The llama blushed furiously at this, almost seeming to shrink down into his crème-colored fur. His tan paws went right to his face to try and hide his blush, but Maz and Riley both began to giggle like cubs. Clyde just shrank down more into himself, trying to face away from that moment of embarrassment. Nothing could hide over 6 feet of llama though, so Clyde was forced to face up to his body’s demands and just sighed after a couple more moments of hiding.

“Yes, Riley, please don’t talk like that… You heard what that does to me too.”

“Oh yeah, we heard Clyde… Why don’t you eat another muffin though. We can start on that diet tomorrow.”

Oh how naïve they were.