I Just Keep Losing My Beat

A/N: Written for speedrent challenge #128 and got 3rd place...All right, all right, don't hate me, but in musicals, everybody sings, right? Even the characters that, were it not a musical, would most likely not be good singers. Well, in this non-musical world Rent, Mark can't sing. Like, at all. Just be warned. Also...I'm new to writing pretty much ANYTHING but angst, so bear with me as I delve into my lighter side.

Disclaimer: Rent belongs to Jonathan Larson, "Somebody to Love" belongs to Queen

"Oh my god, I used to love this song!" Mark exclaimed, excitedly turning up the radio in Roger's car as the 18-year-old guitarist sped recklessly down the 35 miles per hour streets of Scarsdale.

Roger smirked but refrained from commenting as Freddie Mercury's voice blared through the speakers. The song was at least ten years old and although it was undeniably a classic – well, it was Mark sitting beside him swaying to the music, mouthing the words along perfectly, his hands tapping against his leg in what was obviously an attempt to go with the rhythm even though he was on the off-beat...it was enough to make a musician cringe, watching Mark listening to Queen's "Somebody to Love."

He suppressed a laugh as he heard Mark attempt to accompany the radio softly...if he said he was trying to construct a complex counter-melody, it might have been slightly more believable, but as it was, Mark was almost a third off note-wise and blissfully unaware of the fact. Roger coughed in an attempt not to correct his friend, promising himself to stay silent about it and containing the laughter that swelled inside of him at every high note that he dramatically missed.

Mark, however, seemed to be enjoying himself completely, his off-key voice gaining more and more confidence as he belted out the last verse. "Got no feel, I got no rhythm, I just keeping losing my beat," he sang more loudly. Well, he's right about that, Roger thought, shaking his head.

Roger found himself watching Mark more than he was the road. Mark was essentially ignoring every basic rule about singing ever established, the rules that Roger had learned from early childhood in his voice lessons. Of course, not everyone had private voice lessons since age 7, that came with having a professional singer and vocal coach for an uncle, but still, to Roger these things seemed like common sense. He began to mentally critique Mark's performance of sorts...he was straining to get the higher notes (which he still missed), his breath placement was absolutely terrible and nowhere near low enough to be effective, he was pushing from his throat instead of letting the air flow out from his diaphragm...

"Can anybody find me...somebody toooooooooooo..."

Roger physically twitched at the horrendous sustainednote, praying fervently that the song would hurry up and be over, which it soon was.

Mark's face was red but happy as he took a few deep breaths to recover from his lack of breathing during the song. "Shit, isn't that a great song?" he sighed joyfully.

"Umm," Roger answered slowly, trying to find a good reply, "umm, yeah, the song is...really...good."

"Yeah, I've always loved it."

"So...Queen? I never would have suspected it from you of all people, Mark," he said, grinning. "A fucking Queen fan...wow."

Mark scowled darkly. "Don't make fun of Queen, Rog," he warned. "Just...don't."

"I wasn't going to make fun of them," he replied quickly, smirking. "They sound perfectly fine. I was just wondering, Mark – have you ever considered voice lessons?"