Disclaimer: RENT is the wonderful creation of Jonathan Larson, as Les Miserables is that of Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schonberg, and Alain Boubil.

Act I, Scene I

Tune Up #1
Voicemail #1
Tune Up#2

From here on in I shoot without a script
See if anything comes of it
Instead of my old shit

When Ferre opened his first gift, the one his sister all the way in Scarsdale mailed him, his eyes widened and he looked like a little kid entering Disneyland for the first time. His roommate, Gabe, had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when he excitedly and carefully took the 16mm Bolex out of it's box, practically jumping with joy.

He immediately started tinkering with it, ready to use it. He hadn't owned a camera this good ever since he moved to Brooklyn, they've been dirt broke ever since. As their usual toast proclaimed, We're hungry and frozen! to which is roommate replied with a cleverly crafted rhyme: Some life that we've chosen!

While he set up his Bolex, his roommate was intent on finishing a speech. The usual things he wrote about; revolution, anarchy, justice. He had a 'performance' later tonight at the tent city next to their apartment building, along with another friend of theirs. Had he even eaten yet? Ferre wondered this, it passed by his mind quickly as he read the description on the box.

The Bolex is the 16mm film camera of choice for the film student and avant-garde filmmaker alike. In addition to its relatively small size, the Bolex is powered by a spring-wound motor, which makes it highly portable. We have a wide range of prime lenses available, as well as three Angenieux zoom lenses. We also have a large selection of filters and accessories that take advantage of the Bolex's potential for creativity.

He would've let out a squeal of happiness but he knew that if he did, Gabe would never let him live it down.

He carefully pulled out the camera, and carefully placed it on top of their table, as if it were a precious jewel that would break any second, just by touching the counter. Next, he got the instruction manual, and started reading, following each instruction precisely. He wasn't going to break this camera, it was the best one he's had in years.

Finally, he heard a click. He grinned to himself, rather mischievously. He aimed the lens at the wonderful view their 'crapartment' had, the one thing that made up for the shitty quality of their living area.

"December 24th! 9pm, Eastern Standard Time!" he proclaimed, "From here on in, I shoot without a script." He was still grinning broadly, like at any moment he could explode into a thousand little Ferres, which would of course, be hell for Gabe. Speaking of him...

The next thing the anarchist knew, the camera was aimed at him. The camera panned on his Apollo-istic face, with blonde curls and striking blue eyes. He wore his favorite red jacket, and ink blotches stained his fingers from writing his speech. He had a scowl on his face. Most women found him to be extraordinarily handsome, but Gabe never gave them much mind. Ferre himself gave up all hope on his roommate's love life, and stopped trying to set him up with a girl.

"Viewers, presenting Gabriel Enjolras! He's the only son to wealthy Upper East Siders, Enjolras family. Right now, he could be chilling in the Hamptons with his parents and sister, but instead he's here with me in our little apartment because he decided to play revolutionary." he said, with a kind of effect to his voice, trying to sound a bit like a voiceover.

Gabe was torn between either laughing or glaring at his roommate; he chose the latter. He looked up and tried pushing the camera away, and Ferre looked absolutely horrified somebody tried hurting his 'baby'. Still, Gabe managed to steal the camera from him. He didn't know how to zoom out, so the view was directly Ferre's face. He was smiling though annoyed, too happy about the gift not to, showing dimples that were quite frankly, adorable as his sister said. He had messy brown hair and brown eyes framed by glasses; he always wore a scarf to keep the cold out, and sometimes even did despite it being scorching hot.

"Viewers," Gabe attempted to mock his weird voice-over tone, but failed. "Time to meet your brilliant director!" he said, "This is Ferre, his real name's Ferris but he hates it and insists we all call him Ferre. He dropped out of a Philosophy course in NYU, and decided to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. Recently he broke up with–"

Thankfully, the phone rang to stop him from completing that sentence. Ferre's face was already red with embarrassment, and made a note to never attempt to film his roommate again lest this happen once more.

Gabe was smirking triumphantly. Despite Ferre's instant reaction to throttle him, he smiled at this. Ever since the end of the April-era, he's turned from Apollo to marble statue. It was a nice sight to see him display some sort of emotion.

He grinned at their answering tone. It was cool, in his opinion, and it had been his idea to use it. The familiar sound of their voices played.

SPEEEEEAAAK!

He smiled, but it soon faded once he heard the voice on the other side of the line. "Ferre? Are you there? I don't even know if this is working! That was a very loud beep!" He bit his lip. "It's mom!"

At this, he groaned in annoyance. "Did you get Cindy's gift? Isn't it so thoughtful of her?" Like the rest of his life, favoritism towards his sister was clearly and blatantly expressed. "Ferry, we miss you here. You're all the way in Brooklyn, and it's Christmas tomorrow, sweetie! Have you ever thought of coming home? We miss you!" she hesitated, and then continued talking. "I'm also really sorry to hear about your break-up with Faye, she was such a nice girl too bad–"

In one swift move, the message was promptly deleted.

It was a while before the phone started ringing again, Gabe was already in the zone and Ferre was busy giving the viewers a tour of their crapartment. They let the answering machine get it again.

SPEEEEEAAAK!

"I'm back!" The voice shouted, and while Ferre's eyes lit up with joy, Gabe banged his head on the desk he was writing his speech on. "Did you miss your dear, dear, friend?" Gabe hastily walked to the phone and picked it up.

"No." he answered, simply and coldly. Ferre rolled his eyes playfully and turned off his camera, setting it carefully on his spot of the couch.

"Gabe answered the phone?

The sound he could hear on the other line was nothing but laughter, which of course made Gabe let out a sigh of exasperation and return to his work. "Now it's me. Don't mind Apollo." Ferre said, "I'm expecting a wild night ahead of me?"

"Bring Apollo along with you." the voice replied, "God knows he needs it." Ferre nodded even though he couldn't see him. "Now throw down the key!"

Rob Grant was their friend and roommate. He was a professor at NYU, by far the most successful out of all of them. He had curly black hair topped by his favorite red beanie and blue eyes. He arrived post-April, but became a vital part of their little family nonetheless. He had a bit of a drinking problem, but the only one who really minded was Gabe. Rob idolized his Apollo, but it was clear that Gabe thought him to be nothing but an annoyance.

The phone was still held to his ear while he was looking for the key, when he heard a scuffle-type of sound and Rob's muffled voice on the other line. "Rob? Hey, you okay?"

Silence.

He rushed to the view the apartment had, their tiny little balcony and found the telephone in the booth hanging by its cord, with nobody inside. Of course, he panicked. He rushed to grab a coat, ready to look for his friend.

Gabe was eating, finally, but he spared Ferre a quizzical and questioning look. Ferre assured him it was nothing, just thankful that he was eating his first meal of the day at 9pm. In his rush, his glasses fell off the bridge of his nose. Ferre rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed, and bent down to pick them up, in a rush. The phone rang again, but this time, they didn't let the machine get it. Ferre picked it up and held it to his left ear.

"Ho, ho, ho!" The person had an unmistakeable voice.

Ferre's eyes widened, and covered the speech input part of the phone. "It's Marcus!" he whisper-shouted to his roommate. Gabe's eyes narrowed and darted to the ground, and his food went back to being ignored.

"Shit!" he cursed. He ran over and put the phone on loudspeaker, as Marcus continued talking.

Marcus Pontmercy used to be their friend. He, Gabe, Marius and Faye had lived together, until Marius got a girlfriend. Her name was Nicolette Levant, but liked to be called Colette for short, and she was the daughter of their landlord. Ferre had no idea whether he genuinely loved Colette, or if he just sold out by marrying her and joining the Manhattan elite. He moved out soon after, his spot was taken by Rob and everything was going fine between the five of them. As his friends, he promised that they wouldn't have to pay rent, or at least, not so expensively.

He lied.

"Guys, I'm on my way!" he said in a cheerful tone, "I need the rent."

Gabe glared at the phone. "Great," he muttered sarcastically, then in a louder voice; "What rent?"

Marcus replied quickly. "This past year's which I let slide!" he said as if it were pretty obvious, and of course, it was. Ferre could almost imagine him driving to the dingy little building, fixing his brown hair, determination in his grey eyes. The very thought of him made Ferre want to puke. He wasn't their friend anymore.

"You said we were golden!" Ferre protested, "When you bought the building, when we were roommates? Remember?"

"How could I forget..." Marcus muttered in reply, "Point is, mon amis, rent is due. If you don't pay, then I'll have to evict you." Gabe scowled, though he had never liked Marcus in the first place, it still irked him that someone who used to be their friend ended up having to say that sentence to them. "Be there in a while." The line was cut, majority of electricity in their apartment followed suit.

The power blows.

Up Next

RENT
You Okay Honey?

Author's Note: This is the first in my series of AU's, which will feature characters from Les Miz in different musicals we all know and love. I don't know whether to start on my next one already, and have alternating updates for this and the other or to wait until I finish this. Your thoughts?

I hope you like this. I'm a big Mizzie and RENThead, and the thought of Enjolras, Combeferre, Grantaire and the others in a RENT universe was very, very excitifying for me. :) You can still read this if you haven't watched RENT though!

This is my first fic, so I'm hoping that I'm doing something right. Please, review and tell me how to improve! Can I hope for around, seven reviews maybe for this chapter? Maybe more? Reviews are my inspiration! They make me want to update!

Oh and since I'm new here, I'm thrillifying. Pleased to meet you. :)