Disclaimer: All characters are Jonathan Larson's, as always, except Liz. Sesame Street isn't mine either. And neither is the "Hey, Hey Shiksa goddess" line. So sue me. All I have is some Ramen and dry erase board markers and some broken clarinet reeds.

A/N: This is just a happy fluffy filler chapter to make you think that everything is going to work out. But it doesn't work that way in the world of Rentfic. *grin* I'll say no more. Cap'n Crunchesque is a word. So there. Heh heh… Anthony Rapp irony… *grin* Sorry that the end of this chapter sucks. I just couldn't end it well. Bah. I hate endings.

Chapter 5

Mark's POV

            Blinding light reflected off of the snow on the ground and found it's way to my face. I groaned and rolled over. From outside my room, I could hear the sound of our recently acquired television. I stood up and stumbled groggily out into the living room. Well, I'm not sure you could call it a living room, but that doesn't matter. Liz was sitting on our lovely, decrepit sofa, watching Sesame Street.      

            "Good morning, Mark" She smiled at me. I grinned and put on my glasses.

            "Hey, hey, Shiksa goddess!" I replied and plopped down on the couch next to her, "You know, I've always wondered whether Elmo's relationship with his fish and his furniture is purely platonic or if…" Liz pushed me over, playfully.

            "I shouldn't let you get up this early! You think too much…" I grinned and stood up.

            "What's for breakfast?" I whined. Liz laughed at me and said,

            "Nothing… We ate it all." She turned off the TV just as Big Bird was introducing the Spanish word of the day. "Let's go to the store. How much money have we got?" She grabbed her wallet off of the "table" and retrieved mine from the hiding place in my room, which happened to be on the floor with the rest of my junk. It's a pretty good hiding place, if you ask me.

            "Thirty dollars. Yay! We're rich! I wonder if we could buy Microsoft?" I asked.

            "Then we'd be the sell-outs of the century! Alright!" Liz replied, as I grabbed our coats and we left the loft. We wandered down the cold streets, cracking jokes and generally having a good time. Had it really only been three weeks since I'd first met her? It seemed like forever.

            "So, okay, do we want real Cap'n Crunch or Cap'n Crunchesque cereal? Actually, the better question is, which can we afford?" She yelled at me from across the small store. The other customers stared in her direction with a look of disbelief and confusion on their faces. They were probably thinking, "They can't afford Cap'n Crunch?!?"

            "Let's celebrate our "richness" and buy the real stuff this time!" I yelled back at her, "And get some milk while you're over there. I haven't had any milk in a while. And bread. And tea. And a heater. And a…" The store manager cut in.

            "Sir, could you please keep your voice down? Our customers…" Just to spite him, I replied, loudly,

            "WHAT? Sorry, couldn't hear you!"

            "I said sir, could you please keep your voice down. Our customers…"

            "I'm a customer too."

            "Yes, but…"

            "Am I not a good enough customer?"

            "No, sir, that's not at all what I meant. I was just-"

            "And am I discriminated against if I have a hearing problem?" Liz was doubled over laughing, attracting the attention of the customers, but not Mr. Our Customers…

            "No no, sir. I wasn't aware that…"

            "Ahhh… Shaddup and ring up our groceries." And I handed him our groceries.

            "Yes, sir."

            Liz was still laughing when we left the store.

            "A hearing problem, eh?" she asked.

            "What? Come again, dearie?" She smacked me playfully on the arm. We arrived back at the loft, put our groceries away, and I finally had breakfast.

            "Whatcha wanna do today?" I asked between spoonfuls of Cap'n Crunch. She shrugged.

            "I got a little work on my book to do, maybe the group could go out tonight." That made me think of Mimi and laugh. I remembered Roger telling me about Mimi's "Out Tonight" song and the outfit she'd been wearing. No wait, I saw that outfit later that night. I just couldn't see Liz doing any of it. I settled down on the couch to watch some TV. There was nothing on except some movie called Adventures in Babysitting with some guy named Anthony Rapp. It was a 1987 film. I wasn't particularly fond of  80's films, but oh well. Liz eventually settled down on the couch next to me and said,

            "Who's the guy playing Darrel?"

            "Some guy named Anthony Rapp. Why?"

            "He looks like those pictures of you when you were like, fifteen or sixteen."

            "You know, he sort of does. Wow… I look like a movie star!" Liz kissed me and I can't remember anything that really went on after that.