Disclaimer: I don't own Rent.

"Marky! I got you a present!" Roger's voice sounded as he entered the young boy's bedroom. Mark had invited him over for Passover dinner so he wouldn't have to deal with his aunts, uncles, and grandparents alone. And Roger was all for pretending to be Jewish for a day.

Mark looked up at the dirty blonde teenager standing in his doorway with his hands behind his back. "We don't get presents for Passover though."

"I know," he replied, chucking a box at Mark's head. "It's your Hanukkah present a few months late." He sat down across from Mark on his bed. "Do you like it?"

The Jewish boy examined the box that Roger had thrown at him. "Matza?"

"Isn't that what you eat?"

"Well, yeah, at the Seder meal. My Nana usually makes it though. This stuff is pretty good though." He opened up the box and broke off a piece of it. "Want some?"

"No thanks. I only eat processed Jesus crackers on Sunday when my mom makes me go to Mass," Roger replied.

"Processed Jesus crackers?" Mark's face twisted. "No, no, we're not cannibals like you damn dirty Catholics. This is just unleavened bread like what the Jews had to make before they left Egypt. My Nana makes the real stuff though, like they did. Remember, you had it at my Bar Mitzvah."

Roger nodded. "I'm kind of excited about the food part," he grinned. "What else do you eat?"

"We get wine," Mark said. He knew Roger would like the alcohol part of the night, no matter how small the cups were.

"We have wine at church," Roger said, "except technically the priest changes it into the blood of Jesus."

"So you're like vampires too?" Mark grinned. They always exchanged random facts about their religions and made fun of each other for them later. But neither of them really cared or took offense – they both couldn't wait to leave home so Mark wouldn't have to follow the strict Jewish rules of his household and Roger wouldn't have to go to church anymore.

Roger laughed. He'd never thought of that before. "Yeah, I guess we are," he grinned, revealing imaginary fangs. Putting on a Transylvanian accent, he said, "I'm going to suck your blood now." He crawled over on top of Mark and buried his face in his neck, softly kissing him. When he finished, he sat up in Mark's lap. "What else do you do?"

"My dad reads some of the Torah," he answered.

"Which part?"

"Exodus. It's the story of the Jews escaping slavery from Egypt. I usually fall asleep though."

Roger laughed. "Well, my shoulder's yours for sleeping on."

Mark smiled, resting his head on Roger's shoulder. "We better go down. I think I just heard my Nana come in."

As promised, the matza that Mark's Nana made was really good. Although the wine was in tiny cups, Roger had chugged it all. And as he said, Mark found himself snoring against Roger's shoulder as "Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him."

Roger nudged him awake. "How do you fall asleep during that? It's kind of captivating."

Mark shrugged. "Well, yeah it is kind of interesting. But when you've heard it every year for the past fifteen years…"

"Let's go to bed," Roger said. "Wine makes me sleepy."

"Okay," Mark followed him up the steps. They situated themselves on the floor, laying their sleeping bags beside each other. He sat on his, munching on the matza that Roger had given him.

"What did your mom say about coming with me to Easter dinner?" Roger asked, taking the box from Mark and breaking himself off a piece.

"She said as long as I don't eat ham at dinner, I can go."

Roger snickered, still examining what he considered a processed Jesus cracker. "That's the best part about Easter." He took a bite of the matza in his hand. When he finished chewing, he said, "Okay, yeah you're right. These definitely aren't processed Jesus crackers. They don't taste like cardboard."

Mark laughed. "I guess I'll find out Sunday."

"Oh by the way," Roger started, "why is there a piece of paper with a red X on it taped onto your front door?"

"So the Angel of Death doesn't kill me or something," Mark replied. "I don't know; my dad's put it there as long as I can remember. Maybe you should put one on your door. Then maybe a giant rabbit won't break into your house, give you chocolate, and hide eggs. Remind me again why kids aren't totally freaked out by that?"

"Because it's free chocolate," Roger replied, as if it were obvious. He didn't understand why someone wouldn't want free chocolate, regardless of how it showed up in his living room every spring. "Besides, if any Angel of Death tries to kill you, I'll kill it." He wrapped Mark in a hug as they snuggled down to go to sleep. He kept his arms around Mark's waist as he rested his cheek against Mark's.

"Thanks for enduring this with me," Mark said.

"Mm. Can I come again next year?"

Mark rolled around, raising his eyebrows at Roger. "You want to go through this again next year? You must really love me," he smiled slyly.

Roger softly smiled back. "Yeah, yeah I guess I do."

Snuggling closer, Mark replied, "Good thing because I really love you too."

-Fin