#hell's studio au

So, now he was sitting in the breakroom at a table, staring at two kids who were apparently his. It had been explained to him that the one with freckles was adopted, and the girl was his biological kid. Which did clear up why the freckled kid didn't look anything like him or Susie.

Talking to the kids was easier than talking to all the weird adults who knew his adult self, but they were still falling into some of the same patterns that the adults fell into when they'd met him.

"You're so cute!" The freckled one squealed, squishing their cheeks as they cooed over him. "Like a little angel!"

"'m not cute" Sammy grumbled, folding his arms and sinking back in his chair.

On the bright side, at least they weren't pinching his cheeks like the old ladies at church always did to him. His cheeks hurt just thinking about them.

"I mean, you kind of are," the girl said with a smug grin. She reminded him a little bit of Peter when he thought he was right about something. He always got so smug.

Sammy grumbled louder, sinking lower in his chair.

"Take it easy on him," Susie cautioned from a table over.

Although Sammy was glad she was sitting in on this meeting, it was more than a little bit embarrassing. He didn't want Susie to think he was a flat tire!

"So, uh... what kinda dad am I?" He asked, eager to change the subject from how "cute" he was.

"Oh, a really good one!" The freckled one (their name was Charlie right?) said enthusiastically. "Like, the best!"

"I guess you're alright," the girl (he was pretty sure her name was Aria) said.

Sammy perked up a little bit. "Oh yeah?" He sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

"Yeah!" Charlie nodded fervently. "It's been really cool learning about music theory and stuff from you!"

"And learning to play instruments," Aria added. "Piano's been fun."

"Is that why I heard you saying you never wanted to do it again yesterday?" Charlie teased.

Aria's cheeks went a bit pink and she gently shoved Charlie. "The piece is just hard! Besides, you wanted to smash your violin last week!"

Now it was Charlie's turn to blush. "...My piece is hard too..."

"What pieces are you learning?" Sammy asked, leaning forward. He didn't get a whole lot of access to classical music out in the sticks of Missouri, so he hoped he knew the pieces that his kids were working on right now.

"I'm working on Fur Elise," Aria said. "It's my favorite Beethoven piece."

"I'm learning Vivaldi's Four Seasons," Charlie said.

"Oh, I love Fur Elise!" Sammy lit up. "It's such a pretty song! Can you play it for me?"

Immediately Aria's bravado crumbled and she began to shift uncomfortably in her seat, avoiding eye contact as she fiddled with the ribbon on her shirt.

"I don't know..." She mumbled. "There's a lot of people around..."

"Oh... Okay..." Sammy visibly deflated, sinking back in his chair. He'd really been hoping to hear her play. He loved hearing other people play. Less so if they were bad, but still.

"C'mon, he looks so sad!" Charlie pleaded. "You gotta play for him!"

"Hey, don't force her!" Sammy protested. He didn't want to put Aria in an awkward situation. He knew how awful that could be. "If she doesn't want to play, she doesn't have to play."

"No, it's fine," Aria sighed dramatically, getting up from her chair. "Come on."

"Yes!" Charlie pumped their fist, scrambling up as well and starting to hobble after their sister.

Sammy perked up and quickly followed the other two, trying not to seem too excited. He didn't even notice that Susie wasn't getting up to follow.

Together, the three of them made their way through the studio, with Sammy keeping pretty close to the kids. Although the prospect of getting to hear some music was alleviating some of his anxiety about being in a strange place, he still felt pretty nervous around a lot of these strange people. The kids were alright, though, because they were closer to his age.

Thankfully, the band room was almost empty when they arrived, with only a few musicians milling around and practicing. Sammy tensed a bit, but thankfully Charlie had the situation under control.

"Can we have some privacy?" They asked as their group entered and Aria headed for the piano.

The musicians all nodded and gave vague words of acknowledgement before packing their instruments and departing the room, leaving the trio alone.

"Thanks," Sammy mumbled.

Charlie smile brightly, patting Sammy's head. "No problem!"

Sammy grumbled, swatting Charlie's hand away before heading over to the piano as well.

"This thing's kind of a piece of junk so, uh, if it sounds bad that's why," Aria said.

Sammy just nodded, watching her expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, Aria placed her fingers on the keys and began to play.

Sammy listened intently, sitting down on the floor so he could watch her. Her technique was a little clumsy, nowhere near as graceful as the piano player at church, but it was good. She was good. She'd probably be even better if she kept at it.

"So, what do you think?" Aria tentatively asked once she'd finished. She was trying to play it cool, but Sammy could tell she was nervous about what his response would be.

"That was really pretty," Sammy answered with a little nod. "You're pretty good."

"Just pretty good?" Aria pouted a bit. "I want to be more than pretty good."

"You haven't been playing that long, Ria," Charlie pointed out. "You'll get there eventually."

"Yeah." Sammy nodded. "I wanna be really good at the banjo someday, but right now I'm just okay." He paused, looking between the two of them. "Do I get good at the banjo?"

"Real good," Charlie assured him.

Sammy couldn't help but smile, wiggling back and forth with satisfaction.

"I'm hungry," he announced. "Do you think they'll give us lunch now?"

"Oh, Mom packed some lunches." Aria hopped off the piano bench. "We just have to go get them." Suddenly she got a mischievous look in her eyes. "I'll race you there."

Before Sammy could agree, she was already sprinting away, leading him to yell in frustration and scramble after her.

"Hey! Slow down!" Charlie protested. "I can't go as fast as you!"

But their protests fell on deaf ears as the other two streaked through the halls.