Heavy Metal <tentative> <WIP>

The quiet tapping of a branch on his window and autumn wind blowing wakes Kris, along with a growl in his stomach and some soreness in his body. Frowning he heads downstairs to make himself a bowl of cereal. As he eats memories of last night come flooding back.
	 A few weeks back his dad was clearing out storage when he found an old drum kit, calling as Kris hung out with Susie , he asked if either of them wanted it. Kris  was never very good at drums and declined, but Susie took up the offer , being a fan of several kinds of metal music. Over the next few weeks she beat the snot out of those drums eventually having to replace the heads and get several new sets of sticks. That leads to yesterday afternoon where she called up Kris asking if he was busy. Apparently she had grown bored of playing by herself and knew Kris played music.
	Kris tells her he doesn't have a way to play piano with her drumming , or that it would probably not make a good combo anyway. But hearing the disappointment in her voice he did remember the guitar in the closet. It was his brother's, but Asriel had taught him a few things before he gave up on it himself. Texting Susie that he'd be over soon, Kris dusts it off. Checking the strings and tuning it he packs it along with the small starter amp and leaves his room to head over. Cursing to himself he saw his mother sitting in the living room watching a show on tv about antiques. She had already spotted him and had a suspicious look in her eye as she saw the case in his hands.

	“What have you got there Kris?” she closes her magazine and turns down the the tv.
“just Asriel's guitar , my friend wanted to play some music with me” Kris was inching towards the door  hoping to make this conversation a short one, Susie wasn't patient and he already told her he was heading over to her house
	“Did he say you could use it , you aren't supposed to mess with your brother's stuff Kris” she looks at him expecting an answer
“y-yeah , I called him and he said it was cool ,”glad the old thing is getting use” he said” Kris puts on a fake smile switching hands as the guitar grows a bit heavy
	Toriel grins at this “Wonderful , wonderful , now Kris, don't stay too long , I get worried about you” she smiles warmly and waves Kris off much to his thankfulness

	Kris steps outside , wrapping his hoodie around himself and taking a brisk pace down the drive and down the sidewalk towards Susie's house. He hears a ringing from his backpack and stops for a moment retrieving his phone, it's Susie. He quickly answers.

	“Hey dork , you on your way? Been waiting for you to get here” he clearly hears her pacing around her house
“I just managed to leave my house, my mom wanted to know where I was going” he picks up his bag and picks up the pace
	“Mama's boy,” she laughs quietly in a way that for some reason makes Kris's heart beat harder than it already was “I'm kidding, hurry up freak , I'm getting bored”
“Alright Susie, I can see your street from here..” before he can say anything else she hangs up

	He turns down her street and up towards her house , it's one of the older ones in town but that is not points in its favor. The shingles need replacing and the front door has a wooden patch in it. Several windows have tinfoil to keep the heat in, and some are even cracked in places. None of this bothered Kris as he went straight to the front door. He reaches up to knock but the door swings open quickly before he can even attempt. There stands Susie in all her purple glory. Wearing a sleeveless shirt and jeans she has her hair in a rare ponytail, a sight that always has Kris feeling warm in the face. With a wicked grin she grabs Kris by the shirt and pulls him in “C'mon dude, this way”
	Kris already knew where it was , already privy to a few of her solo shows before, but he let himself be pulled along anyway. Arriving to the garage turned into Susie's practice room he see's the familiar drum set with tape on the bass head and faded paint around the toms. Susie is grinning wildly as she steps in and takes a seat at the stool.

	“Well freak, plug in your shit, I wanna hear you shred” she hits the drums a few times , tightening some bolts 	“you can play that shit right”
“Of course...I mean , it's been a few years but It's like riding a bike you know, you never forget” Kris begins setting up , trying to remember what settings he likes
	“I Never learned to ride a bike, and I don't think guitar is anything like that Kris” she smiles wide.
“It's a metaphor but I can't imagine that means much to you either sus” he smiles, picking at the strings a few times
	“Nope,” she laughs for a moment then gets a serious look on her face  “now then guitar god, show me what you got”
Kris blushes , put on the spot. “a-alright just let me remember.”
	He thinks back to his old lessons with Asriel , the songs he learned , any that would impress Susie. If the moment was different he'd wonder why he cared so much what she though of him, but right now his mind was on other things. He finally reaches a conclusion and begins a "legendary" guitar solo...or at least it originally was. Butchering Holiday by Green Day , a song that while simple , he had not played in a couple years.  No matter how poor it sounded to him , it did not stop the grin on Susie's face as she heard him belt out a few bars from that song.

	“Wicked dude, how come you didn't tell me you were so good” she has a huge smile and is leaning forward over her snare
“I wasn't that good Susie I mean, I haven't played in a while “ Kris blushes and rubs the back of his neck , looking into her eyes seems hard
	“Shut up dork , your good...really” she had a serious look on her face for a moment before quickly changing back to her normal look
“th-thanks Susie really, uh do you want to play now or?”
	“o-oh yeah, Yeah, let's do that, can we do that whole song?” before he can reply she's warming up on the drums .

	They played that song and many more the rest of night. Rocking until her neighbors came knocking. They agreed that they should probably stop and to just meet up another time. Once Kris had packed up he saw he had several missed text's and calls from his mom. Telling Susie goodbye he calls her back.
	“Kris, I've been trying to call you for two hours, where have you been, I was worried sick”
Kris feels a pang of guilt from this,”sorry, I couldn't hear my phone over our playing...sorry, I'm on my way home now”
	“sigh It's alright Kris but you really need to pay more attention, I put your dinner in the fridge, hurry home mwah” she hangs up

	Not wanting to make things worse Kris hurries home, but by the time he gets there, he is too tired to eat and just goes straight to bed.

	That leads into where this started. Kris sits there with his bowl smiling at the memories, not hearing his mother come into the kitchen and start to pour herself a mug of coffee. It isn't until she coughs that he notices her.
	Cough” you were out late last night Kris... later than you said you would be”  she takes a sip of her coffee and gives Kris a stern stare.
“Sorry mom , we just lost track of time... I really didn't mean to “ Kris stares into his bowl hoping that is enough to get off without punishment
	sigh “ Alright, but please be more careful, I worry about you, I haven't met this friend of yours and don't want you getting into trouble ...do try to be more punctual next time dear” She reaches across the table and tries to ruffle Kris's hair. Only partially successful as he pulls his head away after only a moment. “you're lucky it wasn't a school night”

	Toriel gets up and goes to her room to get dressed for church. Kris sits in silence thankful all he got was a warning and making a mental note to set a louder alarm. School right... Alphys had assigned over weekend homework, that Susie promptly threw in the trash, but Kris had no such luxury  so he went back upstairs to do that. Once he was finished with that, he spent the rest of the day practicing the guitar. His thoughts constantly returning to Susie and them playing music. He hadn't ever seen her that happy doing something that wasn't against the rules or ruffling someone's feathers. Smiling at that he ended up playing until dinner.

	The next day at school , Kris and Susie sat in class and ate lunch together as usual, but instead of their normal rambling conversations, they spoke mostly of music and planning their next “Jam sess.” as she called it. This conversation did no go unheard by another student.

	“Pshhh , you call that music, any neanderthal with a club could play that dad rock stuff” The feathered source of much ire stated, a smug look plastered across his face “If you want my talent you'll have to start playing some real music like Jazz “ he sniggers as he walks away
Susie gives the bird one of her own , putting it down just as Alphys looks over “God I hate him...but he may be right Kris, we may want to get some others if we want to start a band”
“Band? Susie , who said anything about a band ?”  Kris was looking at her , surprised the large lizard was suggesting such a ...social activity
	“Well Kris, we sounded real good yesterday, and It'd be real badass yknow, can't you see it , us playing in front of a huge stadium, fire shit whatever you call it, I got one of those cool drum cages” she stares off past Kris imagining
“Alright Susie, but who... Berdly aint joining us, not that I'd ever want him to” Kris looks over the meager pickings of their class, some he wonders, can they even hold an instrument?

	Susie thinks for a moment, chewing on Kris's lunch “Well, Noelle is in the church choir so she can sing...uh... do we need anyone else?”
“I don't think we need anyone , but um, I think catty can play keyboards if that sounds like something we'd want” Kris is shaking his head at this whole proposition

	Kris doesn't know why, but he's upset that only after one night, his and Susie's special thing is going to have more people. He feel jealous for some reason.Those thoughts are silenced when he see's the scraggle toothed grin and all seems right in the world. Seeing his friend happy is worth it to deal with a few other people a few times a week. Susie snaps him out of his confusing thoughts by saying something.

“Huh?” he looks at her apologetically
	“I said we better practice some more before we ask some people, nobody wants to join up with a couple of posers right” Kris lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding at this. Good , good, he'll have a few more nights alone with Susie... wait , that sounded off...why didn't that bother him. Whatever , questions for a later time he supposed.

	School went on business as usual , but Alphys has started their next chapter in English, Poetry. Most of the class sigh's but Kris takes this as a sign. Poetry isn't that far from song writing right?...right? He'll use this to his advantage as much he can . After class Susie meets up with him and they walk home together. Laughing and talking about their plans for the week. He makes sure to stress his limited time schedule and how he needs to be home in time, before they split off and he jogs the rest of the way home.

	He opens the door and see's his mom sitting in her chair her back to him, reading a magazine. He says hello and makes his way to go upstairs before.
	“Kris dear, did you know I called your brother today?” She says this kindly but isn't smiling
“oh , uh...cool” Wondering what this is about he sets his backpack down
	“I was telling him how nice it was to let you use his guitar and play it with your friend...you know what he said?” she has put the magazine down and her arms are crossed over her chest
It finally dawns on Kris and he feels a bit of sweat on his neck “Oh uh...what did he say” he rubs the back of his neck
	“He said he had done no such thing, but that it was fine if you did, he wasn't upset at you Kris, but I am” She stands and takes a stern look “Lying is wrong, and I just don't know why you would, it hurts that you think you have to lie to your own mother” her face softens
“I'm sorry mom , really , it was just so sudden and my friend asked me and I didn't just want to say no , so I just told a little white lie...sorry” Kris is looking at the floor, his mom's guilty gaze was legendary among her students, and for good reason.
	“A lot of small lies add up to big problems Kris...no more secrets okay” she smiles and lifts his chin up
“ok mom” he hugs her quickly and separates to head to his room.
	“Now I can't let something like this go unpunished, so you're grounded for 3 days , no going out to meet your friend” she holds his hand stopping him
“But...but mom, we planned to meet up this week for more music...” he tries to get her to see reason, not begging because that only ever worked for Asriel he learned.
	“Then he can come over here and practice, with my supervision...” is that okay?
Would that be okay? Would Susie even want to … would his mom even allow it after meeting her? Kris began to weigh the pros and cons before coming to a conclusion “I'll ask... okay mom”
	“Thank you dear...no secrets ok, I don't like my boy thinking he has to lie to me” she kisses his cheek “Now head on to your room and do your homework.”

	Thankful that the conversation was as painless as he could have hoped, he chastises himself for lying in the first place. He puts his homework on his desk and text's Susie what just happened.

Susie: WTF dude we can't play that kind of music at your place your mom may think it's a “sin” or whatever
Kdog: I know it sucks . My mom wants to meet you too. Do you just want to wait or...
Susie: no no not while the creative juices flow...just , let's talk about it at school ok maybe have noelle come with us your mom may think it's better that way idk
Kdog: sure, see you tomorrow
Susie: Ditto

	Kris puts his phone away , somewhat worried about how his mother may take Susie. If he doesn't get to hang out with her anymore he'll... why does that prospect hurt so much to think about. Bah, he chooses to ignore it and get to work on his homework. Susie wants him to write something song-like for their “band”, god this change in Susie is strange. He's glad to see her genuinely happy about something though. He sets his pencil to paper and begins to work, hoping to use some of that positive energy.

	A few hours and a pile of papers later.

“Purple what rhymes with purple...nothing....nothing rhymes with purple does it?...Gah” Kris crumples up another paper and tosses it into the pile. No matter what all his songs turn to be about her, or her hair...or her muscles...or her. Kris shakes his head , what is he thinking, she's his friend, and one who's expecting a song, and she sure aint accepting one about her, he thinks. He just needs some other things to inspire him.
	Digging around in his drawers he goes to a folder of his art. The first couple are of dragons that he did recently...not helping his current situation he puts them carefully to the side. He digs through more and more looking for an image to inspire him, until he finds it. One he drew just after their visit to the dark world. It has all 4 of them, Ralsei , Lancer, Susie and Kris. All of them in an action pose, looking like an old movie poster from the 80s, Kris feels a surge of Inspiration and begins work on his song.