"What's going on in here?" snapped Kira.
Jove bristled, feeling far more guilty than he would have liked. "I came outside to speak with Andromeda. I wanted to get more information about our situation."
"I didn't give you permission to go outside or a keycard with door access." Kira's voice was sharp and accusing.
"We're going to have to figure out what to do about Andromeda and the greater situation we're in eventually." He stepped forward, holding her gaze. "Doesn't it make sense to have all the information about what's going on?"
"Nobody should be outside alone," said his mother, in a controlled voice. "Not to mention the fact that I know you must have taken Ryan's keycard without permission to do it."
"He wasn't exactly getting much use out of it," muttered Jove.
He wished instantly that he could take the words back. His mother's face flashed with true anger, the kind that always had a little thread of pain intertwined with it.
"You're going back inside," she said. "Now."
"You think I was planning on setting up camp out here?" He took a step forward, feeling an odd, heated tension within the small shed. "Thanks for taking my concerns seriously."
"I'll take them about as seriously as you take mine in regards to you sneaking outside at night in dangerous weather."
Jove matched his mother's gaze, feeling angry at himself, but angrier at her. She was so willfully dismissive of his input that sometimes he wished there was a way he could just jam a specific point into her.
"Andromeda," said Kira, talking past him to the drone.
"Yes, Director Faremont?"
"I do not want you interacting with my family at all from now on if I'm not present," said Kira. "I'm still coming to a decision about what to do about you. I need you to be patient."
"I understand completely, Director Faremont."
The ice drone slowly lowered itself back down into a curled up ball next to the snowmobile. Jove left the shed alongside his mother and headed back into Termina Station. He saw that Eve and Aster were both up and waiting by the entrance chamber, only then realizing that he'd worried everyone, not just his mom.
"From now on, you have a bedtime curfew, Jovian," said Kira.
He laughed, stepping out of his snow pants, thinking she was joking at first. "You can't be serious."
"I am as deadly serious as I've ever been in my life." Kira pulled off her jacket to reveal that she hadn't put on anything other than her nightgown with no bra underneath, nipples obvious in the cold. "The door to your dorm room will be set to lock at ten PM each night."
"You can't force me to be in my room by then," he pointed out. "I'll just sleep in the common room."
"I can just as easily lock those doors. This is my station and you will abide by my rules as long as you're under this roof."
"This is ridiculous."
He glanced at Aster and Eve for support. Eve gave him an empathetic shrug but said nothing. Aster was frowning, and she rubbed her thumb across one cheek, perhaps the same one Kira had recently slapped.
"What's ridiculous is me having to get out of bed to go looking for you in the middle of the night!" Kira jabbed a finger against his chest. "I was terrified! You didn't tell anybody else what you were doing. If it means keeping you from getting yourself killed, I'll make you sleep on the floor of my bedroom if I have to! Whatever it takes."
"She has a point," muttered Eve.
"Nobody asked you, dear sister," said Jove.
"I'm aware."
They all went to bed. Jove tested whether his mother really planned on following through with her threat later that night and unsurprisingly found the door to his tiny dorm firmly secured shut. He couldn't sleep afterwards for an hour or two, spending most of it leveling up his starter monster in Vertimon.
When he woke up the next morning, Jove had a bad case of morning wood combined with an extremely full bladder. Infuriatingly, the door was still locked. It didn't unlock until eight AM on the dot. He immediately slid it open and made a beeline for the bathroom.
He'd been assuming that nobody would be inside, but Aster was coming out right as he was flinging the door open to go in. Their bodies collided with mutual gasps of surprise.
Aster had only been wearing a towel, blonde hair still scraggly from the shower. She dropped it for a moment, pale breasts popping loose in a manner that sent a pang of arousal straight through Jove's mostly hard member.
"I didn't realize you were there, darling," she said, quickly wrapping the towel back around herself. "Apologies for giving you such a show to start off your morning."
Her eyes flicked down to his erection, which couldn't have been more obvious within his tented boxers.
"I'm not complaining," he said.
"I'm… sure you aren't," she said, eyes still taking in his bulge. "It's all yours if you want it. The bathroom."
"Thanks." He drew close to her to brush by into the bathroom, but she set a hand on his chest before he could step through the door.
"I'm sympathetic to your curfew, you know," she said. "It's already boring enough at this station without being down a person once the lights are out."
"Why don't you keep me company tonight, then? I bet my mom would loosen her grip if someone else was there to keep me from getting into trouble."
"Keep you from getting into trouble?" Aster let out a laugh and touched his chest again. "We'll have to see if the esteemed Director thinks I'm up to the challenge."
"I know you're up for it." Jove felt a sudden urge to touch her, to pull her even closer despite only having inches between them already.
"Well… we'll have to see," said Aster. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I should… put on some clothes."
They stared at each other for another three seconds before finally glancing away and breaking the spell. Jove proceeded to stand in front of the toilet for an ungodly amount of time until he felt like his arousal had gone down enough to safely pee.