With the tents and insulated floors set up, the last matter was addressing the sleeping arrangements. Jove tried to be subtle as he brought his gear toward where Aster was already tucking her things away in the second tent.
"Jovian," called his mother. "I need your help setting up the cots."
Aster poked her head out of the tent and smirked at him. "You should go see what your mother needs, darling."
"Probably. The last thing I need right now is any more friction with her."
Though with that said, the two of them had been getting along surprisingly well over the past few days. She'd let some of her serious and calculating demeanor melt away after the intruder incident.
He shook off the memory of firing the gun, the wallet, and focused instead on his family, unharmed and alive. Perhaps she was performing a similar act of prioritizing in the background.
"What do you need, Mom?" he asked, as he poked his head into the first tent.
"I brought double cots, but one of them is missing a leg," said Kira, with a sigh. "It's always something. I thought maybe if I connected it to the second cot's leg at the corner it might still support weight, though it would be more like a double bed with a metal bar in between sides than a proper sleeping situation."
"For a single night, it won't be so bad," said Jove. "I can see about tying it up to make it work. I'd volunteer to jump on the grenade, but I was just about to bring my stuff over to the second tent."
Kira glanced up at him, and there was something in her expression that instantly reminded him of Director Faremont, serious and calculating. "I'll take the broken cot, but I'd prefer for you to sleep in this tent tonight. With me."
She made it clear with her tone that the statement was more of a command than an invitation. Jove wasn't quite ready to admit defeat and furiously thought about how he might outmaneuver her for a night alone with Aster.
"I mean, we'll be fishing for the rest of the day," he said. "Might be best if you and me are in different tents, given that we'll both probably take the task the most seriously."
Eve would want to spend as much daylight as possible skiing — that was a fact. Aster seemed less likely to have a natural aptitude for the patience and fine adjustments that fishing so often required.
"You and your sister would never make it through the night without exchanging blows after the argument you had, so I don't think it's realistic for you to share a tent with Eve," said Kira.
She left plenty of room for him to ask "what about Aster," so much so that Jove could see the obvious trap. He walked into it anyway, stubborn and horny as he was.
"I'm sure Aster wouldn't mind my company for a night," he said.
"Are you?" snapped Kira.
"I just mean…" He shook his head, unsure of what he had meant. "I've been getting along better with her than I have been with Eve."
Or you, he thought, but didn't say. It was so often a coin flip with his mother, with all the affection and love in the world when he had her approval, and nothing but ice when he didn't.
"That's part of why I thought it would be nice for us to do some fishing together," said Kira, with a shrug. "I'm still worried about you, Jove. I know you're recovering from what happened, but…"
He turned away from her, feeling something twist within his gut.
"I didn't mean to bring it up like that," said Kira. "I just want you to feel safe with me. We have these moments where I feel like we're back to how we were when you were young, or maybe even closer. But they're always so fleeting. I suppose I wanted to pin one down for a change."
"Pin one down, huh?" He let out a chuckle, despite his annoyance. "Awfully forceful phrasing. I don't get to say no to this, do I?"
His mother let out a tired sigh and simply stared at him.
"I'm just teasing you, Mom." He came closer and pulled her into a hug. "I think it would be awesome for us to spend some time together."
He could always try to sneak out and visit Aster after his mother was asleep. Eve knew about him and Aster and at least claimed to not have any objections to their unconventional relationship.
Though after the argument they'd had, he wondered if that would still hold true. He certainly wasn't about to humble himself by asking her directly for a favor.
"I also brought a bottle of wine." She smirked at him as he pulled back from the hug, and the air within the tent felt a few degrees warmer. "What? I've been fishing with your father before. I know how slow it can sometimes be."
Jove let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I remember. He always used to bring what he called 'backup food' when I was a kid. Usually candy and chips and beef jerky, all the best stuff to smother the disappointment of not catching a fish."
He smiled wistfully at the memory and tried to shake the creeping feeling of his father's absence.
"I miss him, too." His mother came closer and set a hand on his shoulder. "You look so much like he did when I first met him. I think he'd be really proud of you, if he could see you now."
Jove nodded, surprised by how much her words buoyed his soul. "Thanks, Mom."
He took the time to set up the fishing equipment as the tent began to warm up from the heater. Andromeda had 3D printed a fishing apparatus that was, to put it politely, rather unique.
It was more of a simple reel on a stand than anything resembling a normal fishing rod, but he still thought he could make it work. Whether or not they actually got bites to begin with off the 3D printed lures seemed like the much larger limiting question.
He got everything into place and fed the lure down into the ice hole after re-breaking a thin crust that had formed over the top. The fishing stand was of a size to keep it from being pulled through the hole if it tipped over, complete with a little bell to hopefully alert them to a bite.
Jove stared down into the hole, but couldn't see much other than dark, clear water. He glanced at his mother, who was watching him carefully.
"Andromeda seems to think there are fish down there," she said.
"It's possible." He shrugged, feeling less than optimistic about their odds.
He waited another minute or two and was considering setting a timer so they'd have a firm limit on when to think about finding a different spot when a scream came from outside the tent.