As Jove entered the common room, he was immediately impressed by the size and quality of the projector his mother had set up to serve as their teleprompter. It gave the room, which was lit mainly by the projected image, the vibe of a movie theater, which felt fitting.
He nodded approvingly as he took in the setup. "This is pretty impressive, Mom. It's like we have our own little theater in here."
Kira smiled, clearly pleased by his reaction. "I thought it would add a nice touch. And it's more efficient than printing out scripts for everyone."
Aster crossed her arms, her expression slightly pinched. "I suppose it'll do. Though there's something to be said for the tangible feel of a script in your hands."
Kira raised an eyebrow. "We don't exactly have the ink to waste on printing hundreds of pages of otherwise useless scripts, as I previously pointed out."
"I know that," Aster snapped. "I'm just saying. It's not the same as a real script."
Jove chose to blatantly ignore the lingering tension between them, beyond done with sibling arguments. "We'll manage just fine. We can all read the text, and it adds a certain cinematic quality to the lighting."
Aster's expression softened slightly as she glanced at Jove. "Yes, well, I suppose. I guess I'm just being a bit of a diva. Which, I might add, I consider to be one of my God-given rights."
"What happens when we reach the bottom of a page?" asked Jove.
"I guess one of us could jump back and forth between the scene and scrolling down when needed," suggested Kira, frowning at the idea even as she voiced it.
"The projector is connected to the station's wifi, Director Faremont," said Andromeda. "I could take on that responsibility, if you'd like."
"If you don't mind, that would be helpful," said Kira.
"We still need a bartender for this scene, as well," said Aster. "I was going to ask your sister, Jovian, but…"
He matched his aunt's unoptimistic tone with a shake of his head. "I don't think she'd go for it. She's currently nursing a bum knee and a shitty mood."
"Would you step in for us, Andi?" asked Aster.
"I would gladly read the lines of that character," said Andromeda. "I have a deep fondness for role playing."
"Perfect!" said Aster. "Alright. Now we just need Jove to be slightly more… in costume."
"I didn't realize we were going to be taking this that seriously…" he muttered.
His aunt and mother gave a shrug that almost seemed synchronized. It was only then that he noticed they both were more or less in costume, or at least what passed for it with their limited wardrobes.
He took a moment to appraise his aunt and mother's attire more closely. Aster was wearing a pair of tight, black yoga pants that hugged her curves in all the right places, paired with a form-fitting tank top that showed off her slender arms and ample cleavage.
Kira, on the other hand, had opted for a pair of practical but tight jeans that emphasized her thighs and shapely hips. Her top was a deep red, long-sleeved blouse with a plunging neckline that drew the eye to her own impressive bust. Jove wondered how that bit of clothing had ended up in her Antarctic wardrobe.
He supposed that, in the grand scheme of things, their outfits weren't really costumes at all. They just looked like normal, if rather sexy, women who wouldn't have been out of place in any modern setting. Which made sense, considering the script they were about to read was for what amounted to a fairly standard, if rather sex-heavy, soap opera.
"You'll be playing Rodriguez," said Aster.
"Refresh my memory on who, exactly, that is?"
Aster's mouth twitched with a small bit of annoyance. "Rose's arch nemesis? The man who left her to die in Death Valley after stabbing her in the first episode of season one?"
"Right," he said. "Give me a minute or two."
Jove rummaged through his limited wardrobe, trying to piece together an outfit that would suit a gruff, backstabbing mercenary. He settled on a pair of dark, well-worn jeans and a black t-shirt that had seen better days. Over that, he threw on a faded leather jacket that he grabbed from the lost and found, figuring it would add to the rugged look.
He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up a bit to give it a more disheveled appearance. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that he looked sufficiently rough around the edges to pass for a mercenary, at least in the context of their little play.
"Ready," he said, as he came back into the common room.
"Not bad, darling," said Aster, with an appreciative whistle. "Not bad at all."
Mango had followed Jove, and he felt the cat brushing against one of his calves. He reached down to pet her, knowing by now to pull back almost immediately to keep from getting scratched.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Aster.
Jove nodded and saw his mother do the same. He hadn't reviewed the script in advance as he suspected the other two had, but he could read it well enough from where he'd be standing.
Aster, as Rose, would begin the scene sitting at the bar. She had a glass and a bottle of bourbon out on the table in front of her, committing to the scene by apparently drinking real alcohol. Jove expected his mother to comment on that, but she'd seemingly decided to hold her tongue.
"Another refill, Rose?" asked Andromeda, as the bartender.
"Keep them coming," said Aster. "Should have known things would slow down once the trouble dried up."
Jove stood "off-stage" alongside his mother, and despite the lack of a camera or an audience or any stakes whatsoever, the usual performance tension still hung in the air.
"My advice?" said Andromeda. "Settle down somewhere. Quit the vigilante nonsense while you're still ahead."
Jove nodded, impressed by how well the AI was taking to her role. His mother nudged him with her elbow, and he realized that he'd just missed his cue. Walking forward into the "bar," he hurriedly scanned the projector for his line.
"Well now," he said. "I seem to recall giving Rosemary a similar bit of advice, once upon a time."
Aster slowly turned her gaze his way, expression darkening with such commitment to the role that Jove almost hesitated on his next step.
"Rodriguez," she muttered. "Thought that was roadkill I smelled. Though I suppose roadkill belongs in this town more than you do, given the through traffic."
She stood up, one hand at her waist as though resting on a gun. Jove walked toward her slowly, feeling an interesting tension as he got into character and glanced at the projector for his next line.
"Oh, I think you'd be surprised about who belongs where these days," he said.
He heard his mother's footsteps approaching to his left and quickly looked over the next few lines of the script, anticipation growing as he realized the context of the scene.
"Hello, Rose," said Kira, as Sinta, Rose's ex-girlfriend. "I was hoping we might all manage to be civil this time around."
"I'm just looking for someone who owes me money," said Jove.
Aster stepped closer, getting right into his face as though ready for a fight. She looked him up and down in a combative way, appraising an old opponent, and then jutted her chin out.
"Not in my town, you're not," she whispered.
The words on the projector seemed to fade into the background as he held Aster's gaze, tension thrumming on the surface, but also on another, hidden level. It felt like acting as foreplay, reading lines while undressing with eyes. Jove had to balance his awareness of the scene with his growing eagerness to strip Aster naked and slam into her until she wasn't capable of uttering coherent words.
"Easy now." His mom's hand settled on his shoulder, and he felt her hot breath against his neck as she delivered her line in a breathy, husky voice. "You know how Rose can be."
The next line of the script was just KISS in all caps and parenthesis. Jove slowly turned his head sideways, his lips finding 'Sinta's' as she melded into an embrace. The tension and heat seemed to spill over, and he couldn't stop himself from running a hand down her body, palming one of her buttocks through her jeans.
Aster didn't break character, but Jove swore he could see a kernel of surprise in the background as she slowly shook her head and delivered her next line.
"I don't know which of you is more pathetic," she said, voice dripping with hostility. "My worst enemy cleaning up my sloppy seconds, or the ex spreading her legs for a monster just to get back at me."
Jove kept his hand on Sinta's butt, too horny to stop himself from letting his fingers start to curl into her thigh gap. "Jealousy is an ugly color, Rosemary."
"Can't we all just sit down together and talk?" Kira's voice had a dreamy, sensual quality to it, and it was hard for Jove to tell whether she was acting or reacting.
"I won't talk to him," hissed Aster. "Only you."
"Only as in, only after I'm done with her," said Jove. "Sinta. A word."
He walked her over to the side of the room. There were only staged directions for muffled talking not intended to be heard by the audience, followed by another stage direction that said SLAPS HER ASS AS SHE WALKS BACK.
"She'll listen to me," whispered Kira, still in character to an admirable degree. "Let me take the lead here."
"Don't come back without a yes," growled Jove.
She let her eyes linger on his, the slightest hint of a question entering her expression. Would he actually slap her ass? Jove almost wasn't sure himself until she turned back toward Aster and the captivating sight of her tight, butt-hugging jeans came back into view.
He gave 'Sinta' a soft, but firm slap on the butt, the sound reverberating through the air like a passionate expletive. The moment felt surreal and addictive, and he realized that he had a full-blown erection. That was fine. Rodriguez likely would have been in a matching state of arousal.
Jove found himself utterly transfixed as he watched Aster and Kira sink into their roles, their passion for acting radiating from every word and gesture. He didn't really hear what they were saying, instead simply riding the wave of raw emotion in their voices. It was captivating, and it added a layer of depth and mystique to both women's natural beauty.
His mind wandered, and he started imagining what his life might have been like if his mother had pursued acting instead of science. They probably would have lived in LA or New York, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. Having opportunities that a degree-less 25-year-old with a criminal record could only dream of.
A dark chuckle escaped his lips as he realized that, had his mother chosen a different path, he'd likely be dead, vaporized in the apocalypse like the rest of urban civilization. Silver linings.
"Rodriguez?" called Aster.
Jove blinked, realizing he'd missed his cue. He glanced toward the projector, but as he was searching for his line, a soft alarm sounded from over the intercom.
"I apologize for breaking character, but there's been a development," said Andromeda. "According to one of my remote sensors, a group of people on snowmobiles appear to be heading toward Termina Station."