Aster has a pretty normal relationship with his parents, well, he did until he ran away. If he’d stayed out in the normal world, there’s a good chance they would’ve found him, because they’re still looking. Wellspring is just a lot harder for some mundane human PI from Brooklyn to locate.

He didn’t always feel like his dad loved him, there was some distance, and he never truly felt ‘gotten’ by either, but always felt supported and safe. His running away had nothing negative to do with them, and is more about his own mental health issues making him feel responsible for financial burden due to medical debt, and then with his ex name-dropping him in a suicide note, it sure didn’t help him feel less guilty. It got too much, he ran.

Their birthdays, and his, are big moments where he gets more scatter brained, and screws up work too distracted to focus. His grandfather’s especially. They were really close, and he knows that the longer he stays away, the bigger the chance he never gets to see him again. He’s a kid who misses them, but feels unable to go back because of the pain his actions must’ve caused, the hell he must’ve put them through, all adding to what he already felt...