𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄. ranboo (complete)

𝐗𝐗𝐕. GRAVE SIGHTS

❝ PRETTY FACE ❞
April 15th, 2021

REAL LIFE — THEO!

THEIR MOTHER'S NAME WAS JODI. It was a good name, and it suited her very well. She had been the one to pick out Theo's full name, and the first of their parents to accept that Techno wanted to be named after the leading weapon name in season three of Ninjago instead of his birth name. Theo's pretty sure their dad still hasn't accepted the name change.

Theo clung to the picnic basket in his hands, glancing up at Techno, who was staring down at the stone grave that held their mother's name and face. There was a picture of Jodi smiling at the camera, taken before Theo had been born but after Techno had turned two. If you looked close enough, you could actually see Techno running in the back of the photo, blurred out so the picture on the stone focused on the woman it served to make people remember.

After a moment, Techno laid out the blanket and Theo got to work setting out the food.

"Did we bring forks?" Theo asked quietly as he pulled out the individual pieces of cake they'd bought at the local market.

"With the cups," Techno told him absentmindedly, fiddling with the necklace around his neck. A J charm for their mom. Theo's dad had broken his in the fight when he'd come out, so he didn't have the same necklace as the rest of his siblings. Something about how his mom would have been ashamed of him.

Theo liked to think she would be more ashamed of her husband than her own son.

"Did mom ever tell you where she got the name Theodore from?" Techno asked, sitting down next to him. "She got mine from her younger brother, he passed away before you were born . . . and she got Chris' from Christopher Robin, dad insisted on that one . . . and Faye from her best friend in college . . . " Techno smiled at him slightly, turning his head. "Theodore was the name of her favorite book character, though. Dad wanted to name you Brian and she fought tooth and nail against that one."

"Good. Brian's a shit name anyway," Theo muttered.

Techno chuckled softly. "Suppose it's a lot better than mine." Theo thought it over before humming in agreement. He had never met his deceased uncle, so he didn't know if the name was a good one or not.

". . . Remember when she took me to see Dan and Phil?" Theo asked. "She complained the entire drive down and back, but she bought me every piece of merch she could and took me to Dennys after the show."

Techno smiled slightly. "She told me she has a lot of fun, not because of the show but because she got to see you excited about something you loved," Techno told him. Theo's heart ached in his chest, but he smiled still, wishing that he had shared more of what he loved with his mom.

"We planned your 16th birthday party together. I wanted it to be Ninjago themed, obviously, but she convinced me to do a theme you wanted to do," Theo said. "We stayed up past my bedtime making decorations together, and then we got to surprise you with breakfast in the morning."

"I remember," Techno said. "I was annoyed with you two for waking me up so early. Now I wish it could happen every day."

Theo leaned his head against Techno's shoulder, looking at the gravestone. ". . . Do you think dad was right, about her being ashamed of me?" Theo asked softly.

"No," Techno said immediately, no form of hesitance in his voice. "She loved you so much, Theo. You were her baby. If she was there that night, she would have taken you away herself and I would have followed. You could ever do anything to make her ashamed of you," Techno told him, almost sternly.