Chapter Text
Thea settled on the day of Bob's moms funeral.
It had never been a story Bob or Thea liked to talk about. Thea had actually been the one to tell Nico and Linda. She told him after Bob and Linda had been together for around 7 months. It was a quiet evening and Thea whispered the story to Nico as she gently preened his fur.
Bob didn't tell the story himself until Tina was almost 3. He had been crying as he watched Thea and Nico play with Jericho and Ken. Bob loved their kids so much it hurt. It hurt to think about his mom and his dad and how he handled her death.
Bob was 13 when his mother died.
And Thea was 13 when she settled.
Lily's funeral had happened in the morning. They had an open coffin for her and when Bob and Thea saw her they flinched hard. Seeing his mom with her dragonfly Terrance was so wrong and unnatural, it made Bob's skin crawl. Terrance was always buzzing about Lily's head or her shoulders. The only time he was away from her was when he was with Thea, or when he was with Big Bob's basenji dog Veronica.
Thea loved flying with Terrance. She would often change into birds or bugs and twist and whirl around him in the way that only the young can do.
It didn't make sense.
Bob knew that a person's daemon turns to dust when they die, but seeing his mom without hers was making panic boil in Bob's stomach and skitter across his skin. It wasn't right. Terrance would never leave his mom.
Bob jumped as his dad clamped his hand on Bob's shoulder. Veronica was leaning against the side of Big Bob's leg. Big Bob wasn't looking at Bob, he was staring at Lily with his eyes full of tears that he stupidly refused to let fall.
Thea came to land on Bob's other shoulder. She was constantly changing forms due to her and Bob's combined grief. But like all of her recent forms, they could all fly.
Big Bob had to clear his throat multiple times before he was able to say, "Have you said goodbye yet?" His voice cracked as he said 'goodbye'.
Bob didn't know how to answer that. How was he meant to say goodbye to his mom when she was already gone? His throat clogged with grief.
Bob only came out of his spiral as Thea nibbled on his ear with a beak of some kind. It was something that Thea had been doing a lot lately.
Bob numbly nodded. He wasn't sure if he said his goodbyes, but he couldn't stand to look at his mom like that anymore.
Bob was gently led by Pete's great Pyrenees, Aces, to a seat in the front row. Thea sat in Bob's hands as they rested in his lap.
The funeral went by in a blur.
Bob really only remembered two things, crying so much his eyes hurt, and stroking Thea's feathers or fur or the skin of whatever animal she was.
The wake was a Bob's Diner.
Bob sat alone in a corner booth with Thea.
Big Bob was working.
He never stopped.
Nothing about this felt real.
Bob was still half expecting his mom to come in the front door, like this was some kind of horrible dream. Though he knew his mom had been sick for a while, cancer, though he never knew what kind. His mom always said she'd tell him when he was older, but he guessed now that wouldn't happen. But she couldn't really be gone right? She wouldn't actually leave? This had to all be a joke or a nightmare or something.
"What can I do to help?" Thea asked, it hurt.
Everything hurt.
"I want my mom," Bob sobbed quietly to her. It's all he wanted. Down to his bone marrow, down to his soul.
Thea changed into a dragonfly. She had the same oil spill colors as Terrance had, she was just smaller. Thea flew to bury herself into Bob's shoulder. This mimicry was all she could think to do. It didn't help, but the illusion gave Bob a chance to breathe.
Bob covered Thea with his hand as he tried to take shuddering breaths. Bob closed his eyes and just felt the shape of Thea against him as he imagined it was Terrance.
"How're you going?" A voice suddenly asked.
Bob yelped, startled by the voice. Thea flew up in a panic.
Bob had half a second to recognize that the voice was Veronica before it all went to hell. Everything happened so quickly Bob was only able to fully understand it all later that night as he stared at the ceiling replaying the moment over and over again.
Veronica looked at Thea flying and lunged for her. Bob immediately tried to reach for Thea, as she flew up with a panicked squawk. Her form changed into a bird with both dark and light gray feathers and a beautiful blue under her wings. Bob managed to grab Thea as he threw himself backwards. Bob's heart beat so hard in his chest it filled his ears. His back hit the wall of the booth, and he scrambled back as far as he could. Bob clutched Thea protectively to his chest, as he turned away to get Thea as far away from Veronica as he could.
Big Bob moved fast to his daemon and son, "What's going on?" He asked in pure panic. Big Bob scratched Veronica's fur as he looked Bob over for injuries.
Bob was panting and his eyes were filled with fear. Big Bob could see him shaking and he could feel Veronica shaking against him. He also noticed that Bob hadn't looked away from Veronica.
"We're fine. I just got startled," Veronica explained, her voice shaking almost as much as her body. Her mind was a million miles away. Thea had looked exactly like Terrance.
Bob still hadn't relaxed. But he did climb over the table to get out the other side of the booth, "I'm going to my room," he shouted over his shoulder as he ran from the diner.
Big Bob blinked in worry, what the hell had happened? But he didn't follow Bob and check on him, he just went back to work.
Bob was still shaking hard as he and Thea hid under his blankets.
"That was terrifying," Thea finally spoke, she was clinging to Bob. Thea kept her voice low, it didn't feel right to be louder than a whisper.
"But you're fine so it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay," Bob answered as his voice shook. He was trying to convince himself that everything would be okay. That his dad's daemon attacking his was an accident and everything was okay. That when he came out from under the blankets everything would go back to normal.
Thea tried to change into something soft and fluffy to comfort Bob.
But she couldn't.
"Bob?" Thea was now panicking for a new reason.
"Are you okay?" Bob's panic made his voice all high and it made him shake so hard it felt like the panic would shake out of his body.
"I think I settled," Thea quickly explained, Bob's shaking was making the whole bed shake. Thea was confused, she remembered Terrance telling her that when he settled he felt comforted and happy. Thea didn't feel like that when she settled, she was just scared and wanted to get away from Veronica. She wanted to be free from all the pain and grief.
"Seriously?" Bob sat up and stared at Thea's form. He could tell she was a bird, that was obvious, but he didn't know what kind of bird, and Bob wouldn't find out for many years that she was a dusty parrot.
"Yeah," Thea was sure, but she still felt insecure, "Are you okay with it?"
"Yeah," Bob was quick to reassure Thea, "I mean I wasn't expecting you to settle today. But I'm going to think about this some other day," Bob's brain was overloaded. Today was just too much. It felt like his brain was going to melt out of his ears at any moment, "I think I'm going to sleep," Bob laid down and cradled Thea to his chest before he passed out.