born on april fool's day to erica and jason nashton, theodore was a long awaited arrival. the couple had struggled for years to conceive and teddy arrived after a slew of in vitro attempts and consequent miscarriages. he was a treasured addition to their family, spoiled from the second he was born. the three years of his life, though he cannot remember them, were blissful and filled with love and affection.
shortly after his third birthday, his parents were killed in an automobile accident on their way home from a party at jason's work. with no living grandparents and no aunts or uncles to speak up, teddy was surrendered to the foster care system. when he was young he hoped for an adoption, some family to come and take him away from the poor conditions and abusive homes he was bounced around but by the time he was nine he had accepted the fact that no one was looking to take in an older child for anything more than a monthly paycheck. a clever child from the beginning, he threw himself into schoolwork completely in an attempt to avoid life at his various foster homes. he signed up for every available club and afterschool activity he could.
teddy was something of a class clown, boisterous and well known among his classmates though he couldn't have called any of them his friends. his attitude and biting sense of humor was a deflection, an attempt to distract from his home life and from the bruises that sometimes showed on his arms or legs when he arrived at school. he didn't date and rarely socialized outside of his afterschool clubs and activities.
his dedication to school paid off in the end, and upon graduation he was offered a full ride scholarship to M.I.T. he attended the fall directly following his graduation persuing a degree in electrical engineering. it was during his time at college that he finally began to allow himself a social life, no longer terrified of potential friends finding out about where he lived or how he was treated. he started frequenting local bars on their trivia nights and eventually created his own team, currently ranked first in the city. he started dating, a new and almost terrifying experience for him. his focus on school seemed to constantly get in the way or destroy any relationships he went after however and by the time he'd graduated with his bachelor's he'd decided to focus solely on his education.
he returned to M.I.T to complete his master's degree. while his time as an undergraduate had barely challenged him, he found he now had to work harder to continue achieving high marks. desperate to be the best, he burned himself at both ends for two years straight to ensure he graduated at the top of his class again. but when he finally held his degree in his hand, he found it felt hollow. abandoning his original intention of jumping straight into a phd program, teddy abandoned boston and caught the cheapest flight to the furthest location - orlando, florida.
teddy took on odd jobs at the various theme parks in town, from ride maintenance to acting as a barker at game booths. it was a year of self discovery - the most important of which was that he was simply not cut out for an average, minimum wage lifestyle. though the work was stimulating at first, he grew bored quickly, changing positions and parks every few months until he'd run out of options and was forced to return back to boston. taking advantage of yet another scholarship, he returned to M.I.T one final time, to finish his studies and obtain his phd in electrical engineering.
following the completion of his thesis and the awarding of his final and most important degree, teddy went to work for a local research lab. he started as a lowly assistant but quickly rose through the ranks. he is currently the head of research and development at mitsubishi's electrical research laboratory. the work doesn't bore him but it doesn't satisfy him either. in his spare time he is developing a video game based around puzzles and riddles, a secret project that only his closest friends are privvy to. he eventually hopes to release it to the public and use it, secretly, as a way to scout out talent for the research lab he hopes to build and run himself some day.
he currently lives in beacon hill with his dog, his cat and three gold fish. he still runs his trivia team, and dedicates most wednesday nights to watching reruns of jeopardy on his dvr. his most prized possession is the plaque he received from the guinness book of world record's when he was a child for holding the record time for solving a rubic's cube for two years running from '91 to '92. it hangs on his wall between his degrees.
he used to breed snakes when he was completing his masters to pay the bills. the only reason he no longer has one is because he's afraid his cat will break into the cage while he's at work. that doesn't stop him from pining over them through the window at the pet store by his work, however.
appeared on three episodes of jeopardy: college edition while he was attending M.I.T as an undergraduate. he won enough money to pay for his master's degree but squandered the remainder on video and computer games and his car, a green '71 stingray that he treats like a baby.
suffers from asthma and severe sleep paralysis and consequently insomnia
shares a last name with his cv, teddy is also a nickname for edward
edward worked as a carnival barker for at time, teddy worked at several theme parks for a year
both come from abusive households which helped to push them to succeed academically
