Though Tyson’s relationship with the male parts of the Sherlock canon are more dynamic and disparate in the range they cover, Tyson has better relationships overall with the female characters.
Irene Adler
Irene Adler
↳ Known trouble, respected company.
"When [Moriarty] speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always as ‘that bitch’."
- Colonel Sebastian 'Basher' Moran;
'The Hound of the D'Urbervilles' by Kim Newman.
Though Tyson isn’t as… blunt as his owners in expressing his dislike of Irene, Tyson doesn’t trust her. From personal experiences with The Women, Tyson can attest to how underhand her techniques can be when she’s after a quick escape.
Tyson respects her and her techniques immensely and - if needs be - he can enjoy her company. He enjoys Irene’s sharp sense of humour and, if she asked him to, would come assist her. However, he knows that she is an incredibly smart woman who could, and would, blindside him at any minute if she needed to; and therefore mustn’t be trusted.
Whether she is getting her kicks as a dominatrix, gentlewoman thief, or as an adventure, Tyson has a lot of respect for Irene. He’ll gripe about her latest trick or whichever employees she pulled a fast one against, but - outside of the Moriarty Mirrors - Tyson won’t hear a bad word against said against her.
What she does is damned impressive and he would much rather her attention stayed on Holmes than on the web. In many ways, Tyson views her in the same light as Lex: a wildcard to mix up the deck. The difference being that where Tyson has Lex firmly in hand to use as he sees fit, Irene is shuffled in at random and can strike at any moment.
He can never decide if Irene likes her version of the game with Holmes or if her actions are the equivalent of moving an insect out of the way with a piece of paper and a glass. Actually, he isn’t even sure which way she viewed the Moriarty Mirrors or himself, but he can’t imagine that it’s in a positive way.
Mary Morstan
Though he’s certain it must have happened, Tyson cannot remember a moment when he’s been able to have a full conversation with Mary. By no specific effort on either of their behalf, Tyson and Mary usually only cross paths to say goodbye.
Either Tyson shows up to visit John just as Mary is setting off to go meet a friend for drinks or Mary is coming through the front door just as Tyson sets off to deal with an urgent call from the Moriarty Mirrors.
In those brief snippets of time where Tyson and Mary have gotten the opportunity to talk to one another, Tyson has enjoyed Mary’s company. She’s funny and kind, and even if their relationship is in a constant flux of on and off again, Tyson can see how much she cared about John.
He wouldn’t expect her to call him about anything, but equally Tyson wouldn’t be surprised if she happened to have his number when she wanted to call someone over to babysit Toby and the cooking turkey for an hour when she needed to run out for something on Christmas day.
That basically sums up how things work between Tyson and Mary. There are no exceptions, but when something happened neither are surprised in any way.
Molly Hooper
Molly Hooper
↳ Fellow pet, dear friend and acquired sister.
The best description for Molly and Tyson’s relationship comes from this post:
Molly and Tyson are not star-crossed lovers, not romantic companions, they are not waiting for their happy ending— with each other. They are the closest thing to brother and sister, and they like that. They like being able to talk to freely to each other and not feel the sudden tinge of infatuation. They like being able to touch and it doesn’t feel like there should be something more. They don’t want the ‘something more’. They want to stay like this forever, this way.
Of all of the Moriarty Mirrors’ pets, Molly is the one Tyson feels most comfortable with. Unlike with other pets of Jim, Tyson doesn’t need to hide their friendship. Usually work gets in the way of the two interacting, but they make sure to make some time for each other. They relax in each other’s apartments and eat take-out together, more often than not with Tyson’s head resting in Molly’s lap or Molly using Tyson’s lap as a seat. Sometimes they make an afternoon out of it, going shopping then sharing lunch.
When Molly’s upset, Tyson does everything in his power to make her laugh; usually this means holding up one of her cats and pretending the cats talking. Tyson’s there for Molly for when she needs a shoulder to cry on, when she needs someone to try out a new recipe with, & when she needs a workout buddy at the gym who does no actual working-out himself but instead sits there encouraging her.
Molly’s there for Tyson for when he’s having a wave of anxiety and needs a calm voice, when he wants to vent about ‘pain in the neck Irishmen’ summoning him a four in the morning to test a new theory, & when he admits he’s never seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy she’s there to correct this oversight. Molly is the playful, protective, ingenious little sister he never knew he wanted.
It’s very rare that they end up working the same job, but when they do the time flies.