Tyson is too stubborn for his own good. His sense of competition is always one step away from a dance or a brawl. He goes above and beyond with romantic gestures. Those facts do not mingle well.
“If it helps place the memory, I believe that, at the time, you chose to outwardly accept the answer of parkouring around London to show off for a pretty face at its face value, to avoid outing me - in several definitions of the phrase - in front of the nurse.”“In truth,” Tyson sighed and rubbed at the side of his face, as though that would scrub away the memory of his impact with the pavement. “Well, I did actually take a tumble on a rain-slick rooftop and injure the arm in my emergency landing, that wasn’t a lie, but I was running away from a mutual acquaintance rather than trying to show off for him.” A beat and then, “Alright, mostly running. It’s always a little about trying to show off when he’s around, even at peril of life and limb. I’m fairly certain you’ve told me off for doing that as well, John.” [x]“Alright, I’ll tell you what, I’ll promise that I’ll stop risking myself for… well, blanket term, let’s say ‘the dangerous people that I’m stupid enough to fall in love with,’ if….” [x]
He may, in fact, be completely incapable of stopping himself from showing off for a pretty face. Around Sebastian Moran, this applies twice over. He can’t help that competitive instinct around Moran or the Moriarty Mirrors, but even around people that Tyson is simply crushing on, he feels like he has to prove himself.
If he isn’t doing an unnecessary backflip when running away from The Colonel, Tyson is doing upside-down crunches from a tree branch to show off for Kim. If he isn’t working himself to the bone to please the Moriarty Mirrors, Tyson is tripping over himself to impress the latest person to catch his eye; even as he tries to distance himself from them to protect himself, and them.
If it will get him a second of the sun’s attention, our little Icarus will hurl himself off of cliffs - or, more accurately, rooftops - over and over again.