Monday 19 November 2018

The usual suspects

Across all of his verses, Tyson has an army of pets, but there are three that are his pets across most universes and regardless of whether the magical/advantaged technology level of Tyson’s main universe is active, and those are Lily, Bobby, & Jack.

Lily



The Dalmatian/Dhole hybrid has been with Tyson since Pakistan, where she began tailing him for food and eventually led him to water. At this point in time, she is nine years old.
Lily’s spots are black and her coat white, though most the time it looks more grey from rolling around outside. On her left thigh, there are only three spots that make a triangle like a bowling ball’s holes. She is normally wearing a brown leather collar and her leash is a black rope. Her dangling ID tag looks like this, the bell jingles as she walks and the information is inside. 
She loathes water with a passion. When they first met, Lily was terrified of water; including the river she led him to for water. Since those days, Tyson has helped her calm down and taught her to swim, but she still hates taking a bath and she never wants to stay out in the rain. More often than not, Tyson will wash her in the en-suite’s walk-in shower instead.
Lily is one of two dogs to give Tyson serious scars. She is very protective of Tyson and will actively stand between him and anyone she doesn’t like. Lily is well-trained and will immediately fall back when given the command, but generally, Tyson trusts Lily’s judgement.
Lily loves playing with bubbles. Tyson can keep her entertained for hours by blowing bubbles for her to snap at and chase around. Whenever she actually manages to catch one, she spends a solid minute making a fuss, rubbing her tongue on the ground to remove the taste, before chasing them again. 
Most often, Lily can be found perched on top of the armchair in Tyson’s living room, looking out the window onto London’s streets. At night, she does tend to join Tyson (and Bobby) in his bed, but usually, she prefers to curl up at the end of the bed to save a little space to herself whilst still being near.

Bobby



He is a Dalmatian/Dhole/Beagle. At this point in time, he is five years old.
Bobby has black spots. His floppy ears are completely black, which is the only distinctive part of his coat, as the rest of his spots are just spread about randomly. He was the runt of the litter, Lily’s litter, she gave birth thanks to a Magic!Anon. Bobby’s collar is a red fabric collar and his leash is a red rope. His dangling ID tag looks like this
He hates having his belly rubbed. Bobby is perfectly fine with his chest being touched and the inside of his back legs, but he gets upset whenever his stomach is touched. Tyson has to be extra careful when drying him off. He isn’t aggressive when touched there, yet clearly distressed and wants to get away.
Bobby loves water, and swimming, and rain, and jumping in puddles, and… anything wet. When he was a smaller dog, Bobby used to swim laps in the bathtub. Whenever Tyson goes to take a shower, Bobby insists on jumping in to join him.
When Bobby was a puppy, he loved water just as much as he does now. He once ended up falling asleep in the bath whilst settled on Tyson’s chest. This left Tyson unable to move as the water cooled and Lily outside of the bath licking her puppy clean of soap, whilst being completely unwilling to get touched by the water herself.
Bobby can see ghosts and is able to seek them out. He will go out of his way to find ghosts, even taking Tyson miles off course. Though Tyson has his dogs trained to an incredible level, the former Lieutenant largely allows his dogs to do as they wish unless given a direct instruction. That training means he can trust them enough to allow such a loose metaphorical leash.
Unless Tyson is trying to get somewhere specific, when Bobby starts leading him and Lily off to the left on their morning walk, Tyson shrugs and follows the course Bobby would like the walk. He doesn’t understand what exactly is catching his Dalmatian’s interest, but he enjoys the opportunity to take a new route and see different areas of London when it happens.
Bobby loves people, but he tends to be unsure when initially meeting other dogs. After a minute and no negative reaction, Bobby will gladly play with other dogs, but he does need a moment to make sure everything is fine. No amount of time will ever convince Bobby that cats are anything other than malevolent.

Jack



Jack is a Doberman. At this point in time, he is eleven years old.
Jack was originally a dog that Tyson trained for the army, but when he refused to take orders from anyone other than Tyson he was deemed unfit for service. Tyson agreed to take him in without hesitation and now he guards the family manor under Jasmine’s care.
Most who meet the black Doberman would call him cold, but Jack is a one-man dog: Tyson’s dog. With Tyson and Lily, he is loyal and friendly. He is slightly more reserved with Jasmine - who he is in the care of, most of the time - and Bobby, but still loyal and protective of both. Jack, like Lily, doesn’t seek affection and is more comfortable with having company to lay next to.
Tyson has a tracker on Jack’s purple collar. It’s not that he distrusts Jasmine or her ability to care for his dog, but it soothes Tyson’s anxiety to be able to check in on Jack from time to time. Jack is one of the few constants from the time before he was forced to abandon the army.
Jack is largely impartial about water. Whilst he won’t care about walking out in the rain, he also won’t jump into the water; unless it’s a very hot day or ordered in by Tyson. Bath time has always been easy with Jack. 
Jack’s favourite toy seems to be washed up seaweed. It’s like a tug-toy that he can destroy and rip up in minutes, and always have more to play with.
Whenever Tyson visits Cambridge, he makes sure to visit the manor and spent some time playing with Jack. If spare weren’t already at a premium in his apartment, Tyson would love to have Jack with him, but he knows the Doberman is better off with the space and grass of the manor.