Brother's Home

After returning to Britain, Tyson’s first real resting place was his brother’s home.

On his way there, Tyson was largely living on the streets. He knew that once he was spotted with Lily, she would become an immediate giveaway, so he tried to avoid staying anywhere he might get recognised. He learnt quickly where to go and who to bribe to get a discreet room in cheap hotels, but there were still plenty of nights spent enduring the elements.

Tyson’s plan had been to sleep in Jethro’s spare bedroom or on the settee if he needed to, but - as usual in plans involving his brother - Jethro threw a wrench into that plan.

It had been two years since Jethro had seen his brother off for his latest deployment Afghanistan. His brother had been a wanted man and missing in action for over a year and a half, and then he returned. Sheepish smile in place, looking utterly exhausted and hungry, a dog plastered to his side who smelt only marginally better than him.

After throwing him into a hot bath and giving him a hot meal, Jethro wasn’t ready to leave his baby brother in another room. Tyson was dragged up into Jethro and Rosie’s bed and sandwiched between them, where he was warm and safe, and couldn’t break Jethro’s heart again.

The first night, Jethro barely slept. He was terrified that he’d wake up to discover it had all been a dream, that Tyson would still be missing or reported dead, or simply jack-rabbited away in the middle of the night. He refused to let Tyson out of his sight. He even ended up taking a week of work ‘sick’ to look after him.

Eventually, Tyson had to leave. He refused to put them in danger by staying too long and having them getting found harbouring a wanted man, but to this day, Tyson cannot describe the relief of waking up between Rosie and Jethro. Somewhere warm and dry, somewhere safe, somewhere he was loved again.

Monsoon Season

In retrospect, monsoon season wasn’t the best time for Sebastian and Tyson to escape into India. However, it wasn’t exactly planned and retreating back into the path of the army wasn’t any better than exposure to the elements.

Had they been able to push further into India, then their escape may actually have been successful. A combination of conditions - but largely the weather and the army’s approach - forced them to turn back into Pakistan, where Tyson was eventually abandoned by Sebastian and captured by the army to secure The Colonel’s escape.

However, if they had another day or two between them and their pursers, Tyson and Sebastian would have been able to press forward into the area of - relative - safety between the two strongest storm fronts. It would have been all too easy to take advantage of that to make stronger ground against the army and disappear forever.

As it was, the army was closing in and their best bet of escape was doubling back to shake their pursuit, before returning to India the long way around by boat. That plan failed long before they reached the coast, but - despite Tyson’s increase in escape attempts as they doubled back - he was trying to succeed.

Tyson wanted to escape Moran, but never to see Sebastian caged.

Changing

Though the six months that Tyson spent travelling through the Middle East and Europe on his own, the time between being abandoned by The Colonel and escaping the army & returning to Britain, are largely dismissed - even by Tyson himself - as simply being a time of travel, of transit, those months were truly a different type of transition.

For the most part, it is true that Tyson was running on adrenaline and instinct to survive. And little else. The major touchstones of that point in his life [2011] from his timeline are that Tyson met Lily, he learnt how to fish properly, Lily caused the dog bite scar on his shoulder, and Tyson realised that he’d survived in Germany.

What happened internally for Tyson was piecing back together a sense of self, a sense of being and finding a purpose in living for himself; without Sebastian, without the army. It was during this time that The Soldier began to manifest as a way to protect the freshly former Lieutenant, in a way that could actually be noticed as a change in his behaviour.

It was a time when Tyson was pushed to his limits and survived on his own. He saved himself. One man and his dog; and a broken heart, body, and mind slowly healing. Not back to where they had been before, but into the Tyson we know today.

Broken, yet never beaten.

In many ways, it was the most formative six months of Tyson’s life. There were bigger moments and more important changes, but those changes happened over a longer time period as he stubbornly clung to who he was. This change was putting Tyson in the oven for six minutes at 1000°C, rather than an hour at 100°C.

He was still cooling down when he met the Moriarty Mirrors. His flight or fight instinct was still a twitch trigger. When he met Sunshine, The Soldier was often at the helm. A less in control version of The Soldier, with a sudden temper and - even for Tyson’s standards - whiplash-inducing emotional leaps.

By the time Tyson - officially - met Mischief, then CCT(V), he had settled into Tyson. He had less experience within the web, his skills weren’t as refined, and he hadn’t properly settled into his environment yet - hadn’t found his specific niche - but Tyson was recognisable as the loyal Pup he is today.

And on the timeline of his life? That only brings us to June 2012. It was a whirlwind year for Tyson. His entire way of life was shattered and reforged anew within the span of a year, following on from a year on the run with The Colonel that had already uprooted the equilibrium he had fought so hard to establish.

Dog bite scars

Tyson has two serious scars from dogs: one on his right wrist from Razor, one of the service dogs that he trained for the army, and one on his left shoulder from Lily, his pet Dalmatian-Dhole.

Give that the former was received whilst Tyson was in a well-stocked army compound and the latter whilst travelling on his own through the desert as a wanted man, most would expect the scar from Lily to appear worse and hurt more. Whilst the scar on his shoulder is hypersensitive, the scar from Razor is far messier.

Tyson was able to give the bite from Lily his immediate attention and the wound was a clean bite. She released him almost immediately after her teeth bit into Tyson. Nerve damage caused the wound to become hypersensitive, but the actual bite mark healed smoothly.

Razor did not release Tyson quickly. He jerked Tyson arm around roughly - as he was supposted to. They were working on bite training at the time, but Razor grabbed the wrong (unpadded) arm - and it was a miracle that the German Shepherd didn’t inflict more damage before finally releasing him, then Tyson was forced to wait around for the doctor to return before his wound could get proper attention.

Tyson had basic first aid knowledge, but not enough experience to handle such a bad wound properly. He was also disadvantaged by having his dominant hand attacked, as it wasn’t until after Razor lashed out that Tyson started along the path towards becoming (near) ambidextrous.

In neither of those instances does Tyson blame the dogs, he made a mistake - the same mistake both times, failing to notice the signs of heatstroke - and then the dogs lashed out. It was his mistake, not the dogs’ fault. A good dog trainer can go their entire carrier without ever getting bitten.

Lights

Though he is most definitely a night owl when sleeping on a more regular schedule, Tyson takes great comforting in having light around him.

When trying to avoid the Colonel or escaping the police, Tyson keeps to the shadows to avoid detection, but even having a street light in his peripheral vision is incredibly soothing for Tyson. He doesn’t even need it to illuminate his area, just for it to be nearby.

He finds it much easier to sleep when there is a light on and he’s less likely to devolve into a panic attack if he wakes from a nightmare with some light around. Usually, this means that Tyson will put his phone on charge, on one of the shelves above his bed, and keep it locked open and bright.

He keeps a blue lamp in the bedroom cupboard of his apartment.

The walk in cupboard has several shelves and two racks to put clothes on. There is always a spare shelf encase anyone stays over. The clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories that Tyson keeps in his cupboard are here. Tyson uses the cupboard as a ‘den’ to hide himself away in when he has PTSD episodes. Tyson’s den was a place for him to retreat when he had episodes of PTSD or was just generally distressed. The floor is covered in pillows, quilts, and blankets and any other items in the cupboard are hidden behind large sheets that hang down from hooks in the ceiling. This is so that when he goes in there with an episode nothing he sees can trigger him because all he’ll be able to see was a white sheet. The only items in the cupboard that he doesn’t hide behind the sheets are a teddy-bear that used to belong to his mother, now deceased, and a lamp that emits soft blue light. The sliding door has a bolt lock on the inside.

For all his fear of fire, when he was on the run with Sebastian through Afghanistan, into Pakistan and then India, Tyson appreciated the light the fire provided much more than its heat. The light giving them away was always a risk, but with a Dakota Fire Pit, the flames were out of sight whilst providing a reassuring pool of light for Tyson to watch.

Crickets

Though Sebastian found the sound grating and would reach for the bottle sooner on nights with cricket song, Tyson found it soothing. A reassuring sign that they weren’t completely alone, but weren’t being threatened either.

Though there were a handful of moments in Afghanistan and Pakistan where they could hear crickets, that largely came towards the end of their shared journey, as they crossed over into India.

Maybe Tyson should have seen that as an omen of things to come, that everything was going to chance.

Before they were forced back out of India by increasingly close army patrols, things actually seemed to be better. Though Sebastian was annoyed by the crickets, he was generally happier than he had been in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

There were moments of incredible violence, such as his attack during the monsoon that saw them to the monastery, but overall, Sebastian was more inclined to pull Tyson into his lap to make love rather than assault him.

So now, Tyson finds the sound of crickets to be bittersweet. It was an awful time of his life, but… Tyson can’t help but treasure those days in India with Sebastian, grumbling about damn crickets whilst dragging Tyson in against his side.

Singing

For a time, when he and Sebastian were low on money during their escape and during his own escape through Europe, Tyson busked for money. He can sing and play the piano, and when in need of booze money, Moran was willing to play the guitar.

Though Tyson is an excellent singer, he rarely elects to do so when he’s on his own. He spent the majority of his childhood being taught to stay quiet unless addressed directly. He doesn’t tend to make any noise unless he has to. On a good day, he’ll hum - very quietly - to himself, but singing is rare.

When Sebastian’s beating were particularly vicious, Tyson would sing Oh Danny boy to himself, because it is what Jethro sang to Tyson when he was young. The advantage of that was that, no matter how much his voice shook through the pain, it was enough to appease Sebastian that Tyson wasn’t going anywhere, so he wouldn’t return for another beating.

Tyson sings Chocolate by The 1975 with his nephew.

When Tyson babysits his currently seven year old nephew James - born March 20th 2006 - they sing this song together, and because of this it is one of Tyson’s favourite songs.

Tyson was a great singing voice and James likes listening to his uncle sing. James used to request that Tyson sung this song a lot and eventually it became their song to sing when going on a road trip (to the zoo, aquarium, beach, et cetera) or when just in Tyson’s apartment.

Tyson is very close to his nephew, even though they only see each other a few times a month.

Tyson would like to see his nephew, and brother (Jethro) and sister-in-law (Rosie), more often, but Tyson and his brother came to the agreement not to because of Tyson’s work for his owners and Jethro’s work as a police officer.

Thunder and Lightning

Tyson has a phobia of thunder and lightning.

This is his only phobia to have a specific nervous tick related to it, beyond his default nervous tick: a slight twitch in the first two fingers of his left hand.

Taking a sharp breath and tensing. – There is thunder.

For the sake of that masterlist, I wasn’t as specific there as I could - and, perhaps, should - have been. It’s not simply that Tyson tenses up around thunder and lightning. His entire body locks upand he will stay frozen for several seconds that feel like hours, heart hammering, before coming back to himself.

His phobia wasn’t created until his time in India with The Colonel. There were several instances of thunder and lightning happening, sometimes in alarmingly close proximity for how exposed their current position was, however there was one moment that Tyson can say cemented it; as, for how awful that moment was, the one thing he can get clear memory of is the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning.

Tyson had gotten caught out in a monsoon with Sebastian, a drunk and - as often followed - very angry Moran. He had taken a harsh beating that night, but Tyson honestly can’t remember the specifics. He can’t remember the wind whipping around them or the rain pelting down. Just the roar drowning out Sebastian and flashes of his face in darkness.

He has a stronger reaction to hearing thunder than seeing lightning. Which is likely why he is comfortable with Tesla Coils. Whilst its natural form is wild, electricity can be controlled. Tyson actually has a Tesla Coil and Faraday Cage set up in his warehouse near Bath.

When are you going to realize that nobody's going to swoop in and save you?

Tyson never thought that someone would swoop in and save him. He didn't come to the conclusion that no one would save him, instead if was something he'd simply accepted the second he went off with The Colonel.

However, it took him a very long time to realise that he was going to save himself and that he didn't need anyone else to save him or fix him; something which he later became very passionate about.

After parting ways with Sebastian and escaping military capture, Tyson had simply accepted that he wasn't going to make it. He never consider giving in or stopping trying to find safety, but somewhere in his heart he'd accepted that the odds were stacked against him; that this would be his undoing.

It wasn't until Tyson made it to German, holed up in a Munich hotel room with Lily whilst he waited out a sprained ankle, that Tyson realised he'd saved himself. At this point he'd been travelling through Europe to avoid detection for over a month, but only now did he realise that he was safe. There was nothing that told him this, it just dawned on him all of a sudden.

Up until that point Tyson had believed that he was always going to fail, that he wasn't good enough to survive.

A surefire way to offend / upset Tyson

Tyson doesn't get angry easily, but one of the easiest ways to offend Tyson is to say that you'll 'fix him / make him better'.

Tyson doesn't want anyone to fix him nor does he need it. He needs support and someone to encourage him - to give him a nudge every now and again to encourage him to interact with other people and to talk in general, someone to go to for comfort, and to steer him in the right direction if he gets scared/confused - but he doesn't need anyone else to fix him.

This doesn't mean that Tyson thinks he is okay. Tyson knows that he isn't the best that he could be, he knows that he has a long way to go before he could be considered healthy (both mentally and physically), but he is still better than he might otherwise have been.

After the events with The Colonel Tyson was completely shattered. Completely broken. Tyson has worked himself up from, practically, nothing. He dragged himself out of the Middle East and back to Blighty. He put his life back together. He survived. No one else did that for him, Tyson did it on his own. He is far stronger than he, or anyone else, gives him credit for.

Since he started working for Jim, both of them, he has had a lot of help from his owners (some that he knows about and some that he doesn't) but even then most of the work has been done by Tyson. He dragged himself up to a state where he was good enough to take Jim's interest, good enough to be worth helping.

Tyson resents the idea that he needs anyone else to fix him. He will admit he needs help to continue getting better, if a little reluctant to accept the help, but he will never accept that he needs anyone to fix him; because he doesn't.

The scar on Tyson's foot

Scar: Scar on the base of his right foot.
Date:: Thursday 9th February 2012.

Whilst in Edinburgh Tyson had a brush with the police on George Street.

At this time the police were after Tyson because General Clarkson was yet to clear Tyson of criminal charges, though the police do still keep an eye on Tyson and bring him in for frequent questionings.

When he came out of a shop, at the time a small coffee shop which made surprisingly nice flapjack, Tyson walked almost directly into two police officers. They recognised him immediately. Obviously, Tyson ran.

As he rounded the corner onto Hanover Street his shoe came off. His shoelace had come loose and caught on drainage grate. Wisely Tyson didn’t pause to pick up his shoe as the police were right on his tail.

He kept running - ducking and diving between pedestrians - until he lost the police, just as he passed by Chambers Street. He kept running though, to be on the safe side.

In doing so his foot went over a rock, a rock which was presumably there because of the repairs being made to the road.

He sliced open his foot which left a long scar along the base of his foot.

This is one of the few scars Tyson doesn’t mind being touched, rather than hurting its very ticklish. Though he isn’t particularly fond of his feet being touched in general, because they are very ticklish.

Stage

When Tyson was at University [Cambridge] he performed on stage.

He took part in many different plays but the ones he was in most [his favourite two to perform] were A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing. Though in general Tyson favours Lord Bryon's plays.

It wasn’t the acting Tyson enjoyed nor being on stage, that meant people could see him, but instead he enjoyed being someone [anyone] who wasn’t himself. He liked ‘being’ another person/character so that he could escape from himself and his anxieties, if only for a little.

Tyson only other stage credits are playing piano/singing when in the Middle East to earn money whilst he was escaping from the army. He had to pay for food somehow, he also made maps for people and trained dogs for money, food, water, and clean clothes.

Tyson likes snakes.

Tyson wasn’t always fond of the scaled creatures but after his time in the Middle East he became fond of them. Watching them move across the sand and up trees had been his only source of entertainment for a long time. He’d learnt to appreciate them since. Before he found Lily they were his only company for long periods of time.

He prefers the smaller ones, but he still finds the medium and large ones interesting.

Fear of water.

When they met Lily was afraid of water, Tyson taught her to swim.

Brothers before all others.

When Tyson returned to Britian he stayed with his brother for three weeks but he left because he knew the army would be looking for his brother to track him down. Jethro was taken in for questioning but said he didn't know where Tyson was and that he hadn't seen him.

The Piano Man

Whilst Tyson and Sebastian were in India, Tyson would play the piano to earn money.


Whilst Sebastian would spend the night drinking, Tyson would play the piano so that he could keep an eye on Sebastian whilst making sure they had enough money to get food and pay off Sebastian's bar bills. They had no need to pay for hotels because they spent most nights in the streets.

A close call.

Halfway across Pakistan a military patrol passed Sebastian and Tyson by inches. They spotted the patrol early and hid under one of the huts, they were raised to stop flood water getting into the huts.

The First Monastery: Part Three

Summery: Tyson is healed enough that Sebastian says they can leave. They set off in the middle of the night.
Part One.
Part Two.

The First Monastery: Part Two.

Summary: Healing Tyson / more on how Sebastian isn't a complete monster.
Sorry that this one is short but there's not much to tell.
Part One.
Part Three.

The First Monastery: Part One.

Summery: Tyson is injured badly and Sebastian can not get him to a hospital so takes him to the monastery, who take them in and help patch up Tyson.
Story under the cut, as always this was a collaboration with Peter to ensure Sebastian is in character.

Side note / head canon from Peter: Sebastian refures to Tyson as the boy because of the age gap between them.

Part Two.