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.

Balance

Tyson has appallingly bad balance for how agile he is in other matters.

Especially when he so easily pivots around on the balls of his feet within his apartment and parkours around London as though he were born to run over those roofs. He’s a natural at ice-skating, already accustomed to using his hands to keep balance and direct his motion.

The issue is comfort. Whilst keeping the core muscles tight is important to maintaining balance, being too rigid throws off balance. Tyson is comfortable in London. He is comfortable in his home.

When Tyson isn’t comfortable, when he is trying to balance in a place he isn’t familiar with, Tyson cannot relax his muscles enough to maintain proper balance. It isn’t in his nature to be loose with his actions.

In terms of keeping his balance, being familiar with the place completely overrules feeling uncomfortable around other people. Being in that situation may make him uncomfortable emotionally, but Tyson can typically keep his muscle memory for balance.

Victorian Revolution

Tyson loves history.

Though Greek, Roman, and Persian histories - and the ways in which they intertwine - are fascinating to Tyson, the industrial revolution is of particular interest to him for the ways in which it advanced engineering; and the cost at which it came.

He loves engineering. It’s mathematics given physical form. Tyson finds it much easier to convey his love of mathematics, in a way that others can comprehend and actually share in, through engineering. Through physical, rather than theoretical.

There are other periods of history where great innovation and change were achieved, but none of those draws Tyson’s attention so keenly as the industrial revolution. Perhaps its a lingering sense of patriotism coming from Tyson or his adoration of London bleeding through, but the industrial revolution is almost magical to Tyson.

And yet, he doesn’t view it through the same rose-tinted, romanticised lenses as he does ancient history. He can acknowledge the errors and cost of Roman (et cetera) histories, but Tyson isn’t as caught up on the cost that the innovations of those eras cost as he is the price that was paid for the industrial revolution.

Perhaps, it simply comes from a place of believing that they are still paying the cost for the innovations of the industrial revolution. That sharp knowledge that the technology and engineering - the mathematics - he loves so much, came about through blood and suffering.

Keeping himself small

Almost all of Tyson’s nervous ticks and twitches are small actions and his OCD compulsions are relatively small actions to take too. When he’s asleep, Tyson tries to make himself as small as possible and even when he’s having nightmares, Tyson’s body usually only allows him to make small motions.

As a child, Tyson was taught to be conscious of his every action and the appearance it gave. He had to stand a particular way, the proper way for an heir to the Delaney legacy. He had to gesture in particular ways, only when necessary and only in a controlled, calm manner.

He has been taught his entire life to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself. Tyson has been beaten and broken for accidentally getting noticed at the wrong moment. It’s ingrained into Tyson to keep himself inconspicuous.

Even when Tyson is purposefully trying to draw attention to himself, his motions will remain close to his body or small. A single wave before his arm withdraws, or his body will remain stiff as a board, tightly controlled and every motion purposeful.

He isn’t good at lowering his guard and relaxing, allowing his motions to be big and carefree. Tyson understands how to. He simply can’t make himself do it without tremendous effort and feeling wrong in his own skin for doing so.

The Dent

The dent in his torso is roughly an inch deep, five inches long, and an inch and a half in height. It is positioned where his lowest left rip is, it stops that area his torso being a smooth curve like the rest of his torso and turns it into the top of an ‘m’ shape.

The dent is hypersensitive - to pain and temperature - and hitting it can trigger full blow hallucinations of PTSD. The dent was caused by repeated punching from Colonel Sebastian Moran, the bone was never given a chance to heal properly before it was re-broken, over and over again until when it finally healed, without being set in place, it became the dent.

The dent is clearly visible through the fabric of his shirt even with the t-shirt he wears underneath it to try and make it less visible. Though the dent is visible should one pay attention to that side of Tyson’s torso, most people could go months without noticing it as a hollow in someone’s torso isn’t something people typically keep their eyes out for.

To the average passerby, it simply looks like an odd dip in the fold of his shirt. Sometimes clothes fold in weird ways. No big deal. Tyson’s habit of keeping his right hand over the dent in his torso, to shield it from accidentally getting struck, also shields it from view most of the time.

The dent in Tyson’s torso is an incredibly obvious weak spot that most people would never even notice. People see what they want to see, what they expect to see. In many ways, Tyson is more protective of the dent than he truly needs to be, but he cannot take the risk of leaving it exposed around people he doesn’t trust.

The reason the dent hasn’t been re-set and corrected is that the lower half of Tyson’s lower sternum was weakened by those attacks. To properly fix the dent in Tyson’s torso, it would require a lot of metal reinforcement and the possible complete replacement of a large portion - if not all - of Tyson’s rib cage.

To Tyson, it isn’t worth losing the flexibility and manoeuvrability for an operation that might not even solve the pain the dent in his torso causes.

XPirate!Verse

Within XPirate!Verse, Tyson is enjoying the semi-retirement with a horde of animals that he deserves; but would never seek out of his own volition. He’s happily on the farm with his horses, a handful of donkeys, and a few dozen chickens.

It’s an easy simple life, carrying out whatever jobs the Moriarty Mirrors ask of him. At times though, Tyson finds himself restless. Wanting adventure again. He remains patient, however. He knows that his owners have big plans ahead. It’s only a matter of time before they pull the trigger.

He can guess that it has something to do with moving their operation over to London, but any details have been kept close to their chests.

Tyson hasn’t been on a ship since he arrived in Dublin and met the Moriarty Mirrors, but he always keeps a mermaid ring on his person anyway. Even after everything that happened, and even though the ring isn’t exactly to his taste, Tyson can’t bare to through away something that Sebastian gave him.

Pirate!Verse

Within Pirate!Verse, Tyson is exploring the high seas with the Moriarty Mirrors.

Once a scarlet Spanish galleon, since commandeered for the Moriarty Mirrors’ fleet, The Midas Touch was a dare. It boldly flaunted the hoarded gold in their cargo hold, with golden trim surrounding the now black boat and embroidered sails. Never a dull moment within the web.

There are many ships within the Moriarty Mirrors’ fleet, but The Midas Touch is their flagship. Others of note are Shillelagh which is primarily used for sailing around the British Isles and its connection to the fleet kept secret, Oriri Igniswhich is used when sailing between Caribbean ports, and a barely floating relic from their first victory Roc Raft.

As much as he gripes about missing dry land, Tyson loves to be tangled within the rigging, watching the horizon and hearing songs echo up from the decks belong. He loves perching on the gently rocking deck in the captain’s quarters to confer with his owners.

He always keeps a mermaid switchblade on his person. It was an old trinket that he stole whilst running with Sebastian. He had needed an emergency weapon after getting caught unawares and it had been the first he’d spotted in the market. It’s become something of a good luck charm.

Flowers

One of the many pointless skills drilled into Tyson’s head by countless tutors was the Victorian language of the flowers.

Even when Tyson know with certainty that the recipient won’t know the meaning and won’t care to look it up, Tyson will take the time to match the flowers he sends to an appropriate message.

He doesn’t like letting knowledge go to waste. Even if the recipient doesn’t know the message, Tyson will and that is what matters to him. Whenever possible Tyson will also mix in whatever the person’s favourite flower is, regardless of meaning or offsetting its meaning with another flower.

His favourite flower is the Cosmos atrosanguineus. He tends to put on in the lapel of his suit whenever possible. When gifted to a loved one the chocolate scented flower means, ‘I love you more than anybody can’. Perhaps more suited to The Colonel’s possessive view of love than Tyson’s ‘I can - and do - love multiple people equally’ approach.

Etiquette and Manners

Though Tyson has had every type of etiquette and manners drilled into his head from a young age, Tyson only values them up until a point.

A point where their purpose remains polite, rather than exclusionary.

With rare exceptions, such as a steak knife which actually helps cut the food, Tyson does not care which piece of cutlery someone decides to eat with. He will purposefully put his knife and fork in the ‘wrong’ hands out of spite for that point.

It’s just a game to make someone feel superior and he hated having to play along at the dinners his father hosted at the manor. He much preferred the garden parties where everything was finger food and that game was taken away.

He always makes sure to - as best he can - abide by the local version of what is polite, but Tyson never really cares about saying or hearing ‘please’. He views it as polite to say ‘thank you’, but ‘please’ as unnecessary. A request is carried out or it isn’t, ‘thanks’ or ‘cheers’ is gratitude if the task was carried out.

Though Tyson has a tendency to introduce himself, he honestly doesn’t care about saying hello or goodbye. He often wanders away from conversations and leaves without a second thought about saying his goodbyes. He just doesn’t see it as necessary, but he can understand why others think that its impolite.

Kim

Tyson always knew that Kim would never be his to keep.

Though he wishes they had fought harder for their relationship at the end - and unknown to Tyson, Kimiko does too - but Tyson always knew the day would come.

Kimiko was fun and free. Wild. Fireflies in the night, always just out of reach, dancing around him and tempting him in, like a silk ribbon slipping through his fingers. The playful burst of a sparkler, its smoke disappearing with the wind. Always a game with Kim. Fun and free. Never to last. Never to keep.

And Tyson doesn’t regret a single second of it.

He will always be glad that he took the time to trade in compound chores with other soliders for out of compound time with Kim, and Tyson will always be grateful to Hal for trading chores to help get that time with her; and for providing him with a clean shirt when he returned with lipstick stains on his collar.

Or boxers when Tyson had to go commando to convince Kim to wear one item of clothing for a little while. Though, sometimes, having Kimiko dancing around her kitchen in his boxers was more distracting than watching her skipping around naked. Once their relationship ended, Tyson ended up keeping her green jacket.

She always smelt of coconut shampoo and citrus shower gel, but Kim could never fully wash away the scent of sawdust and grass stains. Those scents always remind Tyson of her. Especially sawdust.

He treasures every little cut in his hands from learning to whittle with Kim and, even though it was months after their first kiss, Tyson’s lips will still tingle so vividly with the memory of Kim kissing him, voice singing with pride and praise in a language he didn’t understand, the first time he carved something vaguely recognisable.

She cared deeply, but Kimiko could be a little stuck up and elitist when people weren’t quite as carefree and unreserved as she was. Kim’s way of life was free and flowing, always on the move, but she was stubbornly set in her ways of that being the best way to live. The only way to truly live.

Kim was too laid back to stress about things that she really needed to stress about, like late bills or her tests coming up that she hasn’t studied for. She failed her drivers test twice for her car, but passed her motorbike test the first time with flying colours.

She hated vodka with a passion, but would always do shots regardless of what was in them. Kim would say that she loved fruity wine, and she did like it, but secretly she liked a glass of whiskey best whilst sitting on her porch to whittle; working on a personal project after a long day of carpentry for other people.

Kim told Tyson that she thought it tasted better because it was traditional, but she bucked tradition at practically every turn. The only exception was family. Kim would do anything for her family. She always wanted to be a mom. Two kids, a boy and a girl. A little cottage made by her own hands. That was her dream.

Though Kimiko was Vietnamese, her first name is Japanese after her great-grandmother on her father’s side of the family. Kim knew Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, and English. She was also conversational in Chinese, but struggled when writing it.

She referred to Tyson with the Vietnamese pronoun of em, but having grown up with a Japanese speaking extended family in the house, Kimiko tended to merge it with the Japanese honorifics system: calling him Ty-Em.

She always preferred to go by Kim rather than Kimiko or Kimi, but whenever she called him Ty-Em, Tyson would reply by calling her Kimi-san, which would always get a giggle out of her.

Kim had an impossibly sweet tooth. From pouring far too much honey on her morning toast to being able to pinpoint any stall selling sticky-sweet treats at the market, Kimiko loved sugar.

It was fun. It was all just a game, and Tyson knew it would hurt like hell when it ended, but he treasures every precious moment with Kim.

And he would do it all again.

“She was sweet like cherry wine, and what a lovely headache she left behind.”

---

Kimiko Bùi

UNIVERAL TRUTHS

• Birthname: Bùi Mai Kimiko (裴 梅 貴美子)
• Blood Type: B Negative
• Date of Birth: October 25th 1980 - Scorpio – Monkey (Metal/Gold)
• DnD Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
• Dominant Hand: Left
• Ethnicity: Vietnamese
• Myers Briggs Type: ISFP-A | The Adventurer
• Orientation: Bisexual
• Religion: Buddism
• Signature:

FAVOURITE

• Favourite Animal: Otter
• Favourite Author: Ray Bradbury
• Favourite Colour: Yellow
• Favourite Film: The Evil Dead (1981)
• Favourite Food: Bò Lúc Lắc
• Favourite Plant: Tiger Lily
• Favourite Poem: On Icarus’ Wings - Alonso Menendez

VERSE DEPENDANT

• Avatar Element: Air
• His Dark Material’s Dæmon: Common Squirrel Monkey
• Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
• Hybrid!Verse Pairing: Mugger Crocodile
• Mass Effect Species: Salarian Biotic
• Pokémon Team: Aipom, Heracross, Tyrogue, Banette, Timburr, & Sawsbuck.

Colour Tyson’s Synesthesia Projects Onto Them:

Organising

For Tyson, it is more important for things to be complementary than matching.

His OCD can be a little temperamental about what it will or will not kick up a fuss about, but in general terms, Tyson is more likely to be bothered by something contrasting poorly than something not matching exactly. As with many things, this comes down to how it appears with his Synesthesia.

It’s a point that is repeated many times when it comes to Tyson, but it is a core tenant of who he is as a person and shapes his entire thought process. It’s worth emphasising.

When it comes to matching things together in a complimentary way, Tyson would largely priories thing by colour and pattern; unsurprisingly. After that, when Tyson is sorting something - especially manually - he would go by texture as his next choice.

For Tyson, the least important factor would be shape and size. Those are, however, factors that Tyson would priorities when ordering (rather than sorting) physical objects. Usually, he would go with ascending order of size, from left to right.

Invisibility

If Tyson were asked to choose what power he would want to have, Tyson would need to look no further than the classic ‘would you rather fly or be invisible?’

Whilst he will fight tooth and claw to keep his feet on solid ground, Tyson would genuinely love the opportunity to run around unseen. Or more unseen than unusual.

As useful as it could be for his work in the web, it’s Tyson’s anxiety that has always fuelled that answer from him. To disappear and ghost around London unseen, to carry on his business without being hindered by concerns about getting watched, would be a dream come true for Tyson.

Invisibility would be freedom to do whatever he wanted. Not because he wanted to do anything bad necessarily, but simply freedom from the weight of his social anxiety.

Meditation

Tyson’s thought process in meditation has been explained before in Tyson’s connection to earth. It is also common knowledge that he began learning how to focus his thoughts that way through Jasmine, he learnt breathing techniques that helped with the dent in his torso whilst stopping at a monastery on the run with Sebastian, and Tyson tends to listen to classical music whilst meditating.

Less commonly known is that Bobby will slump along his flank to guard him whilst his eyes are closed. Whenever James joins Tyson’s meditation, Lily suddenly loves close contact and attaches herself to James’ hip.

As stressful as Tyson finds wasting time and allowing himself to breathe for even a second, Tyson loves meditating and allowing his thoughts to release; to process them subconsciously and relax for a few minutes. It goes against his philosophy for everything else, but it works for him.