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.

Veteran AU verses Veteran

Whilst Tyson has never been given an official discharge from the army, in a weird nebulous place where it cannot be decided if he should be given an honourable or dishonourable discharge and thus trapped in legislation purgatory, Veteran AU Tyson has been given an honourable discharge.

Where Veteran AU Tyson is on prescription pain medication and - reluctantly - seeing a professional for his mental health, the main universe Tyson takes a variety of medication of varying legality far less frequently than he’s supposed to and avoids mental health professional’s like the plague.

A brother's concerns

Tyson wasn’t the only one terrified that youngest Delaney heir would end up a perfect copy of his father.

When Jethro ran away from home, he knew he wasn’t old enough to look after his brother. Jethro never wanted to leave Tyson alone with their father, but he had to leave and he knew that Tyson would be safer at the manor than with him on the streets.

Even knowing that he made the correct decision, Jethro was terrified that once he reunited with his brother, Tyson would be nothing more than a pawn in their father’s image. He was relieved when that worry proved false, but looking back at things now, Jethro worried he may have had the wrong priorities.

Maybe Tyson becoming another John wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. He would have stayed safe in Cambridge, away from The Colonel and the Moriarty Mirrors. Maybe that would have been better after all.

Photography

Tyson doesn’t enjoy taking photographs.

He dislikes photos in general, especially those that have himself in frame, but when he has to take photographs they will be like the one above: indirect and portrait.

He doesn’t like to have the focus of the image focused on the camera, not to make the image more natural or ‘real’ but instead, because he feels that when an image included the subject looking at the camera it makes part of the photo about the camera rather than just being about the subject.

Tyson prefers to take photos in a portrait orientation rather than landscape, because it means that there is less background to take away from the subject.

Tyson prefers this way because most of the photographs he takes are for work and he needs to make sure the focus is on the target - be it someone that needs taking out or someone that needs protecting - but he also uses this ‘style’ when taking photographs of friends and family, usually his brother and nephew.

The person Tyson has taken most photographs of is Sebastian/The Colonel.

Tyson doesn’t like taking photographs, but his dislike of photography isn’t linked to having liked taking photos of Sebastian.

He wasn’t particularly fond of photographing Sebastian, but it had played to the other man’s ego and Tyson had wanted to please the other man in any way that he could.

Tyson has destroyed most of the photographs now, not wanting any reminders of The Colonel, but there are a few still laying around as Tyson clings to the ‘good’ memories he had with Sebastian.

The most notable photos Tyson has taken of Sebastian is a tale from India.

He has several treasured photos of The Colonel sprawled upside-down in chairs or with his legs hanging over the edge of the armrest. Tyson also has a photo of the Moriarty Mirrors, one sat with his legs danging off the table whilst the other sits sprawled across three chairs.

Though not big on social media in general, Tyson’s most used one is Instagram with six general types of posts to be found:

1. Covering for injuries
2. Lying about his current location/the location of others
3. Posts directed specifically at his brother, Jethro (Yithrô)
4. Posts made by other members of his family/friends
5. Posts to prove that he’s in a specific location at a certain time
6. Pictures that Tyson actually wants to post

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.

Take-Out

Given Tyson’s erratic schedule and almost allergic reaction to any cooking that requires heat, it’s not surprising that he tends to rely on pre-cooked meals and take-out.

Of course with access to the web’s resources Tyson has no trouble getting restaurant quality food delivered, but for the most part, Tyson prefers to take out two birds with one stone by going out for regular take-out whilst taking his dogs for a walk.

Since rice is Tyson’s favourite food, he’s unlikely to get tired of take-out anytime soon. He usually orders Japanese, as practically everything is safe to give to his dogs as treats when he has leftovers, and Indian purely as an excuse to munch on poppadoms and naan bread.

Alongside his habit of bringing food and drink when meeting people, Tyson will almost always make a point of bringing takeout when joining people on stakeouts. With Lex that usually means KFC, but when Tyson’s meeting with an employee of the web that he isn’t as familiar with, he usually defaults on Chinese and vegetable Chow mein.

As Sebastian’s favourite meal is Chicken Tikka Masala, Tyson has a tendency to avoid it, but he will always jump at the opportunity for Bò Lúc Lắc, Kim’s favourite food. Whenever he’s in New York, Tyson always orders Pad Kee Mao for Dick and when Nate’s not making him join the other man for brunch, he’s feeding Tyson Dim sum.

Hand Fidgets

Though Tyson is more prone to putting things in his mouth unconsciously, there are a few fidgets that Tyson ends up doing with his hands instead.

In all likelihood, Tyson only has so few with his hands due constantly multitasking and already having something to occupy both hands.

Most commonly, Tyson will end up rolling a coin or twirling a pen between his fingers, but he can also be seen tracing out the conversation with his right index finger; not to better understand what is being said like his nervous tick, but simply idle movement whilst he’s listening.

He’s never been big on taking labels off bottles, preferring not to make an unnecessary mess, but if there is already a removed label Tyson will stick his hand to the glue on the bottle over and over again.

Lies

Tyson has told many lies over the course of his life.

Many that were to have his own life or the lives of those he cares about to the detriment of others and others that he knows saved many lives in the process of hurting the people that he cares about or himself. There are many lies that Tyson will gladly repeat until the end of time.

He is not without regrets, however, there are few lies that weigh on Tyson’s mind and keep him awake. Though he finds it easy to tell half-truths and talk circles around people with technicalities, Tyson does not lie lightly. He can and will lie when he needs to, but when Tyson does lie, it is with the certainty that there was no other option left.

Blood Sugar

Though he has never had a particularly sweet tooth, Tyson has struggled with low blood sugar ever since he was a child.

Every day after school, ever since he was old enough to attend nursery, one of the maids at the family manor would give Tyson a teaspoon of honey. If he didn’t eat that, Tyson would collapse or have wild mood swings for several hours; which is saying something as, on any given day, Tyson can give a man emotional whiplash.

Jasmine caught onto that quickly once she joined the manor’s staff, as well as the fact that Tyson snuck down into the kitchens after his father went to bed, and started leaving out sweets for Tyson to take up into the attic with him; Edinburgh rock or sherbet lemons usually.

Fencing

Tyson was a good fencer in his teens.

A damn good fencer. Tyson’s brother and P.E. teacher can be quoted as repeatedly saying that Tyson “improved with the weather” when it came to sport, which was true. Tyson likes to relax and ‘conserve energy’, but he has shown himself to be talented in dancing [ballroom, classical, tap, and contemporary], cricket, tennis, rugby, and fencing.

Whilst Tyson was willing to go out and play cricket where people could see him, he kept fencing - like dancing - between himself, his tutor, his brother, and his father. When playing cricket a lot of the focus was on other players, were as in dance and in fencing more of the attention was on Tyson. This made him nervous and, therefore, unwilling to ‘perform’ outside of the classroom.

Tyson’s fencing tutor - who was also his Latin and Geography tutor - said that Tyson could have made a living out of fencing had he gotten over his nerves, Tyson never believed that.

Tyson would leap at the chance to fence again. His social anxieties mean that he’d never join a club to take up fencing, but if he got the chance to fence with some one he knew and trusted Tyson wouldn’t turn down the opportunity.

His talent with swords - mostly fencing swords, but he has dabbled with a fair amount of success with other swords - played a large role in him favouring knives over guns; after hand to hand combat (focusing on nerve, pressure, and vital points), obviously.

Of all the sports Tyson took part in as a teenager, fencing was the one he was best at. Though Tyson never believed his tutors when he said this, Tyson could genuinely have made a living out of fencing professionally if he wanted to. He favours Saber then Épée, and then Foil.

In most verses, Tyson has left swords behind, but his skills are much sharper in Pirate!Verse, XPirate!Verse, and RWBY AU. Within his Orphan AUs, in Teen!Verse Tyson is an active fencer and in Teen!VerseLDN Tyson only recently left fencing behind to take up boxing.

Achievement Tokens

Thought Tyson is very academically qualified and knows that there are many other valid forms of qualification and achievements, he doesn’t understand why people care about tokens of those achievements.

For example, whilst he would never dismiss someone’s pride at a coin of sobriety or the effort it took to achieve, he cannot internalise the value of it.

Sports achievements, Tyson can wrap his head around and understand what each one means in comparison to another and the different areas they cover, but he struggles with anything other than academic or athletic achievements.

Even military medals are something of a question mark for him.

Hair

Since he was twenty-three-years-old, Tyson has been cutting his own hair.

He began cutting his own hair during his relationship with Kim. Tyson mentioned to her that he always felt stressed whenever scissors or clippers were taken to his head, always fearing an attack, and Kimiko asked why he didn’t just cut it himself.

That question dumbstruck Tyson. He had never really considered it an option before. It took him a while to get used to doing it right, but these days, though he largely uses a mixture of scissors, thinning scissors, and clippers, Tyson can even cut his hair properly using only the straight razor he uses to shave.

At this point, it’s largely muscle memory as Tyson always cuts his hair at roughly the same time; before it’s noticeably any different from its usual puffy nature. As such, he isn’t great at having to cut anyone else’s hair, but he can do a decent job.

Chewing on Things

Whilst Tyson isn’t someone who thinks by sticking out his tongue or regularly chews gum, he does tend to think better when he has something in his mouth.

He largely continues to smoke on-and-off as a way of keeping his hands occupied, but it’s also about giving his mouth something to do when he’s getting antsy.

Whilst teaching Tyson the harmonica was largely an excuse for Sebastian and Tyson to kiss, Moran was also aware that giving Delaney a simple task to focus on - especially one that kept his mouth busy - was a good way to get the gears turning in his head on whatever project had been stumping him.

And, no matter how old he becomes and no matter which verses he is in, Tyson will always be someone who gets his tongue stuck in glass bottles; especially when that bottle is half-full and there’s someone he wants to impress nearby.

Motorbikes verses Cars

The way Tyson favours motorbikes over cars is also evident in the way he handles those he owns.

Beyond checking the engine to put a balm on his anxiety before driving, Tyson pays very little attention to any car that he owns. Even in Teacher!Verse or Redemption!Verse, where Tyson’s car is his primary mode of transport, the only care that Tyson shows towards his cars are making sure that they remain clean as an allowance towards his OCD.

To Tyson, cars are nothing more than a loathed - yet useful - tool.

Though Tyson still distrusts motorbikes, he takes good care of those that he owns. He loves tinkering on them. He doesn’t spend time taking them apart and putting them back together due to safety concerned, but for a genuine love of engineering and feeling relaxed with the familiar task.

Bag

Though the other contents of Tyson’s rucksack will change regularly, there are a few constants to be found there:

• His latest journal. - The notebook/journal has several poly-pockets to store any loose papers and almost always has a business card for Pup’s Pet Store inside.
• Medicine box – Tyson got the medicine box while travelling across India with Sebastian. The content changes often but there is always a set of bandages, fabric gauze, rubbing alcohol, stitching thread, and PTSD suppressant medicine.
• Two hunting knives - One has a silver edge for when he meets supernatural and the hollow handle has salt in it. The other has a serrated edge and a sharpening stone, piece of flint, and a fake stone with a GPS tracker in the handle. The bottom of this knife has a compass in it.
• A teabag tin, used to stash away anything incriminating in a way that Tyson can hide away if he thinks he’ll get arrested to store safely away from the elements for later retrieval. There is a GPS tracker inside so that other agents of the web can retrieve it, if necessary.
• And, inevitably, a few half-crushed dog treats.

Frequently, Tyson will be protecting his belongings from other pickpockets with a padlock and a crow plush from his nephew will frequently appear inside his bag.

Outside of the rucksack that Tyson carries around everywhere, the former Lieutenant always has a duffel packed as a go-bag. If he needs to uproot his life at a moment’s notice, Tyson can. He has everything he’ll need to survive and escape in that bag.

In other verses, the items in Tyson’s normal bag get changed a little:

• DC UA: Here Tyson usually has a small laptop for his work as a professor, to back up his cover story whilst working for the web from his phone.
• Hogwarts AU/Honey Badger AU: Tyson keeps almost everything he owns at Hogwarts within his rucksack to keep it safe.
• Mythical!Verse: His tarot cards are a permanent fixture in Tyson’s rucksack in this verse and his grimoire joins his journal.
• Pokémon AU: His rucksack has been combined with his go-bag, with a few extra additions to care for his Pokémon, as Tyson is almost always on the move in this verse.
• Redemption!Verse: The crow plush is now a permanent fixture in his bag.
• RWBY AU: Tyson’s weapon - Triumph - is attached to his bag in this verse, and he’s always carrying around dust and ammunition with him.
• UA India: In addition to his normal phone, Tyson will always have a burner phone in his rucksack to contact Sebastian in emergencies.

Elemental AU: Book 2 (Fire)

Tyson is most naturally aligned with Earth, but how would Tyson manage with the other four elements?

Tyson’s phobia of fire is well-established, but he would do rather well with fire.

His pyrophobia is one of his oldest and deepest phobias, yet it is also the one that Tyson has the easiest time handling; fearing something has never prevented Tyson from loving it or flourishing with it. He is Icarus, after all.

His tendency to throw himself in the pyre aside, Tyson has fantastic self-control and discipline; near infinite patience. He has the focus to push past his fears to harness fire. In many ways, having control over fire would help dissuade his fears, which mostly rotate around the wild and uncontrollable nature of fire.

He favours defence over attack, but the best defence is a good offence and Tyson is an old hand at turning something intended for attack into a viable defensive strategy. Sometimes that strategy is clever and cunning, and at other times it’s as simple as no longer needing defence if the enemy is defeated.

It may not be his favourite technique, but Tyson knows the defensive potential of power yet to be unleashed; of having superior firepower. In a more physical sense, though it too applies to larger strategic thinking, Tyson knows how effective taking an attack stance can be at providing a defence. Defending by forcing the opponent to retreat into their own defensive position.

He is an opportunity attacker who would be well-suited to fire’s versatility of attack styles and the idea of unleashing a flurry of blows into an opening to inflict as much damage as possible once an opening presents itself - or using that onslaught to force an opening - is something that Tyson regularly utilises.

Tyson is destined to burn by flying too close to the sun - several times - yet until the day that arrogance finally finished him off, that experience gives him an intimate knowledge of fire. He knows the dangers of playing with fire, but he also knows how to toy with it; how to tease and dance away with minor singes.

And that’s fire, taking a surprising second place.