Tick

## History

Tick was born in Eden to an Hawker mother and Operator father alongside three siblings. The pups in his litter didn't receive names for the first three months, simply because nobody could think of any that were fitting of them. As all Edener pups do, they lived in The Nursery until they were old enough to become apprentices, frequently being visited by their parents who often told them messages of morality on their visits. During his time in the nursery, Tick strayed away from the other pups, refusing offers to play and really only communicated with the Furmother. Tick wanted to help the adults watching over him, but found himself agitated when the others came to him for help because of them constantly jumping right on him. The Furmother, and occasionally Furfather, were always pushing the young pup to play with the others, despite how uncomfortable he clearly was. The one time he accepted another pup's play request, he ended up getting ticks. It was unknown how the ticks got into The Nursery, but it's assumed it was from one of the parents. Tick was placed into seclusion along with the other 'bugged' pups until they were cleaned and all the ticks were removed. His mother decided to finally name the pup Tick, because it was strangely befitting of the young male. Continuing with the theme, she named the rest of his siblings after insects: Moth, (Black)Widow, and Scorpion. After this event, their life in The Nursery flew by, and the litter was released at the age of six months.

Tick's siblings took interest in various jobs that would typically keep them within Eden: Scrapper, Operator, etc. He had a strange will to leave Eden, and he wished to apprentice under his mother. But, due to his anti-social nature, she had him apprentice under one of her comrades in the same convoy at an attempt of socialization, which evidently failed. Diligently, he listened to the dog, but over time the memory of his mentor faded into obscurity and lost to the depths of Tick's mind. But , despite eventually losing his memory of the older dog, he performed relatively well during his first year, typically finding small dolls and playthings youngsters could amuse themselves with and having little accomplishments when it came to finding food. He always performed away on his own and refused to be accompanied by the other hawkers, often insisting that they needed to spread out to find more items, while in reality he just preferred to be alone. He wasn't one of the most liked members of the convoy due to his intense resistance to socializing, although he did do decently at retrieving items, occasionally snagging an untainted food ration.

After a few months of this, he got into an intense fight with his brother Moth. Moth, then a Scrapper, was criticizing his younger brother and consistently accused him and having a death wish with the job he had, eventually going as far as calling the whole idea of the convoy insane and that they'd all be safer if they just stayed within the walls, possibly unaware of the importance of their awareness of the Wastes. Tick took this as a personal insult and attempted to start a fight with Moth, lunging at him. His brother, however, dodged the attack and caused Tick's jaws to clench around a pole used to hold up a cot behind Moth, four of his teeth breaking upon the solid bird's landing. Luckily, this wasn't detrimental to his job and simply caused him to have troubles eating, although it proved to be significantly more difficult to defend himself in a fight lacking those teeth.

Thankfully, he doesn't have too many close run-ins with infected dogs while on duty, and only once has he been forced to resort to violence to defend himself--but it was really a fight between fellow convoy members. Tick continues to be a hard-worker despite his lack of social skills and has managed to survive four years and live in contentment.

## Personality

[+Alert+] ::
Tick's always had the ability to notice when something may lead to trouble. His eyes and ears are always active and looking to prevent any dangers from arising in Eden. While he was born with this ability, he's trained himself so his vigilance does not falter, especially if a situation has the possibility to go awry.

[+Caring+] ::
Despite his rough exterior, he's a very caring male. He dislikes those who shirk their work and the like, but he doesn't particularly like seeing others upset. It wouldn't be too far beyond his boundaries to comfort someone if they were in a distraught state, or at least just provide them with some company.

[+Dedicated+] ::
Tick is fiercely dedicated to performing his duties correctly and without failure. This may also be considered a fault in some sense, due to his ignorance to endeavors aside from his job, but his dedication is what helps him protect their Safehaven. He promises to himself that he won't allow his sight to drift from his duties, lest he end up bringing about Eden's downfall.

[+Observant+] ::
Pairing well with his naturally alert senses, Tick is a very observant dog. He is good at noticing little details both nearby and close up. Tick can also notice little ticks in others' behavior to decipher how honest they're being.

[=Serious=] ::
Tick is very serious, in both disposition and beliefs. He doesn't allow those under him (i.e. apprentices or newbies) to shirk their work and will force them to do their jobs. While it does upset them, and he does react to it, he believes duty is more important than one's own feelings. He will drive those under his influence to believe the same way. The whole is more important than the one.

[=Honest=] ::
Being raised by his similarly-behaving parents, Tick was taught that honesty was always the best policy, even though some may feel hurt. If you tell someone you think they've done something wrong, it's done for the sole purpose of helping them improve, not to personally attack them. He doesn't keep secrets, and will refuse if someone offers, knowing he won't keep it quiet from him; although if he feels it is of importance for the higher-ups to know, he will listen.

[-Impatient-] ::
Tick doesn't deal well with anything that irritates him, he will get angry. He doesn't appreciate tardiness very well, nor does he appreciate waiting for anything else. He also lacks patience when it comes to pups, thank GOD he isn't a furfather; their behavior agitates him and especially so when it's an adult acting in a similar fashion.

[-Humorless-] ::
He doesn't take jokes very well. While most will consider a joke playful teasing, he will likely take it as a personal insult. And if some dogs decide to make some rather morbid jokes about the infection (say for example one of them says they've been infected), he will take it seriously and begin questioning them and berating them for making a joke that could worry the populace.

[-Self-Preserving-] ::
Tick has always been born with more of a focus on himself than on others. If worst comes to worst, he'll sooner abandon someone than try to find a way out, but he definitely won't deny his actions. He will feel guilty of the loss, but not at all for his decision. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and you've got to focus more on yourself than on anybody else, especially with the constant threat of the infection looming overhead.

## Section heading

Charlotte--Tick is somewhat unnerved by the female after her rather brutal display while taking out an infected. He recognized that she is...passionate about her job and is morbidly curious about her future.

Malcolm--He's a brave soul, that much is for sure. He hated having him take care of things while out on a convoy because of his own squeamish nature and hopes to make it up to him. Maybe speak to him outside of convoy expeditions.