a soldier's minute

HEADCANONS

- Tommy isn’t really interested in having pets. After Alfie nearly died and Tommy got Cyril in his house, that dog has been his number one priority. Even though Alfie and Tommy now live together, he still remembers what it felt like not to know if Alfie was alive or not - to think Alfie was dead, before his letter - and cling on to Cyril. In a way, Cyril is a emotional support to Tommy. 

- However, that changes when Polly gets a cat.

- Polly is a woman of class and style. She gets an elegant black cat with long fur and emerald eyes. She’s a rescue cat. She names the cat Anna after her deceased daughter. 

- Whenever Tommy visits Polly, he finds himself scratching the cat more often than he’d thought he would - in all honesty, he’d thought he wouldn’t care for the cat at all. At one point Anna gets on Tommy’s lap when they’re sitting down and Tommy, without saying anything, absolutely refuses to move. ( Even if he would move, Polly would hold a gun to his head and tell him NOT to move. Her cat deserves the nap. ) 

- So he gets interested in cats. Then he wants one. He doesn’t beg for it, he never would. But he casually mentions it to Alfie - while they’re doing their morning routine, Alfie is reading a newspaper and Tommy is filling a sudoku, and Tommy subtly hints at getting a cat. 

- “Cyril looks a bit old, eh? Poor dog. You know, he could use a friend. Not another dog - I’m not walking two dogs in one day. A cat, maybe.” 

- Alfie doesn’t get the hint at first. 

- And, of course, Tommy doesn’t give up. However, he never directly states he WANTS a cat - he has too much pride for that. He just keeps talking about cats, mentioning them like “I read a paper on this stray cat...” “Polly’s cat keeps pushing my leg whenever I’m at hers and it leaves hairs on my clothes.” 

- He does that until Alfie directly asks him if he wants a cat. Tommy simply stares at Alfie, blinks two or three times slowly, lets the silence fall over them. Then he proceeds to ask Alfie in a monotone tone if he hadn’t noticed before.

it proves that tommy truly does see almost every situation as if he’d still be in the war zone. a peaky blinder, scout, died because of a tommy’s mistake and he was sent straight back into the tunnels. 

and then you get to play in those tunnels.

“survive.”