What is Tawny and Mordecai's relationship like?
It is very much a rivals to lovers situation. At first, Mordecai is not impressed by Tawny at all. He sees Tawny as similar to Asa, big and bold for the ego boost without any substance or character. The feeling is mutual. Tawny rightfully is not afraid to call out Mordecai for being miserable and terse with people for no reason (most of the time).
Things change, however, when they get to know each other better and understand where the other is coming from. Tawny realizes Mordecai has a very painful past that makes him have trust issues and keep his distance from others. Plus that Mordecai being miserable is quite reasonable with all he's been through. On the other side, Mordecai realizes Tawny also had a rough background that caused him to have to exude confidence and put on a brave face.
Underneath it all neither of them are bad people and they have more in common than they think, especially when it comes to their shared survival skills, their cunning, and love of logic. Tawny is dramatic, but in truth he likes to keep things down to Earth.
Once they both realize they had the wrong idea, they become quite intrigued with the secrets of the other.
