Once bitten, twice shy. He hadn't withdrawn after spilling his guts and being met with disinterest- but redirected. Work talk was fine but his personal neuroses? He didn't bring it up. His damage was his. He'd deal. Had managed to for the most part, up until Ultron. Nothing like a good brain scrambling to set everything off in the worst way. And Bruce had vanished afterward-

Not that Tony could blame him. Everything they hated about themselves got painted across the public consciousness in one fell swoop. Bruce trying to protect himself? Not something Tony could begrudge. He'd always been braced, more than a little, for Bruce to bail. It was how he operated to keep himself safe, to deal with what happened to him. "What's there to say?"

He shouldn't slump into Bruce's space so easily, this too shall pass, shouldn't trust without thought, he knew better. He'd always known better. "We lost. Everything we did? Wasn't enough."