Silver metal meets red and gold as Tony takes the Solider's hand. He lets the man help him up, but that's about it.
"You don't need to coddle me. I'm already keeping you stuck here, I'm not going to make you butler me, too." Although the words are harsh, Tony's tone isn't. He already feels bad enough (and it's pretty obvious, which is disconcerting on its own-- the Solider brings it out of him, apparently). If he wanted someone to wait on him hand and foot, he could pay someone. Tony doesn't need to brainwash someone into it.
Now that the adrenaline's fading, Tony's really feeling the events of the past few hours. The suit is absolutely the only thing keeping him upright. He starts to stagger back towards the elevator, but then he remembers: right. Not alone. Sheepishly, he turns around to look at the Solider.
"Truce, for real this time? As long as you stay in the tower, you're welcome to do your own thing. But-- I get it, big, scary place, and you can't trust anyone but yourself." Tony usually tries to tamp down on his stims around other people, but he definitely doesn't have the brainpower for that at the moment. The awkward movement of rubbing his knuckles against his chest around the reactor would be mortifying if he even realized he was doing it, but he doesn't. "I'm heading down to my workshop. Feel free to tag along if you want to keep an eye on me, or something. But no pressure." It's not meant as a trap or a trick, it's a genuine offer, and Tony's pretty sure he comes across as sincere, for whatever that means to the Soldier.
(Tony let Clint lurk in his vents for a reason, okay? If keeping an eye on all of them helped soothe him, then by all means. Same with Natasha, but he honestly had no fucking clue how she did it, even to this day.)
The Soldier probably could (and would) slip the Tower's security, but surely not so soon after what just happened. Tony genuinely felt bad that FRIDAY had leverage over the Soldier and had shown she wasn't afraid to use it, but trust was going to be slow going anyway. Maybe it would never happen at all, but Tony at least hoped the Soldier would eventually get the idea that he had the guy's best interests in mind.
"Is it too much to ask DUM-E to get the first aid kit and not break something in the process, babygirl?" It's a lot easier to pretend that business is as usual than to feel it, but Tony's been in front of the press his whole life, he's well practiced in acting. The fact his hands are still shaking is a secret the Iron Man suit has always been good at keeping.
"Most likely. But I'm sure he'll do his best, boss."
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"You don't need to coddle me. I'm already keeping you stuck here, I'm not going to make you butler me, too." Although the words are harsh, Tony's tone isn't. He already feels bad enough (and it's pretty obvious, which is disconcerting on its own-- the Solider brings it out of him, apparently). If he wanted someone to wait on him hand and foot, he could pay someone. Tony doesn't need to brainwash someone into it.
Now that the adrenaline's fading, Tony's really feeling the events of the past few hours. The suit is absolutely the only thing keeping him upright. He starts to stagger back towards the elevator, but then he remembers: right. Not alone. Sheepishly, he turns around to look at the Solider.
"Truce, for real this time? As long as you stay in the tower, you're welcome to do your own thing. But-- I get it, big, scary place, and you can't trust anyone but yourself." Tony usually tries to tamp down on his stims around other people, but he definitely doesn't have the brainpower for that at the moment. The awkward movement of rubbing his knuckles against his chest around the reactor would be mortifying if he even realized he was doing it, but he doesn't. "I'm heading down to my workshop. Feel free to tag along if you want to keep an eye on me, or something. But no pressure." It's not meant as a trap or a trick, it's a genuine offer, and Tony's pretty sure he comes across as sincere, for whatever that means to the Soldier.
(Tony let Clint lurk in his vents for a reason, okay? If keeping an eye on all of them helped soothe him, then by all means. Same with Natasha, but he honestly had no fucking clue how she did it, even to this day.)
The Soldier probably could (and would) slip the Tower's security, but surely not so soon after what just happened. Tony genuinely felt bad that FRIDAY had leverage over the Soldier and had shown she wasn't afraid to use it, but trust was going to be slow going anyway. Maybe it would never happen at all, but Tony at least hoped the Soldier would eventually get the idea that he had the guy's best interests in mind.
"Is it too much to ask DUM-E to get the first aid kit and not break something in the process, babygirl?" It's a lot easier to pretend that business is as usual than to feel it, but Tony's been in front of the press his whole life, he's well practiced in acting. The fact his hands are still shaking is a secret the Iron Man suit has always been good at keeping.
"Most likely. But I'm sure he'll do his best, boss."