This is inching precariously close to Tony’s own tangle of personal issues, but he’s just stomped all over Bruce’s without so much as an apology. He can’t, in good faith, derail the conversation now just because it makes him a little uncomfortable.
“I’m not trying to speak for him. I have hard enough time with my own feelings, I’m not going to try to tell other people what to feel. But I just…” He thinks about what the Hulk has said, what he hasn’t said, and the things that Bruce has. Quietly, as gently as he can, he continues. “Sometimes, Bruce, it’s easier to hate someone than it is to admit that you’re not good enough. Because hate and anger are a hell of a lot easier to deal with than the hurt that comes from the rejection of the one person you want most in the world to accept you.”
The Hulk isn’t Howard Stark. The acceptance of a father isn’t like the acceptance of the self. But Tony has long since accepted himself and his laundry list of flaws. Equating his feelings toward his father to the Hulk’s feelings toward Bruce aren’t the same at all, but it’s the closest thing he has for a comparison.
“And before you start handing out the medals,” he adds, because he needs a moment of levity. “It’s not bravery. That implies that I’m terrified but I’m doing it anyway. I’m not scared of either one of you. And I’m not ever going to be."
no subject
“I’m not trying to speak for him. I have hard enough time with my own feelings, I’m not going to try to tell other people what to feel. But I just…” He thinks about what the Hulk has said, what he hasn’t said, and the things that Bruce has. Quietly, as gently as he can, he continues. “Sometimes, Bruce, it’s easier to hate someone than it is to admit that you’re not good enough. Because hate and anger are a hell of a lot easier to deal with than the hurt that comes from the rejection of the one person you want most in the world to accept you.”
The Hulk isn’t Howard Stark. The acceptance of a father isn’t like the acceptance of the self. But Tony has long since accepted himself and his laundry list of flaws. Equating his feelings toward his father to the Hulk’s feelings toward Bruce aren’t the same at all, but it’s the closest thing he has for a comparison.
“And before you start handing out the medals,” he adds, because he needs a moment of levity. “It’s not bravery. That implies that I’m terrified but I’m doing it anyway. I’m not scared of either one of you. And I’m not ever going to be."