More than once in his life, Tony’s felt like he was teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. He recognizes it now, this overwhelming sense of powerlessness, of being out of control with everything and drowning in too much. Too much emotion. Too much discord. Too much pain and disappointment, too much fear and uncertainty. And tonight has been a clusterfuck of too many emotions too fast.

His eyes close when Bruce’s hand touches his shoulder, and slowly, as he exhales a breath he’s starting to think he doesn’t need to take, Tony lifts a hand and tentatively touches cold fingers to his warm ones.

“I don’t really know how to lie to people about myself. Even when it’s scripted for me, I don’t do very well with it. The few things I keep to myself, I’ve shared with you. It’s all I have to give you that the rest of the world hasn’t already taken from me. And it’s shit, I know.” He laughs a little. It’s not funny, but it’s true. “The only good secret I have is JARVIS. So I don’t know how to…”

Talk about this. Or anything, really. Story of his stupid life. “How to feel, I guess. How to process and deal with knowing that there are things you can’t share with me. I know it’s normal. I just, I don’t know… how to be normal.”