[ It's far from the question he expects out of anyone, even though it makes sense coming out of Ellis. Amusement briefly crinkles the corners of Tony's eyes. ]

No. Just--

[ Hm. ]

Not that you need another lost lamb to shepherd, but if keeping an eye out for him is within easy doing, I'd appreciate it. Not 'cause [ a hand out, to clarify ] I want to timeshare my friends, but if he gets in trouble, it'll probably splash me. But he seems okay. Behaved. Hard to get a read. Weird accent.

[ A beat, then; ]

I was in a weird place when I came here. It was like, what, six months after the invasion. We'd dispersed, me and the Avengers. My girlfriend moved in, which was awesome, and I'm pretty sure she was getting close to walking out 'cause I couldn't stop thinking about how the next time the sky broke open, it'd be worse, and we were not equipped to deal. The only thing I could think was that I had to protect both her and the world she was in. It was all I was doing. Building suits, building protocols, trying to catch up.

And then I'm here, and.

[ Empty hands. ]

Now I have to care about this world, while I can't even comprehend what's happening to mine. Maybe nothing. All I know is this Fitz guy's got five years of time on me and anything coulda happened. I don't know what I'll do with that information. If I want it.