[The gentle back pats bring Gene both relief and shame; what right does he have to this, to this mildly awkward display of affection? It's a relief because he's been starved for it for years upon years, but needing help and being given it, with someone - with Stark - trying to comfort him while he cries is so beyond shameful he can't even begin to process it. It hurts. It hurts too much.
This is the most true friendship - not Loki's pranking, not Bianca's mothering or Amelia's discipline - that he's felt in two years. And it's offered by the person he's hurt the most. We're all we've got. 'We'. He's not used to being part of a 'we'. Not really.
Can it be? Can he really start over?
Tony's joke - and the reminder of how they became friends so long ago - startles a laugh out of him.] Yeah, [he says slowly.] I guess we do. Better the devil you know, right?
jesus christ. jesus, mary, joseph, all the apostles and god himself. never apologize
This is the most true friendship - not Loki's pranking, not Bianca's mothering or Amelia's discipline - that he's felt in two years. And it's offered by the person he's hurt the most. We're all we've got. 'We'. He's not used to being part of a 'we'. Not really.
Can it be? Can he really start over?
Tony's joke - and the reminder of how they became friends so long ago - startles a laugh out of him.] Yeah, [he says slowly.] I guess we do. Better the devil you know, right?