It's not that he doesn't have the guts, really. It's that he just needs a bit of a bolster (and, perhaps, a stall) before he gets in to it, but then Tony opens his mouth and there is a distinct stiffening of his shoulders. With his back to the young man, his face is hidden; that said, the hunch of his shoulders, the tightening of his fists...

All say how much of a blow that is.

"I am not," he begins, voice tight and - angry? Stressed? "Trying to hurt anyone."