[ He's not actually sure how much permission he wants to give here, because he was honestly, seriously rattled, and he has yet to work out the depths of that himself, so letting her see that might be upsetting to a degree, but also not letting her see anything - or obviously blocking an obvious part of himself off - would also be upsetting, he imagines. Based on how she's reacted to that sort of thing the few times he's done it in the past. So he eases her in, lets the brush connect with whatever amount of reassurance he can cobble together at the moment's notice, not really hiding anything or showing off anything specific. It's the same thing she's doing with her face in response to his own unasked query, and at that realization, he blinks a little, loosens his scrutiny, tightens his grip, lightens his own expression, because hey, they can do this. Technically they already have, so, obviously. ]

No, you don't. So the next time something like that happens I fully expect you to be protecting me while I hide in the corner. Just saying. [ what was that about false fronts? ] Of course you will - I just told you to. Tony Stark speaks and it is done.