[Tony's gearing up for a response to that -- he didn't ask to be psychoanalyzed, thanks, and who's afraid of therapists? -- and then the question catches him completely off guard. He winds up just blinking at Sam for a moment, apparently having forgotten that he's holding something.

But. He doesn't know Sam as well as he probably should, but he's pretty sure he knows why he took Rhodey's fall as badly as he did. It wasn't anyone's fault, at least not any more than the rest of that clusterfuck. Even at his worst, Tony won't blame anyone for it, and he knows Rhodey doesn't either.

Maybe it's the way Sam looks slightly uncomfortable, or maybe it's just the fact that he's asking at all, but Tony feels his posture unbending a little.]

He's...well. Managing. Stubborn, you know? [A slight smile lifts at one corner of his mouth, something between fondness and pride. Rhodey was always the stronger one.]

We were working on braces, keep him walking. And he better still be practicing with them or I'm gonna kick his ass.