[His at-times gallows sense of humor can't cover for it, because it's not a joke. He can see the way her face works through what she's hearing and seeing. His thoughts aren't happy ones, and she may have even brushed the surface to get a better understanding. She's right to be worried, and he hates how small that makes him feel. He's the elder, the one who helped her become an Avenger, tried to help her not be so afraid of herself and doing what she knows to be right. He shouldn't be small. He shouldn't need worried after.]
That would-- [There's a traitor thought that suggests that's too nice a thing for him to accept. Natasha's dead and the others might have come back and for everything he did, everything he has done, he doesn't get to have nice things. If he could take the thought out back and shoot it, he would, but for now, he can only acknowledge it, tell it to shut up, and push it back from under the bed it came from. He nods.] That would be nice. Yeah, I'd like that.
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That would-- [There's a traitor thought that suggests that's too nice a thing for him to accept. Natasha's dead and the others might have come back and for everything he did, everything he has done, he doesn't get to have nice things. If he could take the thought out back and shoot it, he would, but for now, he can only acknowledge it, tell it to shut up, and push it back from under the bed it came from. He nods.] That would be nice. Yeah, I'd like that.