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The team are afraid of his daemon, Tony knows. Or, if not afraid, then definitely wary. No-one’s ever said anything to his face, but he can tell from the way they overcompensate when they talk, pointedly ignoring Bria’s lack of presence. Just a little too casual, too nonchalant. They act more relaxed when she takes her customary place on his shoulder, but he knows she unsettles them, knows they whisper about her behind his back.
None of them know why Tony and Bria can do what they do. The magpie daemon hides in rafters and shadows and listens to the scandalised whispers, and then she flies back to Tony to tell him of their outlandish, gruesome theories.
Clint and Khaz think it was an accident – maybe Tony’s initial calculations were wrong, and the power of the Iron Man suit ripped them apart during its first flight. Natasha is more callous. She thinks Tony separated from Bria on purpose; to enable him to reach the speeds of flight the suit promised, without the complications of a slower daemon to hold him back. Intercision, she whispers, and Misha clings tightly to her, the little bat daemon pressed to the side of her neck, almost hidden by her hair.
But whilst Tony Stark may be many things; he’d never cut away the dearest part of his soul.
Steve doesn’t usually contribute much to these hushed conversations, but Tony knows that’s merely a product of the soldier’s past. It was impolite - taboo even - back then to talk about another’s daemon, and old habits seemingly died hard. Reena didn’t seem so similarly afflicted though, Bria had noted. So much for Retrievers being loyal.
Sometimes, Tony wishes they’d ask. They pretend it doesn’t bother them, but if they’re honest, it hurts. Even Thor, who doesn’t have a daemon – as far as anyone can tell, anyway – seems to recoil ever so slightly from him when Bria isn’t there.
Bruce is too caught up in his work to talk much, and when he does make an appearance, Tony gets the impression that his mind’s always elsewhere. But at least he doesn’t gossip.
He wishes they’d ask because the answer really is very simple. There was no tragic accident, and of course he didn’t cut her from him. Their bond is as strong as the rest of the team’s bonds – stronger, even, because they know what it means to be apart.
The truth is; he’s been many things in his life, and not all of them good. He accepts that he’s an asshole, but that’s just his image, and besides; he’s much better than he used to be. At his lowest point, the rumours of the barren land Shamans once walked without their daemons had intrigued him - it seemed a worthy penance. Bria hadn’t been so sure, but she’d agreed, reluctantly.
It had hurt like Hell, but having conquered it, surely there was nothing they couldn’t do now.
Maybe one day, he’ll explain it to them.