"I'd think being a vampire would be a pretty significant reminder of mortality. I guess it's different in kind."

"Yeah. Pearl grew up knowing there was pretty much no chance everybody her age she knew when she was twelve would still be alive when she was twenty. Our Sherry grew up pretty much thinking everyone he cared about was invincible, because everyone he cared about was me and Jarvis, and then... we both died. Which messed him up pretty bad, but kind of in the opposite direction, you know?"

"I don't know. I can speculate about how Shell Bell coped with growing up in Panem; I have much worse extrapolation powers for other templates. What do you mean, the opposite direction?"

"Like, it's hard for him to get close to people because part of him thinks they're gonna come home one day and get assassinated in front of him," says Tony. "...Maybe that's one of those things that's only obvious to me."

"I got assassinated in front of him," muses Juliet.

"Yeah, see? So even though he knows you're immortal and everything, and even though me and Jarvis both came back from the dead - there's still that little voice in the back of his head going 'see, I was right, everyone you ever love is going to die a horrible death and there's nothing you can do about it'."

"I'm still not clear on why this would be backwards relative to Pearl. Shell Bell died too - not in front of Pearl, but mid-conversation."

"Yeah, but... they're different people, who grew up differently, so a similar thing happening affects them in different ways," he says. "I think that's kind of the point I'm trying to make here. Also, didn't she resurrect her in like two minutes? Which is part of the same pattern I'm talking about with her - the Hunger Games are a thing you can win. And she did. Her and her Tony. To Pearl, holding on tight to the stuff you care about is a strategy that actually works."

"That makes sense," murmurs Bella. "...Have you talked to Sherlock, our one, about any of this stuff?"

"...Not really."

"Should you? If someone were generating insights like this about me I would want them, but I'm not sure about him."

"He might've figured it all out already. Or not. I dunno."

"Maybe worth replicating this conversation for him - I assume that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks," says Bella, and she smiles and hugs Tony again and then flies up the stairs, hunting for her boyfriend.

"Yes he is. I assume you talked about me, then, since his other major topics of expertise are engineering and nuclear physics."

"We did briefly talk about the pet arc reactor he is building, but yes, you were the primary topic, I can reproduce the conversation if you want."

"Go ahead."

Brainphone-dump. Whee.

"As usual, Tony understands me better than I do myself."

Nuzzles. "I'm not sure if any of this is practically useful, of course, but it's worth knowing."

"Yes."

Snuggles.