A completely controllable piece of machinery put Wanda on edge, but a grotesque animal-hybrid was absolutely charming. Obviously. Not letting her get too far from him, as much as he didn't want to go any closer to the creature, Iron Man followed a few paces behind, scanning the room as they went for any more beastly surprises and holding a hand out like he might snatch Wanda back at the first false move. It was nice that they were so well acquainted, that didn't make Tony uncomfortable at all, not like its muscles bulging under greasy fur in perverted incongruity with the fine sinews of its human face. He knew what ancient cultures would have called this thing, but that was all myth and art. Wasn't it?
Thinking on his feet was usually one of Tony's strengths, but when the sphinx asked him a question he could only start with, "Uh..." Wanda had just given him a lecture in honesty and co-dependency or something, and Tony couldn't tell which was the more important lesson to apply. "It's Iron Man, actually." Neither could also be an option. The smoke from the fire was starting to creep down, already thick on the ceiling and only trickling gently out into the open air; maybe they didn't really have time to waste. "Let's say I'm here to find out," he proposed.