Why did he bring it up if he was just going to turn it into an opportunity to shame Tony? Some third party could have been the one to pass on the rumour, but no, Bruce liked it. Did he start it himself? Maybe Tony could make a new Friday, for gossip tracking. In the meantime, he puffed up his cheeks to blow out a slow breath, brow knit to buy himself the time he needed to skirt the patronus issue casually. "Yeah, must suck," he concluded. "What's up with the bull, though?" he asked just as they slipped through the stone ceiling, passing through a chilly darkness before an owl suddenly darted at Tony's head in hysterical surprise. Without warning, there were feathers and bird shrieks everywhere, making Tony startle and drop them out of their gentle float onto the hay-covered floor of the owlery, hands protectively over his head as the birds complained about the sudden intrusion. Egg, birds, some sort of sense was begging to reveal itself, but it didn't exactly explain the wards. It was a good thing they came this way, anyway, because the floor clearly wasn't letting them back through, so Tony couldn't guarantee their first secret wall would have been any different.