It was a little heartbreaking to see the way that the younger version of himself had to deliberate on whether or not he should actually be here -- on if he was allowed to be or not. It'd been a long time ago now, but he remembered that feeling pretty clearly. It'd been a lost cause, getting into his dad's workshop just to talk or show off or even watch. The feeling of wrong, not belonging and being unwanted -- yeah. Those things stuck. Maybe Tony should have sought out this little version of himself earlier. Hindsight.
"I'm working on miniature furnaces. For heating the buildings and houses since it's been getting colder out." He didn't want to get caught in a lurch, not the way they all had this summer with the extreme heat. This time, he'd realized it was coming and was working on it --- well. Ahead of time was being a little too generous. But to his credit, Tony had been pretty busy.
He flipped the diagram so Tony could see it and play around with it if he wanted. "It's my face. I'm supposed to look like this," he said a little dryly, because he knew why Tony was asking, but it was hard not to be amused by it. "Why do you look like that?"