[Bruce sorely wants to argue whether he should have the authority to hire anyone, but he's learned by now that the harder he argues something, the more determined Tony is to win the argument. He lets it go, but the topic is far from closed in his mind. He reluctantly accepts the marginal responsibility that comes with it for now, but he'd give it up in a heartbeat if he thought he could.
Tony's abrupt topic change takes him by surprise for a moment, and there's a beat before he says simply,] Yeah. I know. Don't worry about it.
[Another beat before--] You are coming, right? [So what if it's been mostly him holding him on the line. It's the easiest way to play off any seriousness that may have been trying to overtake the conversation.]
no subject
Tony's abrupt topic change takes him by surprise for a moment, and there's a beat before he says simply,] Yeah. I know. Don't worry about it.
[Another beat before--] You are coming, right? [So what if it's been mostly him holding him on the line. It's the easiest way to play off any seriousness that may have been trying to overtake the conversation.]