"Really? You didn't even try to float the 'body guard' thing?" I ask. Another difference, but I'm learning to take those in stride.

"It's always been a strange line to walk. I think it's easier for some of us to pull the mask back, so to speak, than it is for others."

Discussing this with Tony here and now is strangely unsettling, but I don't want to randomly veer the conversation in another direction. Knowing the way Tony burns through trains of thought, we probably won't be on it long, anyway.