Tony only had the split second to complain, "Ah-..." for his tender shoulder, only just started to slouch in relief when Jon was contorted sharply away. With wide eyes, Tony had to let the shelf drop onto his back to fling both arms around Jon's waist to test his strength against the tongue of the panicking creature, until Jon was abruptly torn free and Tony was just hugging him into the curve of his body while the animal floundered across the shelf above them in a clatter and scrape of its claws as it got its bearings and its tongue back in its mouth. Some of the pressure finally let up as it went bounding across the library, still graceless at this speed and bouncing off of the walls like a trapped and frantic deer until it burst its way toward the doors and away from this very strange threat.

Tony, meanwhile, risked winking one eye open and easing his unarmored arm from around Jon to trace down his arm instead, taking his wrist again gently to survey the damage and muttering, "I really didn't think that was going to provoke it." Most of the time, he was aware of being provocative, at least a little bit.