"If you do, you can tell Pepper about it, and she'll probably give me hell," Tony jokes. (But not really a joke, because that's totally true.)

The bracelet fastens around Gene's wrist with a quiet click, and... it's done.

It's strange how something so mundane can seem so significant. Tony has the documents affirming his ownership of Gene, and his subdermal implant is registered to Tony, but the physical act of fastening the bracelet feels more possessive than any of that. It's an unexpected feeling - like an echo of earlier centuries, when masters might signify ownership of their slaves by collaring them.