Of course he recognizes that it's something that very much troubles Zerxus; Steve's pretty good at reading people and everything from the initial freeze up, to the reluctance to answer, to the slow step forward tell him it's... emotionally heavy, at the very least.
He doesn't immediately understand how the answer - or information within it - fits the impact it's having on Zerxus. It just doesn't fit within the... framework of how his mind works, tactically or otherwise. There's a jump there he needs to make.
It doesn't take long. He starts with a faint frown and looking slightly lost, trying to put it together to understanding to something more grimly determined and almost - almost- amused. It's as dark as Steve's humor can get, and that is absolutely a sign it's pointed mostly back at himself.
Or at least how things work out.
"It's a long way from the first time I've been branded property. It might be the most garish, though." He reaches out and squeezes Zerxus' forearm. "It'll be okay. Might even work to keep me from breaking anyone's face." He's not really making a joke. He's trying to steady Zerxus, because this is Steve. But he is also really, really ...claustrophobic? Heart racing, unsteady, weight back on his heels to keep himself physically planted. Kinda fits what he's actually seeing which is less 'property of' and more 'leashed'. Which has never, ever, gone well with or for Steve.
no subject
Of course he recognizes that it's something that very much troubles Zerxus; Steve's pretty good at reading people and everything from the initial freeze up, to the reluctance to answer, to the slow step forward tell him it's... emotionally heavy, at the very least.
He doesn't immediately understand how the answer - or information within it - fits the impact it's having on Zerxus. It just doesn't fit within the... framework of how his mind works, tactically or otherwise. There's a jump there he needs to make.
It doesn't take long. He starts with a faint frown and looking slightly lost, trying to put it together to understanding to something more grimly determined and almost - almost- amused. It's as dark as Steve's humor can get, and that is absolutely a sign it's pointed mostly back at himself.
Or at least how things work out.
"It's a long way from the first time I've been branded property. It might be the most garish, though." He reaches out and squeezes Zerxus' forearm. "It'll be okay. Might even work to keep me from breaking anyone's face." He's not really making a joke. He's trying to steady Zerxus, because this is Steve. But he is also really, really ...claustrophobic? Heart racing, unsteady, weight back on his heels to keep himself physically planted. Kinda fits what he's actually seeing which is less 'property of' and more 'leashed'. Which has never, ever, gone well with or for Steve.