Steve's grin widened. He couldn't suppress a few chuckles at the grouchy tone in Peter's voice. Yep. Definitely liked him. "Yeah, like a bull in a china shop. I understood that reference. That one's actually older than me."
He would have been amused to hear Peter's thought process, because he himself exaggerated his clueless boy scout persona as a defense mechanism quite often. Peter's handshake was firm, buzzing with energy like the man himself. Another point in his favor.
Another smile was his response when Peter said he knew he'd show. For some people, being predictable felt like a bad thing, but Steve liked it. He was steadfast, and he wanted people to know it.
"The place looks great," Steve said, taking the invitation to look around again. "Walls are a little bare," he added, his fingers itching to grab pencil and brush. Wow. He hadn't felt that urge in forever. Add that to the long list of things that having Bucky back made right.
"Nah, man. I mean, you can't have too many friends when you're new in town. And if you knew me, you know I love feeling useful." He rested his hands on his hips and glanced over at Peter. "Might be awkward for you, I suppose. I'm sorry I don't... remember. If that was even me. That's gotta be awful for you, if we were close."
A terrifying thought sent a chill down Steve's spine. Steve wasn't a good enough actor to completely hide the horror that came over him as he froze before asking. "I mean if we were... were we? Close?" He swallowed and blinked, the color leaving his face. "We weren't like... dating... or anything. Right?"
It was obvious that the thought hadn't even occurred to him until that very moment. (It was also apparent that him leaving a Steve shaped hole in the nearest wall like a cartoon running like hell out of there wasn't completely out of the question either.) And it wasn't that Peter was an unthinkable dancing partner. Quite the contrary. He was a well built, handsome and likable young man. Was that why Peter had said it was probably awkward? How different had this other Steve been?