He could tell he was doing a pretty good job when she groaned. That was a sound he made plenty of times himself when he was working through some sore muscles after a particularly good workout. He just kept at it, methodically and carefully working over the points in her back that seemed the most tense. Steve was more than happy to do whatever he could to make her smile.
It shouldn't have surprised him that she seemed to already understand what he was dealing with. Pepper had a keen understanding of people that got her to where she was back home and Steve was honestly grateful for it. Sometimes, he didn't quite know how to talk about the things that really got him thinking too much. "I don't know what I want," Steve admitted. "Not really. I had thought-" But he shook his head and stopped himself before he could voice what was on his mind.
But this was Pepper and he trusted her just as much as he trusted Natasha and Maria. "Back home, even after what happened with Tony and how it all came down, Natasha had my back. I guess I just didn't realize how important she is to me, til I ended up here." Steve wasn't even sure what he wanted to do with that, but the possibilities were there.