A lot of people never bothered to look past the skinny body that Steve was trapped in and see the heart and mind underneath. He was whip-smart, always had been, and maybe the only reason he had never made the honour roll at school was a combination of having so many sick days off, and the fact that he got hauled into the principle's office for fighting nearly every other week. The fact that he was doing it to defend kids against bullies never seemed to hold much weight with the teachers.

But Bucky knew he was smart and, even if he had been seen through, he was grateful that Steve didn't push it. Even just in these few minutes with Steve, nagging him about his home, he felt more human than he had in a long time. More like the man he used to be. He wanted that desperately, and if Steve would let himself be mothered, maybe it could help them both.

His smile hitched a little higher, though it disappeared almost at once when he stuck his head through the bodega door to check how many people were inside, shifting to the intense focus of someone looking for traps and assassins. Seemingly seeing nothing worrying, he stepped the rest of the way inside and grabbed a few tins of soup awkwardly in one hand, the other still shoved into the pocket of his jeans to hide that it was fake.

"Here, make yourself useful instead of running your mouth for once, and grab some dog food from the next aisle over. Big breed stuff."