"Okay." It was all he had to say at the moment, shifting the angle of his arm so that he could run his fingers through the hair at Steve's nape, brow furrowing as he scratched delicately there, as if to convince himself that he could and that the scratching didn't have to turn into anything else.

It was going to take more than a few minutes of heavy petting on the couch to really convince him of that, but it was a start if nothing else. He shifted, pushing himself a little higher on the arm of the couch so that he could worm his hand between them -the right, still using the left as little as possible- so that he could tug at the hem of Steve's shirt, "Off."