The soldier had a special talent for tuning out things that weren't currently relevant, and he was using it at this moment, even if it wasn't entirely conscious. He only kept staring at Steve.

"You were so small," he said as if he needed confirmation. His working arm almost moved towards the other man to keep himself on his unsteady feet, but he let it fall back to his side before it even made it halfway to touching him.

"Thought you were gonna... snap like a twig," he said, trailing off before shutting his eyes in a grimace and letting his head fall forward, as if it had taken a great deal of effort to put it all together and get the words out. This time his hand moved to his own face to cover it as he took in a breath through his nose.