Scenting their new place though? Because Bucky’s still mostly untamed and probably has terrible manners and now that everything is here he needs to roll all over it like a dog and poor Steve kind of wants to tell him no, but... well, what the heck. It’s not hurting anyone and it’s their little place together (and maybe one day he’ll even call it home) so Bucky can stink it up if he wants to. Steve is fine with letting his scent get on things naturally, but maybe Bucky, with his acute senses and currently feeling like Steve is his only safe place, needs him to get on with it. So Steve is just sitting down to watch TV in one of the chair, his feet propped up on an ottoman, and here comes Bucky to sweep him up and plop him on the couch and shove a totally different ottoman under his feet.
“Bucky,” Steve says reproachfully. “I was comfortable there. If you wanted me to move you could have just asked.”
“Please,” Bucky replies, entirely too late and unrepentant besides.
And maybe it takes a while for Steve to figure out what Bucky is trying to do by making him sit on a different side of the table every night, or even rearranging the furniture because Steve likes to draw in this one part of the room where the light is best. But he’s not stupid and Bucky isn’t bothering with subtlety so Steve eventually gives in like, “Fine! I’ll stink up the place as much as you do. I hope you’re happy.”
Maybe Bucky is kind of worried that he pushed it too much? But Steve goes around and rolls on the furniture exaggeratedly and it really does calm Bucky down a good amount, so Steve can’t even be all that mad. It’s such a small thing for him to do and it looks like it’s easing so much of Bucky’s anxiety.
Which gives him the idea to gift Bucky something of his. It can’t be a shirt or sweater because this Steve is smol and Bucky is not, so he’d just rip through any clothing like a cheap shirt in a bad porno flick. Which leaves Steve with only a few options. He’s got some hats and some scarves--all winter wear, sadly, and maybe his work ties. Hats have some merit, because imagine Bucky in those knit hats with the pom-pom even in the middle of summer. White tank, elastic band pants, knit hat. Or a tie that he wears with whatever, not even really tied, like a bad playback of early 2000s fashion.
The scarf might be cute, though, especially if it wasn’t knitted but made of some kind of fabric, maybe with a print or some kind. He wraps it around his neck so it’s close to his face, even when he’s going out or being interrogated interviewed by SHIELD or when they’re running experiments getting data in medical. And eventually the scent would fade, so he’d have to bring it back to Steve looking all sad and hangdog because it doesn’t smell like his safe place anymore!
“All right, but can you at least stop wearing it to the cafe? I’m supposed to be helping you get used to other people, not find different ways to hide from them.”
Bucky still has a lot of bad days, so it’s a poor idea to take away something that can provide comfort so easily, but he also doesn’t want it to be used as a crutch. So they bargain to interviews and medical only, barring special circumstances, and Steve goes and washes it with unscented detergent and wears it all day and to bed even though he feels dumb doing it, and by that time tomorrow it’s back in Bucky’s hands.
His smile and the awkward--but completely unprompted--hug make it totally worth it.