Fingering the pages of his book, Steve was reminded of the tablet S.H.I.E.L.D. had issued him and the instructions he had been given in how to purchase and access books on the device. The technology of the thing itself had been remarkable, and he easily agreed that navigating its system had been intuitive enough that he had taken to it in a matter of minutes, but as tempting as it was to have a whole world of books in his hand, it just not felt right. There was something in the weight of a book, in the delicacy of each page and the satisfaction of being able to thumb through it in his leisure that no electronic proxy could replicate.

The tip of his head came with the still unfamiliar brush of his hair along his throat as he gave the woman a small smile and chose his words with care. "I'm not as familiar as I would like with history. Names and dates and knowing which war was fought with whom doesn't really give you a real sense of the past, you know?" God knew what he had seen of what had been written of the time he had lived through had been exactly that flat or inflated, depending on how the subject had suited the writer and what their goal had been in writing it. "Hearing it from a woman or anyone who wasn't writing the history books gives me a more complete picture. If that makes any sense."

The rounder, feminine face he wore then still twisted in the same expression of mild consternation before he sighed and nodded. "Don't tell Natasha you knew right away," he entreated with no little resignation, though his mood was not without a touch of humor as Steve knew better than any how doomed to fail him attempting to pretend to be anything other than what he was was doomed to fail. No matter how it had seemed like a good idea at the time to try his hand at undercover skills. "You're right, of course." He smiled then, holding out a hand to the woman beside him, "I'm Steve."