As if the moment of undoing her dress couldn't get any bigger, now there was the added pressure of what he was about to see. Steve firmly put a lid on any and all reactions he might have, leaning forward to press a kiss to her bare shoulder before reaching for the zipper and pulling it down.

It wasn't what he'd been expecting. They weren't pretty, of course, but he'd expected maybe the uneven, lumpy and wax-like scars like from a fire, or thin white and red scars like from a whip. These were... something else entirely. They almost looked surgical, and Steve had to forcibly tell his brain to not think about it right now. He needed to show Rogue that it didn't matter - and it didn't. But she was right, he was going to be thinking about it, later.

For now, though, he firmly turned his mind back to the task at hand, which was getting undressed, getting in bed, and being intimate with Rogue. He slid his hands along her shoulder blades under the dress, pushing it down. He dropped another kiss on her shoulder, but left it at that. Rogue was right, they had plenty of time later, when their emotional reserves were better fortified, and he could devote all the time they both needed to exploring her back and touching her.

Reaching for her arm, Steve tugged gently, to get her to face him again.