"I'm well aware of most human cultural taboos. Nyota instructed me well in that regard. I learned all too well that decency meant different things to different people."

Wrong, perhaps, to bring her name up in this conversation, but there it was. A person in spirit to fill the space between them. He saw what had been written. The disastrous blunder of what happens when a reckless, headstrong captain rushed forward without thinking, or even learning his own communicator before attempting to use it.

Then again, it wasn't like the Enterprise had come with an safety manual before Nero's attack, either.

A beat of silence. Then another. All the while that rage coils, unwinds, tenses again. It's contained, dealt with; helped by Jim intentionally not provoking him. This was not an "emotionally compromised" situation; just another of the Captain disregarding the rules.

He sighs, heavily, pressing his fingers more firmly together.

"I do not know what our next step should be. If we even should have one."