That hesitation makes Pike narrow his eyes some, the following expressions on Kirk's face however make him raise his chin up. More in that way that anyone would, to show he wasn't bothered by the reactions his name brought about and he was just thankful Kirk shook his hand. Though when he glanced at his own Spock with his eyebrows raised, he wasn't to thrilled with the head tilt and brow raise there.

"If you feel the need for that, Captain, of course." He let go of Kirk's hand at that, taking a step back so Kirk and his crew could step down more onto the same level of deck at least. "Can't say that I blame you." At least not with the crew's running theories on what all had happened and where they were and such, he couldn't blame another crew being paranoid after all.

"And of course, we can use my ready room. Along the way, we can share what theories my own crew has devised as they've worked on repairs," and with that it was just as easy for him to start towards the door, but not without looking at McCoy first. "And if Dr. McCoy would like to assist Dr. Culber and the others, we would be thankful for any help we can get. We got dragged here in the middle of a battle and one of our main systems malfunctioned, and it's been a hell of a time."