pain is a thing of the mind

another gussied bit because omg. you can just post small things. who knew

"Don't you care about them? Your parents?"

Minoth stills, swallows. Addam knows that Vulcans are not so severe and abstinent as to persecute upon the crime of a subconsciously bobbing laryngeal prominence, and yet the motion is so stagnantly careful (so painfully conscious) that he knows in an instant he's learned too much; a starship captain is supposed to be bold and curious, not lethally observant, as a science or communications officer might be.

"It's possible that I'd love them if I knew who they were.

"It's not logical to love things that are unknown to you. That don't have some explicit...value to you."

In other words, Vulcan poets are very precise.

Addam doesn't ask, do I have value? Does A'mal T'hsu (of course, he evades casual reference, if last-name parlance can be considered formal)?

It's obvious that Minoth loves. It's obvious that Minoth...values.

Obvious, but not explicit.