He wasn't entirely sure what Jim was doing as he reached up to touch his ear, but he let him do it. He was fairly sure the man wasn't trying to attack him or anything. He clearly missed his friend....who had something weird about his ears, apparently.

He was rather grateful for Mohinder stepping in, however. It saved him from having to push the guy off him. Could've gotten awkward. He was a little annoyed that everyone seemed to pay no attention to Mohinder, though. As much as he liked attention, he'd finally found someone who was amazing enough to be around, and apparently no one else was going to acknowledge that. It made him mildly frustrated.

"First Officer, where you originally came from?" he asked. He doubted there were First Officers for Time Agents. "I didn't know this could happen. I'm gonna guess it has to do with the Rift?" James seemed to know more than they did, unsurprisingly, so it fell on him to explain.