"Well. I am standing up, but I am not much given to waiting, Captain Hawthorne." He's hoping that's her preferred form of address, or something close enough to it not to offend. It seemed safe enough; he'd learned some valuable lessons from Captain Zamira Drakasha of the Poison Orchid, such as 'never treat a lady captain like a woman first.'

(Her first mate, however, had very much wanted to be treated like a woman, at least by Jean.)