He's surprised when a voice speaks, apparently to him, and he looks up from the shawl to see a young woman standing beside him, looking at it too.

He smiles, covering for the surprise at being spoken to. He's still not used to the idea that people other than the crew of the ship might want to speak to him for reasons that aren't bad, after months as a fugitive waiting for the Feds at any moment, after the bad experiences he's had on several worlds Serenity has visited.

But here, there are no Feds, and there's no reason not to try to be at least a little friendly. She certainly seems friendly enough.

"Thank you. I'm ... I don't know a lot about textiles, so that's good to know."