Reena smiled politely as Natasha praised her as a precious jewel. "That's very kind of you, I actually chose my name when I completed my Companion training. I do try to be of value." She made a mental note that the dark-haired woman was either very good with languages, or had done some checking up on her.<br/><br/>She listened with interest as Natasha talked about smuggling, and the design of the crew. "I think you'll find that the crew of the 'Serenity' is a good deal more versatile than you would imagine. Certainly a Firefly does have those convenient little nooks, but smuggling is hardly all that they get up to... I'll leave it to Mal and the others to fill you in more." She smiled modestly. "I am rather peripheral to all of that." She waved her hand, signifying that 'all of that' was not such a big deal. "As to your feelings on the Alliance... many here would share them." She diplomatically did not mention her own feelings on the subject.<br/><br/>To the rest of the woman's speech, Reena tried not to wince; the newcomer had inadvertently hit a nerve when she mentioned the empty room. The crew had suffered some deaths just before she herself had been taken on... not that Natasha could have known. When she came back to Reena's client - the woman seemed to be a nervous talker - that was safer ground.<br/><br/>Reena replied, "Yes, that man was a client. Bids for my services are submitted through the guild's comm network, and I select who I will be seeing long before we land planetside. Though 'planet' is sometimes pushing it - we land on some of the most interesting little moons, satellites, all of that." When Natasha continued into what sounded like a nervous breakdown, segueing into an offer to cook, Reena tried not to show her distress. Hopefully Kaylee would take care of this; when it came to sheer comfort, Kaylee was the best.<br/><br/>So she stuck to saying, "Hate to break it to you, but times like this when we can get fresh food are not common. So there's not an awful lot of cooking to be done." Protein supplements, and canned meals when they were lucky... that was the usual fare of the<em>Serenity</em>. "You must be used to Alliance military rations," she continued, "those of us who have to buy such things can't often afford them. Many of the planets like this one, that grow their own food, don't export it." Yes, maybe they could get past this taut emotional moment by talking about food... hopefully so.