Time was, Miguel would have taken it for granted that he looked handsome. Back when he was Alchemax's hotshot new genetics guy, climbing the corporate ladder in leaps and bounds. But then, he'd had his accident and everything changed, physically and mentally. And then he'd wound up on the other station for ... he had no idea how long, actually, but everything had changed again. And then again, with Higgs. Sure, he could try to slip back into the persona of Hotshot New Genetics Guy, like when he'd tried to be confident around Maryanne, and he could almost act like his other self, but it never stuck any more, not after all that had happened to him. Not that he wanted to put on a persona around Maria. So when she told him he looked handsome, it took a moment for him to process it, realize that she meant it and then respond to her.
"Thank you," he signed, before nodding at her suggestion to follow the path through the park. He glanced up, noting that the 'sky' was slowly cycling from its day into night, and then he finally looked round at the plants. For most biologists, this place would have been great, with the sheer variety of plants. For one who'd only really ever studied plants from holos, models and texts, this place was beyond words. "I have never seen plants like this before. There are so many! Those ones are glowing, can you see?" he signed, and then pointed to the plants in the distance that were starting to give off bioluminescent light. This place was amazing, already, and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather share this moment with than the person who was already with him. He looked back at Maria, unable to remember the last time he'd been so happy.