Given that he's still figuring his way around the settlement - and isn't necessarily the greatest at cooking besides - Jean-Luc figures that the best way for him help out is with the cleaning. True, it's not something that he's done for quite some time, but it's not like washing and drying dishes is something that one forgets how to do. Finding a towel is a little trickier, but that's only because he isn't terribly familiar with the layout of the inn in general, much less the kitchen itself.

"Do you mind if I...?"

He gestures in the general direction of the pots and pans that she's let to dry with the towel, by way of explanation. (He suspects the answer will be no. But he figures that it can't hurt to ask, just in case.)