Bodhi's not great at reading people, but the immediate threat level from someone with a military bearing is one of those things he's had to understand for simple survival purposes. The relenting is clear. Either it was actually a little bit funny (probably not), or he's just that pathetic (definitely yes).

Diving into the safety of objective facts, he holds up the cape and appraises it more carefully. "I th-think so? The shape of the collar, anyway, uh, the shape of the collar looks right. But I-I've never been up that close to an admiral, and, well, a cape's a cape..."