It really sounds to Yondu like this child is an itty bitty scapegoat, but he won't harp on it now. They've dug a worldview so deep into him that he doesn't know if he ever climbed out. He never saw him as an adult.

"Don't know what they were called. Might have been somethin' like that? Can you use 'em?"

He can't make him feel better about himself, or trustworthy, but he can at least let the kid be more competent than some shlub like him is. Sometimes knowing something next to someone knowing nothing is the best encouragement someone can ask for.

"I've seen people use stuff I just don't get how it works. Sounds like you know some shit."