[ heh. he grins weakly. rude always knows just what dumb stuff to do to cheer him up. ]

No... I want you to know. I think you're probably the only person who wouldn't give me grief about it. I always—felt like I had something to prove, but you know already. My, uh... value, I guess.

[ he says "value" like it's a load of bullshit, but there isn't really any other way to put it. ]