That- doesn't surprise me either exactly. I'm not effusive. I don't always succeed in conveying-

[He pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts.]

I admire you. I admire your work and I think highly of the way you stand up to people. I'm sometimes uncomfortable with seeing in you the mistakes I've made- I think you know I killed a fuckton of people that one time trying to make an end run around the admiral because I didn't trust him and so the idea of getting drawn into even thinking about what you seem to spend a lot of time thinking about feels psychologically like a slippery slope and begging for another demotion, which sometimes makes me keep my distance-

But you're pretty- you seem pretty good, all around. And I hope you feel better soon.