[John feels a warm flush creep around his collar at the insistent praise. He's strangely flattered, and he feels a bit self-conscious of it.]

Heh, you say that like it's a universal system or something, and it just doesn't work like that. You know - one man's trash, another man's treasure and all that. We get on well, so it makes sense to see the other in a flattering light, I suppose.