[There's a brief moment where he wants to argue about the compliment, ingrained discomfort with being genuinely praised coming up against the fact that Break has a point. Meeting Anna had helped put some things in perspective for him about how far he's come since Argus, and watching her put herself down for struggling caused such an unexpectedly harsh reaction in him that he's since had to evaluate his own hypocrisy on that score.

Instead of rejecting the compliment outright, then, he lets out a sigh. He doesn't quite smile back, but his expression is soft.]

For the longest time, I didn't think so. Seemed obnoxious to pat myself on the back for pulling myself up to the level most people were at, right?

[He still feels like that, a little, because that's how he feels about his Semblance, too. Just because he has to work harder than others to be at a baseline doesn't make him any less responsible for that baseline.]

...But then it got easier. And it's weird to think that just a couple years ago I couldn't imagine being here. I didn't even want to be.

[There was a time when the alcohol felt like the only thing holding him together. There is a certain sense of grim pride in knowing he can do it on his own, even when he feels like he's drowning.]

So I guess that is something.