[His gaze drops for a moment, his smile turning a touch shy at those words— he's touched, humbled. Perhaps he hadn't realized until now just how badly he needed to hear them, never let himself think on it long enough to reach that conclusion. He doesn't know if Amelia knows just how much he'd needed it, either, but he doesn't intend to leave her in the dark.]

That... means a great deal, actually.

[All of it does. Amelia had always been far more interested in him than his accomplishments, thought of him as just Gale before anything else, and for as dearly as he loved his work, as passionate as he was about his pursuits, the route he had taken in reaching those achievements had been one that kept him isolated from others, something he now knew was a result of someone else's machinations— someone that just Gale had never been enough for.

He meets her gaze again, gently guiding her hand away from his face and lowering it so that he can brush a chaste kiss against her knuckles.]

That you think so little of yourself is truly a disservice. I hope to be able to help you to see what I see.

[Kindness, beneath all that severity. Unmatched passion for not only her subject of choice, but her devotion to her students, to pushing them towards success. A wicked sense of humor than he considers himself very fortunate to have had the privilege to witness, a sharp tongue and sharper mind, and a thousand other things that all came together to make a woman he found to be truly formidable.]

We're both bound to make mistakes. What matters most is a willingness to learn, something I don't think either of us is lacking.