His first reaction to the compliment is to say that 'really I'm more than short'. This thought has festered in his mind for some time now, as he's come to realize that everyone in his family is taller than him. Even the kid, he thinks as he manages to successfully not speak what wanted to be spoken.
Instead he leads his partner into a hug and finds himself kissing the so intriguing kind of dead dermal cells that only organics seem to produce. Hair is such a calming thing to touch.