[ He has to laugh at that. ]

Would you believe I'm usually the one calling other people pretentious? What that says about the company I keep, I'd rather not dwell on, so moving on — yes, I am a rock star. Or at least I was! Here I suppose I'll need to earn that title all over again if I want to keep claiming it.

[ It's possible that this is the first time this has occurred to him. ]