Ed isn't great with eye contact anyway, and frankly, he's used to being stared at or called names, so it seems like an unbalanced exchange to him. Still, it was Tim's to make and if he was satisfied with it, so be it.

"The currency of the poorest of the poor, or the richest of the rich, boasted by knights with silken knots. Since at present I don't have much I need help with."

A favor owed is worth much more than any immediate gain. Oswald taught him that.