dutiful

Dutiful means carefully doing what is expected of you. The visit made, the card sent, the form filled in on time.

It is a compliment with a shadow on it, since dutiful describes somebody doing the right thing without much sign of wanting to. A dutiful son, a dutiful letter, a dutiful round of applause. That faint lack of enthusiasm is exactly what the word carries and what makes it useful. The noun is duty, and the adverb dutifully very often attaches to a verb like nodded or followed.