"Not at all. I can't expect the young to wait, can I?" Despite the tone of the reply, Jade pushes his papers into a neater pile, signalling that he's going to stop working and listen to her.

(He does not go so far as to stand and get her tea, however. There are limits, and Jade knows that the children of the group tend to take a certain comfort in the predictability of his superficial behaviours.)