He's not built for this - the minor digs and mild, half serious half joking bickering. The sort of work he runs tends to be fueled by hot tempers and sharp tongues, more likely to end in a scuffle than a battle of wits (usually; there have certainly been exceptions to the rule, but no one ever employs him expecting him to be the clever one). For all his bluster on and off the network, this is different. This is trying - being expected - to maintain a certain level of civility; the mantle is visibly ill fitting on his broad shoulders as he shifts in his chair, irritably uncomfortable over the attention directed straight back at him.

"Caesar is right. We're just here to have a conversation with them, not to talk their bloody ears off."