"Busy," he replies, waiting for her to take her cup of tea before reaching for one for himself. "Thorne's allowed us to help out around Nott."

Putting out literal fires. It's preferable to Thorne making them stay put in the castle, twiddling their thumbs. He'll take being exhausted over that option...

"What about you?" It's easy to see that she's in much the same state as him - last he'd heard she was working toward getting into Libertas. The tea might not be real, but drinking it gives a comforting warmth to the blood and bones.