"Of course." She serves the tea, settling down in the seat across from him to allow his long legs more than adequate room to stretch without the awkwardness of hitting hers. She takes a sip of her tea and decides the elephant has been in the room long enough. Some things were worth ignoring, this one seemed to be confusing, though a little less harmless than most.

"So the dress isn't an omen of things to come?" If he's working in Russia, and in his time period, she highly doubts the dress had anything to do with the work, but it's the easiest way to tie in the object to their current discussion.