"All well, that would settle that then." Mason chuckled, relieved to see a little bit of his mother's usual fire in her eyes. She really did deserve the promotion and Mason was sure she would get it, one way or another...

He still wasn't convinced that work was causing her to look so unlike herself, but Mason was not about to question her any further. It wasn't as if he had any real reason to question her, other than intuition and that wasn't even enough. She'd tell him if she wanted to. In the meantime he would worry like any good son should.

"More tea?" He offered as he moved to fill his own cup. Perhaps this would be a good time for him to make a better effort to get home more often. Certainly the Headmaster would understand... or well, maybe not, but it would be worth a shot, he supposed. At the very least, he would be looking into taking a short holiday over the Christmas break.