Robin has never really been one for children but it's hard not to be endeared by the smile that hearing his mother tongue being spoken draws out of him.

"No, I'm not but I spent a few years there," he replied. Russian was always a useful to language to know in his experience, particularly when his closest friend was Saint Petersburg's finest. He pauses briefly. "Perhaps we should speak in English, though. It would help you to learn."

A little harsh, maybe, but practical.