"Good evening, Ken!" There's a barely suppressed laugh in her voice; she doesn't want to be mean, but the way he jumps is sort of hilarious to her. Oh, no. She'd meant to startle him, not to actually frighten him, and in a show of apology she moves to lean in and retrieve the packets of tea from the ground.

Oh, right. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just asking what sort of tea you were making -- and also possibly obliquely wondering why you're up so late, but I hadn't really gotten that far yet!"