[There's... actually a pretty good chance Gaius would've acquiesced, all things considered... but when an unfamiliar man decides to provide him an out, he is going to take it.]

...Yes, forgive me. We have some urgent business to attend to.

[The kids look disappointed... at least until they spot some other promising adult who looks botherable, at which they just kind of shrug and go after that poor soul. Gaius keeps up enough of a veneer that he actually knows this guy until he's gone off far enough to see that the kids are out of sight, he lets out a relieved sigh.]

Thank you. I... admit, I find it difficult to disappoint children so...