Complex sentence: He's been teasing them, however, and ignores their distress long enough to lean down and shim the leg of his desk, then chuckles and asks if they thought he was going to stake himself.
Split into simpler sentences: He's been teasing them, however, and ignores their distress long enough to lean down and shim the leg of his desk. Then he laughs and asks if they thought he was going to stake himself.