The timer should pause during combat. I don't need my matriarch going for a nap in the middle of a fight, either.
But enough already with all of us having to dance around negotiating LOS for traders, bankers, drop boxes, misc NPCs because magsorcs perma-summon the twilight and then take it shopping. And stand around perusing their quest journal, because why not? There are other crafting stations. I'm reading here.
Put them on a five-minute timer. Five minutes out of combat, no hovering twilight. Gone.
Or let me pelt them with mudballs while I wait for them to mosey out of the way. That would be acceptable.