[u]Happenstance[/u]

"Ack, no!" The coin Hap had been toying with slid off the counter, he stooped clumsily to catch it before it hit the floor, and upon straightening noticed two newcomers had joined him at the bar. The first was a boy who in appearance looked to be a couple of years younger and a few inches shorter than him, dressed in surprisingly 'normal' clothes, which made him stand out from everyone wearing what was closer to traditional medieval renaissance garb; a simple sweater and a ratty scarf tied around his neck. He seemed to like the color black. The other was a small girl who more closely conformed to SAO's pattern of dress. She seemed more timid than her companion, with wide eyes that were taking in everything around her. The little dragon perched on her shoulder drew the eyes of everyone in the room, making her look very uncomfortable. Not surprising, there were only a handful of players with beast-taming abilities. Hap offered a smile when they approached and the boy nodded to him before placing an order for coffee to the barkeep. 

Shortly thereafter, Mez finally reappeared and Happenstance was ready to complain about him taking forever but was interrupted by Mez himself as he greeted the newcomer whose username was Varren. Apparently Mez didn't know the girl for he proceeded to introduce himself by some long-ass name, stringing together titles the way Sancho Panza strung together proverbs, and like Don Quixote, Happenstance felt the urge to curb this tasteless habit. As Mez finished and flashed the girl a grin, which kind of also could be interpreted as a grimace, he interjected with a cough, rolling his eyes. "Try-hard," the words muffled by his glove. 

Mez must've heard him because he immediately went on to say: "[b]And this, this is Hap. My new sidekick.[/b]" 

Hap choked. "Your what?!"

"[b]…He's going to help me with the PKing problem, if he agrees to it, that is.[/b]" Well, this was an unexpected turn of events, but he kind of wasn't paying attention, still nursing his injured ego. [i]You think you know someone, and then a pretty girl comes along and everything just goes to hell.[/i] He tried very hard to think up a snappy comeback, but was once again interrupted. 

"[b]Say hi, Hap.[/b]" [i]Smooth-talking bastard.[/i] In spite of Mez, Happenstance put on a cheerful face and stood to shake both of their hands. "Happenstance," he said, careful to pronounce his name to its full extent. He was quite proud of it, in fact, though more often than not it was shortened to Hap. People always ended up calling him Hap regardless of how he introduced himself, so unlike Mez he didn't feel the need to give either of them permission to use his nickname. "At your service m'lady," he made an elegant bow in the girl's direction. "…and, Varren," he added, inclining his head in the boy's direction. He glanced at the girl again and jerked his thumb at Mez, "Don't take him too seriously, under that hard external shell of shining armor and stunted emotion I'm sure he's as soft as a teddy bear at heart… Probably." He leaned against the bar, tired of sitting.

"By the way Mezzy, what's this about dragging me into your investigation? I don't know if I could handle what I think you're about to offer me. I mean, that's like a [i]lot[/i] of potential titles, I don't think I can handle that kind of responsibility. Especially…" and here he cast a very pointed look in Littrix's direction, "…if the ladies don't even know what they're supposed to mean. I mean what's the point?"