He'd stayed in ready-to-battle pose until the lion sniffed haughtily at him, licked it's paw, and tamped down its mane. That was as unsubtle a hint as he'd ever had, so he went back to fixing his hair.
There was a knock at the door right after he'd cast the last of his spells. He glanced hastily at the lion, but it just sighed and flopped onto the ground, resting its chin rather majestically on its paws. Okay then.
"Hello," he said, opening the door, and then forestalled any further conversation in favor of blinking stupidly at the mongoose doing its thing around William's feet. Mongoose. Lion. Something about that tingled at the back of his mind; he mutely opened the door wider and pointed at the lion. "Good morning."