*eventually wends his way around to you, having endured an entire room's worth of (drunken) ribbing and (deflected) grilling* *see, this is one of the many reasons why he wasn't going to tell anyone right off*
*has acquired a beer in the meantime, but is taking it easy, figuring he'll be more capable of fending off questions if he stays soberish* *smiles in greeting* Sir. *clinks his bottle to your glass, and can't resist adding:* My couch operates on a strict open-door policy, by the way.