Harry was welcome to correct the man on the matter of what to call him. It had simply seemed polite to go with ‘Mr. Dresden’ when he didn’t know the man particularly well yet. At the very least, Harry’s judgement wasn’t off. While many mages could be described as such, he wasn’t among those ones, even if he was prone to being grumpy and uncomfortable with situations outside his control. Especially new ones that came out of nowhere, immediately on top of another unexpected situation like he’d been faced with just before arriving.

The question gets a light huff through his nose at that. “I’m not your lord, we’re probably not even from the same world, so no.” Even if he was, Harry hardly seemed the type to call someone that, at least based on his overall demeanor. “El-Melloi II would do… but I ask that you not shorten it further.” Otherwise, it was too heavy a name for him to carry, considering who it belonged to before him. He was a fake. A seat filler.

And in his opinion, it was his own fault that the position needed filling at all.

Maybe if he was here long enough, he’d give people his actual name, but it had been about 7 years of since he’d had to agree to taking the title and that would be a hard habit to break. Besides, sounding important made people mess with you less. Which was nice when he wasn’t particularly skilled enough to handle that on his own.

The guy insisted if only for a very specific reason, and the only time he couldn’t really enforce it was around the other lords and powerful families tied to the Clock Tower, who simply found his existence slightly amusing. You didn’t talk back to those people. You played their game and simply bit your tongue.

But he appreciated that Harry at least tried, even if he got the distinct feeling the guy probably thought it was silly. It was an interesting story, and perhaps he’d tell it one day. “Thank you, and in return, I’ll call you Harry. Not particularly evil, unless you count the assignments I give my students for weekends to be particularly cruel. And I’d hate to be likened to a debt collector. They’re rather bothersome.” He responded with a small frown. He couldn’t even tell his that they could shove it. It was a pain in the ass… “Although the fact that you’re familiar with both makes me wonder what kind of trouble you’re prone to.” ‘Evil Bad Guys’ indicated someone fond of playing the hero, a noble desire but failing weighed on you after a while… He never wanted to think of himself as one, even if his apprentice Gray suggested the contrary on more than one occasion.

His frown deepened as he noticed the person ahead of them in line asking more pointless questions and delaying everyone else further. God damned bothersome behavior. He just wanted to grab something to eat and get away from the crowds. His foot tapped lightly as the wait continued. “Is ordering food really that difficult…” He mumbled in a tone that suggested he already knew the answer to that.