The response was unexpected and Ben was taken aback. He blinked at Matt for a moment and looked away, in the direction of the laptop. It was funny how a short, simple declaration like that could stun him into silence. Perhaps it was because he was anticipating a yes or no and not a stalling. And what a way to stall! It was the kind of comment he'd make, he thought, if their positions were reversed. He didn't know whether or not he liked his own kinds of comments coming back at him. He was beginning to understand why Kerr hadn't liked it when he'd communicated in such ways. It wasn't mysterious so much as a veiled hint to back off.
The request for Kerr's name came next so Ben gave it to him in full. "Kerr Galvin," he said, unsure if Kerr truly hadn't been recognised or if that was just the stance Matt was adopting. If he read the kind of magazines Ben placed the ad in, then he would've seen pictures of Kerr multiple times, given he'd been the Luminary. Not knowing what the Luminary looked like was a bit like not knowing what the Mayor of the city looked like, for humankind. Mind, there'd been a change in power a short while ago and a woman had taken the reins to the city, and even though Ben knew her name he couldn't immediately recall what she looked like. That was different though, she'd only just come to power while Kerr had held his seat for years.
Again, a nice way to dismiss him came about. 'Go get a drink' was the command, presented to Ben in pretty wrapping. Yes, perhaps this guy was a professional after all. Professional conman, maybe. Answer the ad, pretend to be a shifter, don't actually show your talents to the mark and send him away so you can steal all the shit you can before he comes back.
"Sure," Ben agreed, but he leant over towards Matt in a way that might present his going in for a kiss, except he stopped when he got close enough to smell him past any soap or cologne on his skin. Ben hadn't ever smelled an aspect shifter before, but Matt certainly didn't smell human. There was a much more complex mix of smells in him, and none of them smelled like animal, like a were-shifter (and the only kind Ben had closer contact with, due to their being more prominent at the Oligarchy, though he had a vague memory of Conner having an aspect shifter on his spy staff). He didn't take a huge sniff, so Matt might not know what he was doing, and he was peripherally aware that the shifter was now looking at him.
Ben pulled back and stood up, wiping his palms on the thighs of his pants as though they were sweaty or dirty when they were neither. He took mental inventory of his stuff; the money, the laptop, the bag, the photos and movies, and knew that he had copies of the latter at home, so it wouldn't be terrible if his laptop got ripped off. Everything else didn't matter so much, though he might have to pay a hotel bill of some kind if 'Matt' took stuff out of the room, too.
"I'll be an hour," he said, giving Matt more time than he himself needed to get a drink, and left the room. He did as he said, heading down the street on foot and finding a relatively clean alleyway to skulk about in until finally a shopper came down it and he engaged them in conversation. He drank from her, then stayed for another one, pleased that his next opportunity gave him a relatively large guy that he could drink a lot more from. After that, he had to kill twenty minutes so sat in the lobby for a bit reading a fashion magazine and reminding himself that wearing lots of clothes and posing for photographs had actually been kind of fun. He was about five minutes later than the hour deadline he'd given, and when he returned to his room, he entered without hesitation, swiping his card, hearing the lock click and pushing the door open.