Anticipated or not, Costigan still gets the look. "You think I care whether I match their opinions of me?" he scoffed, though mostly rhetorical because he knew the undercover was certainly not so naive-- and someone, in Bakura's estimation, that he'd venture knew very well how far a reputation could carry someone.

He waved a dismissive hand at the last part. "I leave the persuasive speech giving to the damned Pharaoh's groupies," he said breezily. "Not my area of interest."

Which didn't mean that he didn't have some aptitude in it; indeed, Bakura could be extremely verbally manipulative when it suited him. He understood people and how to lead them to whatever he wanted from them.

But it wasn't a refusal of Costigan's proposal either.