Van had been mostly unconcerned about the prospect of his erstwhile sorta-kinda-maybeish apprentice not recognizing him, but the confirmation that Bene does is appreciated anyway. His smile grows, faintly.

"Looks like you've done well for yourself."

This is not as surprising to Vandelin as it might be. Benedict's status had been trending slowly upward when he'd left, and Van remains unaware as yet of anything that would have happened to change that, so it stands to reason that as long as he's still here, he ought to have a solid job. The 'still here' part is where the surprise would come in, if Van were someone who would ever in a million years show surprise in company.