"Thank you," he shot back, serious but with a smile in his voice as he gathered a swirling glob of water in his hand under the surface. When he felt a snake of liquid shoot up his hand, there was a brief moment of him wanting to jerk back in surprise and then a laugh shortly afterward as he reached his other hand around to touch it. Good work. There was strength in the flow and that was half the fight.
When any woman in the world ever said to him "I need to ask you something," Alfie felt a chill run down his spine despite himself. Usually it ended in him either getting a good smack to the face or a talking to, and neither one of those did he ever expect from Eva. Mostly because there were bigger boundaries on what he wouldn't say to her, ever, in any circumstances.
But when she came out asking about Ethan, his brain heaved a happy sigh and he waited for the girl to work her way through her own sentences before trying to think up some decent kind of answer. "You know, kid, we don't talk to much about the things that matter like that..." which was said with a regretful glance down, though what he said wasn't completely the truth. Just part of it. "But what I do know is he's not even accepting my dinner invitations anymore. And that's not normal for him."