That made Alex laugh again, because well... it was true. He did lean too hard on being a skeptic, and more than that, he definitely was refusing to admit to things that he'd suspected but then found out he was wrong about. The whole thing of them being a delusion being wrong, came to mind, but Alex wasn't going to mention it. After all, Strand would deny the whole thing. "Well, I did tell ya, he's definitely the irrational skeptic sort at this point. Even before he showed up here and magic was all around him." Which meant that he doubled down on it now, and Alex just shrugged.

After a sip of her coffee, she just peered at him quickly, giving him the same look that he'd already given her, because two can play at this game. "So, Peter, what have you been up to?" And the unspoken 'are you seeing anyone' is implicit in her expression.