Her neutral tone wasn't doing much to particularly reassure him, but he tried to take a minute to force himself to appreciate the moment. Zelda looked beautiful, in her green dress and with her hair done up like that, and of course he always enjoyed her company. If he could manage to stop fretting about the inevitable conversation with one of her siblings, this had the makings of a lovely evening. Getting to dance with her and spend time with her and talk to her at social functions was the whole point, and he ought to savor the moment while it lasted. He couldn't keep his mind on the positives for long, though, before drifting back to worry.

"At least I haven't seen your brother Ari yet," he remarked quietly, forgetting that he had never told Zelda about the time Ari Fisk had accosted him in a supply closet at the hospital, and that without this context his statement likely didn't make much sense. Aside from opening the door, it wasn't as though Ari had played any particularly strong role in the disastrous courtship attempt last year, which had been Alfred's only interaction with most of the rest of her family. "D'you know if he's coming?" Alfred asked, hoping he wasn't. He knew all of the Fisks would likely have been invited, as close relations of the Minister, but since Ari had no connection to the Ministry or to Hawaii that Alfred knew of, he could at least hope.