Lorna is trying to reconnect with Alex in these early X-Factor issues, and him making her drag an answer out of him is frustrating.

Lorna is trying to reconnect with Alex in these early X-Factor issues, and him making her drag an answer out of him is frustrating. She's asking a pretty reasonable question. What are they now? Friends? Are they going to try again? After everything that's happened to them, she wants to know whether there's still a relationship there instead of just being left to guess. What makes the conversation in #72 work is that Lorna actually acknowledges how much has changed. Their minds have been messed with. They've been through things separately. Being back in the same place doesn't automatically put them back where they used to be. So they start with something small: asking each other about favorite books and movies. It's almost awkwardly basic for two people with that much history, but that's the point. They're trying to get to know each other again. Then the fire rescue gives that conversation some weight. Alex jumps from the burning building with the children, trusting Lorna to get them down safely. She does, and they kiss afterward. Alex can be evasive when she's trying to talk to him, but in that moment he puts his life in her hands. That gives them a real step toward each other without making all the distance and damage disappear.