He was crossing the Green with some rolls of large plans tucked under his arm. Spring was in a week's time and Michael had more or less taken over that children's garden project that never quite took off. He'd take any excuse to get out of the Castle at this stage - he had no interest in facilitating another confrontation with Clive over his relationship with Julien.

It was the middle of the day so he wasn't expecting to bump into anyone. Imagine his surprise when he saw David.

"David," he greeted. He gave the other man a curt nod in greeting, or maybe it was out of an old habit of deference that he had not yet managed to shake off.

"You uhm... you look like shit."

Some things don't ever really change.