"It could have been more productive," Lunge answered, without pausing for thought- there was no particular reason for him to lie, per se, given that everyone here understood how difficult it was to get anything done, but that didn't mean he wanted to delve into the details of how and why they'd failed. Not right away, at least. The appearance of knowledge was a far more important illusion to maintain in the way it seemed to give him something to trade.

It seemed unlikely that Badd was simply asking after his general health, at any rate. "Was yours any better than yesterday night?" He was thinking of that ambiguous night in the chapel he'd alluded to- though 'better' here more referred to the matter of progress than peace of mind.