Syed dabbed feebly at his eyes with a napkin, trying to stop the tears of laughter from running down his face.

Christian fished disconsolately around in his Spaghetti Bolognaise, attempting to locate the two buttons that had popped dramatically from the front of his black polo shirt into his dinner.

"Shut up Sy. Do you think anyone noticed?"

He cast a furtive eye around the busy restaurant.

"As ever, all eyes were on you. All it needed was a comedy sound effect. Ow.. "

Syed clutched his sides, aching from laughter, as Christian glumly tried to wipe one of the buttons clean.

"It's your fault, you did the last lot of washing. You must have had it on too high"

Syed shook his head.

"No I didn't, and anyway, all my clothes are alright. You'll have to start buying all your clothes from High and Mighty, or from the ads in the back of the News of the World. You know, elasticated beige slacks, shirts with massive collars. Haaaaaaa!"

He was rocking now, unable to stop laughing, his meal going cold and congealed in front of him.

Exasperated, Christian shot him an angry look.

"Oh, button it."

This just made Syed almost hysterical.

"At least I can! Ha ha you need to pump down!"

Despite himself, Christian felt his mouth twitch into a smile.

"But I'm a walking advertisement for my art." he protested.

Syed took his hand across the table, twining their fingers together.

"You certainly are a magnificent work of art. You should always be unbuttoned. Come on Superman, take me home and show me your muscles."