Even after more than a year in this city, Rowan retains his hard-fought for skills and honed instincts. Only abject laziness would turn him into the boy that he once was, and even then... The nightmares that haunted him, the sometimes intrusive paranoia, the memories: those would stay with him always. So, despite looking like any other teenager in Darrow, when Rowan walks with a slight slouch it's intentional. When he has earbuds in place, they're on mute. When his eyes are focused on the sidewalk in front of him, they're taking in his periphery.

He catches a brief glimpse of someone stepping back from the sidewalk into an alleyway. Not that strange, except he knows that particular alley leads nowhere. So why is someone hiding in it?

It's still cool, spring only thinking about starting, so Rowan raises his head to casually pull his hoodie over his head. He tilts his gaze to the side as he passes the opening of the alley and...

...Just stops. Right in the middle of traffic. A woman passes by him, her dog on the other side, tangling his legs in the leash. He stumbles back, lifting his leg to get out of the mess, when another man walks straight into his back and makes him stumble forward.

They're both on their phones. This is useless.

But did he see...? He weaves between the two pedestrians now yelling at him like this is his fault to catch sight of the impossible figure.