In the deeper fathoms of Ronan's mind, he was nowhere near as independent as he seemed. He was always stewing over something, reacting to a jest, hanging out with a cronie. At the heart of it was a need for stimulation, for movement, otherwise he feared he might sink into the selfsame fathoms that housed these intractable truths.

Lost in a foreign city without his wallet or any idea who anybody was. Guiltily, his first choice companion might have been Gansey, only for the reason that Ronan wouldn't have had to think as hard about what he was going to do if his scholarly friend were there to do it for him. Gansey was good at giving orders, even when they weren't obvious ones. A certain posture at his desk, a tone to his voice, and Ronan found himself bending to a will outside his own.

Still...

Something thrilled him as he stood there, studying Adam's face. Parrish was different. As lucid as his answers were, he never gave it all away. He was a mystery in his frankness. Instead of a guardian, Adam was a... challenge.

Companion, Ronan thought silently, before he could stop himself.

"Hell if I know," he grunted, searching his pockets. To his amazement, there was not only a key, but also a phone lodged against his thigh. Miracle his muggers hadn't pilfered it. He took out the key and held it in the palm of his hand, where both of them could see it. "How do I tell?"