Mort's singing caught Harlow's attention long before he actually crossed paths with the other boy, alerting him to the stranger's presence and giving him time to react accordingly. In his current state, coming across Harlow was just as much as catching him red-handed. The paint on his clothes was a perfect match for the newly painted billboard, and if the person approaching had any ties to the government that his mural skewered, Harlow was screwed. Still, his curiosity kept him from simply ducking down an alley and heading away from the voice he heard. There was something he liked about the tone of it, the water-over-gravel roughness of it. Instead of running, Harlow grabbed a drain pipe and made a quick climb, sliding across the unstable wooden awning that shaded a convenience store and hauling himself up onto the railing of a fire escape above it. He perched himself on the railing, sitting with his legs dangling over, eyes scanning the street for the person responsible for the singing. He spotted Mort easily enough and watched carefully as the other boy came closer. From his perch, he analyzed the stranger, and by the time Mort reached the building that Harlow had scaled the first level of, he had decided to engage him.
"Sweet hat," he called out to Mort, keeping his voice as quiet as possible while still being certain it would carry down to the stranger. He'd learned his lesson about shouting during the apocalypse. Very few things attracted a swarm as quick as a loud human voice.