Back home, he took an old sketchbook off the shelf. Drafting lines felt like erasing the office ledger from his skin. He sketched quick faces he’d glimpsed during the day: the tram child’s solemn jaw, the florist’s nimble fingers, the barista’s careless smile. Creating these small portraits stitched him back into himself. He liked the way the charcoal smudged under his thumb; mistakes became texture. When he rested his pen, a playlist had moved to quieter territory, cello and late-night piano.