Abe flinched, hands curling into his chest. "Um," he said, and wasn't sure what to make of the entire situation. "Thank you." The warmth in his face worsened as he stepped back.

Nobody ever touched him. He was alien, slick and wet and cold like a frog. Even when the scientists put their hands on him it was with a latex barrier between him and their warm skin. Seeing all this casual contact, all this naked flesh on display, this warmth when humanity was usually so cold to him...it was frightening in its intensity.

He stayed cowering by himself until Mary went onstage.