he who hesitates is toast

The impulse strikes him to ask her if she wants to dance again, and he dismisses it just as quickly. The comparison between who he is now and who he was will do nothing but bring her pain when he inevitably fails to live up to his own past, not to mention he's not going to ask her to step close to him or even look at his left arm, much less allow herself to have to come in contact with it.

He watches her for a second, then looks down at their linked hands instead.