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Daren snorted, "Dare-Bear? sounds like the anti Care-Bear." he shook his head a little, but settled the computer on his lap and started going through the decorations. "i'm not big on the whole just red and green, but i like the blue and silver combo, what about you?" they ate left over chinese and talked about decorations for a while, finally putting in an order, adding in a fake tree while they were at it. "that's that." Daren put the computer away and sat back, "we'll have an extravaganza putting it all together when we get it."

Daren grinned, "it will be interesting to see her reaction, though she's not much for swiping at things like cords." he looked down at where Apple had turned over, exposing her stomach while still keeping her back paws on the floor. cats were made of liquid, there was no other explanation. "so we'll see." he stood up and took the containers to the kitchen to throw them away, "so, now what? i'm not really tired, but if you want to go to bed go ahead. i'll join you later."

Daren came back and thought about what they could talk about. really and truly, they'd both had pretty s**t lives so their pasts weren't good. they pretty much knew everything anyways. "we could talk about something specific, like books or sports?" he sat down, "dance? formally, yes. i can waltz and kind of tango. i'm ok at chacha, but i'm good at swing. Nevi taught me, she had a firm belief everyone should know how to dance. but for the club grinding stuff? no clue."

Daren shrugged, "i was in a lot better shape back then. it was pretty easy, my karate and judo classes helped out too, since it was all about balance and swift movement." he thought about teaching Tim to dance and stood up, "come here-" he held out his hand, "i'll teach you right now. wonder if my cds are still in the player-" he went over and checked, happy o see they were. "alright, here, we'll try with this one. we'll do swing, easier." he moved the coffee table out of the way. "you hold your hands like this and do this. see? turn to the left and step across with your left foot." he showed Tim slowly. "just do that back and forth."

Daren shook his head, "you are doing fine. just wait until we get to the twists." he grinned and once Tim had that part down he showed him a few other moves. they ended up a tangled mess more times than he could count, but he was laughing the entire time. it wasn't long before he sat down on the ground, panting for breath, still chuckling. "you learned fast. sorry, i'm out of breath, need a break." he teased softly as he fell back, his arms outstretched. "god, haven't done something like that in ages, i'm a lousy teacher, though. was remembering it as we went."

"Tango's not bad, it's all footwork," Daren assured from the floor, "feet and hips, you don't do as much with your arms and spinning around like that." he groaned as he sat up and leaned against the couch instead, "swing's fun and can be applied to a lot of different sings. Tango is pretty specific in what you can dance it to. the waltz and chacha are too. i like swing, though. we should learn the waltz next, then if you are invited to a fancy party, you can wow everyone there."

Daren smiled at Tim's affections, "sounds like a plan to me. we'll go down together." he chuckled and turned his head to look at Tim, but it put their faces barely an inch apart. his eyes widened a fraction before locking with Tim's. his instinct was to lean in closer and seal it all with a kiss. he moved slowly so Tim could stop him, but he needn't have worried. the moment their lips touched Daren felt panic flare in his chest. the bruising crush of lips to lips, being pinned down and hurt, it all came back in one huge cascade and Daren began to have trouble breathing. he pulled away and pressed his head between his hands, trying o control the need to run and hide. he was safe. it was just Tim, he wasn't in prison anymore. he could logically tell himself that, but logic had s**t on emotions when it came to control over his bodily functions. Daren was having a panic attack and he had to ride it through, there was nothing else he could do.