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She blushed and covered her mouth, "oh, gosh. i'm so sorry, i just assumed...." sh giggled, "well, you'd make a cute couple regardless. have a nice day, hope to see you again soon!"

Daren tried to hide his blush by nodding and hurrying out. "that was a bit awkward, wasn't it?" he grinned at Tim and head to his car, "alright, now you can see, time for dinner!" they got in and he pulled out, driving towards the seafood place Tim had wanted to go to. "you excited?"

Just seeing TIm this excited over something as simple as dinner, especially considering what had happened earlier, made Daren feel like things might really be ok for the first time in a little while. "we'll find out soon enough, child. calm yourself." he was teasing, of course, getting a little excited too. it was impossibly not to with a bouncing man right next to you. The drive couldn't have been more than ten minutes, but Tim's anticipation made it seem longer. they finally pulled into the parking lot and Daren got out, wondering if Tim was going to run to the door or not. "let's eat."

Daren smiled, but they were in public and while it was ok for Tim to act like this in the car, he was drawing the attention of the entire restaurant, and that wasn't ok. "Tim," he said softly as they were lead to their table, "calm down. yes, we are getting seafood, but you are causing a scene." even the poor hostess looked a bit uncomfortable. they were sat and given menus before she hurried back to her stand. "let's see-" he opened the menu and started to go over what they had, "oh look, the platter is still here. are you going to get it?"

Daren folded his menu and slid his hand across the able, pulling Tim's down so he could see the other's face. "hey, you aren't in trouble or anything. actually you were kind of amusing," he smiled warmly, "you just needed to calm down a little. that doesn't mean you can't still be excited. order the platter if you want it, you've earned it today, remember? order half the menu if you want, i don't mind. tonight is all about you, Tim."

Daren nodded and pulled his hand back, "then we know what we're getting. want to order any appetizers?" the waiter was on his way over to get their drinks, but if Tim decided on an appetizer or to not get one at all they could just make their orders right there. "that sampler platter looked good. had cocktail shrimp, crab cakes and clams." he looked in the menu at it, "or we could get something else if you want. the clam chowder sounds pretty good too."

Daren shook his head, "if you think that's enough, then we don't need anything more." the waiter arrived and they made their orders before they were left alone to wait. "Tim, I was wondering if we could go and visit Annie and the kids tomorrow. It'll be at the bakery, but we'll only be there for a little while. Annie and Tarte have a date night set up, but their baby sitter had to cancel. would you mind if we gathered up the kids and brought them to our place? just for a couple hours, and they are good kids."

Daren grinned, "i'll let annie know the price of our services. thank you, Tim. really. They don't get to go out much so the times that they do are important. i really appreciate it. most likely the kids will be in bed after the first hour or so, well Tetsu will be sleeping on me most likely, but still. it won't be that bad." their food was brought out and Daren was surprised about the sheer amount of it. "well, you were right when you said there was a lot to this. it smells amazing, though. let's dig in."

Daren watched Tim's first bite, but then focused on getting something for himself, giving Tim a little bit of privacy. It was obvious that this place, and this meal in particular, were very important to him. Daren wanted Tim to be able to enjoy it without being pressured by being watched the entire time. it was easy enough to give his friend privacy, once he took a bite, he had a moment of his own. It really was as delicious as it looked and smelled and soon, Daren was happily eating away at the food on the platter.