13365/Sweet Screams Are Made Of These

Sweet Screams Are Made Of These
Date of Scene:	21 December 2022
Location:	'The Village' - you know which one.
Synopsis:	Andi Benton faces her dark chocolate night of the soul.
Cast of Characters:	Billy Kaplan, Andi Benton

---

Billy Kaplan has posed:
'The Village.' Colorful and unique, once an artist's place to be- once upbeat and odd, now upscale. So upscale that most artists can't really afford to live there anymore. The Outcasts and rebels, poets and artists are a thing of the past. You can still hear jazz, catch a game of chess, see an art film and chomp on late-night pizza, but most of the time you can't live there-- the days of $70-a-month apartments have given way to the $2,700 a month studio.

Billy Kaplan doesn't remember any of this, of course. He is too young. But he is old enough for his mother to tell him about it, and about her days as a student living in 'The Village.' And it /is/ her mother's birthday that is coming up soon. A dutiful child, and a sweet- if dorky- one at times, he has decided to get her something from The Village. For old time's sake.

It's also a good excuse to just walk around and find curious little shops, something that might call his attention. And, perhaps, even move as an informal patrol 'in plain clothes,' which is why he invited Andi to join him, as well.

"So what do you think," he asks quietly, hands in his jacket pockets as a safeguard against the Autumn chill, "With Raven doing the mentoring thing with us? It's kind of cool. Also a little intimidating."

He hasn't been sleeping well. He's been having dreams, since the incident. Since the true nature of his relationship with Tommy was revealed. He's been putting off talking to his ... to his /twin/. But it presses on him, like a tumor growing under the surface of his skin. And he knows that soon he's going to run out of excuses not to see Tommy.

But he's not sure how he is going to break the news to him. Or his mom.

Dear god. His mom.

/One/ of his moms.

He shakes his head. This was needlessly complicated. And that was without thinking about what he was going to do for mothers' day.

Andi Benton has posed:
This day was coming, sooner or later. Andi's been hesitant to let others see her instead of just Mania, being one of those things where trying to keep her identity secret felt important. If for no other reason, it was to keep her father safe.

However, trust is something that needs to be built up, cultivated, grown. How will the others in the Young Avengers, fledgling group that it is, learn to accept Mania only, and not Andi as well, if they never see Andi?

So, a chance was taken. Billy might not think much of it. Maybe he understands? Meeting in Greenwich Village, she doesn't look that much like Mania, though there are some hints. A goth/punk appearance, multiple piercings, some chunky shoes, pale skin, and while the hair isn't spiky like Mania's, there is a strand or two that suggests a similarity.

Her attitude? Quiet and standoffish, eyes roaming the area before Billy catches up with her. Not much of a patrol, unless you consider it one that's out in the open, looking fairly normal. "Don't know yet," is the only answer she has for him as far as Raven is concerned. Her voice is on the flat side.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Right, can't really have an opinion if we haven't had a... lesson? A class?" Billy offers her a sheepish smile and begins to move in a random direction, lured by the potential of shopping that might be the answer to his dilemma.

"Thank you for coming. Y' know, like this." He gestures to himself. Civilian garb. "It means a lot." That she trusts him. He may have been a little too over-eager to share his identity with the team, but youthful exuberance played a part in it, as well as the desperate desire to /belong/ to a superhero team. They were one. Still starting out, but they /were/ one, and how cool was /that/?

"I always have a hard time choosing something for my mom," he comments idly, walking past a few shops. "Funny, you'd think it wouldn't be hard, but it is."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton has the look of someone who would rather be somewhere else, or would rather be /someone/ else. To say she's developed a dependency on the symbiote might be on the mark, but the idea of her being analyzed by a psychiatrist? Not even on the table.

She nods once to the response about not having had any follow-up yet with the teachings, but her answer has nothing to do with that. "Why? You wanted to see what I look like? Without Mania? Is it that important?" It's a question she's working through as well, so how he handles his side of it might mean something.

Glancing at a few shops as they pass, she does so with general disinterest. His comment about picking something out for his mother is left alone long enough that it seems she may not even say anything, then she does. "Guess I don't have that problem." The answer is barely audible, but he's close enough to hear it.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"We-ll," Billy says, glancing at the window for a shop. Could his mom use a scarf? She already has enough scarves to make into a rope and climb down from a tower, should the need arise. And these scarves have very fine silk, the kind of scarves you don't wear for the cold but to make your best friend jealous. He shakes his head and moves on.

"I thought it'd be cool to get to know more of you?" he says, glancing over at Andi, "You know what I'm like in and out of costume. We're team-mates, but I think we'll be even better at what we do if we are friends, too..." he trails off at her comment about mothers, and he mentally kicks himself.

Should he apologize? Would apologizing be delving into the discomfort? Okay, how about we plow ahead.

"Huh, maybe I need a perspective exercise. Tell me," he turns to look at her, "If you were going to be given a gift from someone, what would you like to get?"

Andi Benton has posed:
"Don't really know you that well yet, if we're being honest," Andi says, dryly. Even when around the building that's been converted to the Young Avengers base, Mania has often kept to herself. The first step, going out for something like this, could mean something. "Don't even know how you do magic, really."

Shoulders move to shrug at talk of being friends. "There aren't a lot of people I'm close to, but a gift? Anything?" A little disembodied head, inky black and cartoonish, connected to a strand of /something/ from about the area of Andi's shoulder, pops up and grins openly at Billy. "Chocolate. Always chocolate."

This visage of Mania gets shushed by Andi, a hand moving to push it back down before people notice and stare. "...chocolate," she adds, amid a mild scowl.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Well... yeah, that's the point. To stop not knowing each other that well-" The young man pauses to go over what he just said, and chuckles, "I am sure there was a less confusing way to say that."

Mania makes the will be known, and far from unsettling Billy, it causes him to stop and blink. "Chocolates! Hey, that's- that's not bad, actually. There's a store around here... I mean, there /was/, that was all artisanal when mom was in college and she loved that. There's got to be something like that around here, no?" He turns around and frowns, reaching into his pocket to take his phone out, "We could do, like, chocolate flights to taste-test them and then pick some out for a gift." he looks up from his phone, giving her a cheerful look, "What do you think about that? Looks like there's a shop like that a little bit..." he points his finger, "That-a way. Apparently just opened three months ago, too."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton flashes a somewhat uncomfortable look Billy's way. His optimism and general cheerful nature runs in stark contrast to her demeanor, which is more like Raven's in ways. "We..I'm not used to letting others get too close or know much."

Leaving the explanation at that, the expression is replaced soon after by one of mild confusion. "Chocolate flights? What do you mean? We aren't really picky about chocolate, but the better it is.." She shrugs again. "Probably the more expensive it is, too."

She moves along in the direction he goes. The lack of a response to the talk of magic is in line with her own brief answers - or non-answers.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"A chocolate flight? Uh, it's like... you choose different chocolates to sample from and they put them out on a board for you. They do the same with cheese, too. And beeer."

He points to a building down the block, "I think that's the one, shall we go?"

The inside of the chocolatier is clearly geared to be cozy and put people at ease. There are a lot of comfortable places to sit, bookcases with books, board games, and the front counter has a large bar where the different types of chocolate, and their provenance ("fair trade only!") are displayed. The shopkeep is currently tending to a customer's order, so Billy reaches for one of the menus and takes a glance. His eyebrows raise as he points to an entry, "Hey, look, they make chocolate from beans from all over the world. I've never had Ghanan beans... that looks cool, what do you think?" He looks at the prices. "... Could go for a five chocolate sample, what do you think?"

Andi Benton has posed:
"Okay, but what the hell's that got do with a flight? Does the board look like a plane or something?" Andi questions, skepticism in her words and expression. "It sounds like when you just get a sampler of appetizers at a place."

With a shrug, she follows along. This is really more for Mania than herself. It's not that chocolate is bad or anything. Quite the contrary, but when it comes to the symbiote, it's a much better, safer way to deal with needs rather than the alternative.

Her mood remains more sour than sweet as they get inside the place, and Billy can overhear her muttering, "This feels like a place for hipsters. I know, uh, milk chocolate and dark chocolate, mostly. So.." She squints at the list of what everything costs, then she grimaces. "Hipster prices, too. Yeah, let's just go with that."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"You know... that's a very good question. I had never really thought about it."

Out comes the phone and, with a few inquiries, Billy lands on a page- Merriam Webster's, to be precise. "It says here, a flight is an order of sampling of foods served on a wooden board or similar carrier... a-ha: 'There are several senses of the word flight, and the one connected to beverage and food tasting is derived from the sense of a group of similar beings or objects flying through the air together. From the Old English 'flyht'-" he looks up, "Uh, that's good enough, I guess. I don't know, it takes some stretching of the imagination to see a bunch of cheeses or chocolates or beers together and immediately go 'hey, you know what these remind me of? Birds flying together, yes sir!'" he lets out a quiet chuckle, despite Andi's sour mood. In an attempt to lighten it, he says, "Well... just wait 'til you taste these. I'll get a mixture- grab us a table!"

He heds over to place their order for one flight, and he takes a little bit to choose the selection, but once he is done, he smiles and heads towards their table with a little order number badge. On his way there, though, a young woman dressed in a black oversized hoodie and black sweatpants bumps into him, causing him to drop the table number. "Oof! Hey-"

But the young woman appears to not see him and, instead, head out of the store.

Billy frowns, rubbing his elbow, and bends down to pick up the number. Making his way to the table, he mutters, "Well, that was weird."

Andi Benton has posed:
<<Mania>> We should just take all the chocolate here, Andi. We could quickly--
<<Andi>> That's gonna be a no. One, that's stealing. Two, it'd freak everyone out. Three, it'd probably lead to the cops showing up.
<<Mania>> That is fine. We would be gone long before they arrived, and we are not afraid of them.
<<Andi>> That is soooo not the point. Just behave, because I don't think we're buying this stuff all the time.

Inwardly, the conversation is pointed. Outwardly, Andi opens her mouth then shuts it as Billy does a little research. "I wasn't asking you to.." she starts, only to cut herself off mid-sentence, hands going up briefly. "Well, that sounds dumb. What were they doing back then, having a food fight?" A pause, then she clarifies, "You don't have to look that part up."

Turning to pick out a spot over toward a corner, an empty table in between the table in question and anyone else, she heads over that way and rolls her tongue piercing around as it clacks against her teeth for a moment. Fingers are drummed against the table before Billy gets his order in and approaches, only to have an encounter with some customer who simply moves on like nothing was the matter.

"That was very graceful," she tells him, thick with sarcasm, any weirdness aside.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Thank you, I practiced," Billy says as he sits down, wearing a little self-deprecating smirk. "It's almost like she didn't even see me there. That was just totally weird, she didn't even /look/ at me." He peers at the front window. The girl has walked out of sight now, and he shakes his head. "Just... weird. Normally people say oops or sorry or..."

He falls silent, and looks at the front counter, where people are assembling their order.

"So... I don't think I ever heard the full story... how did you end up running into America/" he asks, one elbow on the table. Not the one he was rubbing from the impact.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton doesn't have a whole lot to say about it except, "Maybe she was embarrassed and didn't want to stand out. Maybe it's just nothing." She does watch until the other person is away from their view, just to see if anything more odd comes of it.

"Out on patrol," Andi explains. "There was some hostage thing at a bank and we worked pretty well together for having just met."

Within, Mania can tell all the different scents of chocolate in the place, and just that alone is enough for the symbiote's focus on it to lead to Andi herself coming to stare toward the prep area as well, in more than just the way you do when you're waiting for your food to be brought out. This is not a very patient demeanor, if the bit of fidgeting and shifting in place is a clue.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"Yeah... probably," Billy admits, and listens to Andi as she explains in her spartan way. "Sounds like you already had experience before she found you." The conversation is quiet, to keep things between them. But, soon, the scent of chocolate approaches as one of the chocolatiers places a board with the chocolates on the table. She takes a few moments to explain which chocolate is which, and the order in which she suggests that they be eaten. Unsurprisingly, it's also the order in which they are laid out on the board. After she has left them, Billy gestures. Each chocolate sample contains four pieces, "Well, let's take a look! This one's supposed to be dark chocolate-" he reaches for one and takes a bite out of it. There is a moment of silence before his eyes close, and he intones.

"... oh. This is good!"

Andi Benton has posed:
"For a couple years," Andi says. No trouble on her end with keeping vague where some of that is concerned, and taking the quiet corner helps. "But that's all I'm saying about it in here except to say I think she found us..interesting," she adds, to leave no doubt as to her intentions.

That's about the time the lady comes out with the chocolate samplers, giving them some information about it all. "Yeah, thanks," she says, glad to have the person leaving again. "They really want to be fancy about eating some pieces of candy."

In spite of that, as she tries the first one - after nearly breaking decorum and starting from the opposite end - she bites clean through it down the middle and gains a thoughtful way about her. "It's..fine?" she offers.

Mania must have other thoughts about that. It happens in about the blink of the eye, as a tendril snaps out from just over her shoulder, snatches the remainder of the piece, and draws it away. There is a lower, deeper sound from her, or somewhere within her. "Mmmmm."

Nobody's staring at them, a sign that the little display ought to go mostly unseen. As for Andi, she lets out an annoyed grunt as her eyes narrow in staring ahead of her.

<<Andi>> You want to explain yourself?
<<Mania>> No. Now eat the rest faster. That is very tasty!

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy blinks for a moment, "I guess someone really likes it?" he ventures quietly and shifts on the table, finishing his final piece. Putting the other elbow on the table, something on his long-sleeved shirt sparkles momentarily in the light, near his elbow.

"I think it's pretty good- I think I might get mom this one..." he takes a bite from the second sample, and hmms! "Or actually, maybe /this/ one... I don't think you can have too much chocolate, in fact."

As he says this, the object on his elbow glows, briefly. "I know at least one of you agrees with me," he says with a slight ggrin.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton's exasperated expression indicates this is not the first time something like this has happened. "She../it/..always likes to push boundaries and test limits," she explains very carefully. "So don't encourage bad behavior." That follows the apparent teasing remark at the end.

Seeing a clear and obvious opportunity to change the subject, while also going through the selections herself, she gestures toward that area of his elbow. "What's going on with that?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"I'll be responsible," Billy says, holding up his hands in a conciliatory gesture, "My twin is a little like that, he likes to- uh?"

He glances at his elbow when Andi points to it. He frowns. Clinging to the cloth, there is something that looks like a little jewel, or accessory. It is some sort of small gem set on a spider-like frame, although the legs are too many for it to be a spider. It is an odd little thing. And it is glowing.

"I- I don't know!" Billy exclaims, twisting the cloth this way and that so he can look at the object. It continues to glow, "I've never seen it before-" he reaches one finger to try to dislodge it, and when his fingertip touches it, it is almost as if a static electricity discharge had happened, because Billy draws his finger back with a start. "That felt /weird/!" he exclaims.

But his voice echoes. Oddly so. In fact, snippets of the previous conversation float around him. Andi can distinctly hear one phrase over the others, about never having enough chocolate.

And that's when things start getting weirder.

There is a low rumbling sound, coming from somewhere behind the bar. The patrons look around in fear, and the chocolatiers are slowly backing away from the bar itself, looking startled..

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton's hands come to rest against the tabletop as she squints at the gem in question. "If you don't know, that's probably not a good thing." She doesn't get much more of a chance to question it prior to Billy's reaction to the contact made with it. "And how is it you have no idea how it got there?"

Not much room for a response to that, her attention diverting in the direction of those words that drift back into existence. "You hear that?" she wonders, then another interruption follows. The rumbling, and the reactions from both customers and employees, and this is the moment she pushes up to her feet.

And in that moment, Mania takes advantage of the focus elsewhere, the symbiote's disembodied little head taking shape before lowering to make a pass of the chocolates at their table that are yet to be tried. They all disappear, then the cartoonish head follows suit just after a sound:

"Mmmmmmmmm."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"What the- I don't know..." Billy says, his eyes on the strange artefact clinging to his clothes. He seems about to say more before the rumbling occurs, and then that thought is forgotten at the commotion. As Andi pushes to her feet, strange things truly begin to happen now.

'-have too much cho-'
'-much chocol-'
'-ate-ate-ate'

It's Billy's voice, alright, in the same inflection. A blast from the past a few seconds ago, on repeat. "This feels /weird/-"

And now Andi can see what is causing the chocolatiers to back away: there is a mass. A growing, dark, delicious mass of chocolate that seems to be overflowing from its receptacles, creating a bubbling, gurgling mass, growing to an impossible size considering the original amount of chocolate present. One of them lets out a gasp as a massive tentacle of chocolate whips about and over the counter, sending several chairs crashing. By this point, the patrons inside are running out in a stream of screams and panic.

"I'm... I'm not doing this!" he says, "But it /feels/ like I am, like something is tapping into-" And then he looks down at the thing clinging to his hoodie, and frowns. "...I'm going to try something!"

And he begins chanting: "GetOffMeGetOffMe-"

But the spell doesn't get a chance to take off, as the mass surges over the counter and towards Billy, wrapping a chocolatey tentacle around his face and over his mouth, cutting the spell short. In a few seconds, he, too, is being wrapped by the mass, and flailing. For a moment he looks like he is considering blasting the creature with his thunder magic, for which he requires no verbal component- but his eyes land on the chocolatiers, huddled on the floor behind the counter, also being targeted by the mass. His hand lowers, realizing he can't risk hurting them, and at that moment his wrist is bound as well. Billy Kaplan is pulled towards the mass, letting out a muffled cry of alarm.
5rAll across the small shop, the dark chocolate mass expands, pushing up against walls, engulfing tables and chairs.

And moving towards Andi.

Andi Benton has posed:
There's one good thing about this. Eyes inside the place are dwindling rapidly as customers flee.

"Is that..? No, it can't be," Andi says, attention darting swiftly from Billy and whatever's going on with that thing at his elbow, over to the mass of..chocolate taking shape.

<<Mania>> Oh, but it is, Andi. It /is/.
<<Andi>> I can tell where you're going with this. Don't do it.

She blurts, "Hey, I don't know how any of this magic stuff works, but you need to..do something about it, like, now!" But, what? When he tries to chant, and the chocolatey thing cuts him off and wraps around him, she's left to shake her head. "This is insane."

"This is heaven," comes that /other/ voice, and with a moment to take advantage of, Mania comes out to play, Andi 'replaced' by the form Billy's seen before. Black and white. Alien pools of white for eyes. That toothy mouth. The tongue. A creepy, hungry smile. Aggressive stance.

"We will rescue you, Billy. And we will eat it all!" Talon-like fingers, reshaped to cut even better, lash out at a few of the chocolate tendrils trying to accost him, and a handful is grabbed and shoved into that maw of Mania's.

Then, the attention diverts toward the growing mass. "You challenge us?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
"What the-"
"-fuck?"

The chocolatiers, husband and wife, stare at the scene unfolding before them. As if hearing Mania's challenge, the mass surges forth like a tsunami of gooey darkness as Billy's restraints are slashed at. For a moment, the young wizard seems about to burst free, but then is shoved back against a corner by a massive surge of chocolate as the central body of the creature... thing... (what is it?) advances towards Mania, as if it had become outraged at her /eating/ it.

The nerve!

Andi Benton has posed:
<<Mania>> Andi, we must conquer it!
<<Andi>> We are /not/ getting fat from eating a chocolate..monster!
<<Mania>> You do not need to worry about that.

A leap toward the central mass follows, as Mania calls out, "You will lose, and we will eat you!" It's better than Venom and his brains, crazy as this is. The fingers elongate into knife-like extensions beyond simple claws, and she will shortly find out just what kind of stuff the thing is really made of. Without hesitation, a chomp is taken at part of its form. It can't really be described as anything like an arm or a shoulder.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
And what Mania bites into is- well, chocolate. Nothing but chocolate. Of the highest quality- artisanal, single-bean origin. It's the most delicious danger Andi might have ever been in. It does react to her attack by, predictably (to anyone who has ever played an RPG), splitting in half. One side of the mass moves left, and the other, right- one dragging Billy with it, and the other one latching around the chocolatiers and pulling them in that direction as well.

Whatever is animating this thing is not entirely stupid, since it is clearly trying to divide Mania's attention.

Andi Benton has posed:
This may be a challenge. Mania however, is up to it. Oh, is she ever. "You think you are smart? You are chocolate, and you are tasty! We are smarter!"

That tongue slurps all around the chunk that was taken, and there is a moment where the creature shudders in the immediate aftermath of the chocolate-caused surge of adrenaline.

Exactly what the creature would do with whoever it captures, who can say? Stuff their faces to the point of suffocation or combustion? Can't have that.

First things first. Free Billy! That toothy, grinning visage shows up closer to him. "Need a little help? Good thing we are here." Said tongue drags along some of that chocolate before biting into it again, and she easily starts to separate more of it from him. "You should finish that spell, or whatever you were saying. But not too fast. We are still fighting it." And eating it.

She turns her attention on the poor employees, and ducks an attempt to get at her by the choco-beastie. Good thing the symbiote has a sort of danger sense about it.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
Billy, freed from the sweet grasp of the monster, sputters and coughs, and wipes away the traces of molten chocolate from across his face. "I may be chocolated-out for the rest of the season!"

As the Symbiote turns its attention to the endangered couple, the chocolate beast redoubles its attempts to trap Mania. It goes about as well as one would imagine, when dealing with a symbiote, and the chocolate mass loses more of itself than it gains any tentacle-hold on Mania. Within a few moments, it has lost a considerable amount of mass, and what remains of it begins to regroup in a corner of the store, clearly thinking it needs its full body to face the Symbiote.

But when Mania advances, it seems to lose its heart and splits into ten considerably smaller pieces, each one dashing towards the door to the outside world via different routes.

"Keep it from escaping!" Billy shouts, and he concentrates, beginning to chant a spell:

"BeNormalChocolateBeNormalChocolateBeNormalChocolate-"



And that's when the gem at his elbow blasts him with a shock, "OW!" he turns to look at it, eyes glowing blue, and with one annoyed gesture he zaps it right off with a bolt of lightning. The gem shatters, and most of his hoodie is hopelessly singed, but he seems immune to his own lightning- which is good. He turns quickly and repeats the spell-

And an arc of magical light emerges from him and begins to zip towards the nearest retreating lump of chocolate. Upon touching it, it becomes completely inert, and it heads towards the next one. Mania will need to stop them from reaching the door before the spell can catch them all, though.

Andi Benton has posed:
"You are welcome." While Billy gets more freed up, is Mania /letting/ the chocolate monster wrap around her and draw her closer? Yes. Yes, she is. "We said you are not smart. You do not have to keep proving it. You are making it easier for us to do this."

*CHOMP*

"MmmmMMmmMMmmmm."

It really isn't going well for the thing. For Mania, it's fine dining indeed, little thought given to the aftermath. It's almost a big game to the symbiote. How much can she catch? How much can she eat?

With them shrinking down and splitting off further, it's time for a different trick: globs of webbing spreading out toward the door, creating a sticky, impassable barrier that at least grants them a bit more time.

One is snatched up and gobbled in one bite, the white eyes giving away the pleasure of the act.

Only as the gem gives him another jolt and he reacts to it by wrecking the thing does she stop to pay more attention to what's happening, allowing her to witness the light darting from one remaining piece of chocolate to another.

A tendril is sent out to nudge at the closest one, and upon seeing it fail to react, she shrugs and draws it back for consumption.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
'Twas a week before Christmas
And all through the shop
There were remnants of chocolate
That Mania did chop.
It was no longer wriggling
No more the attack
Of delicious, comingling
dark chocolate tack.

"Well... that was... a thing." Billy glances at his elbow. Then he glances at the shop. Chocolate is smeared on the floor. The walls. The furniture. The ceiling. He purses his lips and realizes he can't just leave these poor people to this-

"BeSpotlessAndCleanBeSpotlessAndCleanBeSpotlessAndClean-"

In the blink of an eye, the place is clean as a whistle. Perhaps, even cleaner than before. The broken furniture is still broken, alas, since he did not specify that it should be repaired. Ooops. But it's still the cleanest, sparkliest they have ever been.

The chocolatiers are still gawking in shock, but unharmed.

Billy takes to his heels and reaches for Mania's elbow, and he calls "Thankyousomuchforeverythingwegottagobye!"

Andi Benton has posed:
The place..let's be honest. It looks like one of either two things could have happened in here. One of them is a chocolate explosion. The other is the sort of thing most would rather not think about. Fortunately, it smells really, really good.

Mania is almost shaking from excitement, or perhaps sugar overload. The eyes fluctuate in size, more than Billy's seen in his short time of knowing her, and she's just a little twitchy. This looks interesting. That looks even more interesting. Attention is all over the place.

<<Andi>> Maaann..all that chocolate..
<<Mania>> IT IS GREAT ANDI SO GREAT WE HAVE NEVER FELT THIS GOOD BEFORE ANDI WE COULD DIE RIGHT NOW AND WE WOULD BE FULFILLED AND--
<<Andi>> Just..be quiet. For a minute. Please.
<<Mania>> YES ANDI WE WILL BE QUIET BUT THAT WAS THE BEST FIGHT WE HAVE EVER HAD

Mania's hands return to normal and she reaches up to place both of them over the top of her head while Billy handles cleanup duties. "Unnhhh.." she groans, not too difficult to usher along by him as he makes with the getting out of here.

"We should do this again sometime!" comes the voice that is more Mania, less Andi.