LO   And This Is The Chocolate River

LO   It's New!!

You can smell it before you see it. The overwhelming scent of rich cocoa. Paola is nearly vibrating with excitement.

PA   *<( its incredible!

She sprints over to it, Louis following close behind.

LO   Oh Yeah Don't Get Too Close

She stares back, stunned.

PA   *<( youre

PA   *<( telling me to be careful?

PA   *<( you?

LO   I Know!! It Sucks!!

LO   It's Lemon Father's Orders

LO   We're Going To Install ''Guardrails'' And All That

PA   *<( rivers dont have guardrails!

LO   Yeah!! That's What I Told Him!!

LO   Something About Liability @_@

LO   He Always Thinks Someone's Gonna Get Hurt Somehow

PA   *<( ...

PA   *<( i suppose it is a bit dangerous

Reluctantly, she takes a few steps back. But her eyes remain longingly on the river.

PA   *<( well

PA   *<( even if you were stupid enough to drown yourself

PA   *<( thatd be one of the better ways to go

LO   Right??

LO   I Mean If You're Going To Choke In Something

PA   *<( yeah!

LO   And Then You'll Be Delicious Afterwards

PA   *<( yeah!

LO   And Nothing Will Be Wasted

PA   *<( yeah!

PA   *<( :)

PA   *<( wasted?

LO   You Know??

PA   *<( no?

LO   You Haven't Even Thought About It??

PA   *<( louis what the spell are you talking about?

LO   Okay Nevermind

LO   I Thought We Were On The Same Wavelength For A Second @_@

Louis shrugs and looks off. Paola gives you a look of concern.

PC   <( dont worry

PC   <( it wont happen

PA   *<( youre... talking about the river thing right?

PC   <( that too :)

PA   *<( :/

PA   *<( can you not be mysterious for one second?

As long as Paola has known Louis, you've known him for much longer. You'd rather not get into the kind of things he comes up with, especially now that he's secured such a nice place for himself. All you can do is hope that it never comes to that point.

So, you snap off of a pretzel branch and hand it to her.

PC   <( here :)

PA   *<( ...

PC   <( stick :)

PA   *<( ...

She takes it and glances around, thoughtful. Then, she stabs several gumdrop stones onto it, sits down, and dips it into the river. Louis looks like he's about to jump for joy.

LO   Yes!!

LO   Just Like That!!

LO   The Testers Never Did Anything Creative Or Yummy

PA   *<( well maybe they dont have an appreciation for a wholly edible world

LO   They Don't Get It Like We Do @u@

PA   *<( :)

PA   *<( yeah

The 'water' isn't so thick that she can't swirl it around. You can see chunks of solid chocolate as well as sprinkles and other accessories floating by.

You crouch down beside her. Underneath her hat, you can see her eyes darken with contemplation.

PA   *<( how... how did you pull it off?

PA   *<( all of this?

LO   Outsourced Labor Mostly

PA   *<( i meant selling the idea!

PA   *<( people dont... they dont take candy seriously

PA   *<( doing something on this big of a scale

PA   *<( it mustve taken a lot of convincing

LO   I Guess So

LO   But They Were Itching For Ideas!!

LO   Even Ideas That Are Goofy-Crazy Wacky-Nutty

LO   I Think That's Why They Took Me In

LO   I Was Just What They Were Looking For @u@

PA   *<( thats

You've learned to distinguish her real smile from one that's been carved on.

PA   *<( thats really nice of them

After sufficient coating, Paola carefully drops excess chocolate back into the river before biting off the end.

LO   How Is It??

PA   *<( not bad

PA   *<( i thought itd be richer

PA   *<( but i understand making it more milk than chocolate

PA   *<( and the pretzel has a nice crunch

Louis nods attentively.

LO   I Knew Bringing You Here Was A Great Idea

LO   I Wish I Could Make So Many More Things For People Like You

LO   Oh And Pat-Pat Of Course!!

LO   And Heidi!! Sweet Heidi!!

LO   But You Especially!!

Paola seems a bit taken aback.

PA   *<( really?

PA   *<( i didnt think you liked me all that much

LO   Why??

PA   *<( well

PA   *<( because you act like an unruly child most of the time

PA   *<( and you invade my personal space a lot

PA   *<( and you try to steal my treats when im not looking

LO   @.@

PC   <( i think those are your reasons not his

PA   *<( oh

She averts her eyes, looking a bit guilty.

PA   *<( maybe

PA   *<( i thought you wouldnt like me because of that

Louis' tongue lolls out as he tries to think very hard.

LO   I Dunno How All That Works But

LO   I Don't Invite A Lot Of People To The Factory!!

LO   If I Hated You Why Would I Bring You Here??

PA   *<( i dont know!

PA   *<( maybe you were just trying to show off

PA   *<( just like you do... whenever you talk about all this

PA   *<( i dont know

She brings her knees closer to her chest.

LO   @.@

PA   *<( :/

Louis falls on the grass (little blades of green licorice) in front of her, looking up from the ground.

LO   Y'know

LO   Since We're Not Officially Open For Tours

LO   I Had To Really Vouch For Whoever I'm Bringing Here

LO   And Whenever I Have To Sell Lemon Father On Something

LO   I Have To Use Everything I've Learned From Him

LO   And Everything I Know For Myself

LO   About People And How It All Works

Paola mumbles something under her breath.

LO   Did You Say Something??

PA   *<( i was casting a get-to-the-point spell

LO   Okay Okay

LO   What I'm Saying Is

LO   It Isn't Just Dumb Luck Stuff Has Worked Out For Me

LO   It's Also Just Plain Dumb Work

LO   And Big Dumb Conversations With Guys In Suits

LO   That's What Makes Playing Around With You Guys The Best Treat Ever!!

LO   Get It?? @u@

PA   *<( ...

PA   *<( yeah

PA   *<( maybe... ive been the childish one after all

He meets her pout with his usual goofy grin.

LO   Wow!! You Can Admit To Being Wrong??

LO   That's A First

PA   *<( hey! give me some credit!

LO   You're Already Giving Yourself Lots Usually @_@

PA   *<( youre getting a toothache hex