Yes, I can totally see your point; Charlie SO did deserve balloons and a pony, so the chocolate cake and the chocolate milk and the ice cream and the pie - all very, very necessary in this scene. : D

Well no WONDER the scenes in the basement were so vivid! I kept thinking, how can they manage day after day on coffee and energy bars? Well, they can, apparently, sadly. When needed. : (

And I totally understand now, about the Chinese restaurant....because if you took it that direction, where canon hinted at, then the story might have become about something else. So. : D