1. Yes, a delay before it goes to the idle, and ideally, a delay between idle animation repeating (so the blinking example won't just keep blinking endlessly. A pause when the idle animation ends and begins again is really what I'm hoping for).
2. It does happen even without the Choice menu popping up. I think 2.1 would look the best, esp if someone has a more complicated animation, but I wouldn't mind 2.2 if that's easier (2.2 is what I've experienced with other animation plugins as well).