fandomtownies | T42 - Thursday 6am-6pm

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T42 - Thursday 6am-6pm

The tea shop smelled fabulously of chocolate when Hernando arrived. He blinked a little and then just smiled. The store had decided to do something else. So be it. The art on the walls was still sea themed but seemed to concentrate more on the animal and plant life under the waves.

The sign had reappeared and rattled impatiently. "Hello," Hernando said as he walked over to it, "I'm glad you are back."

The sign read:

SPECIALS
Hot Chocolate BOGO
Brandy Alexander Black Tea - Non-Alcoholic
Spiced Cacao Rooibos

January 31st: It's Hell Is Freezing Over Day so come in and celebrate National Hot Chocolate Day!

Hernando shook his head and laughed a little as he hung the sign. He gave it a small pat. "The weather should be better by the weekend."

He put the pastries out in their display and swept up after the quokka. Spent some time with Dave, nestled in his pet bed on the hearth. Then he turned the sign to 'Open'.

[Open! I'm in MN and at the moment it is -32C/-25F outside.]

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Who had two thumbs and was looking entirely casual as he wandered into the tea shop today?

...

Okay, maybe not entirely casual. Also possibly half-frozen. But he was looking thoughtfully at the specials board, so that probably helped a little, right?

Hernando looked up from his own mug of tea and his eyes widened. "Kanan, what are you doing out in this weather?" It wasn't all that cold but to the guy from Mexico, it might as well be tundra. "Can I get you a hot beverage? No, I am rephrasing that: I am getting you a hot beverage, which would you prefer?"

"This has nothing on some of the worlds I've been to," Kanan offered, smiling wryly. "But I'll take whichever you figure goes best with whatever fruit cupcake Rosalie sent along today, thanks."

... Hey, he was here, he might as well sugar up.

"Hot chocolate and a chocolate-covered cherry cupcake," Hernando said instantly. "Do you want cinnamon in your chocolate?"

It should be noted that this is not hot-water cocoa mix. It's Hernando; of course it is not a powdered mix. The drink is going to be more akin to cooked but not yet cooled pudding.

"... Yes," Kanan said, looking faintly intrigued. "Sure, I think I want cinnamon in my chocolate."

He paused a moment more, and then ventured, "Is that a thing people usually do?"

Hernando nodded and added a dusting of cinnamon powder to the chocolate shavings in a small saucepan with a tiny bit of cream. Just enough to keep the chocolate from seizing up while it melted.

He glanced up at Kanan, "Cinnamon in chocolate? Yes. Where I am from, it is very common. There are several drinks made with cinnamon. If I were not aware that you do not enjoy the heat of spices I would also have offered you chili in your chocolate as well. It is especially good on a day like today."

Kanan nodded a little; that was promising.

"It's funny you mention that," he noted. "I was talking about spicy chocolate with a friend just the other day, actually. That's a.... Mexican thing? That's where you're from, right?"

Smooth.

... Actually, surprisingly smooth, for Kanan.

"I am from Mexico, yes, and there is such a thing as 'Mexican chocolate' but there is no one true blend of spices used for it," Hernando said calmly. "Mostly when people say this they mean the Mayan habit of mixing chocolate with chili but it can be anything. Chocolate with chili, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, citrus peel, vanilla.. There are many blends. The Mayans did not drink chocolate the way we do today. Theirs was a very bitter and spicy brew."

Unlike the one he was making. He added a mix of cream and milk and began whisking the whole and adding spoonfuls of chocolate shavings while he did. When they had begun to blend in, he added a few drops of vanilla and a generous portion of sugar. Continued to mix.

Bitter and spicy kind of sounded like the winning combination, honestly. Kanan took that and kind of filed it away for a minute, watching Hernando work.

"So, not the sort of thing people generally associate with chocolates for..." He snapped his fingers a couple of times as though trying to place the name of the holiday. "Valentine's? That one?"

Did Kanan think he was fooling anyone? Truly?

Hernando arched an eyebrow. "Would you like to try some? You will not like it but I can make you come true xocolatl if you'd like to."

He finished with the cocoa and deftly poured it into a large mug. He added some small marshmallows because cocoa without was a crime. A cupcake was plated and both were handed across the counter to Kanan.

"They might think of 'Mexican Chocolate' truffles," Hernando mused, "Something decadent, sweet and spicy at the same time. Most people would not be thinking of xocolatl. It is more like a very bitter coffee. The cocoa needs to be processed with sugar before it is palatable to most people."

"Most people," Kanan replied, smiling wryly. And then blew out a breath. Right, here he was supposed to lead in with small talk about Valentine's plans, and instead he was just awkwardly dancing around chocolate. "I bet Hera would love it."

A pause.

"I bet Hera would love both." And then he reached to pick up the dishes that were handed to him, looking faintly sheepish. "Which is kind of why I'm here."

Yes, he had kind of thought that's the direction this might be going. Hernando regarded him for a moment. "Your mouth is going to, as you say, cry," he warned him, "but give me a moment. I have some cacao beans at home as well as a selection of dried chilis."

He turned and headed toward the Supply Room door.

Kanan opened his mouth for a moment to say something, but Hernando was already headed for the door, so he kind of paused, shrugged, and filled that mouth with cupcake, instead.

... He could wait. Take a seat and enjoy his chocolate. Try not to feel too ridiculous, here.

"Hey, Dave."

Yup. Just waitin' for Hernando. Painfully aware of how weird this whole situation was.

Dave hopped out of his pet bed and promptly hopped right up into Kanan's lap. They had a thing going, here. It was tradition. He nudged the free hand. Scritches, please.

Kanan shrugged, smiled crookedly, and reached down to scratch the quokka while they waited.

"Ever have one of those great ideas that makes you wonder more and more if you've lost your mind the longer you pursue it, buddy?"

No. Dave was completely unfamiliar with that feeling. He had this little thing called confidence. Lots and lots of it. Had to in order to boss the other quokka around.

"Yeah," Kanan sighed, settling in to scratch the quokka, "didn't figure you did, buddy."

Confidence? What was that?

Dave nudged him again. Possibly to console him.

Hernando returned with a pestle full of cracked cacao beans and crushed chili peppers. He picked out a pair of small pots and placed the mix in one and added water from the fully boiling dispenser.

A smile and a lift of his chin when he saw where Dave had moved to. "I see your friend is visiting you."

"I have a warm lap and fingers good for scratching with," Kanan reported. "It's not a bad arrangement."

He watched Hernando work for a moment.

"I, uh, I appreciate..." Kanan kind of waved vaguely toward the pot with his free hand. "... This. I got it in my head somehow that maybe I'd like to do something," special, "nice for Hera. For, you know... the upcoming holiday. And then sort of circled the drain for a while."

Hernando laughed and quickly shook his head. "I am not laughing at you. It is my first Valentine's Day for Sparkle and. Hmm. 'Overboard'? Overboard is a good word for it. It has turned from a single day to an entire weekend trip to another state."

Don't do what he was doing, Kanan. He was having anxiety on both ends. That it was too much and that it was yet not enough.

When the beverage had steeped for a few minutes, Hernando began pouring it at height from pot to pot until he'd agitated it enough that a heavy foam formed at the top. A small ceramic strainer was placed over a pair of mugs and he strained the resulting beverage into both of them. One had only a few mouthfuls. The rest went into the second mug.

Kanan.. wasn't going anywhere with Dave in his lap. Hernando poured a glass of milk and brought the lesser filled of the mugs and the milk to Kanan. "Your mouth is going to cry," he warned him, "When it does, drink the milk."

Considering Kanan and Hera were still nothing even resembling 'official,' he was already having much the same anxiety problem over chocolate.

"Thank you," he replied, nodding the tiniest bit as he reached for the mug and regarded its contents. Smelled it experimentally. "Well, it smells great," he offered. And then he took a mouthful. The bitterness hit him first, almost immediately, and he mostly just nodded his way through it. That would be good; a strong bitter flavor was generally a win all on its own. And then the spice started to kick in, and he closed his eyes and pulled in a slow breath, just kind of steeling himself against it for a moment.

... It was not an exceptionally long moment. It was followed by an exhale, and then Kanan was opening his eyes and reaching for the milk.

"Yeah," he said, maybe a little weakly after a good mouthful of it. "She'll love this."

"You can buy commercial powders of varying spice levels," Hernando noted, "but it is just as easy to blend your own mix and strain it."

He sipped his own and then eyed the mug, "This is a little more mild than I prefer. You are welcome. This was your thought for Hera? You can buy the mixes as well as the ingredients, even sometimes disks of xocolatl meant for melting into the drink. There is no reason someone who enjoyed the tastes could not simply eat it." A moment of consideration. "They might be harder to find up here."

"This... wasn't actually my thought for Hera," Kanan admitted. "I didn't know it could be a drink until you had mentioned it, but it would be a nice touch, I think."

To his credit, he managed to not flail around that one hand that wasn't currently pulling quokka duty.

"I was talking to Kitty about Valentine's, and mentioned that Hera likes things with bite to them, and she suggested Mexican chocolate. And... well, I don't know a large number of people who know much about that sort of thing, but I figured you were probably on that list..."

"Because I am a gastronome as well as Mexican?" Hernando teased him gently. "It is true; when it comes to good food I should be on that list."

He considered it, "Kitty probably means the American styled 'Mexican chocolates'. I could be doing her a disservice and perhaps she meant true Mexican but it is more likely she meant the sweeter chocolate and milder spices. If bitter and hot are good, you would want a darker chocolate. Minimum of 70% cocoa. You would possibly also want stronger spicing. More chili, maybe lime. Less so the cinnamon and orange. Maybe clove and allspice."

Hernando looked doubtful, "That.. will be very difficult to find this far north, Kanan."

Kanan looked faintly helpless at that.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of," he admitted. "Jack and I were talking about it earlier today and she mentioned... might as well just go to the source. That's what portals are for...?"

He fidgeted with the mug for a moment, and then took another mouthful. He was going to finish it, dammit.

He didn't even reach for the milk right away before adding, "We'd considered inviting Rosalie to make the trip down briefly, but I have no idea how used to Fandom's quirks she is. It isn't like a casual jaunt to another country for chocolate is really a thing most people can just do on this world."

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