Written for the 2017 NCIS Holiday Holidays Advent Challenge over at ncis-discuss.
Tony DiNozzo had a secret pleasure that he tried very carefully to keep hidden, never letting on about the enjoyment that he got from drinking a good cup of hot chocolate.
Tony liked coffee, all sorts of coffees, from espressos to his fancy lattes, but in winter his favourite drink of all was hot chocolate.
Some hot chocolates were better than others, and some places made terrible hot chocolates. The coffee place that the team frequented did a not bad hot chocolate, and after a long spell at a crime scene in the cold it was just the thing to warm him up.
His favourite hot chocolate though was proper hot chocolate. Hot chocolate made at home on the stove in a pan. Hot chocolate made from his favourite chocolate, melted and combined with hot milk and made just right.
That was his favourite type of hot chocolate, and he always felt that it tasted better because of the effort that had gone into making it. It reminded him of what his father's house keeper had told him when she taught him to make hot chocolate for the first time, 'Hot chocolate warms you up because it is made with love.'
Walking back in to the bull pen Tony placed a tray of cups on his desk and began to take off his jacket. "Coffee."
He watched the rest of the team grab their cups, having already snagged his from the carry tray he sat behind his desk and smiled as he took the first drink of the warming liquid.