December 2nd, 2018.
Prompt Two: Hot Chocolate
Note: Coffee Shop AU
It was a well-known fact that Itachi had a sweet tooth.
As a young man, he had tried so many different dishes and cooking styles over the years, but no matter where he travelled, or what food he had, he was always drawn to desserts and sweets.
This was one of the reasons why Itachi loved the holiday season.
It seemed every coffee shop now had four or five new how drinks available, most including a vast amount of syrup, cream and marshmallows.
In his first days of his next degree, Itachi had made it his new mission to find a coffee shop that had exactly what he needed.
He had just moved from his old university town to this new city and knew the importance of finding a good coffee shop.
It was on his third day of searching that Itachi found 'The Lilac Café'.
He was on his way home from his registration in the university and had decided to take a different route, eager to get to know the city while he still had time.
He was walking down a fairly small lane way when the wonderful scent of vanilla spread through the air.
He had seen the small coffee shop two doors down and followed the scent inside.
It was a relatively small shop, hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the city, soft lilac walls and cream furnishings decorating the interior.
It wasn't really Itachi's scene. He liked the fact that it was quiet and remote, but the bright colours seemed to be slightly off-putting.
But since he had already arrived, he decided to order a coffee anyway.
"W-what may I get you?" the barista had asked him, her long hair tied loosely behind her, falling below the tie of her purple apron.
"What would you recommend?" he asked, smiling as her cheeks coloured slightly.
"Umm, we have several teas, if you would like to try? Or coffee?"
"Do you have anything sweet?"
"Oh, we have our 'Seasonal Hot Chocolate'," She started, seeming to perk up, "it's made with a m-mixture of white and milk chocolate, some ginger and cinnamon and topped with fresh cream and marshmallows? We a-also have a selection of home-made cakes?"
"Would you recommend the hot-chocolate?"
"Of course!" She exclaimed, her smile widening, "It's one of my favourite drinks this season!"
He smiled in return.
"I'll take one cup of the hot chocolate then."
"Of course, I can bring it over to you!"
He sat down at one of the empty tables by the window, watching as the world outside steadily grew darker.
When the barista came to his table, he smiled up towards her warmly.
"Would you mind if I asked your name?" he asked, slowly wrapping his fingers around the handle of the large mug.
"M-my name is Hinata." She smiled and returned to the counter.
The hot chocolate itself was nothing special, but it was not bad in anyway.
Itachi took his time with his beverage, occasionally looking over to the indigo haired barista as she conversed with other customers or staff.
He paid his bill, thanked the young girl and left, enjoying how the taste of ginger seemed to remain lightly on his tongue.
He returned the next day and ordered the same, pleased that it was once again Hinata who was serving him.
He returned two days again after that and regularly once his semester had started.
He occasionally brought his friends who teased him for his frequenting of such a 'feminine' place. But he didn't care, so long as he got to have a few words with the young woman behind the counter.
If anyone ever asked why Itachi spent so much time in that tiny coffee shop, he would simply say it was the 'hot chocolate'.
Nobody needed to know the truth anyway.
Prompt list by astudyinfic on tumblr!
Next: Snow
