Author's Note: This prompt was an interesting one. I wasn't quite sure what to do with "Hot Chocolate" in this time period at first, but upon further research I realized cocoa powder was actually invented in 1828, so it was plenty possible for them to enjoy it around the holidays just like we do now.

I went a little more abstract with this prompt than with some of the others, but I still like how it came out. Charthur is always sweet as honey to me (or chocolate, as it were.)

Hope you enjoy!

Day 5 Prompt: Hot Chocolate and Warm Hands

Lone Wolf Stead, Great Plains, WE – December 5, 1910

If Charles Smith had to pick a favorite season, it would probably be winter. He didn't particularly enjoy the frigid weather, but he enjoyed the calm and quiet it brought, the warmth and comfort that could only be properly appreciated after some time spent out in the cold and damp. The whole earth seemed to slow down in the winter, the animals sleeping soundly and the flowers and trees gone to seed and buried deep while they waited for the coming spring. It was the deep breath of stillness, the restful dark just before the coming brightness of dawn. Charles always found himself reflecting inward with that stillness after the first frosts came, his heart more open and his thoughts clearer; rejuvenated and at peace in a way he could never really begin to properly describe.

"Who do you think invented chocolate?"

Charles paused mid-sip, tearing his thoughts away from waxing poetic to look over at his husband – the extra time he got to spend together with Arthur in the winter months being the other reason he so adored the season. After a long, exhausting day of tending to their herd of thirty-some mares and foals, the two of them were relaxing together on the sofa, lounging in front of a crackling fire with two mugs of steaming hot cocoa clutched in their hands to warm the chill from their fingers.

Arthur, for his part, had been leaning against him while he sketched in his journal, the scratching of his pencil soft and relaxing in a way that made Charles a little sleepy – at least until this particular thought crossed his mind.

"Who invented it?" Charles repeated.

Arthur nodded, staring into his own mug with an expression of such genuine puzzlement on his face that Charles smiled at the sight.

"Yeah. I mean, the actual cocoa bean grows down in South America, right? But the tins in the shops always say 'Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder.' So is it actually something that the Dutch invented? Or is that just a name? I was just wonderin', that's all."

"Xocolatl."

Arthur blinked. "Uh... Bless you?"

Charles huffed in fond exasperation. "No, you silly fool, I was answering your question. The first chocolate was called Xocolatl."

"Shock-oh-lot-al," Arthur sounded out slowly. "Choc… o… Xocolatl? That how you say it?"

"Yes. It was a kind of drink the Aztecs and Mayans made out of ground cacao beans, 'round two or three thousand years ago. It was the first drink anyone ever made out of them, and the origin of the word 'chocolate' too. It wasn't the same sweet kind we have today, but you could probably say they were the ones who 'invented' it. 'Dutch Pressed' is just a name for how it's processed now."

"How in the hell do you even know all of that?" Arthur asked incredulously. "You some kind of chocolatier in your free time and you just never told me?"

Charles shrugged. "Something I heard in conversation once, and I guess it stuck."

"You're just full of secrets, ain't you, Mister Smith?" Arthur teased. "Hell, you probably know stuff ain't no feller ever even been asked yet."

"I don't know that I'd go that far."

"Well I would. Eleven years we've been together and I still learn somethin' new from you every day, feels like. You're probably the smartest person I know, Charlie. And I'm not just sayin' that because it's you."

Charles felt his cheeks and the tips of his ears growing hot, butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the compliment. "Thank you, Arthur. That really… means a lot."

"Sure," Arthur said, his drawl lengthening the word to sound like "Show-ah" in a way Charles had always adored. "You know, maybe we should get some of that 'Dutch Chocolate mix' for him and Hosea when they come visit." He smirked. "After all, it's got his name right on the tin – he'd probably be flattered!"

"Right," Charles scoffed. "Or he might empty it over your head for that terrible pun."

"Eh, you got a point." He took another sip of his drink.

When he set it down again, Charles could see he'd managed to get chocolate onto the tip of his nose in the process, and a sly grin crossed his lips. Leaning forward, he brought his face in close to Arthur's, pausing for a moment with their noses nearly brushing. Then, with a flick of his tongue, he licked the sweet residue off, moving in for a deep kiss before the other man could think of anything to say.

A short while later, their mugs lay forgotten on the floor, abandoned in search of even sweeter treats for the evening. And if Charles's hands weren't the only things getting warmed up anymore, well… he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Notes: My own personal headcanon, both for this 'verse and in general, is that in addition to his general common sense and survival knowledge, Charles secretly has a weirdly encyclopedic memory when he wants to, usually focused around things that interest him but a broad base of general trivia too. Most people don't get to see it, because he doesn't talk much to people he doesn't know well. But when he's around people he loves and trusts, I feel like he'd actually be a very random "shower-thoughts" kind of guy who knows a lot more than he says, just like Arthur. I feel this is one reason why they get on so well - they're both just along for the ride, wherever strange places that leads.

Next chapter we'll be going back to O'Creagh's Run for the prompt "Sitting By the Fire To Warm Up." Stay tuned!