Title: The Art of Tea

Author: mswyrr

Rating: K

Summary: Gen ficlet set during S1. Jane gives Rigsby a cold and a short lecture on tea.

Author's Notes: Wrote this back in '09 as a sort of sequel to "No Good Deed."

Rigsby coughed miserably, hunched over a coffee mug full of hot water and a tea bag. He reached out and dunked the bag rapidly. Hadn't it steeped yet?

As Rigsby took his first sip, Jane strolled in and started preparing himself a cup. As he worked, he noticed Rigsby's box on the counter. Picked it up.

He was always nosy like that.

"Echinacea," Jane read off the label, drawing the syllables out with a frown.

"What?" Rigsby asked hoarsely, feeling cornered. It was hard enough dealing with Jane when he was on his game. "You like tea," he sort of whined, and then felt his face heat.

"I do," Jane replied. "This, however," he shook the box at Rigsby, "isn't tea. Tea is made from the Camellia sinensis plant. It is an ancient and venerable beverage. What you're drinking is..." he made a show of searching for the precise words, "an herbal infusion with dubious medicinal properties."

Rigsby muttered into his cup.

"Hmm?" Jane leaned forward. "What was that?"

Rigsby sighed, fessed up. "I said: Van Pelt gave it to me."

"Oh." Jane leaned back, nodded and smiled a knowing smile. "The medicinal powers of a solicitous woman. I can't argue with that." The microwave beeped and he removed his tea cup. "Carry on," he said as he breezed out of the room.

Rigsby took another sip and reflected bitterly that the tea tasted even worse now and Jane was the one who'd given him the damn cold to begin with. As he steeped in his misery, Van Pelt walked by.

"Hey!" he called out on impulse. "Thanks." He smiled and raised the cup aloft quickly, spilling some on the table.

Catching sight of him, she smiled back as she went past. She looked sort of... all lit up when she smiled, Rigsby thought, and solicitous wandered through his brain. He got a napkin and sopped up the tea with a smile on his face.

-end-