Javert drank tea. In the course of a single day, he drank an average of one pot; on the rare day he was sick he could drink as many as three and a half. He wasn't partial to any kind, nor did he care whether it was hot or cold. It just had to be tea. He wasn't sure exactly when he had picked up the habit, or why.
Ironically enough, that was what he was thinking about as he walked to the café that night. There was no way he could make a decent cup in that pathetically small room he was renting, so he would be forced out into public, all for the sake of his single self-indulgent habit that he couldn't ever remember developing. He walked quickly, hands stuffed in his pockets, head down. He was thinking so intently on the absurdity of his errand that he didn't even see the approaching figure until they had already collided.
The ground was slick with snow and ice, causing a tangle of coats and packages as the men ran into each other. Muttering under his breath, Javert worked to extricate himself until the other man spoke.
"Inspector?"
Javert looked up into an all too familiar face. "Valjean," he replied. The two stared at each other for a moment, when suddenly Valjean began to laugh. "All these year of running only to be undone by a pot of tea," he chortled. Startled, Javert looked at Valjean's hand. There he held a box of tea leaves. They both looked at each other again, ad Javert too began to laugh, something he had not done in years. The absolute absurdity of it all was too much to bear.
The arch rivals sat in the snow, calming from their hysterics for a good twenty minutes before they were both composed enough to speak. "Well Valjean," said Javert, wiping tears from his eyes, "I suppose you know what this means."
"Yes indeed," replied Valjean as he got up. "It means that you need to come over for tea."
The Inspector spent a long moment thinking before he took the hand that was offered him. "Come tomorrow morning, this doesn't change anything, Valjean," he warned, but his tone was light. "I wouldn't expect anything less," came the reply.
Javert always knew there was a reason he drank tea.