Title: Food For Thought
Rating: K+
Characters: Jane/Lisbon
Disclaimer: Still not mine. Bruno Heller is the lucky guy who owns them.
Notes: Written for Ebony10 who requested some fluff and Penelope Louise who has kindly gone back and reviewed every single chapter. PhoenixWytch's prompts 118: cake

Food For Thought

It never took him long to wake up from his snatches of sleep. Bleary eyed, he glanced around the bullpen. Obviously the cleaners had been in and tidied around him. He appreciated it; the fact that they treated him like a piece of the furniture now and knew not to disturb him on the rare occasions when he actually slept rather than simply pretended. The main lights were dimmed and the parquet floor shining, yet it was still brighter than it usually would be on a dark Thursday evening.

Ah. That'd be why. He couldn't but let a grin erupt across his face. Jane wasn't surprised to see she was still in. Teresa Lisbon, after all, was the senior agent and often worked longer hours than the others just to keep on top of her paperwork. A slave to her work, that one was. He didn't have to look to know it was late, even for her to still be there. He opened the door to her office without knocking. Jane didn't believe in personal boundaries, much to Lisbon's chagrin and delighted in her reaction as she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Jane! I thought you were still sleeping."

"Meh, sleep's overrated," he replied. "I thought you'd be home by now."

She took a few seconds to stare pointedly at him before grabbing a piece of cake that she had on a plate beside her. Lisbon luxuriated in the fluffy sponge and chewed it thoughtfully. Jane watched her every move; a few months ago, that would have made her incredibly uncomfortable, but having now grown used to Jane's quirks, it doesn't bother her so much. After she had placed the scrap of a snack back down, Jane snatched the plate back from her.

"Lisbon, have you eaten dinner?"

"No. Have you?"

"No," he replied. "We should do something about that."

Jane grabbed her by the wrist in attempt to pull her to her feet, yet she held firm onto the edge of the desk. The glint of steel flashed in her eyes as it typically did whenever they disagreed about something.

"Come on. Paperwork can wait. Please?"

"I wouldn't have to be doing said paperwork if you didn't break the rules quite so often," she growled.

"Lisbon, you hurt me." Jane pulled a face and let go of her wrist. Lisbon bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing at him. "My methods may not be quite as orthodox as yours but we get results. Right? Right?"

"I'll grant you that, but I don't get thumped as often as you do."

"You get shot at more."

"I'd say it's a close run race on that front."

"Really?"

Lisbon nodded, smirking.

"I'm not so sure. However, if you let me take you out to dinner, I might just be persuaded otherwise."

"Jane…"

"Please. You'll waste away otherwise, woman. And there's not much of you to start off with."

"I had cake."

"Not good enough."

She slammed her hands on her desk and stood up. The hour of the day, too much paperwork and not enough food was beginning to wear her resolve thin. After all, she could always come in even earlier in the morning to make sure she adhered to Minelli's rather strict deadline for paperwork on cases they had recently closed.

"Fine."

Jane grinned triumphantly and grabbed her by the hand again. She barely had time to grab her cell phone and bag before he had dragged her out of her office. Jane really was more like a hyperactive child at times. But it was sweet, really. He didn't have to be quite so concerned about co-workers as he was. At least it gave him something to think about which doesn't revolve around Red John, vengeance and blood thirst, though…

***

They had a Chinese takeout, which Jane insisted upon paying for. Lisbon didn't much fancy the idea of a restaurant. She'd been working for far too long that day to want to be somewhere so noisy. Jane carried their meal in the supplied plastic bag and they soon found a park bench to nestle themselves on. Lisbon picked at her chow mein as Jane watched her every move. He wasn't that hungry and watching the way she wrestled with the noodles with her chopsticks was far more entertaining than eating himself.

"Are you actually going to eat, or just watch me?"

"Watching you sounds good."

Lisbon shrugged and soon finished her meal. Even after the rubbish had been disposed of, they remained sitting on the bench, not talking, just stargazing. Jane noticed as she shivered slightly and took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her small form. Looking at the stars, he briefly wondered if Van Pelt's beliefs really did have any grounding. And if they did, what would his wife think? He could only hope that she would approve of the feisty little lady he had an arm wrapped around now.

end

A/N: Fluffy enough? Let me know.