Lithos: Something Almost, But Not Quite Entirely Unlike Tea (part one)

"What are you doing?" asked Pythia, with a puzzled almost-frown. 

Lithos didn't turn and yell at her, but it was a near thing; he was very frustrated. He was also very aware that his sister had no way of knowing that. He took a deep breath and sat back, looking at the cup on the table in front of him. 

The cup was small, even by his standards. And the brownish liquid inside it was... not what he'd had in mind. "I'm trying to make tea," he said, and scowled at the cup, "and failing abjectly at it."

Pythia looked, if anything, even more puzzled. "You're trying to cast a spell to create a cup of tea?" 

"There are no spells to create a cup of tea!" Lithos snapped. "I was trying to stretch my Prestidigitation into producing one."

Pythia's expression softened slightly. "May I?" she asked. 

"You'll regret it," Lithos told her. "I did. I mean, it's not poison, it's just..."

Pythia reached down, took the tiny cup, raised it to her lips, and took a cautious sip. She set it back down immediately. "You're right," she said. "That is nothing like tea." She frowned. "Well, almost nothing like tea."

"I know," he said mournfully. "I don't think Prestidigitation can do it."

"Well," said Pythia, then paused. "Have you considered a more... alchemical approach?"

"...You mean with boiling water and tea leaves?" asked Lithos. "I mean yes, if all I wanted was a cup of tea, that would of course work perfectly well. But what I want is to be able to conjure a cup of tea. Or a whole tea service."

Pythia dipped her head, accepting that. "You're clever," she said. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."