Disclaimer: I own a cat…well two actually. Or rather they own me. Can you own a cat? With their attitudes it certainly seems like they own us doesn't it? I don't own these characters though. Sucks to be me.

A/N: Well, I did 'A Study in Pink' for the Honey 'Verse and I decided that it was probably time to do 'The Blind Banker' and then 'The Great Game'. Especially since 'The Great Game' plays quite a large part in the series and in the later stories of Honey 'Verse. So here you go: chapter the first of The Honey 'Verse Blind Banker.

Tea

They watched the elegant hand gently crumbled the tea leaves into the clay pot. The boiling water poured from a silver tea service. The flute played in the background giving the scene a surreal medieval feeling. They felt the transference of time and remained silent as the woman started to speak.

"The great artisans say the more the teapot is used," her lightly accented voice washed over them, pulling them deeper into her enchanted world. She placed the lid on the top of the pot as she spoke allowing the water to run over the edges, drenching the pot. "The more beautiful it becomes." She picked up another container full hot water. "The pot is seasoned by repeatedly pouring tea over the surface." She carefully poured the water over the full teapot. "The deposit left on the clay creates this beautiful patina over time." She picked the teapot up to show the hue of brown had become a bit brighter. "Some pots, the clay has been burnished by tea made over four hundred years ago." She ran a hand over the pot as a mother would her child's cheek. They watched entranced as she pour them each a cup of the tea. "To you this may be a drink. To me this is art and history." She told them softly as they sipped.

Her dark brown eyes smiled up at all of them. "I think the history makes the tea taste that much better, yes?"

One of the boys tittered a bit coming out of the trance her words and voice had put him in. "My mum's always tastes like a rusty fence post," he grinned. "Maybe I should get her to use grandmum's teapot."

She grinned widely at him even as his mother blushed and groaned. "It may be wise to do so, young sir," she agreed. "I thank you all for joining me today and I do hope you will return."

Soo Lin watched fondly as the group drifted away. She loved telling the stories of her homeland to the children that visited the museum. They always responded with such eagerness.

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It was finally time to pack up and go home for the evening. Though Soo Lin doubted she'd go back home. It was so boring at the flat. No one came to visit. She couldn't afford to have friends. Not yet.

She carefully placed the teapots into their lined case as the loudspeaker announced the ten minute warning to the patrons. She could feel Andy behind her and she wished she could answer the question he was going to ask the way they both wanted but she knew that she couldn't. Not yet. Soon maybe…but not yet.

"Four hundred years old and their letting you use it to make yourself a brew," Andy started.

She couldn't resist the small smile at his words. Yes, it was rather amusing when you looked at it like that. "Some things supposed to sit behind glass." She told him softly. "They're made to be touched, to be handled." She felt a bit of a hypocrite saying that. She wanted to be touched but she'd been forced to sit behind glass for nearly all of her life. She looked at him over her shoulder then and knew that he'd understood at least part of her unspoken message.

She sighed and turned back to the teapots before her. "These pots need attention." She picked one up and ran her fingers along it. "The clay is cracking."

He drew in a deep breath and leaned forward a bit. "Well, I can't see how a tiny splash of tea is going to help."

Men of the Western World were so oblivious at times. She'd help him out this once though as he'd been nothing but kind to her. "Sometimes you have to look hard at something to see its value." She set the pot down and picked up another to show him. "See? This one shines a little brighter."

He tore his eyes from her profile for a split second to look at the pot before it swung back. "I don't suppose…" he paused and seemed to be attempting to gather his courage. "Um, I mean, I don't suppose that you-you want to have a drink?" He winced at himself. "Not tea, obviously. Um, in a pub with me, tonight?" She turned back to the tea set.

She did her best to let him down as gently as she could. "You wouldn't like me all that much."

Andy frowned for a moment and leaned towards her again. "Couldn't I maybe decide that for myself?"

She swallowed the bitter tears. "I can't," she said quietly. "I'm sorry." She went back to packing up the tea things. "Please stop asking." She hated having to break his heart every day and she just couldn't go to the pub with him. Not yet. She really hoped that one day she could but it wasn't that day yet.

The box for the tea set slammed closed with a finality that he accepted for today anyway.

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The museum doors banged closed. The lights were turned off. Soo Lin stood deep inside the vaults carefully putting the tea set away. A door opened in the distance. She looked up. She had thought she was the only one left. "Is that security?" She called out. She wasn't afraid. The security guard would talk to her sometimes when she was there late. He was a nice old man.

There was no answer and she felt the first flutterings of fear. She took the few steps needed to the door of the vault and look around slowly. "Hello?" She saw no one. The cloth covering one of the statues flapped in a breeze that shouldn't be there.

Carefully, slowly, not altogether sure why she was doing this, she stepped to the statue and laid a hand on the cloth. Somehow knowing what she would find she pulled the cloth away anyway and stared in horror at the statue.