Ren Si (Black Tortoise)/Side Tale 3

===The Promise===
Characters involved: 
Dialogue
Graywater. The Bounty Hunters Guild.
 Bounty Hunter A: Hey? Can you believe he's locked himself away in that room for so long? How long is he going to stay there?
 Bounty Hunter B: Do you think he's... angry? Angry at us?
: Angry? Why would Ren Si be angry?
 Bounty Hunter A: Sir... Sir! 
: What are you doing lounging around Ren Si's door?
 Bounty Hunter A: He hasn't come out all day, sir, and he asked us not to bother him.
 Bounty Hunter A: I'm guessing it's 'cos he lost that bet with you last night. Maybe he's embarassed? and that's why he doesn't want to come out.
: Embarassed?
Triki glances at the door. It's firmly locked. He thinks back to the events of the night before and the humiliating "punishment" Ren Si had to endure.
: You win. I lost...
: Hah! I'm a hard man to beat in a battle of wits.
Ren Si sighs. He picks up the flower vase on Triki's table and walks out into the main hall of the Bounty Hunters' Guild.
: You win some, you lose some...
Completely ignoring the confusd stares of the onlookers, Ren Si lifts the vase onto his head.
People look on in bewilderment, shocked to see the highly respected "number two" in Graywater standing there with a giant flower vase on his head. Many are unsure of whether to stay or go.
Ren Si stands in the middle of the foyer for well over half an hour when one of the junior staff finally works up the courage to ask him what's going on.
 Bounty Hunter A: Hey boss, what are you up to?
 Bounty Hunter B: Eh... You must be up to something...
: Your boss and I had a friendly bet over which group, the Union or Shadow Decree, would clean out the new Miracle first.
: He lost, and so his penalty is one hour under that flower vase.
Triki slides up to Ren Si with a cheeky smile.
: It's been a while. How's your neck doing? Tired?
: I'm fine...
Ren Si wants to move his neck so badly he almost can't control it. But her doesn't want the vase to fall and shatter, so he keeps his neck stiffened.
Unfortunately his "mircromovements" upset the delicate balance of the vase atop his head...
: !!!
Ren Si twists his body in a last ditch, vain attempt to steady the vase.
Stap -
: Uh-oh!
: Yikes. The vase is in pieces. What a shame to see your performance end like this...
: You don't think Ren Si would be upset over a trivial thing like that, do you? I don't think so. He's never given a stuff what anyone else thinks.
: Ren Si, Ren Si!
Triki knocks on Ren Si's door. A moment passes and then it slowly opens.
: Triki?
: What are you doing staying in your office all day?
: Fixing the vase.
: Fixing... the vase?
: Yeah. The one I broke yesterday.
: We agreed that if I lost I'd stand under the vase for an hour. It broke after half an hour.
: So... you intend to fix it in order to make up the remaining half an hour?
: Right.
: I... I don't think that's quite necessary. You were already there for quite a while in front of everyone...
: No. A promise is a promise. I said an hour so I'll give you an hour. It's a slippery slope if I don't stick to my word.
: ...
Triki looks at Ren Si, his smile somewhere between bitterweet sympathy and constemation. He doesn't say anything for some time.
: We can make an exception... Oh, forget it. You do you.
: But you know, Ren Si, you can afford to be a little bit floxible in life.
: Ren Si, why don't you do it with another vase? There's no point spending the whole afternoon putting all these pieces back together, is there?
Ren Si is silent for a while. He looks at Triki earnestly.
: I'm pretty flexible. It was you who taught me not to suffer in silence. I still remember.
: That's why I checked out the vases ahead of time. This one is definitely the easiest to carry.
: If it's another one, I'll be making things harder for myself.