I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 32 - Can I Just Keep Re-rolling?

The group turned to see a person with antlers approaching them, tucking his hands inside the wide sleeves of his long robe.

"Speaking of clerics," Valerian muttered.

Evangeline spoke first, before Valerian could get them into more trouble. "We meant no harm, sir cleric. We were just admiring the statue," she said, holding up a placating hand.

Social Skill: Persuasion. Fail.

The cleric stopped a few steps from them, eying them both in turn. "What are you doing here?"

Evangeline's pulse revved up as she realized her attempt to persuade the cleric failed. She was pretty sure he didn't think she had lied or anything, because frankly she hadn't and that was a different sort of roll, but he wasn't going to simply let them walk off. "We're here to deliver a package for Harrowheart," Evangeline said, "We'll just be on our way."

Social Skill: Persuasion. Fail.

Dammit, she thought to herself as she saw the cleric's eyes narrow menacingly at her.

"Where did you come from?"

This time Sigismund stepped up and bowed cordially to her fellow cleric with her hands layered one on top of the other. If she had long sleeves like he did, it would have been a very elegant-looking bow. "We were traveling when we were attacked and taken by goblins. We only seek aid and nothing more," she said, in a calm, soft voice that didn't seem possible to come out of the usually gruff woman.

The cleric slid his eyes over to her and at her posture. "I see. You travel with a cleric," he said measuredly. At least, his eyes opened a tiny bit wider, while he twitched a long, thin mustache under his black nose. "Attacked by goblins you say?"

"Yes," Evangeline said, trying again. "We're just heading this way to deliver a package to Harrowheart as a favor for her help."

Social Skill: Persuasion. Fail.

The clerics eyes narrowed again. "And you vouch for this bunch of... eclectic people willingly?" He swept his piercing gaze over all of them landing finally on Hagor. "Even a druid?" He said the last as if it were a bad word.

Sigismund glanced herself at Hagor, unsure. "Well. We aren't exactly traveling willingly," she said. "Our collars..." but her words failed.

"So you cannot vouch for your companions after all!" the cleric declared. "Are you really even a cleric? Or are you just some failed acolyte who washed out and think she can just pull off a few formal moves to deceive innocence?"

Now the Sigismund face they all knew reasserted itself. "How dare you imply..."

Artmond stepped forward, cutting her off before something uncouth came out of her Sigismund's mouth. Bowing more formally himself, he straightened with his usual cheery grin. "I can assure you, good cleric, we are no ruffians," Artmond said, speaking High Speech with the fluidity of one born to it.

This set the cleric on the backfoot, or hoof maybe, again, but his eyes remained narrow.

At the same moment, Valerian stepped up beside Evangeline taking her hand and tucking it into the crook of his arm, as if he were a gentleman taking his lady's hand on a summer stroll. It was a possessive, protective gesture.

It clanged all of Evangeline's alarm bells as the cleric noted the move.

Valerian simply kept smiling his fake, practiced smile at him.

One bite and now he thinks he owns me? Evangeline couldn't help thinking. This was definitely not something that had ever happened in the game that she knew of, though granted there was a bunch of content she had never accessed before.

She almost pulled away when she realized her hand felt more constricted than just the pressure of Valerian's body. Wiggling her fingers, she realized that he had used the move to slip a glove over her hand. Then he crossed his other arm over, to grasp her other hand like besotted lover would, but instead slipped the other glove partially on, all while not taking his eyes off of the cleric who was addressing something that Artmond had said about his heritage.

"Never heard of him," the cleric declared, looking back quickly, clearly feeling like he missed something, but not at all entirely sure what.

Evangeline smiled as she dropped the half-gloved hand to her side and used her trouser leg to slide it the rest of the way on.

Just like that, Evangeline felt more... confident. Surer and savvy, she had better idea of what to say. "Here, how about this. Let me show you what I'm delivering for Harrowheart."

Swinging around the package, she undid the cloth flap to reveal the metal contraption inside. "She said to take it to White Oak."

Social Skill: Persuasion. Critical Success.

"Oh! Good heavens. Is that the piece to repair the caffee machine?" the cleric declared, his eyes snapping to wide open at the sight. "Oh, thank Kish. It's been days since I've had a cup and I've had a raging headache ever since."

He then dug into his sleeve and removed a token from some mysterious pocket inside, then presented it to Evangeline. "Here. Take this. Anyone else questions you, just flash this token at them and they will let you by. White Oak is in the scullery area, a tiny grove just past the left Great Tree. You'll smell it before you find it. Now please hurry. If he can get it fixed, I can still get some before the day gets too late on."

Nodding, Evangeline slung back her important prize and accepted the token with a shadow of the bow Sigismund had given.

They were able to walk past after that. After a few steps, Artmond was the first to break the tension with a chuckle. "Well, that was lucky. I thought for a second, we were in real trouble there."

"I'm sorry, everyone. I just kept failing my persuasion check," Evangeline said. "It just wouldn't come together for me."

She then looked down at the new gloves she suddenly had on and recognized them immediately.

To be continued...

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