There was a routine slowly established at camp, it happened each night before everyone went to bed. Gale would make dinner, most everyone would gather around the campfire, Astarion would pretend to eat a little bit to avoid questions, and then everyone would retire to their tents. Each tent was set up far enough from one another to allow for privacy.
And as people did their nightly activities, Moss would go around, taking the time to chat with each one of them before they too retired for the night.
If someone asked, Astarion would say he didn't care for the routine, that he didn't know why Moss felt the need to check on everyone every day.
The day Moss almost died to the spiders was different though. The elf's injuries were bad enough that Shadowheart had forced them to stay in bed even after she was done healing, citing that even with magic fixing most injuries, the body still needed time to recover. There had been no nightly visits, and the campsite had been unusually quiet.
"Good" Astarion said quietly to himself, his eyes fixed on Moss' tent on the other side of camp. The entrance was covered, so he couldn't see them at all. "Some peace for once."
And yet he couldn't help but feel something was missing.
Morning came with the sun slowly pushing the shadows away, Astarion's meditation was broken by the sunlight creeping over his face, blinding him momentarily as his eyes got used to the brightness. He took a moment to appreciate it though, how colorful the world was, how warm he felt, he didn't think he would ever take the sun for granted, not after two hundred years of being forced to hide from it
He closed his eyes, taking it in. He didn't want this to ever end.
A shadow fell over him, blocking the light. Astarion opened his eyes to find Moss standing over him with a small smile. They had their hands behind their back, he noticed, like a naive girl trying to act coy.
"Hello there!" Moss said cheerily "Wonderful morning, isn't it? With the sun, and the birds and everything else. Great for adventuring, I'd say. Am I interrupting you?"
"Were you waiting for me to 'wake up'? That's adorably considerate of you, darling but you didn't have to. We both know neither of us sleep." Astarion got up from his bedroll, standing close to Moss. He leaned forward, his voice going lower, sultry, in the practiced seductive tone he had used thousands of times before. "Though it is rather early, I'm dying with curiosity over what has brought your lovely self here at my tent. If you wanted to have me all for yourself all you had to do was ask."
"Oh really? Maybe I will ask sometime then" Moss fluttered their eyes for a moment before continuing "No. Something else. I have here a little gift. Just for you! If you want it, of course."
"Is that so?" Astarion's eyes flicked to Moss' hidden hands, shifting his head trying to see what they had, but Moss moved just enough to block him. "And what is it? A new dagger? Enchanted armor? A Way to control the tadpoles in our heads? Out with it."
"That's for me to know. I propose a trade. A deal, if you will, you give me something, I give you your gift, everybody wins."
"I wasn't aware gifts needed to be paid for. I don't even know if I want it."
"Well, that would be a shame. I do know you want it, I kept this only for you! But if you are sure, I suppose Gale might find it useful."
Moss made to turn around and leave, and damn all the gods, Astarion knew they were playing a game, knew they wanted him to protest and play along, but even knowing exactly what Moss was doing by bringing Gale into this, Astarion couldn't hold himself from calling them back.
"Wait." Astarion sighed, exasperated with himself for falling for such an obvious manipulation. Moss stopped on their tracks with an insufferable smile. "Fine. I'll give you something. But If I don't think it's worth it, I'm taking it back!"
"I can work with that. If you think it's not fair to you, we will trade back. But I get to keep the gift. It's a deal." There was something odd with the way Moss worded that. There was intent in their words, like a promise that hid something behind them. Astarion couldn't quite parse what those meanings might be.
"What do you want?" He asked instead.
"Something. What do you think is worth it? Take a gamble."
Was that a trick? Some kind of trap? What did Moss truly want out of this strange game? He did not believe Moss was being malicious, if anything, their face carried more of an air of mischief than anything. Astarion was also slowly figuring out the foolish persona Moss presented to the world was only true half of the time. They were cunning and they knew how to lie better than anyone Astarion met before. He couldn't help but feel wary about this game that he did not know the rules of.
"Well, there is a lot I can offer" Astarion lowered his head and gave Moss a sultry look, his words laced with honey and a hundred promises "Oh Darling, the things I could do to you."
"Oh I'm' sure. And I to you, if you are willing." Moss giggled and leaned forward ever so slightly, there was heat in their eyes, and for a second they stood slightly too close, one breath away from kissing Astarion. He could see clear as day that Moss wanted him. "But this is not the kind of deal I have in mind. Try again."
Astarion filed this interaction in his mind for later as a plan suddenly formed in his mind. What a wonderful thing to discover, that their wonderful stand in leader was willing to be seduced. Better than any loot, all Astarion had to do was to play his cards right and then he could secure his place in the party better than anyone else. String Moss along, make them fall for him, maybe fall hard enough that they'd be willing to help Astarion with anything, even with Cazador, perhaps.
It was the perfect plan.
Astarion kept his smile carefully neutral, hiding the eagerness this new plan had woken in him. He needed to play along and play right.
"A trade you say." He hummed to himself as he considered what he had on him. Other than his weapons, armor and a few magical arrows Moss themself had given him, he didn't have much of value.
"Something you think is worth what I have."
"Oh! I know. How about this precious thing I found." He pulled out a ring. It was golden with a purple amethyst encrusted. It had the faint shimmer of magic to it, enough that it might fool someone who didn't know much about the arcane. It was a useless thing that glowed bright and colorful, enough to blind people for a few seconds, but didn't do much else.
"Beautiful ring. What's special about it?"
"It's magical." Did he have to say more? Moss had done more for less. If anything, they could sell it for more than it was worth to the first trader they found next.
"You can do better than that. Convince me." Moss scoffed. Of course they were being difficult on purpose.
"Well, it's made of gold and it's oh, so useful. Well, not really in the practical sense, but selling it would make it useful. Oh! And doesn't Gale eat magical items or something? You won't have to give him the gloves you are wearing next time he's hungry if you have this ring instead."
"You saw that." There was a hint of embarrassment in their voice that they tried to hide with a laugh. "It was the only thing I had. I couldn't let a man blow up."
"Arguably, you could. It's just Gale."
"No no, I couldn't. There's space for only one person who blows up unexpectedly in this camp and I already took the spot."
"Well, shame. It would have been fun to see. But do you want the ring or not?"
"I do! It's perfect, wonderful doing business with you." Moss quickly snatched the ring from Astarion's hand before they finally presented what they had been hiding behind their back. It was the necromancy book, as ugly and corrupted as before and Astarion gasped softly as he grabbed it.
"You're giving this to me?" He could hardly believe it. He expected this game to end with him getting something silly and useless at best. Not this.
"You wanted it, didn't you? I found how to open it."
The book now had a large, round amethyst shoved inside its mouth, and when Astarion tried to pry it open, it did so with ease, revealing the glyphs and glowing writing inside, whispering promises of power inside his mind. The Necromancy of Thay hungered to share its knowledge, and Astarion hungered to learn. The world narrowed around him, his eyes immediately drawn to the words scrawled on the pages as the corrupted magic within drew him in.
Astarion snapped the book shut, blinking away the afterimages left in his eyes and he realized he hadn't answered Moss.
"I did. Thank you" Even he was surprised by how sincere he sounded. "I thought you would want to keep it. It's powerful magic."
"You wanted it more. I thought it'd be fun for us to have a little trade."
"A little trade? I gave you a useless trinket for the secrets of necromancy. You can't tell me it was a good trade for you."
"I think it was fair. The only other thing I have for Gale is my staff and I didn't want to give that away. The man eats magic like it's his last meal, I have never seen a more expensive condition."
"I was going to give you the ring regardless, you know?" Astarion scoffed. This was the most ridiculous trade he had seen, but it wasn't because Moss was an idiot, not about this, bartering was the skill they excelled the most at. Astarion couldn't figure out what Moss had accomplished here. It had to be something, they were too happy about the deal. "I had no use for it other than let you sell it."
"Well, what's the fun of giving things away for nothing? Nothing is given, everything can be traded. It's how the world works. But I get to decide what I think it's fair. And I say our trade was fair."
The words struck him as important. It took a moment but Astarion sort of understood the wrapped logic. Moss always intended for Astarion to have the book, didn't they? But they didn't want to simply give it away, they needed an excuse. Just like when they decided to help the people on the grove, there had to be a reason for it, a way to twist it so it was to their advantage and not simply from the goodness of their heart, and yet they always choose to help anyway, it didn't matter if the reason was weak or the reward not worth it, it only mattered that Moss could say they got something out of it.
"You're one big fraud." Astarion scoffed, hugging the book to himself. "But I'm thankful for your gift nonetheless."
"Thank you. You say the nicest things. Have fun. Don't let it consume you too much." With one last jolly laugh, Moss walked away, a spring on their step as they moved on to Gale's tent.
A/N: hey! leave a comment telling me how you like it, please? I like to hear from the readers.
