[Astarion did not waste time opening the pouch once he was back in his own room. The money? Oh he'd keep that, yes. That was his by rights, of course, even if it might be useless in this place. It was the principle of the thing.
The locket though, that earned all his attention. He opened it and found himself frowning at the picture. Gale's goddess. Gale's admittedly beautiful goddess. He wasn't sure why that stirred up such distaste in him -- wasn't he? wasn't he entirely certain why? -- but he of course had to try to pull the picture out. The message on the back earned a vaguely nauseated groan. Gross.
Gale would never see the coins again, but the next time he exited his current abode, he'd find the locket hanging from the doorknob. The portrait of Mystra was replaced, though quite deliberately upside down because Astarion was petty and had no problem showing it. More important, when Gale opened the locket, he'd find a small piece of parchment folded up. If he bothered to unfold it, he'd find in surprisingly elegant and unsurprisingly flowery script: 'You can do SO much better.']
So it's to be war, then.
The locket though, that earned all his attention. He opened it and found himself frowning at the picture. Gale's goddess. Gale's admittedly beautiful goddess. He wasn't sure why that stirred up such distaste in him -- wasn't he? wasn't he entirely certain why? -- but he of course had to try to pull the picture out. The message on the back earned a vaguely nauseated groan. Gross.
Gale would never see the coins again, but the next time he exited his current abode, he'd find the locket hanging from the doorknob. The portrait of Mystra was replaced, though quite deliberately upside down because Astarion was petty and had no problem showing it. More important, when Gale opened the locket, he'd find a small piece of parchment folded up. If he bothered to unfold it, he'd find in surprisingly elegant and unsurprisingly flowery script: 'You can do SO much better.']