Why do I just take the offer instead of asking for more?

You call it being easy to work with, grateful for the chance, not one to make a fuss. Look at that again. You are afraid — of silence after you ask, of the offer being pulled, of being seen as greedy. None of that is about the number on the page. The offer they hand you is not a law of nature. Someone wrote it, knowing it would move. Treat it as fixed and final, and you have chosen comfort over your own interest — then dressed that choice up as humility. This is not about becoming someone who enjoys conflict. You don't have to want this. You only have to do one small, specific thing: say the number or the term out loud, once, and let whatever comes back, come back. That part is within your power. Guard it. The rest was never yours to control.