#if it isn’t obvious ifs 2am and my brain has decided to Ramble

[luna-the-cretar]

I feel like Shepnax would be the kind of couple that it’s not entirely clear if they’re dating or not. Like, they don’t kiss or really hold hands or anything like that. But they cuddle and their tails will intertwine if possible. Occasionally Shepherd will press a light kiss on the top of Sarnax’s head while they’re cuddling, or Sarnax will inspect the wonders of Shepherd’s hair and horns (especially the hair. On more than one occasion, Sarnax will throw a dozen questions about Shepherd’s hair—“what is it made of? How does it grow? Why does it grow? Why is it this color? Why does your hair look different from the others?”—and Shepherd always answers them to the best of his ability, even if most of his answers are simply just “I dunno, ask the Professor ‘bout that.”).

Neither of them really use pet names either. Sarnax doesn’t understand the concept of pet names, and Step doesn’t really see the point in them (“why not just call ‘em by their name?”). At one point Sarnax learns about the concept of pet names (via not-so-subtly asking the others about them), and tries to use a couple for Shep, though Shep swiftly put a stop to it (the first time Sarnax called him “My Dear” Shepherd just about died. He can’t quite decide if he loved it or hated it).

They’re dating for over a year and a half before anyone else in the party finds out. It’s not like they were really hiding it, it’s just that nobody ever really asked. Clayton had asked Shepherd if he had any experience with past relationships—just trying to get to know his party members better—and Shepherd tells him that Sarnax was really the first person Shep has ever been with, and he’s just…trying to figure it out, y’know? Clayton is so shell-shocked to hear that his cleric and ranger are just…casually dating, and asks how long this has been going on. Shepherd says it’s been roughly a year and a half, and Clayton flips his shit. They’ve been dating for a year and a half, and he’s just now hearing about this!? What other secrets are his employees hiding from him!? (Don’t tell him what Victoria and Kana get up to in the middle of the night. It is not nearly as innocent and wholesome as Shepnax)

Sarnax is very interested in Shepherd’s scent. Like, to an abnormal degree. Shepherd found it kinda strange, at first, but now finds it quite endearing. Sarnax is outright obsessed with how Shepherd’s scent changes, based on the day’s activities and when he last bathed and what soaps he used (if any). Shepherd has found that Sarnax prefers it whenever he smells like sweat and dirt (which, coincidentally, is what he smells like most of the time anyway)—he assumes it’s because of some primal part in the lizardfolk’s brain. Though he doesn’t mind the way Shepherd smells when he’s freshly bathed, as long as he doesn’t use those fancy smelly soaps (Sarnax likes the smell of fire and bourbon that Shepherd somehow always smells like. Mix that with the natural musk of the forest, and he’s practically got the lizardfolk salivating). Shepherd has, on more than one occasion, walked in on Sarnax obsessively smelling his poncho before he’s gotten a chance to wash it. Coincidentally, those are also the days they spent the entire day traveling.

They are both very curious about each others anatomies. Not necessarily in a sexual way (though Shepherd was very confused about Sarnax’s cloaca, and Sarnax was very interested in the workings of mammalian genitalia), but like. Generally. Such as Sarnax’s obsession with Shepherd’s hair, or Shepherd being oddly curious about lizardfolk laying eggs, or Sarnax being cold blooded (not like it’s really an issue with Shepherd being warmer than most humanoids)