#other than maybe Shep or Sarnax

[luna-the-cretar]

Clayton, seeing the corpse covered in gold:

[foraging-kitten]

Sass me at yer own risk Darlin’ (the beginning of a Shepnax fanfic)

This is the very start of the first shepnax fic im writing!! not much to it yet but wanted to share anyways

mild location spoilers?

(Set in Tomb of Sorrows, very loosely but when Sarnax is acting all sour about using his spells)

The party had been venturing down the dim tunnel for hours at this point. Despite not running into any danger so far, everyone was getting increasingly on edge. The shallow water they’d been forced to trudge through was cold and had by now fully soaked through their shoes. The silence was heavy in the musty air, and the already narrow walls felt like they were closing in. Suffice to say, no-one was in a particularly good mood.

Shepherd and Sarnax were leading the charge, with the tiefling taking the front, arcane pistol firmly in hand, and the lizard dutifully following to light the way. Given the near silence of the group, the two had exchanged few words since entering the tunnel. Neither wanted to draw the groups attention, especially toward any less than professional conversations, but Sarnax was starting to get frustrated with this and it was seeping, ever so subtly, into his behavior. He was keeping it generally to himself, not wanting to explain his silly aggravation at not enough attention. Although, the frequent huffs and splashing steps did not unnoticed by the cowboys keen senses, he decided there was little to do about it now and he’d have to address this attitude later.

———

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, the group began trying to solve the apparent puzzle to get hopefully into the catacombs. Now that the group was talking, Sarnax’s sass was becoming more apparent. The lizard was very particular about what he thought would be the solution, and seemed to almost glower at the Professor for not immediately doing as he suggested. He stomped over, ignoring the others, and quickly pulled the chain on the wall.

“Gherix’s light guides me to open our path,” and the lizards razor sharp teeth glinted as his mouth widened slightly into a smug grin, clearly pleased with himself. Shepherd cocked his eyebrow at the, blatant to him, display, though the rest of the party didn’t seem to notice. Shepherd hadn’t expected the lizardfolk to have such an attitude, especially in front of the whole expedition like this. To be fair, the cleric had been pulling more than his fair share so maybe Shep could cut him a little slack.

But where’s the fun in that?

As the group made their way back up the stairs, Shepherd came behind the lizard, leaned close to his ear, and whispered low, “watch it, darlin.” His tail coming up to snap at Sarnaxs’ ass, causing him to jump a bit and suppress a chirp of surprise. Shepherd fell back smirking to himself and watching the lizardfolks twitching tail silently as they climbed the stairs.

They’d finally gotten to the catacombs they were searching for, and they were suddenly very unsure how to proceed. Sarnax was giving the Professor a hard time about being the one to contact Arabelle, imploring him to be more prepared in the future while his tail twitched. 

Shepherd took note of this but decided to see what else the lizard would do, after all the Professor should have been more prepared…

Almost immediately as they crossed the threshold, evidently unthreatening as Arabelle had said, the Professor turned to Sarnax hoping for some insight on where to begin searching for their targets.

“I suppose I will, yet again, use my energy to call upon Gherix and have his holy will guide us to the remains” Saying this, the lizard even went so far as to roll his eyes, though it seemed unpracticed, before glancing toward Shepherd. 

Oh the little devil knows what he’s doin’, he’s tryna fire me up

Thinking this, Shepherds face split into a devilish grin.

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I'm pretty happy with it so far but still working on where to go from here,, wish me luck!!

[dark-twist-fairytales]

(Maybe because Clayton was very insistent on getting into that hunters cabinet, but hey! This time it pays off because his daughter now has a weapon to defend herself. (Idk why but I hc that Claras family are all very good hunters, them having amassed their wealth like that. Emmys grandpa, Claras dad, probably taught her how to shoot when they visited))

The second Clayton notices shes injured he's fretting immediately, this might actually be the first time the others that arent Shep and Vic see his truer personality, not a stoic man but a concerned father.

Also, yeah, Emmy immitating her dads routines even if she gets nothing out of it is adorable.

Emmy would be tired from death house, being a child and all, so she falls asleep on the beds almost the second Clayton finishes dressing her knee ("No, Sarnax, your fire won't be...necessary).

He's conflicted about leaving her alone in the bedroom, since they did say they would speak with Ismark, but he doesnt want to move her in case she wakes up. He tells the others to go on without him as he takes several minutes to cast alarm and make sure that all the windows are locked.

After that he carefully closes the door, locking it so no one can reach his child. They go down and speak with Ismark, he examines the pastry and they do still indulge (later when the truth is revealed he's so grateful that Emmy fell asleep before they ate them)

They find out about Ireena and still do agree to help Ismark. Clayton only takes a sip of the alcohol but stops there "I don't believe its wise to indulge when I have a child I must care for."

The group goes to bed (Shep even more drunk since he drank the professors pints as well), he'd gently move some hair out of Emmys face before taking some spare pillows and making himself comfortable on the floor next to the bed. Now they have a goal, help Ismark and Ireena.

(That man can sleep sitting, standing or whichever way his body decides)

If I'm remembering from that episode, he casted alarm on the room with Victoria and Kana in the room while Shepherd and Sarnax went downstairs, having even more of a reason to do so now, before they joined them downstairs. And yeah, Emmy being asleep while him and Kana eat the dream pastries is a blessing in disguise.

It would be funny if Emmy woke up before them and dug around in the case for a better suited outfit than a bustling dress (she can make do, but she has the resources, she would rather not), and suddenly the cross bow has a place on her back, the bolts on her hip, and better protection than thin fabric.

It doesn't look fancy, like someone would expect from Breeg, but instead it looks rough, used, a small bit baggy. She knows how to hunt, she remembers what her grandfather has taught her. And if they wake up to her dad's case open and her cleaning the crossbow, making sure that it was up to par, they say nothing. And if Clayton only asks how her knee's feeling while tying her hair back to keep it from being tangled, it's just another morning in the Azran expedition.

(Mechanically, I think she would either dual-class as a ranger/wizard, or go full ranger (different than Shepherd) with some a magic feature of some kind.)

Shepherd is still a wildly better ranger than her (having been alive longer than her), but she can casts a good amount of damaging spells, if she ever runs out of bolts/needs to in a pinch.

Oh, I just realized, Sarnax would still be so confused about Clayton's father-like tendencies. Asking something like "Is it normal for.. Humans to fret over their young this much?" And Shepherd responding back with "Yeah, most humanoids in general fret over their children like that, 'specially after nearly dyin'. Clayton ain't no different. Hells, if anythin' were to happen to that child, I'll murder in cold blood."

[luna-the-cretar]

I’m thinking about the Shepnax “confession” scene, and not to get all angsty here, BUT…the scene almost feels like a confession/breakup, but in like. Two different ways?

(Minor spoilers below)

I mean, think about it. When Sarnax tells Shepherd he cares deeply about him, Sarnax’s tone is almost…bashful? For him, at least. Like he’s forcing himself to admit it out loud. Like what he means is that he cares about Shepherd more than he thought he would, in more ways than one. That he’s not just a friend, but a companion, someone who he relies on. I get the sense that it’s beyond platonic—maybe not romantic, if you don’t want it to be perceived that way (I personally will), but definitely not platonic.

So when he then gets into the argument with Shepherd, about how Sarnax will die in their endeavors, you can almost hear what he’s not quite saying. You can almost hear him say “I love you so much and I’m trying to push you away because I don’t want you hurting because of me. I’d rather hurt you now in the short term, than hurt for years because you’re grieving my death”

And I’m not pulling the whole “Sarnax loves Shepherd” thing out of my ass here. Look how he interacts with Shep in the episodes before and after. Sure, part of it is because he’s THE shepherd, so there’s that whole scripture/prophecy thing, but also I think Sarnax GENUINELY cares about Shepherd in a deep spiritual level. He loves Shep so much that he doesn’t know how to handle it. He loves Shep so much that he’s pushing him away, just so Shep doesn’t get burned by the fire that will be his grief when Sarnax dies.

And then look at how Shepherd responds. “Aw, Sarnax, I care about you too”. It was lighter, airier, almost like it didn’t hold quite the same weight as Sarnax’s confession. Shepherd still cares about Sarnax, don’t get me wrong. But either Shepherd meant it in a “aw, buddy, you’re my best friend :)))” platonic way, or didn’t mind casually revealing just how deep his affections go. Or, perhaps he didn’t quite understand what Sarnax meant when he said “I care deeply about you”, especially after mentioning that he cares about the others as well.

Not that I don’t think Shepherd doesn’t love Sarnax in his own way (idk about you, but joining your bffs cult and giving yourself to his god to ensure he’s alive and okay doesn’t sound very platonic to me lol), but…idk. Sarnax’s love for Shepherd runs deeper, almost teetering on obsession at times. Shepherd was the first person Sarnax has ever cared about, platonically or otherwise (he says so himself in this conversation), so it runs deep.

Sarnax has felt the warmth of Shepherd’s fire, and yearns to engulf himself in the gunslinger’s flames. And he did, for a short while. He let himself be selfish, he let himself embrace the warmth of Shepherd’s fire. His passion. His protection. Just…him. And then everything in the Amber Temple happened, and Sarnax suddenly remembered that, if you play with fire, you get burned. And nothing burned him worse than seeing Shepherd betray him, while under the influence of the sarcophagus. So he pulls away. He pulls away, and ignores the warmth of Shepherds fire, no matter how much he yearns to drown himself in the flames.