I would LOVE to hear more about astrons relationship with sachlos.
YES GOD MY FAVORITE IDIOTS. You got me started, congratulations.
Okay SO.., Astron is an anti-social loser as we know, so Sachlos had to be insistent to even achieve a conversation. It was like shock therapy p much, a non-stop yapper eventually drawing out some words from a guy who never spoke to anyone in a room.
Despite the amount of denial on Astron's side, he did find his connection to Sachlos important. The reason he won't admit it is out of self preservation. Being surrounded by men who will take any weakness and exploit it at any given time to get the advantage is something Astron tried to shield himself from constantly.
Quiet moments with just the two of them were the most meaningful. Astron would feel safe enough to actually talk about himself a little, and he would be lying if he said he didn't find Sachlos' stories entertaining too. Much more than his own actually. Even making him grow used to this incessant speaking of his.
(TW on this next paragraph for SA mentions)
[ I do believe Astron opened up to Sachlos about the assault he suffered at some point. Being super vague, of course, but clear that what happened to him had left him deeply shaken. Sachlos did feel empathy, despite the fact he didn't exactly know how to comfort his friend, but the attempt deepened the tiny trust that was starting to build on Astron's side. ]
Sachlos would still annoy the hell out of Astron more often than not, simply because their personalities are mostly incompatible and Astron being terribly impatient in some aspects, but it's all in what could be considered "good fun" for the spectator.
Things go a bit downhill when Odysseus comes back. Antinous starts making plans that everyone quickly agrees with even after he is killed (we know Sachlos was also going to go through with it from what we see in Mr Gameron's videos), and you can imagine Astron's utter distaste.
Sachlos and Melanthius have a deeper connection due to their shared ideas and goals, hence why the two stuck together during the massacre. Astron tagged along with them too because Sachlos was the only one he thought he could rely on. He begged him to use his fucking head, they would be spared if they just gave all that shit up and surrendered, but even the tiniest chance of getting what he wanted seemed more appealing to Sachlos. He was convinced they could win.
Both tried to convince the other to stop being ridiculous, more than likely leading to a heated discussion where they called each other cowards and tons of other stuff. Astron takes it personal and feels betrayed, disappointed at himself for making a rookie mistake, and... sad. Sachlos was his friend.
Sachlos died while Astron was still angry at him, so his death wasn't all that painful. At least not as painful as Astron will ever admit it was.
OKAY I'M DONE, SORRY FOR THE MEGA YAP... I just love these two so much and I love the complexity of their dynamic that I'm not skilled enough to put into words RAHH
Have a drawing of them as an apology for the text wall
