Friendship after years alone is a strange thing. You forget what it is to have friends, you forget what it means to be at ease among others.

  Friendship is a gift, a safe haven. Friends are people you can turn to, people you know will be there. Even when they are busy, when they cannot be there, you know they will return. You know that they will be as happy to see you as you are to see them.

  Knowing your friends will be there makes you see everything differently.

  ~ * ~

  After nearly 9 months Seb was starting to feel as though Diving was routine. It wasn't as repetitive as his prior 9-5 job had been and certainly wasn't as monotonous as going over records and details in Holding Lys had been shaping up to be. It was still a routine however.

  They'd wake up and get ready, then wander further into the depths. If he noticed any creatures along the way in what had been empty caverns they'd take a look to see if it was worth their time, at this point slimes and rabbits rarely were. Thankfully they seemed to have found a set of passages full of goblins so they had their pick. They ended up going deeper every day, taking different branching paths until they found new challenges.

  They'd return to their camp once they were worn out, or satisfied with their progress, and unwind before sleeping. Only to repeat something similar the next day. When he thought about it that way it sounded boring, but in the moment it never was.

  They wandered down oddly lit tunnels, ducked into strange caves and faced down creatures he'd thought were literary creations. He exercised his gift, the one even Fay hadn't been able to explain at the time, stretching it out and trying to see just what he could sense.

  By now he was certain it was something like an aura. He could sense Energy through walls, see distinct patterns even when his eyes couldn't. He could sense them in all directions, whether his eyes were open or closed. He could sense them as he fell asleep. Some nights he couldn't filter the effect and he had trouble falling asleep.

  He practiced compressing it too. Reaching out was nice, it showed him more. Compressing let him see less, removed distractions. Compression made the sight sharper, the sensations clearer. Once or twice it almost felt as though he was touching everything in his aura, that it was as close to him as his own skin.

  He talked about it with Anya, he told her what he felt, he showed her what he could, especially when they were scouting the tunnels. Slimes could rarely ambush him if he saw them above his head. The goblin ambushes became less risky, melee creatures were apparent long before they could attack. Archers were a threat, he couldn't see arrows most of the time.

  Diving was routine, hunting was routine. The fights they got into were less routine, the further they ranged the more crafty the creatures became. They weren't intelligent, you could always use the same tricks to finish off an individual, they were simply more coordinated, had better setups, were quicker to retreat for reinforcements.

  If he thought of hunting as his weekday routine then everything else became the weekend. Their monthly Seer reports were now every other week. But their visits with Fay were nothing like the first few months.

  They went out to dinner, they sat around the house and talked. They showed her where she could buy more coffee or food in the Shallows. Anya took her shopping and he tagged along pretending to want to be doing anything else. She still panicked at times, she still seemed uncertain that they wanted to spend time with her, but every time they spent time together the fear seemed to have faded a little.

  And then there were training days. Days spent alone with Anya, days spent coming up with new challenges for each other. Days spent experimenting and testing, and often reminding themselves of their earliest days spent sparring in the training hall.

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  ~ * ~

  Anya smiled impishly as she faced off against Seb in another attempt at this particular training idea. Tethering themselves together by a wrist did prevent certain antics and tactics, but their original tether had been nearly six feet long and ended up having very little impact on their sparring.

  The next time they'd actually bound their wrists together directly. She blushed as she thought of how quickly that had devolved. They'd managed to trip over one another almost instantly, they couldn't move without forcing the other to as well. They'd both enjoyed it, both decided it would be worth trying again in the future, but it hadn't been the training they intended.

  They'd tried other challenges as well, some had even worked well enough that they tested them against Depths creatures as well. Hopping on one leg the whole time to challenge their balance, her using his sword while he fought bare handed, even trying to fight while doing a handstand. She'd managed the last while Seb hovered protectively.

  This time they had settled on two feet of slack, long enough to move without bringing the other along immediately, but short enough to prevent a repeat of the first attempt.

  Ready? she sent.

  Say when.

  She smiled and set herself before answering. When.

  Seb lunged, his blade silent except for the slightest crackle of the imbued energy. He used enough Energy to sting when he hit, to ensure his blade didn't bounce off her the way it had the rat, without the risk of actual wounds.

  She spun, slipping out of his line and pulling on the tether to help him along. He swept past her and reset, both of them content with their first test of the tether.

  That works, he send and she nodded in agreement.

  Without another word they moved almost as one, his blade flashing towards her as he used the tether to pull her closer, her step forward turning into a lunge that left her inside his guard.

  He brought his arm down over her, stepping closer still to limit the momentum she could impart into a punch and she spun beneath his arm. His blade followed her as she spun around him, never quite catching up as she dove ahead, her shoulder protesting when the tether ran out of room.

  She spun to face his attack only to catch him as he stumbled into her, rolling them both onto the ground in a tangle of limbs and laughter. They separated and tried again, their movements flowing even more smoothly as they managed to avoid each other time and time again.

  She knew his plans, he anticipated her feints. One moved and the other followed, one dove, the other leapt over. One swept low and the other rolled across their back. Time and time again they slipped past one another, time and time again the tether turned acrobatics into entanglement.

  Eventually they separated and undid the tether. Anya stood there taking deep breaths as she smiled at Seb. They were both flush from their antics yet neither had managed to actually land any decisive blow.

  That. Seb sent, his thoughts almost as ragged as his breath. works.

  Would have worked better, she sent with a smirk, if you hadn't kept trying to hug me.

  Hug you? he answered. Don't you mean how you kept trying to tangle yourself around me?

  You- she pretended to grumble. We-

  Yes love?

  Again? Maybe the other hand this time?

  They'd tested with their non-dominant hand, given themselves as much of an advantage as they could for the test. Switching hands would increase the challenge, and the next escalation would be both hands.

  Are you sure you can handle going again? he teased.

  Can you?

  With a shared laugh they set back up and went at it again. The difference was subtle but obvious. They still were anticipating each other, turning what should have been successful blows into near misses. Their clashes still took on a veneer of play, of cooperation despite their intent to train. The change of hands made the tether more obvious, made them throw each other off balance without meaning to.

  By the time they agreed to stop they'd managed to nearly roll into the tent, the string connecting them having somehow trapped them face to face. Their last stumble hadn't even been part of their training, they'd fallen while Seb was trying to untie the string.

  Anya looked into Seb's eyes as she relaxed her grip on the tether, the strand she'd been holding to keep his wrist trapped coming undone.

  Anya!

  Yes love? she answered with an innocent smile.

  When did you untie that?

  Um…

  Seb sighed as he pulled himself free of the tether, rolling them over in the process so he hovered above her.

  And you tried to say I was the one who kept it from working better?

  Seb? she asked with a grin.

  Yes? he answered, still pretending to glare down at her.

  Are you saying this didn't work better?

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