Fye remembered the first time he'd been seen through, by anyone.
It was the time they battled together, as a team, the first time that both of them had fought to protect a common cause, the first of many.
It was the first time anyone had ever tried to protect him, and the first time he'd come to depend upon his tall, dark haired Companion.
From then on, it was completely natural to fall into the superficial banter they always shared, but Fye began to note traces of something else under all the pretence.
As they traveled along together, they spent more and more time together; most times they slept in the same room, if separated by space, but always in silence, in darkness, always aware that the other was near, and that come morning, the other would still be right there, waiting with either a scowl or a bright smile.
This was the routine that they developed throughout their journey, and as time and worlds progressed, as their mission and travels became more and more dangerous, as secrets became revealed, and pasts became uncovered, they developed a deeper bond, one that transcended words and actions, one that could be communicated by eyes alone, and sometimes, when it counted, by thought alone.
Neither one knew how or when it began, they didn't think to look back and pinpoint the exact moment that their steadily growing attachment commenced, they only knew that their meeting started something neither one could have ever foreseen.
But these things were never spoken of, never acted upon, for even thought their thoughts were synced and yearned to connect to each other, they both had deep scars that had yet to be healed, both carried sacred duties and clung to them as if their life depended upon it.
So even thought they could not break their routine, even though they felt that deepening of understanding and familiarity, they kept their distance, clinging still to a frail and brittle sense of caution.
They didn't know how long this journey would last, didn't know if today or tomorrow or next week would be the last day of their association and companionship, yet still, they held that wall of distance.
It might be this way for a long period of time, or one irreversible action might snap the tenuous hold each possesd on their control and finally bring them together, but until one or the other came to pass, both would hold up their end of their unspoken truce.
Both would watch and listen and wait, both would protect and console, in their unique ways, until one or the other gave.
Who, among them to be the first was a mystery, but that simply added to the suspense.