Clay

    Clay and Row grew up in a small mining town. When Clay's family died in a mine collapse, Row's dads took him in, and Row started working with him. They were mercenaries, specifying in scavenging magical objects. The trade is highly competitive and dangerous, and the two became highly competent in their profession. Over the years their relationship became more intimate. However, Row thinking that Clay was in it out of mostly boredom, and worried that making their relationship more concrete would push him away, Row distanced himself from Clay, and eventually fell for a woman named Quartz. Row married Quartz. Tensions rose over time.

Summary

    On an unsuspecting solo job, Row was confronted by an Old God that used the artifact to gain control over Row. For his release, the God demanded a sacrifice, or it was going to kill his wife and child. Row had to make a hard decision, knowing that it would have some kind of outcome on Clay. Row was left to struggle with not understanding the consequences of his decision, and not feeling that he could tell Clay, given their strained relationship.
    The next job they completed together would be their last. A dangerous retrieval that led them into a dark and dangerous cavern. The Old God called on Row. To his horror, Row could only watch, while under the thrall of the God, as Clay slipped and fell down a seemingly endless ravine. There was no way that anyone could have survived a fall that high, and Row walked away empty handed, knowing he had been the cause of his best friend's death. However, the sacrifice demanded was not, in fact, Clay's life. Clay lay, bleeding and broken at the bottom of the ravine, but very much alive. The sacrifice was the insurmountable rift formed between the two, when Clay could do nothing but watch his friend turn his back on him, and leave him to die.

    Ten years passed. Clay left his hometown far behind, surviving on his own and trying to get over the fact that the man he loved left him for dead. He met Reed, began seeing him as a sort of friends with benefits. Reed learned about Row's betrayal, but not about Clay's exact feelings for Row. Meanwhile, Row spent the years thinking he killed his best friend. His marriage fell apart. He still maintained the house that Clay lived in, refusing anyone to move into it even though Clay was long gone.

Present Day

    One night Clay in a new town and gets drunk at a tavern. He ends up hooking up with a man that he swears could be the perfect fantasy of what Row might look like now. The next morning, reporting in for a new job, he realizes that person was Row. Clay first thinks that Row has come back to finish the job of killing him off. At this point Clay has rethought their entire relationship, thinking that Row never liked him at all, and that he betrayed Clay when Row no longer had a use for him. However, over the time spent working on the job, Clay gradually becomes aware that there is more to it than he knows. Now the two have to navigate their relationship, their past, and what their future entails.
    Row's pact with the Old God has not disappeared, and with the two's gradual mending of their relationship, something shifts, far beyond their comprehension.