Ho Yay / Toby Alone

• Toby and Leo.
  • They are described as so inseparable in their childhood that people used to call them Tobyleo, which is the closest you could get for a canon ship name.
    • This, right from the beginning of the first book:
    One day, when Toby and his parents were due to move house, down to the low branches, Tobyleo hid in a dry bud because they didn't want to be split up. It was two days and three nights before they were found.
  • And then Toby goes on to fall in love with Elisha, later revealed as Leo's half-sister, and marries her in the end.
  • The Tear Jerker moment when Toby thinks that he is about to kill Leo, when they remember the good old days when they used to be the bestest of friends in their childhood:
  Flashing before Toby's eyes were all the times in his past that would be wiped out with this one gesture. He saw Leo as a small boy again, as someone he'd shared so much with. He remembered a friendship in which they had even combined their names. They were known as Tobyleo. They were inseparable.
  ...
  Leo had no strength to move.
  "Once," said Leo, "I saved your life..."
  ...
  "Once," Leo went on, "a very long time ago, I was [...] I saved your life. Do you remember? I... I'm not asking anything of you... Just that you remember that..."
• Leo and Nils have this too, even though Nils is technically a spy.
  • The fact that Leo becomes more violent after discovering Nils' betrayal, just as he becomes more violent after Elisha, the girl who he is canonically in love with, escapes the Nest.
  • Also this, with strange subtext (as at this point Leo has already found out about Nils' betrayal):
    "I was reflecting on the fact that you're the first person I've trusted for a long time."
    "Thank you, Leo. I'm your friend."
    Leo Blue couldn't suppress a silent chuckle. Nils tried smiling as well.
    Eventually, Leo went right up to Nils, stared hard at him and opened his arms.
    "My friend."
    He hugged him.
• And Toby and Nils, too.
  • After Nils meets his Old Friend after years:
  Nils hesitated for a moment when he saw Toby's outfit, then burst into tears and fell into his friend's arms. They hugged, looking at each other every once in a while before immediately giving each other another hug. They couldn't stop laughing and shedding silent tears. So many months had gone by, so many years... Each of them knew what he owed to the other.
• Though it's unclear which translation is more accurate, in the simplified Chinese version there are two scenes of hand-holding between males, unlike the hand-shaking in the English version.
  • The first one is between Leo and Nils, who are seen holding hands at the entrance of the Nest by Nils' father Norz.
  • The second one is between Nils and Toby, when Nils asks Toby why he trusts him with all his secrets, to which Toby replies "because I don't have any choice." It is also described that Nils holds Toby's hand tightly.
    • Strangely, in the English version, it is simply "Nils shook Toby's hand".
• Vou Tann and Albert Rolden also arguably have this, though are more like Heterosexual Life-Partners.