They were ideally suited to each other and friendship between men is more substantial than love for a woman.
Coupeau and Lantier were forever going out junketing together.

Lantier would now borrow money from Gervaise--ten francs, twenty francs at a time, whenever he smelt there was money in the house.

Then on those days he would keep Coupeau away from his work, talk of some distant errand and take him with him.

Then seated opposite to each other in the corner of some neighboring eating house, they would guzzle fancy dishes which one cannot get at home and wash them down with bottles of expensive wine.

The zinc-worker would have preferred to booze in a less pretentious place, but he was impressed by the aristocratic tastes of Lantier, who would discover on the bill of fare dishes with the most extraordinary names.
It was hard to understand a man so hard to please.