fish friends and loaches growing

Question
HI I have a couple of questions on loaches and a discus fish.
The first is due to the fact that one of my clown loaches seams to be friends with one of my discus fish. The discus sometimes gets picked on by the other discus in the tank, when this happens, the loach protects the discus, chasing off the bully. Also, when they meet each other, they touch noses and the loach appears to greet the discus by flaring the barbles, and they may swim together. Is this just coincidence or are they really pals??
Second, I have two loaches and they are both about the same age but one seems to be growing bigger than the other.Could the smaller one be male??? The bigger one, the discus friend one, is a few cm bigger, maybe about 2ish.
This is just curiosity but I would really like to know! I'm not sure if this is my e-mail address so if I don't reply, thanks for the answer!!!

Answer
AJ,

Yes it is very possible that the two are "pals". I have seen it happen quite a few times. As for the growth. All fish grow at different rates just like we do. Yes it could be a male but it could also be just a bit slower in growth as the other. Goos luck with the tank.