Companion always providing comfort (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheer
'comfort' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'companion always' is the wordplay.
'companion' becomes 'ch' (I've seen this in other clues).
'always' becomes 'eer' (poetic way of saying ever).
'ch'+'eer'='CHEER'
'providing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cheer that I've seen before include "party refreshment?" , "Shout hooray" , "Applaud vocally, hurray etc" , "Applaud; mood" , "pair of hips can get me going!" .)