World of Ruin
Anyway, 17 year old Iris going on supply runs to Hammerhead (supervised by like Gladio or Monica) and meeting Cindy and just being like….enamoured? Cindy’s so cool and smart and pretty! Iris likes. She makes a point of visiting Hammerhead as often as she can and is…less than subtle tbh (she thinks she is though and Aranea teases her about it.) She actually works up the nerve to ask Cindy out after her 18th, and Cindy politely tells her she thinks Iris is very sweet, and a wonderful gal, but that Iris is still young. They stay as friends, and Iris is grateful Cindy treated her as well as she did. Cindy honestly likes the girl but isn’t sure she thinks she could be attracted to or that it’d be right to date someone that young young, but their platonic relationship is something she enjoys and takes pride in.
They team up frequently on hunts through the years, now that Hammerhead is bigger, more hunters stay there, Iris being one of them. (She thinks Gladio is still a little overbearing, and Hammerhead struggles a lot more than Lestallum.) On her 24th, she decides to take on a pretty big hunt, and she’s pretty sure she can take it. Gotta live up to that nickname and all. So she heads out and it ends up in a lot of pain. She still wins of course, she’d just been a little overwhelmed, and she’s pretty sure Aranea flew overhead a few minutes ago so she gives her a call, lets her know she needs a ride back, and maybe a few stitches.
Second the dropship lands, Cindy jumps out, and fuckin books it over to where Iris is sat. (Aranea’s pretty sure she knows what’s gonna happen next, but also really wants to just get Iris in the damn ship and leave so she’s sort of hovering behind them.) Cindy goes off a bit about how Iris could’ve gotten seriously hurt, and why didn’t you bring me, and what am I supposed to do with you, even worse what am I supposed to do without you- and Iris is reeling from that obviously. Cindy realis what she’s just said and they’re both very red for a while before Aranea gets bored and hauls them into the ship.
It is very awkward for all three of them, but Iris gets her wounds tended to and Aranea drops them back in Hammerhead. Iris pulls Cindy into the diner and they sit there again for a while until-
I’m sorry! And now Iris definitely has no idea what’s going on and Cindy explains that she shouldn’t have said what she did because she’d already rejected Iris once and that it’s not fair to try and win ya over now but there’s no helpin’ how I feel so I oughta apologise and- and then Iris is leaning over the table and kissing her because she’s not sure she can say anything just yet (she’s awfully embarrassed) and a red-faced Takka having to interrupt when he asks what they’re gonna have. Iris tells Cindy (after she’s stopped melting) that it’s completely fine, and she holds nothing against her (but she’d maybe hold Cindy against a wall if she’d let her) and they have a nice long talk about their relationship and where they want it to go. (The bedroom, Iris suggests, but Cindy shoots her down bc the damn girl is an injured silly goose) And if Talcott catches them making out in a corner, or Prompto gets a shot of them holding hands around the compound nobody says anything and they’re all just happy for the girls.