Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy XV

When Iris was nineteen, she met Aranea Highwind.

"You need a partner for this one."

Iris huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Ralph chuckled. "You're not a high enough rank. Even if Dave would let me bypass a Hunter rank, your brother would kill me."

Iris rolled her shoulders. "I can look after myself."

Ralph held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not disputing that. But this is a dangerous hunt."

Iris grit her teeth. "Is there anyone here I can go with? Cause last I heard Gladdy, Ignis, and Prompto were all out on their own hunts."

Ralph smirked. "Actually, I have just the person." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Iris. "Go to this address. Tell them I sent you."

Iris took the paper. "Thanks."

The address was a few streets to the west. Iris walked up to the building: a block of ten flats. The paper said that she should aim for flat number 7. She pressed the doorbell; the name plate was blank.

"You pizza or a booty call?"

The voice that came through the speaker was crackled, feminine, and suggestive.

Iris cleared her throat. "A potential partner. Ralph sent me."

A moment passed.

"Hello?"

"Do I know you?"

Iris gulped. "You might know my brother. Gladiolus Amicitia."

"Is that right? Well, in that case, you better come on up."

The door buzzed. Iris pushed it open and went up the stairs to flat number 7. She knocked on the door.

The woman who opened the door was tall, had long blonde hair and a voluptuous figure, and was wearing nothing but a towel.

Iris blushed.

The woman laughed. "Oh, come on, your brother wanders around half-naked every day of his life, but this is gonna embarrass you?" She shook her head. "Come in, honey. Why did Ralph send you?" She stepped aside.

The apartment was small: a studio. To Iris' left was a vanity, pushed up against the same wall as the door. On the wall to her left was the kitchen units and a door leading through to the bathroom. The rest of the room was taken up by the queen-sized bed, adorned with crimson bedding, and the wardrobe.

"Take a seat." The woman gestured towards the bed. Iris perched on the end of the bed while the woman sat in the chair at the vanity. She held out her hands for Iris to continue.

"There's a hunt," Iris explained. "I'm not a high enough Hunter rank yet and Ralph said I needed a partner. He gave me your address."

The woman smirked. "Ralph is a smart man. I can help you out." She held out her hand. "Aranea."

Iris' eyes widened as she shook the proffered hand. "Highwind?"

Aranea chuckled: a deep and full sound. "I see brother told you about me."

"Uh… yeah…"

"All good things, I hope?"

"I heard you helped Noct before he went into the Crystal."

Aranea smiled. "Well that's something, I suppose. Would you like a drink?"

Iris blinked. "Shouldn't you get dressed?"

"I can do that while you're drinking."

Iris gulped. "Uh, sure. What's on offer?"

Iris ended up accepting a glass of wine, and Aranea grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe, then disappeared into the bathroom and returned fully dressed.

Her outfit consisted of close-fitting leather trousers, a corset, and metal gauntlets that encased her entire arms. Her boots were thick and sturdy. Her hands were full: a lance in her right and a helmet that looked like a horned cage in her left.

"You ready to head out?"

"Uh, yeah."

Aranea grinned and slipped her helmet on. She gestured towards the front door.

"After you."

Iris' car was parked in the car park by the outlook. It was a beat-up, clunky effort that Cindy had restored from one of the shells abandoned on the outskirts of Insomnia.

"Are you okay with this?" Iris asked.

"Sure. A car's a car. If it gets us to where we need to be, then it's alright with me."

Half an hour later, the car was on the side of a road a few miles outside of Lestallum, and Iris and Aranea were standing side-by-side against three Iron Giants.

"Take one each, avoid the attacks of the third, and then we can take the last down together."

Iris brandished her broadsword while Aranea soared into the air and brought the tip of her lance down on her Iron Giant's head.

The battle was long and intense. Each blow Iris dealt to her Iron Giant shuddered up her arm and jolted her shoulder. By the time she had bested it, Aranea was already working on the third daemon and Iris' arms ached to high heaven.

The remaining Iron Giant roared in anger as its final comrade fell. As Aranea was mid-air, the Iron Giant swung its sword around and Iris didn't dodge fast enough: the blade smashed into her side and flung her to the ground.

She grunted as her back made impact, and she fell to her side, gasping for breath.

The Iron Giant took a step closer to her, and raised its sword again.

Iris closed her eyes…

The Iron Giant screamed.

Iris opened her eyes to see Aranea hacking away at the daemon's sword arm with her lance.

Iris gasped. She pushed herself to her feet and regained her grip on the hilt of her broadsword. With an almighty battle cry, she surged forward and aimed for the Iron Giant's legs.

With Aranea swiping at its upper half, and Iris dealing with its lower half, the battle was over within minutes.

Aranea landed next to Iris, panting. She placed a hand on Iris' shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks."

"No problem. You're a good fighter, it was an honour to be by your side."

Iris blushed. "I failed."

Aranea shook her head. "No, you didn't. You got hit. Damn, you think I never got hit? This corset covers a multitude of scars."

Iris' eyes flicked down to Aranea's corset, and she blushed.

"Anyway, I say we go back to Lestallum and cash in our bounty. Ain't nothing like the sweet smell of gil." She rubbed her forefinger and thumb together.

They headed back for the car, and it was only when Iris was pulling away that Aranea asked Iris' name.

"Iris. Iris Amicitia."

Aranea chuckled. "Well, Iris Amicitia, you got spunk. It's a pleasure to fight with you, kid."

Iris huffed.

"I'm not a kid."

Aranea turned to look at her. She looked Iris up and down.

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

Aranea turned back to the windscreen. "Damn. I'm getting old. Alright, I won't call you kid. How's 'flower'?"

"Flower?"

"Yeah. Iris. Your brother's named after a flower too."

Iris shrugged. "My mother liked flowers. She used to tell us the story of how my father proposed to her by hiding the ring in a bouquet of flowers. There were gladioluses, irises, and roses."

"You got a sibling called Rose as well?"

Iris shook her head. "Nah, there were just the two of us in the end."

"Oh." Aranea paused. "Well, I'm sure your brother was enough of a handful on his own."

Iris laughed. "Oh, I don't know about that. He's pretty level-headed."

"He's pretty, too. Your family has got some good genes."

Iris blushed. "Stop."

Aranea looked over at Iris. Iris stared straight ahead.

"Alright," Aranea agreed; she turned away again. "But next time you're on a hunt and fancy some company, hit me up, okay? It's good fighting with you, flower."

"Yeah." Iris nodded. "I sure will."

~{final-fantasy-xv}~

When Iris was twenty, she went on her second hunt with Aranea.

Aranea raised an eyebrow at Iris as she stood at the doorway of her apartment.

"A Yojimbo? You're not a high enough rank by now to take on a Yojimbo?"

Iris rolled her shoulders. "That's not it. Last time I took on a Yojimbo, I lost my partner."

Aranea blinked. "Not sure I wanna take you asking me as a compliment or an insult, then."

Iris smiled. "A compliment. I believe you can look after yourself."

"Damn right, I can. We split the money halfway."

"Of course."

The Yojimbo was surrounded by Imps when they reached it. It was time consuming, but they were easy to take down. Especially considering that, for the most part, the Yojimbo mainly ignored them – until, that was, Iris was taking out the last Imp.

The flash of the Yojimbo's blade pierced through Iris' peripheral vision, and she didn't have time to dodge.

Yet the scream that followed was not her own.

"Aranea!"

Aranea had appeared out of nowhere, stepping in front of blade which had now impaled her.

Aranea gripped the blade, and it scratched at her gauntlets. She choked as blood frothed at her mouth, then cried out as the Yojimbo pulled her closer, then flung her off its blade into the distance. She disappeared into the darkness, and it was an agonising few moments before she landed out of sight with a dull thud.

Iris grit her teeth.

The Yojimbo turned to her.

She roared.

Iris charged forward, hacking away at the Yojimbo with everything that she had. It caught her a few times – slicing open her arm, hitting her on the head – but she recovered enough every time, and took it down.

Iris landed on her feet as the Yojimbo's body dematerialised, her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.

A moment later, she straightened herself up and set off in the direction Aranea had been flung. She sprinted for a full minute before she found her: crumpled against a rock.

Iris pulled a phoenix down from her pocket and shoved it into Aranea's hands.

Aranea gasped and sat up. She was trembling from head to toe, and taking slow, deep breaths. She gave Iris a pained smile.

"Hey, flower. What'd I miss?"

Iris scowled. She grabbed Aranea's shoulder and slammed her back into the rock.

"Ow! What the-"

"What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"

Aranea stared up at her with a look halfway between anger and confusion. She took Iris' wrist in a strong grip; the metal of her gauntlet dug into Iris' skin, but Iris paid it no mind.

Aranea wrenched Iris' hand off her shoulder.

"That's the life of a hunter, flower. Sometimes, you can save people. Other times, you lose them. You can't handle that, you need to find something else to do."

Iris glowered.

Aranea pushed her away and got to her feet.

She made her way over to the car, and Iris followed her.

They drove back to Lestallum in silence.

~{final-fantasy-xv}~

When Iris was twenty-one, a Wall Daemon was sighted near Galdin Quay. Hunters were recruited from all over Lucis to help tackle it: they rendezvous in Hammerhead, in Meldacio, and in Lestallum.

Gladiolus paled when Iris walked up to the Lestallum group.

"Nuh-uh!" He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. "No way are you going on this one."

Iris straightened herself up to her full height. She reached Gladiolus' nose.

"You think you can stop me?"

Ignis chuckled. Gladiolus turned around to glare at him; not that he could see.

"I do believe she is right, Gladio. She is no longer a child, and you cannot tell her what to do."

"But she isn't ready!"

"She's older than Prompto and Noct were when we set off from Insomnia."

"She hasn't been training as long." Gladiolus curled his hands into fists at his sides.

"And yet she has proven that she can hold her own. I dare say, Prompto has more scars than Iris probably ever will."

"How do you know how scarred Prompto is?"

Ignis blushed and turned away.

Gladiolus grit his teeth and turned to Iris.

"You're serious about this?"

Iris nodded. "Of course I am. I can do this."

Gladiolus looked Iris up and down. He growled. He gave a stiff nod.

Iris brushed passed Gladiolus and headed to the front of the crowd of Hunters. A tipster stood where the Cup Noodle van used to be, with a megaphone in his hand.

"Okay, we're gonna head out in exactly one hour. If you're not ready, we will leave you behind. Our first stop is Hammerhead, where we'll meet up with the groups from Leide and Meldacio. After that, we ride for Galdin. Any questions?"

Mumbles made their way through the crowd, affirming the Hunters' understanding. The tipster lowered his megaphone, and Iris looked through the crowd.

Aranea was nowhere to be seen.

She made her way to Ignis.

"Hey, have you seen Aranea?"

Ignis furrowed his brow. "Commodore Highwind? I wasn't aware that she was still in Lucis."

Iris bit her bottom lip. "Oh."

"I didn't believe that you two had met?"

Iris hummed. "We've been hunting together a couple of times."

"Really? I understood she had been fighting in Tenebrae all these years."

"Nah, she's got an apartment here in Lestallum. She might not be there, anymore, though."

Ignis hummed and tapped his bottom lip with his index finger.

Iris turned her head in the direction of the city, and the rows of apartment buildings that made up the narrow streets.

"You know, I might just go and see if she's there. She probably wouldn't want to miss out on this one."

She quipped a quick goodbye to Ignis and made for Aranea's building. There was no evidence to suggest that she had left: the paper marking her apartment on the buzzer panel was still a single blank sheet. No one answered when she buzzed.

Iris almost gave up after five minutes of radio silence, but someone came out of the building and saw her standing there.

"Hey! You alright? You wanna come in?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah, I was just wondering if Aranea Highwind was in. I heard word she might have skipped town, but I wanted to check for myself."

The tenant furrowed their brow. "Aranea? Nah, she's still here. Came back from the store yesterday with a load of groceries, so unless she escaped through her window…"

Iris' eyes widened. "Ah, that's great! Would it be okay…?"

The tenant nodded and side-stepped around the door, holding it open for Iris. Iris gave her thanks and made her way up to Aranea's flat.

She knocked. Silence.

"Aranea?"

Silence. Then-

"Flower?"

Aranea's voice was pained, strained.

Iris' heart raced.

"Aranea? Are you okay?"

A chuckle. "Ah, don't bother yourself with me, flower."

Iris winced. "There's a hunt going on, and you're not there. I was… worried."

"Worried? For all you know, I could have skipped town at any point over the last year. You never seemed worried then."

Iris sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about last time. Sometimes I can't control my temper. But there's a Wall Demon in Galdin Quay, and I didn't think you'd want to miss out on this one."

There's a pause.

"A Wall Daemon? Well, that sounds great, but I can't. Go enjoy yourself. Tell me the story when you get back."

"Why can't you come? Are you ill?"

Aranea groaned. "No, I'm not ill. Let's just say… I don't have to worry about the pitter-patter of tiny feet in about nine months' time."

Iris blushed. "Oh. Is it bad?"

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before, and nothing I won't deal with again."

Iris sighed. "I can help, if you want. I know you can do it on your own, but that doesn't mean you have to."

Another pause.

"Look under the doormat."

Iris did. There was a spare key.

Aranea's apartment hadn't changed much in the two years since Iris had last set foot in it. Aranea was in pyjamas, and curled up on her side in the bed. Iris made her way over.

She knelt by the side of the bed, the side that Aranea was facing. Aranea was pale and her expression was creased in pain. Her arms were folded over her abdomen, and her biceps were taut with exertion.

"When did you start?"

"Yesterday evening."

"And when did the pain start?"

Aranea shifted. "A few hours ago."

"Have you eaten today?"

Aranea shook her head.

Iris nodded, and stood. She made for the kitchenette.

"You got any bread? Butter? Something to make sandwiches with?"

Aranea moaned. "That's a lot of questions, flower."

Iris bit her lip. "Sorry."

She raided Aranea's cupboards and ended up making a BLT with Gighee Ham instead of bacon. Oh well, she thinks, it's all pork.

She cut it into triangles and brought it over to Aranea. She put the plate down on the bedside table.

"You should probably sit up to eat."

Aranea pinched her brows together, but she allowed Iris to guide her into a sitting position with a pillow supporting her back.

Aranea wrapped her arm around her middle, practically folding herself over.

Iris put her hand on Aranea's arm. "Try not to tense up. It only makes things worse."

Aranea sighed. She lowered her arm, and winced. Iris pushed the plate into her hands.

"You can go slowly, but food will help. Do you have anything hot here?"

"Apart from you?"

Iris blushed.

"I mean like a hot water bottle or something."

Aranea chuckled. "I got a bag you put in the microwave for a couple of minutes. It's in the corner cupboard above the counter."

The bag in question was a large beanbag, about the size of a chocobo egg, with a tartan pattern.

She heated it up in the microwave. When it was done, it was almost too hot to pick up with bare hands.

"Yeah, that's good." Aranea took the beanbag and placed it atop her stomach, over her pyjama top. "Oh…"

She sighed and leaned back into the pillow. Her eyes slipped closed.

"Yeah, heat helps. Stops you tensing so much, so your muscles can relax. What about some hot drinks as well?"

Aranea waited until she swallowed the final bite of her sandwich before answering. "I don't really have anything other than coffee in."

Iris sneered. "Nah, that's not gonna do. You need hot chocolate with all the fixings. Tell you what, I know a place about a block from here." She placed a hand on Aranea's shoulder. "Will you be alright until I can go get it?"

Aranea snorted. "Flower, I was ready to be okay before you got here. Just let me know how much it is so I can pay you back."

Iris shook her head. "Don't worry about that. It's my treat."

"If you insist."

Iris had just left Aranea's building when her phone rang.

"Gladdy, hey."

"You coming or not? We're gonna head out soon."

Iris bit her lip. "Actually, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. Something's come up."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Looks like you'll have to wait until next time to see me in action."

Gladiolus snorted.

"Alright. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"See you."

Iris pocketed her phone and was back at Aranea's flat within a few minutes with two hot chocolates filled to the brim with whipped cream, marshmallows, and chocolate sprinkles.

"Well, that smells divine," Aranea commented when Iris puts the hot chocolate down on the bedside table.

"It'll taste divine as well."

Iris made for the vanity. Aranea called her back.

"Hey, flower."

Iris turned. Aranea patted the other side of the double bed.

Iris blushed.

"Hey, it's the least I can offer for helping me out like this. I'll have you know, my bed is really comfortable."

Iris took her up on her offer. No sooner had she made herself comfortable than Aranea slid down and rested her head on Iris' shoulder.

"Aranea?"

"This too far, flower?"

"Uh… no. No, it's okay."

Aranea hummed. "Thanks, flower."

Iris chuckled. "That's okay. Us girls gotta look out for each other, right?"

~{final-fantasy-xv}~

When Iris was twenty-three, there was a knock on her apartment door.

"Hey, Aranea!"

Aranea stood just beyond the doorway with her hands behind her back, and a red hue over her cheekbones.

"Are you okay?" Iris asked.

Aranea cleared her throat. "I… uh… got you these."

Aranea brought her hand out from behind her back. She was clutching a bouquet: gladioluses, irises, and roses.

Iris froze.

"Aranea…"

"Don't think anything of it unless you want to. Just put them in a vase already."

Iris nodded, dumbstruck, and took the bouquet from Aranea. She went back into her apartment, and Aranea followed her in, closing the front door behind her, while Iris fetched a vase from the cupboard under her sink and arranged the bouquet.

Aranea sat on the end of Iris' bed.

"You've decorated since I was last here."

Iris fussed with cutting the stems of the flowers. "Uh, yeah. Turns out my old wallpaper didn't much like getting daemon blood splattered over it."

Aranea laughed. "Yeah, that was a fun night."

Iris' hands stilled on the stems of the flowers. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, it was."

"Iris?"

Iris' shook her head. "I… I just…" She turned. Aranea was sitting on the corner of her bed, her legs crossed and her hands crossed over her knee, and her back ramrod straight. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a low-cut burgundy top under a black hoodie.

"Do you regret it?"

Iris licked her lips. "No."

Aranea shrugged. "Then what's the problem?"

Iris shifted. "What are these?" She gestured to the bouquet, now arranged in the vase.

"I told you: they're whatever you want them to be."

"What do you want me to want them to be?"

Aranea chuckled. "What a mouthful. Besides, what makes you think I'll tell you that?"

Iris grit her teeth. "Damn it, Aranea, I thought we weren't gonna talk about it anymore?"

Aranea tilted her head to the side. "It was only a kiss."

Iris bit her lip. "Only?"

Aranea smirked. "You want it to be more?"

Iris looked away. She occupied herself with finding a home for the bouquet.

Only when she could waste no more time on fussing over the flowers did she speak.

"I… I don't know."

She still had her back to Aranea when she heard it: the creak of her mattress giving up weight. Each step of Aranea's heels clacked on the linoleum floor. Iris tensed her shoulders, but she didn't move.

Hands came to rest on Iris' shoulders. Her hoodie had no sleeves, so there was no fabric between her skin and Aranea's. Her breath hitched.

Aranea leaned forward until her lips were level with Iris' ear.

"Tell me to stop," she whispers.

Aranea trailed her hand down Iris' arm, then her hip, then her stomach…

Iris growled and flipped around. She reached for Aranea's shoulders but Aranea was too quick: she grabbed Iris and shoved her backwards, until her back collided with the closed bathroom door.

She captured Iris' lips in a passionate kiss, and Iris' hands flailed before settling on Aranea's waist.

Aranea pulled back and rested her forehead on Iris'. "What do you want?"

Iris grit her teeth. "Just…"

Aranea smirked. She brought her hand down to cover Iris' breast. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

Iris gasped.

"This?"

"I… Aranea…"

Aranea pressed harder, kneading the flesh in her palm.

"Ah…" Iris reached up to Aranea's arm. "Too hard."

Aranea nodded. "Fair enough." She let go and took the zip of Iris' hoodie in her forefinger and thumb. As she pulled it down, Iris' eyes slipped closed and her breathing deepened.

Once the zip was down, Aranea slipped her hand underneath her shirt and pressed her palm against her stomach.

"Aranea…"

"Shh."

Aranea moved downwards and pushed inside her; Iris gasped.

Aranea rubbed until Iris was ready, then focused all her attention on a particular spot.

Iris shuddered. She reached one hand up behind her, but there was nothing on the door to hold so she merely curled her fingers against the wood, and whimpered.

A few minutes later, she began to move her hips; she moaned, and rolled her head back onto the door.

She fell apart with a cry, and pulled Aranea down for a kiss before she had even moved away. Aranea hummed against her lips.

"Well, aren't you a pretty flower?"

"Shut up," Iris growled. She grabbed Aranea's wrist and wrenched it away from her, then pushed her backwards until she collapsed onto the bed.