It was a relief that Iris was okay. Gladio certainly seemed less tense now that he'd seen his little sister safe and sound. That night, when they stayed at Lestallum for the first time, Iris pulled Leo aside. "Hey. I've got an extra bed in my room. You want to stay? It'll be like a slumber party!"

"Go for it." Gladio encouraged. "Just don't have too many pillow fights."

Iris pouted at him. "We're not 12, Gladdy. C'mon Leo. They're not invited."

Leo waved at them and followed after Iris with her bag slung over her shoulder. She didn't want to offend the younger girl. It was just a different place to sleep. That was Leo thought, Iris had different plans.

The room had two twin beds next to each other. Iris plopped down on her stomach and clutched a pillow to her chest. "Sooo, how are you?"

Leo smiled. "Um, good. It's nice to be in a city for a change."

They talked a bit about Lestallum, where Iris described her experiences. Leo refrained from asking about her escape from Crown City, not wanting to push at a sore spot. After the pleasantries, Iris got to what she really wanted to talk about. "Is Noctis doing okay?"

Leo sighed. "He seems to be managing pretty well, all things considered. Won't talk about it though, so the rest of us leave it alone." Leo didn't want to talk too much about Noct without his knowledge. It felt wrong to talk about it behind his back, even if it was with Iris.

"I see." Iris looked sad at that. "I wish I could help." Leo didn't know what to say to that. Even to her, it was obvious that Iris had a crush on Noct. But Noct was clearly indifferent and promised to someone else. Iris continued. "You and Prompto have known him since high school, right?"

"Yup. First year." She remembered her and her mother moving to Crown City that year. Everyone else already had established friend groups and Leo's abrasive personality didn't help her make friends. It was Prompto whom she decided to approach first one day, sitting by himself in the corner of the cafeteria. He was a wallflower, and she was unsociable. They became fast friends. When some boys tried to bully them in the first month Leo moved there, she got in a lot of trouble for beating the shit out of them.

But it made Prompto all the fonder of her. It was later that year that they met Noct. It was Prompto that approached him, confessing to Leo that he had been trying to befriend Noct for some time. So she stuck around the annoying prince for his sake. They clashed at first, but they soon grew to tolerate than like each other. By second year, their group was solid.

She told Iris all of this, who listened with rapt attention and fascination. Leo blushed once she finished relaying the story, hoping Prompto and Noct wouldn't mind. She had just gotten carried away. "Wow." Iris said. "And then you met Ignis and Gladdy after?"

"Me and Prompto always saw them around Noct in high school. But we only started hanging out after we graduated and joined the Crownsguard." The older boys were reluctant at first but tolerated them because they were Noct's friends. But it was impossible not to like Prompto who exuded sweetness. Then eventually, they started liking her too.

"Isn't it hard to travel with a bunch of boys?" Iris asked.

"Not really." Leo shrugged. "I doubt they remember I'm a girl." She certainly didn't go out of her way to act like one. Her hair was short, and she dressed in mostly hoodies and other baggy clothes. Sometimes she wore shorts, but her figure was so boyish, that no one felt the difference.

"But you are still a girl." Iris pointed out. "It's rude of them not to treat you like one."

What would that even look like? Leo shuddered at the thought. "Nah, I like it like this."

"Okay. As long as you're happy. You know, it's odd. I'm kinda jealous. I wish I could travel with you guys and be part of the group." She smiled at Leo's concerned look. "Don't worry. I'm also happy to support you guys from the sidelines." Iris really was sweet. Leo could see why Gladio was so protective. "So… do you like any of the boys?"

And she took it back. "Gross." Leo chucked a pillow at her.

"I'm just teasing." Iris laughed, throwing the pillow back. Leo had to chuck the pillow back at her. That escalated into an actual pillow fight. By the time they were spent, there were feathers strewn all over the room.

"Thanks Iris." Leo said, lying down on her back.

"What for?"

"I dunno. Hanging out with you was nice. So thanks."

She giggled. "You're welcome, silly. If you ever need girl time, I'm here."

Maybe she'd take her up on that.

...

Iris is kind of a tough character for me to write because honestly the game struggled a lot with it's female characters as they are significantly underdeveloped especially in comparison to the male ones. I'm not saying I'm doing better in this little snippet or anything, though lol.