After the Light (FFXV)

Chapter 21

Just outside of Hammerhead, Iris stood on the side of the road with a clipboard in her hand, while the streetlights were getting their bulbs replaced. More powerful lights decreased the chances of daemons showing up during the night, so everyone didn't have to rush home before the sun went down.
"Iris!" Talcott called from up the street. "Your car is ready!"
"Thanks, Talcott!" She answered, just before making the short walk back to the garage.
After the daemons returned, everyone who owned a car in Lucis went straight to the garages for any and every reason. Hammerhead was the busiest, but it was nothing Cindy and Talcott couldn't handle.
"That tire's as good as new. Stay safe." Cindy smiled.
"Thanks, Cindy." Iris' smile faded when she saw the replica Regalia parked in one of the spots.
Given that time had stopped, and Noctis failed to mention that fact, Iris was convinced that she had been daydreaming that night; yet she laid awake thinking about it for hours during the nights that followed. It felt too real. Asking him about it was out of the question. Oh yeah. Hey, Noct? Did you low key admit that you like me, and did we almost kiss? Just banish me already.
         Coming from the store next to the garage, Stella joined Iris by the car, looking at her phone.
         "Prompto said they should be here sometime later." Stella said.
          Iris nodded her head and then got into the car with Stella. Great! She wasn't ready to be around Noctis. If only she knew that she'd been on his mind for the last few days.

        After spending most of the day running errands to keep the streets safe at night, Iris and Stella made their last stop at Galdin Quay. They were too tired to make the drive back to Lestallum. While on their way to the restaurant, they stopped.
       "Damn it." Iris lightly slapped her hand against her forehead.
        "What's wrong?" Stella yawned.
        "We have to deliver the lightbulbs to Altissia." Iris said.
         Stella looked at the time on her phone. "If we hurry, we can catch the last ferry."
        After grabbing the packages from the trunk of the car, they raced to the dock and boarded the ferry with a couple minutes to spare. They rested the packages on the floor, and then sat down.
"Where do we leave them?" Stella asked.
"Cor said the hotel will take them. So we can do that and then grab something to eat." Iris answered, as her phone rang.

The regalia was parked on the side of the street. Gladio was waiting for Iris to answer the phone, to determine where they'd be spending the night.
"Hey, Gladdy." She greeted.
"Hey, we just landed. Are you in Lestallum or Cape Caem?"
"Neither. Stella and I are on our way to Altissia."
Gladio raised an eyebrow. "Altissia? Why?"
"We're making a delivery. It's for safer nights, now that the daemons are back." Iris explained. "We'll be back sometime tomorrow."
"Try to get back as soon as possible. I know you both can take care of yourselves, but if this Cain person is as bad, or worse than Ardyn, I'd feel better if it weren't just the two of you." He said.
Noctis leaned forward, tapped Ignis' shoulder, and motioned for him to turn the car around. Ignis did as he was asked and drove towards Cape Caem.
"All right, I guess we're meeting you there." Gladio said.
         "Oh...okay. We'll see you soon." Iris replied.

         Altissia was normally a well lit place, and relatively peaceful. Based on how bright it was, it was almost questionable how badly they needed the special lights. Before Noctis went into the crystal, Altissia had only a few daemon sightings. During the ten years of darkness, there was no telling how bad it had gotten. Since they needed the extra lights,  it was safe to say their daemon situation was pretty serious.
          Waiting outside of the hotel for Iris and Stella to come back from dinner had Noctis' stomach in the tightest knots. He had absolutely no idea what to say to Iris. He spent the entire trip from Cartanica thinking about how he was going to start the conversation. Does she even want to talk about it? Lowering his head, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Are you all right?" Ignis asked. "You can go up to the room, if you want."
Noctis sighed. "No, I'm fine. Thanks."
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Iris said, as she and Stella approached them.
Noctis' eyes popped open, and he lifted his head, dropping his arm at his side. His eyes instantly met hers, and she blushed as she shifted them away from him.
          "It's fine. We haven't been waiting long." Gladio assured them.
           "So we'll all talk in the morning?" Stella yawned.
            "Sounds like a plan. I'm exhausted." Prompto agreed.