As I mentioned in the other thread on the front page regarding this topic, a system of interacting with specific NPCs would be fairly easy to implement based off that we already have a similar system in FFXI. Interacting with key points in main cities would let you call your companion NPC and hold dialogue with them along with the other aspects of that system. It'd probably be best as an area you click in The Rising Stones and then are able to interact with a few important NPCs from your story. Doesn't even have to be dating which for some reason people love jumping to immediately, it can just be a friendly get-together with some banter to give you some insight on how those characters feel about developments in the story.