Character relationships?

[dinnertime]

Any source on that? I was under the impression that the entirety of ARR+HW somehow took place in under a year.

They're still 16. The game's timeline is trapped in a time bubble. In ARR they mention Ala Mhigo being conquered 20 years ago and they still do in Stormblood. Pretty much the only indication of time passing they've mentioned in the MSQ is how it took 2 months to go from Eorzea to Hingashi.