Highland Arcade

Fandom: Soul Calibur Ship: Cassandra/Hilde Hug prompt: 20 (Cuddling) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The mountains near Athens could get quite cold, especially near the top, and especially at that shrine where Sophitia spent so much time praying, but back home was still at the coast of the Mediterranean. Even winters were relatively mild, and spring and summer were delightfully warm.

Cassandra had absolutely no idea how the people of Wolfkrone didn't all freeze to death every damn winter.

Tightening the thick wool cloak she traveled with around her shoulders while sitting in near a campfire, Cassandra gave a shiver at the bitter cold of the frosty air in the Black Forest. Princess Hilde had taken her, Gerhilde, and a small retinue of her closer fellow soldiers on a boar hunting trip, both for food and sport. Hilde had, apparently, been on several trips before, and had displayed remarkable strength and courage; when Cassandra had made a fool of herself by questioning why everyone was so impressed with the princess having fought a pig and taking it down entirely on her own, Hilde invited her to come along and see what the fuss was about, at least once everyone else had finished laughing at her.

Sure, there was the legend of the Calydonian Boar Hunt in her homeland's ancient folklore, but that was a divine beast sent by Artemis, not just a regular wild boar. Where could some hog in the woods compare to the fury of the goddess of the moon and the hunt?

Rather than her usual sword and shield, Cassandra had taken a pair of odd spears with her at Hilde's behest. They had long, sharp heads with what looked almost like the crossguard of a sword near the part where the head met the shaft. "The crossbar," Hilde had explained, "combined with the lengthy and broad leaf shape of the head is so that you can inflict mortal wounds without the boar getting too close."

Cassandra hummed curiously. "How would the boar keep coming towards you with a spear in its guts?" she asked, and Hilde giggled softly. "Cassandra, mein Schatz, wild boars are extremely fierce. When in danger, they simply do not care that they have been impaled, and will run up the shaft of the spear to gore you with their tusks anyway, and both of you will die. And even then, the strongest boars can still break the thick shaft if you do not control them properly, and then they will kill you anyway. We have entire parties of hunters take on a single hog for a reason."

"Didn't they say you killed one by yourself though? How hard was that?"

Hilde raised an eyebrow. "That was considered a truly exceptional feat," she replied. "Even my father, who is far bigger and even stronger than I am, almost died when his entire hunting party had been chased off. The boar was already wounded, and the only reason I still have a father is because he managed to get it in the eye and pierce its brain." She grinned with no small amount of pride and smugness. "When he found out that I had taken my own boar down by myself without injury, he was so beside himself with relief that he could not sleep for two days."

Scooting closer to Hilde on the log upon which the both of them sat, Cassandra leaned on the princess' shoulder. "If hunting a boar is so dangerous, couldn't you wear armor to stay safe?"

With a shake of her head, Hilde answered, "Armor is for battle, not for hunting. If you were to wear enough of it to make a difference, you would be too loud, and scare your quarry away. As well, heavy enough armor to fend off a boar restricts movement, and if the weather is too cold, the metal robs your body of warmth. You would freeze to death before ever finding the beast you hunt."

Hilde's own clothes for the hunt included padded cloth, thick leather gloves and boots, a scarf made of badger pelts, and a cloak made from the cured hide of a black bear. "Speaking of warmth," she noted, "it looks like you could use some yourself." She picked up Cassandra and set the squeaking Greek lady in her lap, then wrapped her arms around Cassandra's shoulders and middle, hugging her from behind and resting her chin in the crook of Cassandra's neck. "Here, have some of mine.

quit what?

cold turkey

yeah but what did you quit

im telling you, i quit cold turkey

alcohol?

no i quit cold turkey

i wasnt offering, im trying to figure out what you quit

and im telling you i quit cold turkey

wait. you quit cold turkey?

yes i quit cold turkey

like the meat?

no i dont like it thats why i quit it

cold turkey?

part of autism is just being incredibly stressed. overstimulation? stress. holding a conversation? stress. something happening to our schedule? stress. people talk about how often autism is recognized and diagnosed via our stress responses (like meltdowns) because it is just so common to see autistic people stressed because of lack of accommodations to how our brains work.

like. loud noises physically hurt. it’s like a static shock from my ears to my spine that doesn’t stop until the volume goes back down. i thought we all agreed that ‘that’s too loud!’ and covering our ears meant ‘ouch!’. turns out i’ve been dealing with a stressor almost no one else has, my whole life, alone.