***Cassius***
The heat started as the faintest itch under my skin, so light I might have convinced myself I imagined it. A prickling at the back of my neck, a restless energy in my blood, as though I'd walked too fast on a hot day. I told myself it was nothing. That I was fine.
But I wasn't.
By evening, the warmth had thickened, spreading through me until I could feel it in every breath. My body was a furnace of its own making, fire licking at my insides, burning hotter with each passing hour.
This wasn't a gentle warmth, it was a deep, pervasive combustion that settled in my bones and muscles.
My skin, usually pale, cool, and steady, flushed an angry, painful red. It felt tight, almost stretched over the hotness beneath. Sweat gathered instantly on my brow, thick and sticky, sliding down to my jaw in slow, miserable trails. The sensation of the dampness against the scalding heat of my skin was a constant, maddening contrast.
