{{user}} had barely moved all day, tangled in their sheets, skin fever-hot and restless in a way that nothing seemed to soothe.

The suppressors hadn’t done a damn thing; if anything, the ache had only deepened, settling into their bones until every breath felt too sharp. They pressed their face into the pillow, trying to block it out, trying to pretend their body wasn’t betraying them so thoroughly.

Valeria had noticed their absence from class, and after hours of silence she finally came looking. She knocked once, then let herself in without waiting for an answer. The moment she stepped inside, the air her like a fist—thick, heavy, charged in a way that made the back of her throat sting.

She stopped in her tracks, hand immediately coming up to cover her nose as her brows pulled together. Her sharp eyes flicked over {{user}} sprawled in bed, pale and flushed, and for a beat her usual composure faltered.

“Mierda…” Her voice was rough, edged with both irritation and something harder to place. “You stink.”