(no subject)

[xinjinmeng]

:
You may be one of those people who does not consciously recognize illness. You assume that it is fatigue, or allergy, or perhaps the vapors. It is only when one tastes the bile and feels the aches that one finally acknowledges one's humors are out of balance. I had been feeling less than nominal for about a day before the sickness came in earnest.

When this dragon runs a fever, the temperatures often exceed four hundred degrees Centigrade; thus I first noticed my fever when my sleep-mask caught fire. My condominium is programmed to flood my abode with trifluoroiodomethane to surpress combustion, and I briefly worried that my guest would suffocate. It was a moment later that I achieved sufficient wakefulness to remember that I had no guest. Fortuitously, my stage performances as Hedda Gabler had ended just the previous night, and I was no longer on any acting schedule.

For the next two days, I was generally miserable. Being that hydration is necessary for my delicate condition, I was made all the more irritable by my constant, fevered perspiration, which made my silks sticky and my odor unpleasant. And since my sweat is richly deuteriated, I could not return home for fear of permanent exile for violating the toxicity laws. (Yes, I am still on probation from my previous transgressions, which the home-owners' association have yet to prove, but have yet to suspect anyone other than myself.) I could have relocated to O___'s tower, but the thought of my poisons seeping into the ground-water of those beautiful swards did not sit well with me. My personal physician, I have not heard from in some time, and what last I heard implied he was not to be imposed upon lightly, let alone in this dire context.

Instead, I temporarily relocated to a temple resort. The inhabitants there practice some sort of neo-pagan fertility worship that is ill-defined, in that way that neo-pagans always must always be inclusive to many beliefs. Shamefully abusing their open-door policy, I esconced myself in their springs, to enjoy a private tub where the water boiled under my own temperature. I wonder if there is a specific name for the fetish of being uncomfortable, because the head-aches and night-sweats invigorated me greatly. One hopes the plumbing in the bath houses of the holy sun are thoroughly decontaminated, or I will have much to answer for.

This day, I was feeling well enough to visit the theater. L___ has returned, carrying on as if nothing had happened, which is what I suspected he would do. I did not let such mercurialness bother me, I have others more deserving of my mighty frettings. As is par for the course, there were many little issues I had to address, because they were no one else's clear responsibility, and because I am a responsible person. Is my good behavior being exploited? I am still so naive to make work its own reward, and I suppose I am no happier than when I push my boulder up Tartarus' hills.

Post-Script to (anonymous), re: invitation -- I must respectfully decline with a hundred apologies. While I do not doubt the man so honored was a strong stage presence, I am almost completely unfamiliar with his work and it would be inappropriate for me to attend.

Comments

[reveille-d.livejournal.com]

When this dragon runs a fever, the temperatures often exceed four hundred degrees Centigrade

And I did not think that the radiant Xinjinmeng could be any hotter.