and the eighth time... it was intentional. in an impulsive moment i thought that if i was going to be stuck absorbing everyone then i might as well absorb someone who i liked: a girl who i was fond of (a bipedal rhino, at a party). while we were shielded from view, i picked up and prodded her with her own sceptre. the spell activated and performed its work faster than before, but not so fast i couldn't see her face. her expression wasn't of fear or of confusion but of *anger*, and anger directed at *me*.