Esther loves those moments when you go to another world when creating.  She always looks for that in her routine projects and crafts.  Esther has a sincere love for Robert Graves, who contends that poetry, at its core, is a religious exercise: a way to commune with the Goddess Aspect of the Divine.  Esther tries to live this philosophy as often as she can.  So when she loses herself now, she feels that she is communing, in a way, with the Other Thing and the Goddess at the same time.  But when it is done, she is frightened of herself.<br/><br/>This isn't getting her way.  This is physically making things that have charisma, somehow.  She'd never thought of it that way, but it's true.  Her painting isn't a beautiful work of art, but it has.. charisma.  Presence.  As though it's something you want to stare into.  What on earth...<br/><br/>"Wow, Esther.." comes the mousy voice of Leila, and Esther realizes that a crowd had gathered behind her, seeing it as well.  "It looks really beautiful.. just like you.."  Esther can already see that Leila's attraction to her is spoken for, and probably the only thing that keeps it off the proverbial table is it's repressed nature.  But then Esther stares at the painting again, and feels she caught the wrong part of what she said.  Esther is standing there, in the painting.  Beautiful.  Strong.  Sensual.  With beautiful purple eyes.  Her future self?  Esther has to admit, she likes it.  Devil that it probably is, she likes it.<br/><br/>She also has to admit that it's nearly feeding time for her Cosmic Critter, and Leila is sitting right there, almost ready to volunteer.  Esther tries to find a polite way to recognize the compliments that people have been paying her and quietly excuse herself to the restroom.  She only hopes she succeeded, but seems to find that people are more watching the painting than herself at this point.  Noting this, Esther moves to the restroom, seeking a place where she can find another moment to process.  It's not just that, either.  Esther stands in front of the bathroom mirror, holding her hands up and looking at herself.  She's prettier.  She can't say why, exactly, but something is different.<br/><br/>Instinct is also telling her that her hands are different.  They have some sort of ability, and Esther isn't quite sure if it means that she can hurt people easier or simply control them better.  But she feels like if she just laid her hands on a human...  Wow.  If that's the kind of thing she's getting, she wonders what Mike has by now.<br/><br/>Speaking of which!!  She hasn't seen any of those three clowns all day, and it's getting time to fuck one or all of them.<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>Esther slumps down on the floor.  That doesn't sound like her at all.  She's always been jaded about these things, and now she's casually mentioning the need to ride some serious dick like it's on her grocery list.  She understands the reason why she has to, but.. but wow.  Getting up off the floor, she washes her face and goes back out into the hall.  Peering into the classroom, she's curious if people are still looking at her painting.  Funny, that.  If she can do that with a painting, imagine what she can do for Cynthia.  Or even for herself.  Esther starts to think about the monetary aspects as well.  There's so much she might be able to do with this, that for the first time all day, she honestly and truly feels like she can do<em>anything</em>again!<br/><br/>Esther will return to class, mingling for a little bit before the bell goes off.  While she is worried about Leila's attraction and the many reasons why that's a terrible idea, she finds she likes the Freshman.  She seems down to earth, for someone so shy, and she seems smart as well.  It's almost lunch time..  the Critter isn't the only thing that's starting to need a snack.  While that's a very, very important issue, for some reason, Esther feels confident, given her new-found ability.  While she keeps an eye out for her targets, most importantly Band Boy, she still feels like smiling again.