count the stars with me? //

[Pandora!]

7,379. That’s the number of stars I’ve counted so far, spanning from left to right across the sky. I started my count as the afternoon and evening met, colors colliding, bashing, smashing, banging, booming, cracking, crashing before my nearly hue-less eyes, eventually declining to a grayish blue then to a black. Midnight black. Now the middle of the night accompanied me, the temperatures so low and frigid, shivers rocked through my body causing my lower jaw to bounce. I curled my long, tapered tail closer, wrapping myself in a tighter ball, attempting to keep my warmth to me and not to the surrounding snow. A sigh emitted from those shaking chops in chopped sequels, sounding awkward to my sensitive ears, one naturally cropped and the other folded delicately. Snow continued to surround me, stinging my nose repeatedly with its frozen touch and creating a mold around my body. I usually adored the nighttime, but this.. my ass was literately freezing off, it felt as if icicles hung from my jaw and nose. I attempted to concentrate on other things besides the temperature, but the cold just so happened to be about the only thing to do so on, and counting stars wasn’t cutting it. Not to mention I lost count a bit ago.

My fairly long neck was at a down-ward angle so that my solid, brick-like head could aid my body’s curling position. I lay on my side, four legs slightly sprawled outwards from my red merle, leopard-printed body, tail tucked between the two, a position I’m not quite used to. I could see the rise and fall of my chest out of my peripherals. It was so eerily quiet out here, winter’s white snow replacing spring’s green grasses. A moan shattered the tranquil silence, and I soon realized it was one of my own. Shit. Why? I realized something else: my heart was slowing, my breathing close behind its pace. I knew it was too fucking cold. I should have stayed near the city. I’m an idiot, though, and idiots are impulsive and don’t think about consequences… I knew I had to stand, to walk around, to get that slushie-like blood pumping again.

It took what seemed like ages to force my stiff body to cooperate, finally prevailing against tense muscles. It took a lot of strength to stand my full weight up, tail hanging loosely instead of its previous tight position. I rolled my neck, a joint or two popping in rebellion. My shivers shook me harder, forcing me to stand still for a bit longer than needed be. Once I had finally over came my body’s commands and demands and pleads and begs, I began to walk slowly. Very, very slowly. You could label this as a snail’s pace, but I was sure even that creature could move faster. Baby steps. Tiny steps. These little motions took massive amounts of energy, but soon enough, my speed increased. I was now naturally walking, joints smooth and muscles relaxed. I continued this, mind wandering from topic to topic, subject to subject.

words- like.. 510? could've been more. >>
muse- 8/10.
tagged- mental with shango.

[Mental..;;]

Fuckin' snow! Everywhere!
Spotted brute was the same color as the snow but he hated the cold white flakes that littered the earth and created a blinding glare if the light caught it just the right way. The dark sky was helping with the glare though, since there was no sun at all to cast enough light on the white snow for it to be blinding.
Eyes were cast upwards for a moment, taking in the black sky with spots of white.. the complete opposite to his white coat with the black spots. Inverted. Malevolent gaze didn't stay on the sky for long though, moving back onto the earth as the muscled dalmatian moved quickly over the surface of the snow, paws lifted high off the ground and only placed on the ice for a swift moment before it was raised again.
Overall he wasn't moving very fast, but he did appear quite comical with the way that he was lifting his paws so high and basically staring menacingly at the ground as though he was about to do something to it.
What the fuck am I even doing here?
There's absolutely no reason for Shango to be out and about on this cold winter night, his coat wasn't made for the cold. He didn't get fluffy or anything like that when the cold season started to threaten the world. His coat was short and thin, and at the moment he was freezing and the fact that he was out in the cold, walking on snow, didn't help one bit.
No attention was being payed to the rest of his surroundings, he didn't care about anything else at the moment, nothing else was causing him as much pain and frustration as the cold snow was. It had numbed his paws so much that he could almost not even feel the cold anymore. But it wasn't quite that numb yet, just enough so that the cold ground made a sharp pain presented itself on the pads of his paws each time he took a step.
He should've just stayed in the warm house that he had found, a place where the humans had a cat door big enough for him to squeeze his slender frame through in the middle of the night so he could lie in front of the fire that always seemed to be going even though they would've been asleep for a long time already at the point that he snuck in.
Interaction with humans was something he avoided as best he could, though interacting with their warm fireplaces while they're not present is perfectly acceptable. And harmless. It's very comfortable in fact, especially on really cold winter nights like tonight.
Frustration crossed the line into anger as he changed his walk into a run, a slow one at first but it was increasing the pressure that he placed upon the earth, making the sharp pain that was created from the contact with the earth about ten times worse. He sped up until he was in a proper run, his breaths coming in gasps because the cold air stung his lungs and made him not want to breathe. Only survival instincts and his subconscious mind kept him breathing and moving. The movement did help him get a tad warmer.. Still not enough though.
Eyes were still cast downwards towards the earth, searching for spots that seemed less cold even though that was impossible in the current circumstances. He didn't see the other dog there, didn't see that the other dog was right in the line that he was moving in. He didn't see the dog when....
SMACK!
The impact was such a shock to his system it rendered him speechless as well as incapable of movement as he stayed in the awkward position he had ended up in. Hitting the other dog at a run had hurt, but he was too cold for his brain to comprehend the pain at the moment. He had a look of complete shock on his face as he just stared at her and blinked.
His feet had slipped out from underneath him on the cold and somewhat wet snow as he had stepped and not picked them up again quick enough. He was basically sprawled out on his stomach on the icy ground and the coldness was slowly spreading through his body.
It was a sudden thing when his brain just started working again.
Shit!
He jumped up onto his feet again, shaking himself as he tried to rid his body of the coldness that had spread through it. Then furious gaze was moved onto the bitch that he was blaming for the cold. It was always good to have a living creature to blame for these things that nature brought upon him.
"What the hell was that for?"
He asked, his tone laced with anger and accompanied by a low growl as his top lip raised just enough for pointy shiny white teeth to show.. oh, they're sharp too. It's like a deadly grin, and who can resist such deadly things..
Eyes are as icy as the landscape and expression angry as he kept staring at her, position one of unfriendliness as he waited for her to act, to respond in a way which would give him a reason, no, an excuse to attack her and cause her as much pain as he was blaming her for causing him. Though in truth it was the snow that was inflicting the pain, but he could not attack and beat the snow, he could only attack and beat her.

words;; 950
muse;; very good

[Pandora!]

KA-DUNK! What the fuck was that?!

My mind had scattered. Squealing. Screeching. Screaming. Along with it, my previously random thoughts were spewed along my cranium, chaos erupting. Splattering themselves along the walls of my brain, I attempted to shove them back into the correct files. Always failing.. Never prevailing.. Always failing.. Never prevailing.. Always failing.. Never prevailing.. Hm, it seemed how my life always went.

I shoved such horrid negativity aside, focusing on my tiny spark of optimism. I have always tried to be a generally nice, pure soul, but how could one do so with such an sneaky, back-stabbing heart? He or she simply couldn't, so I ended the failed attempts awhile back. What's the point, anyways? I gathered my thoughts together and shoved them in folders and files that seemed slightly correct; they could be rearranged later, of course. I re-ran the event that just happened through my delirious mind. Walking. Walking. Walking. BAM! What the hell was that for? Collapse. Yep, I had fallen. Right on my ass, or literately, my belly. It sucked, lying upon this cold ground, the last bit of snow burning a large hole my body. Funny, the feeling of icy snow burning a hole in you. Oxy moron, don't you think?

My breathing quickened from not only the walking, but also the surprise of another canine side-swiping me, t-boning me, just.. scaring the living hell out of me. Well, maybe I was hell-less for a few seconds, but still.. I realized that I didn't even sense this.. male? Yes, male. I didn't smell his odor upon the atmosphere or hear his breaths and steps or taste his personality with each heavy breath he took. I now had doubt in myself; was I that.. useless? No, I was so much better than this, than him, but I still wanted to play my little game. I was always up for a challenge.

Well, hello to you, too, darling. I managed, attempting to mold my voice into that seductive, foxy manner. It was hard, because I honestly wanted to beg this brute for his warmth, affection, protection, advice, help.. I truly wanted to cry, to sob, to scream right here and now, but that was simply ridiculous. I stood now, realizing he was a few inches taller than me as my eyes adjusting, also catching his Dalmatian appearance: black spots upon a blanket of white. Personally, I always adored that breed, so plain and simple, yet with an edge. Hm, I'm not sure that I've met you before, dear.. I trailed off, turning my back to him, allowing him to possibly catch a glimpse at my frame and curves, tail making motions to curl around his chest, shoulder, neck, skull, then muzzle. My cranium turned, looking over my left shoulder at him, giving him that look, that prized look, the look that got me.. everything.

I gathered myself in the soft moonlight, realizing that the frigid, heartless winter full of death was now beginning its metamorphose into a gentle, poppy spring full of life, and soon, any tiny trace of snow, any microscopic evidence of this precipitation, would all vanish. Every bit. I was happy for this because simply, winter fucking sucked. All this damn snow and the cold weather. It would drive a fine lady like myself over the fucking edge..

I awaited his response to all of this.. seduction, attempting to grab a quite snack from this male. If he'd kill me a nice, hot meal, no energy would have to be wasted until I ate. Oh, you could say I'm lazy, but honestly, I just enjoy the sight of brutes tripping over each other to get me what I want and when I want it, which is usually right then and right there. Oh, maybe he'd even be so kind enough to give me a warm snuggle, hm?

This little love games, these mind tricks, it was what I lived for. Honestly. If I couldn't get so much pleasure out of this, I would've offed myself a while back. A long while back. Trying to live this life is and was simply horrible..

I still couldn't even reason why I wasn't chosen for death. I mean, just my brother and I were left. So many innocent pups died except us.. It was heart-breaking, truly, it was. I shook my cranium softly and averted my attention back to this rather gorgeous sire.

Glass-hued eyes -- so pale blue, a perfect blue -- gathered his build altogether. He had the usual black spots of a Dalmatian, and his muscles were toned, a very fit dog. My pelt was a red merle, very different to his. His eyes were a darker color in contrast to my light blue, possibly a deep brown.

[Mental..;;]

Eyes stayed upon her figure as the spotted male just waited for her to react to his own actions and words. Expression still held anger, anger of the aggressive sort. Her words did not help much either, because they were not enough of an excuse to hurt her. Though the attempt at making her voice seductive did bring a slight glimmer of amusement to his eyes.
Seduction was a game well played by some females, a game he was usually quite eager to play along with them. It was almost so much easier to just go along with them and then as soon as they seemed sure that they were winning he could just do something to show them exactly how smart he was. He was not one of those males that fell for these things so easily that you could almost get him to do anything you wanted. No, he only played along for his own benefit, because sometimes he ended up getting something he wanted.
She spoke again, her new set of words not much better than the last. "You would know if you've met me before." Tone was harsh as he spoke.
It was true, in general he left those that he met scarred in some way or another. Well, either that or he left them dead. Its just what he does, what he has always done. He can't help it, even though there is nothing that would've made him this way.
Her turning her back on him did give him a good enough view of her, so that he would notice everything that he needed to notice. Her tail brushing against him did not made him react all that much, though a smirk did appear on his features. A somewhat lustful and hungry look within his eyes now as he kept them focused on her. Muscled were bunched, tensed so much that they could clearly be seen underneath his short contrasting coat.
The look that she gave him over her shoulder was definitely noticed, though it wasn't really needed all that much. He had to give it to her though, she was pretty good. It was clear to him that she played this game often, and played it well. She would get a surprise with him though, he would probably not react at all like she was hoping or expecting him to.
Slight growl came from him, a warning look upon his features though the look in his eyes had not changed. His jaws were firmly shut, they needed to be or he might just end up taking a chunk out of her backside that was so temptingly near. Tempting in more ways than one.
Winter drove his mind to a sense of slight intensity that was not always present in warmer months. He didn't like the cold, hated it in fact. Because with his smallish frame and lack of fat as well as lack of a long coat he got cold too easily. He was semi-frozen a lot of the time, actually.. well, that's what it felt like anyway. Especially when there was snow about, it was just too cold for him.
The black and white dog turned away from the female, seemingly unaffected now by her seductive ways. "Try harder." He commented, his tone calm yet daring as he glanced at her before moving off a small distance. A smirk was still present upon his features, his expression now turning to one of amusement. Muscles had also relaxed again somewhat now, he had regained his composure.
She would not be able to get him do exert himself in order to please her, he did not seek approval from anyone and therefore was not willing to use any energy on anything that did not benefit him. Yes, he is a very selfish dog and he would easily admit that to you. And in these cold times he needed to save his energy so that he could use it to keep himself warmer, wasting it on others would just leave him cold and annoyed.
Sometimes he could figure out the point of these games, by watching the way that others reacted to it. Though he never did feel the need tor rush about doing whatever a female wanted him to do when they wanted it. No, he felt no need to please the opposite sex. In fact, in his opinion they should really be the ones trying to please him. They always seemed to need a male about anyway.
He waited patiently, wanting to see whether she would try harder to seduce him into doing what she wanted, whatever that was. Maybe if they just came out and said what they wanted straight away instead of playing all these silly games they would get what they wanted more often.

words;; 800+
muse;; very good