OPEN once, never enough, once

[METEOR]

METEOR

“Hmm.” Meteor listened to Kole’s response. A flick of his left ear—full of gold studs, now that Xanti had assisted him with the preparations to wear all the piercings for his second meeting as Pharaoh—and Meteor squinted at Kole’s silver piercing.

Observations crystalized into understanding. Why Kole had looked at him during the first meeting as he had. Why Kole had his own silver piercing. Kole liked piercings, gemstones. Where Meteor saw “tools for propaganda” Kole saw… beauty, maybe? Meteor didn’t need to understand. He only needed to min/max according to the useful parameters.

Meteor half-smirked. Another flick of his left ear, for emphasis. “If you want more piercings, ask Xanti. If xe gives you an excuse about cosmetic body modifications are a waste of xyr time, tell xem it’s a favor to me.”

Then, Meteor’s gaze swept the coyote’s face. Analytically. Meteor didn’t quite have an eye for beauty. He didn’t really consider beauty important in allies, friends, collaborators, tended to notice aesthetics or fashion choices only to tag narcissists at a glance. But he was excellent at patterns.

“Garnet, citrine, or tiger's eye would suit you.” Meteor’s smirk widened. He’d mellowed out into lawful evil because leadership was more reliable at getting him what he wanted than pure chaos… but he was tempted to pluck out the Serpent’s gemstone eye. However, that was simply an impulse.

He could be patient. Better to arrange for a trade for chickens, establish some rapport… and then get a good deal. Chaotic evil was so inefficient compared to his current methodology.