It was not that the cyclops was misinterpreted, he came to realize, when both little girl and guy-with-tremor retaliated at his words. Jefferson had no regrets, did not rethink a strategy; his procedures were always blunt and rough like tar, as he did not beat around the bush. His Valley members had always responded best to it, thus he knew to do it well, but perhaps he had forgotten just how peaceful AniWayans were. Conflict was not even a part of their culture, he surmised, nor were "troublemakers" like he or Lucifer dawdling about in the Valley. Despite all that, his words had been earnest, not scolding; the white male had no need for fear or trepidation in the Patriarch's midst, but clearly bringing that to light had made for the opposite effect.
Green eye stared, deadpan, flicking between them both in turn; his facial features did not shift and he did not retaliate visually at their scolding responses. He felt no shame, no humiliation — actually, he found a little AniWayan girl and a tremoring coward scolding him to be rather humorous, but his expression nor voice showed no evidence of this whatsoever. Claudius invited Sakari to see something and blatantly turned the cyclops away — nothing the scarred man would be bothered by, but a slight swell of relief washed over him. "See, there's the confidence I asked for," he said, shrugging. His methods were complicated and harsh, but hey, they always seemed to work without fail.
It didn't much change the situation, however, and so Jefferson spun stiffly on his heel and started away, following the riverbank once more, tossing his scarred hand over his shoulder in farewell. "Well, seeya."
It was no wonder he had such few friends; on top of his harsh and ragged demeanor and appearance which pushed most away anyway, the man was surprisingly out for the good of the world. He never meant harm, specifically, but always spoke what occurred to him as truthful. The presentation was unceremonious and led to his further isolation, but the fragile shaking boy he hadn't even known had stood up to the monster in the end. Jefferson couldn't ask for much more, yet heaved a sigh as he departed their presence.
.jeffers-d04 .ooc {font-style:italic; }
.jeffers-d04 p {padding:2px 20px; margin:0px; text-indent:35px;}
.jeffers-d04 b {color:#77321A; letter-spacing:-.2px; }
.jeffers-d04 {background-color:#FBF4B4; background-image:url(http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/2010dec/jeffers.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:2px solid #000000; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#6F6B49; letter-spacing:.4px; word-spacing:.3px; line-height:16px; width:450px; text-align:justify; padding:10px 0px 105px 0px; }
.jeffers-d04-border {width:454px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; margin:0 auto;}
</style>[/html]