<33 Thank you for starting! :3
A howl or call of some kind, clearly directed for the dumbass Patriarch, unfortunately failed to stir him on its first attempt. Unsurprisingly, the one-armed beast had once again fallen asleep in the rocking chair before the crackle and warmth of the fire; it was odd, funny even, how easily the fire could numb his thoughts and allow sleep to happen when at night -- every night -- he struggled to bring peace to his aching, screaming head. Thus, it was no surprise that the call did not wake him at first; the poor leader barely got enough sleep as it was, and although one might accuse him of being lazy as he slept unwillingly in the rocking chair with the book once in hand now toppled to the floor, well, Jefferson would be the only one who knew better.
It was his name that jolted him awake, the idiot now realizing that there had been some other call beforehand that only his subconscious had caught. Thinking it was an emergency, Jefferson hardly tried to distinguish the voice's owner before hauling his ass out of the chair in a flurry (the chair sent sprawled somewhere behind him in the rush). Strong legs pounding the wooden floor, the cyclops threw the front door open -- fur on edge, senses flared. His vision was thrown left to right, looking for a source of danger and seeing none. Finally, he looked slowly at Zynex and her typical haughtiness. The Patriarch breathed in slowly and released a long, not quite relieved sigh and rubbed at his eyes. In this time of war, screaming at the poor five-year-old was going to be enough to give him a heart attack, or else throw him into a blind rage.
"Zynex," Jefferson said calmly, trying to recollect himself. He took another moment to breathe and settle his flaring instincts and senses, then rolled his shoulders and looked at her again. "Scared the hell out of me... I thought someone was attacking the Valley. Are you all right?" Perhaps it was the fact that he'd just barely woken, but he wasn't quite his typical caustic self quite yet.
