"I had honestly assumed a quick bout in the mud would see him sorted- there were many such temper flare ups in the Crows during downtime and I thought what worked then would work for him as well. Apparently I was wrong. It will not come to blows again." Not if it only made things worse- as it seemed to have in this instance. Beyond telling Beleth to mind the fool, he hadn't paid attention. He'd left to tend to his bruises and make sure none of his stitches popped. "That he caught me in such ill humor at the time as well brought...more unsavory memories and reflexes to the fore. Such things were handled in a certain way in the Crows."

And they were not kind, not gentle, and by no means conductive to preventing the behavior out of anything other than fear for punishment.

"I take it the phrase 'mad dog' is one he has heard before and does him no benefit? I will avoid it in the future." Calling him a fool, though, that must still be on the table. "No, but he is easily goaded as we saw tonight- and not everyone in the tavern is as discerning a combatant as I. Humans are terribly stupid in the face of their prejudices, Cyril. It would not take much for one of them to do something foolish."