saturday night's alright etc etc.
Who: Noah Connell (AESOP'S WOLF) and Easy Raub (BIG BAD WOLF), with cameo by John Fields (AESOP'S BULL)
What: The wolves get into a very vicious, very public scrap at Kilroy and May's reception
When: Later in the evening, during this thread
Where: Terminal Five, New York City
Rating: R for cursing and violence
Note: This scene is a bit delayed, but anyone at the reception probably would have either seen the fight, or quickly heard the gossip that a ~librarian~ got into a fistfight. Please feel free to disseminate this juicy scandal at your leisure!
NOAH: Weddings were Noah's thing. Particularly ones filled with industry professionals and celebrities he halfway-knew and liked to keep tabs on; it meant premium-grade schmoozing at the reception, cocktail glass in hand and an easy smile arranged for any familiar and non-familiar faces who happened to say hello. Once he noticed Velvet across the room, Noah gave his colleague an acknowledging nod after all. This was a big event. Good to have the librarians around and giving their congratulations. Or their sheer presence, at least.
The wolf couldn't help but feel strangely like an ambassador as he meandered through the crowd: not only did he have the mantle of Epic Records attached to him, but, well, he represented the Aesopeans in general. Case in point, an euphoric Edwina alternated between hanging onto his arm and then fluttering off into corners of the room, as she discovered ever-increasingly-fascinating people to talk to.
A whimsical wedding along the likes of Kilroy and May's was something new, for certain, but he enjoyed it. It was filled with friends and other tales and brief acquaintances alike. And even a few women he faintly suspected he might have slept with (he avoided re-introducing himself, just in case). It was a good reception, all things considered, and Noah busied himself by plucking snacks from plates and popping them into his mouth, and refilling his champagne by catching a glass as it floated past, borne by harried waiters. His tale sense had started off crackling and distractful, but soon the sheer weight of the tales' presence made it fade into the background. Like a car alarm, it soon turned from 'intensely aggravating' into 'faintly-irritating drone in the back of your head'.
It wasn't half bad.
EASY: Weddings certainly weren't Easy's thing - that's why he'd gone right ahead and skipped the actual ceremony, and gone right for the reception. See, free booze and desperate, lonely women? Those were his thing. He'd slipped in largely unnoticed and generally kept to skulking around the sidelines, quite certain that if his uninvited presence became generally known, he'd be swiftly asked to leave. Of course, upon spotting the Aesopean Librarian taking up a position off to the side of the crowd, he just couldn't resist getting himself into a little trouble. With a sly smirk pasted across his expression he slipped up next to Noah, clapping one hand over his shoulders and holding on with an unnecessarily firm grip.
"Quite the shindig, eh Connell?" He drawled with a sardonic chipperness, directing Noah's attention out over the crowd. "Plenty of fine does out there, just waiting to be pounced on. You got your eye on anything yet? Best to let me know, so we don't cross hunting paths. Tell you what, what with your killin' instinct not bein' what it used to these days, how 'bout I do you a solid and leave all them really drunk ones to you? Consider it a little favour, in honour a' this most auspicious occasion."
NOAH: Now this was unexpected. Noah rankled at the sudden touch, his shoulders stiffening -- the voice was familiar, and keeping his own gaze trained on the others, the man answered, almost through gritted teeth, "Evening, Raub. How'd you get in? Chloroform and an unwitting catering girl? Crawled through the doggie-door?"
The last time Noah had scribbled to the other wolf on the compendiums, he'd lost his temper more than usual. As a result, their little corner of the room had now turned marvellously tense -- but thankfully, none of the other guests noticed. For intents and purposes, they looked like two men of evenly-matched height, solid and impassive. And simmering with badly-done faux cheerfulness.
EASY: Easy kept his grip firm on Noah's shoulder for as long as it would be allowed - and made sure to showcase it for anyone who happened to glance in their direction. No doubt there was a Tale or two who seemed awfully surprised - and disapproving - to find a Librarian getting so friendly with the local scoundrel. "Come on captain, y'all should know by now: I go where I want. Beauty of being a free man, is what that is." He paused to offer a generous wink and flirtatious gesture at a passing bridesmaid, before a thought seemed to strike him.
"Oh, but while we're markin' off territory, I will stake my own lil' claim: the Demuth woman? Definitely gonna be workin' that angle myself. God damn if that ain't a woman after my own heart, I tell ya. And the things she says..." Easy released a half-whimsical, half-gutteral laugh, to indicate that his flirtations with Monica were anything but chaste. "Gonna be a wild ride with that one, y'all can count on as much."
NOAH: Each successive word made him tense up even further, his muscles winding until Noah abruptly shrugged his way out of Easy's grasp. "Only free 'cos you haven't been caged in the goddamn pound yet, Ezekiel," he said quietly, his tone low. "And she's only a wild ride because I made her that way." He had a lopsided, almost wicked grin to accompany the next few sentences: "Sure you're up for taking my leavings, Zeke? Don't think she'll be too fucking thrilled to cross sides and try the beta."
It was cruel, to an extent. Monica was an older friend than... well... than pretty much anyone in Noah's life. He didn't mean to drag her and the old relationship down with him, but his thinking and planning turned hazy with rage whenever he tried dealing with Raub -- it was no holds barred, and anything became a legit weapon to try turning against the other man. They ran the canine metaphors as far as possible, because it was easier to lurk behind flippant words than admit that, actually, what they really wanted to do was rip each other's throats out before they realised they didn't have those teeth anymore.
EASY: Noah's smug revelation did come as something of a shock to Easy; granted, Monica had hinted that she knew the other wolf, which is partially why Easy had brought anything up in the first place. Still, he hadn't given Noah the credit of that sort of past with the cowgirl, and the notion certainly got his own hackles up. His arm was forced off of Noah's shoulder and he let out an involuntary little growl, before quickly morphing it into an acerbic chuckle. "Why Noah, you old dog..." He jabbed sharply, his body tilting partially towards Noah so that they were no longer standing shoulder to shoulder, as though inviting some sort of head-on conflict.
"Guess that makes an awful lot of sense though... No wonder she's so curious what it'd be like to try out a real wolf." The guise of benign civility was quickly melting away in favour of more overt malice, his lips curling back over bared teeth with each word. He cocked his head to one side and added with a dark smirk, "You goin' and gettin' yourself neutered might just be the best thing that ever happened to me."
NOAH: He recoiled unconsciously at that, entire body wrenching as if about to lunge and strike -- but Noah quelled it at the last second, turning the motion into an awkward sort of spasmodic jerk instead. He tried for a cocky smile, but it transformed into a grimace until every last trace of mirth disappeared. Noah looked serious now, his attention riveted on Easy and no one else. A passing familiar redhead stopped and tried to flag his attention, but the increasingly-sour looks passing between the two men signified that this ... really wasn't a conversation to be interrupted. He didn't even notice her.
"Don't fuckin' kid me," he said with a laugh, sharp and biting. "You really figure she's curious? You really figure everyone and their mother's after your tail?" There was a distinctly dangerous gleam in his eye now; something bestial. "Bet you walk bigger than you talk, Easy. Mo shot you down."
She must have.
EASY: The aggressive shift in Noah's body language seemed to please Easy, his features contorting in a dark, challenging smile. Despite how much he seemed to be goading Noah, he wasn't exactly relaxed himself; his shoulders squared and he leaned closer to his adversary, every bit the territorial predator. His eyes burned into Noah's own, distracted by nothing. Anyone watching might be surprised to find they weren't actually circling each other.
"Ain't my business to be figurin' nothing." He jeered back, his bared teeth blurring the line between smile and snarl. "Just my business to make her say yippy-kay-ay." He made a slight but aggressive feint forward at this to drive home his point, before continuing in an idle taunt, "Ain't never met a girl what loves bein' on top quite so much. Bet you never even thought to find out how she squeals when you get her on her back..." Now he was just straying right into guesswork, but he knew women well enough to figure that Monica more or less wore her sexual proclivities on her sleeve, to his advantage...
NOAH: Oh. Bad idea. Bad idea, Easy. Images flooded Noah's mind and raised hackles turned to clenched fists, nails digging into skin, and rankling temper turned into rapidly diminishing self-control. Noah Connell constantly lived on the knife's edge of lupine instincts, suppressing them to the best of his ability. Because this was civilization. Today, people solved things with words and signed documents, and without goddamn killing each other or getting into scuffles and brawls --
But insinuations of taming -- of leashes and losing his touch -- had finally gotten through. And dear christ was Noah's inner wolf upset.
"Out of my face, Raub."
EASY: Civilization Shmivilization, that was Easy's credo. There was no knife's edge for Ezekiel Raub, who seemed to happily stray from one side of the line to the other, finding ways to indulge his animalistic appetites despite the societal norms that Noah so carefully abided. And he knew it, too... He was happy to readily present his indulgent lifestyle to the other wolf at any given opportunity, lavishly displaying the alternative options at his disposal for negotiating the wolf within. While it seemed to most that he was merely antagonizing Noah, what he was really doing was tempting.
The flash of primal rage across Noah's features only brought a wide, self-satisfied grin to Easy's, which was offered right up to the growling Librarian. Easy was goading the wolf within to come out and play, which he seemed to deem a worthy risk, especially given the vaguely inviting manner in which he was cocking his chin. "Or else what, Rover?" He challenged, with the smug satisfaction of someone who was well aware of Noah's supposed powerlessness.
NOAH: That smug shit-eating grin was the bane of Noah's existence. Not simply because Easy was an infuriating jackass who made it his personal mission to get under his skin, but because that type of loose, hedonistic, immoral, and above all, violent figure was completely who he used to be. Noah remembered. He tried to forget as often as possible, but it never changed the fact that he was an Aesopean, and all of the fables had notoriously long histories yawning off into eternity. Once upon a time, Noah Connell had been that wolf.
He shrugged off the challenge. He finally broke their locked gazes and turned away, shoulders slouching to disappear safely into the crowd--
-- only to abruptly turn back, his arm swinging with him, a burst of movement compressed into a punch to Ezekiel Raub's jaw.
EASY: As Noah turned away Easy's reaction was an incongruous melange of victory and disappointment, but he wasn't above tossing a derisive snort at the back of his rival's head. "Typical dog, walking away with his tail tucked between his l--" So certain was he in his win that Easy wasn't even mildly prepared for Noah's punch, which connected squarely with his jaw. The sound of impact wasn't quite heard over the thrum of music and din of revelry, though the cacophony of Easy falling backwards onto a table drew some attentions. The table upended and the big bad wolf wound up sprawled out on the floor gracelessly, though immediately scrambled to whip his head around, flashing his assailant a violent growl. Forced onto hands and knees, Easy had never so closely resembled his lupine namesake as in this moment.
"Look who thinks he still got teeth." He half growled, half shouted, his muscles coiling to telegraph a lunge. However, before he could actually make an attack, Easy noticed the several partygoers who had gathered on the periphery to watch. His head darted from side to side at first like a cornered animal, but then a slow, dark smirk crept across his lips. He lifted himself up laborously, theatrically exaggerating any injury he might have incurred. "Y'all saw that!" He called to the onlookers, gesturing to Noah. "Y'all are witnesses! Assault! This here Librarian done gone attacked me!"
NOAH: Normally, a reaction like that might have made Noah give pause and withdraw for the sake of polite society -- but old instinct had finally woken up with a vengeance, just like Easy had wanted. And once born, that type of anger started snowballing out of control; Easy's futile appeals only nudged him onwards, because he knew the stark difference in reputations between them, and he knew just how flimsy the excuse of crying wolf was. In fact, the words sent a deep thrum through his memory. The moment they cried wolf, well-- it meant no mercy from the wolf, and it meant victory.
So, against all logic, and against what was proper for a head goddamn librarian to do, Noah tackled Easy again, all quick punches and scrabbling arms, trying to veer and shoulderbutt the other man into the wall.
EASY: Easy seemed to be quite enjoying his moment of showmanship, his cries to the crowd undercut by a strong tone of teasing amusement as he gestures back to his growling rival. He was clearly enjoying drawing attention to their little spectacle, injecting full irony into his role as the hapless victim. "Here I am just tryin' to mind my own business an' have a gay ol' time when the big brute comes and--" As if on cue Easy's words were again cut off, but this time he wasn't caught nearly as off guard. Not that he was ready with any sort of counterattack - he accepted the tackle readily, even managing a sharp laugh that mangled itself into a grunt as he flew backwards.
Despite the oddly vicious joviality with which he entered the fray, Easy seemed disinclined to offer any quarter - now that the fight had been properly engaged, he joined it with gusto. He was far from a trained fighter, but he suspected his foe wasn't either. He fought with a mix of sheer testosterone and primal memory, making up for any lack of grace or precision with sheer ferocity. Ultimately he was the less motivated of the two and it showed - anyone watching could realize that while Easy was getting his licks in, Noah was edging towards victory far faster. This did not stop the former wolf from getting off the occasional snide comments mid-brawl, despite the fact they only seemed to expedite his own beating.
JOHN: Somewhere amidst all the mayhem someone had the presence of mind to go find John, who had likely been dragged out onto the dancefloor and was otherwise quite enjoying himself. At the news that his beloved Librarian was in danger he immediately went into Bull Mode, charging in that lumbering, unstoppable manner towards the altercation. Upon finding the two wolves locked in a knock-down, drag-out brawl he seemed momentarily baffled, shifting weight anxiously from foot to foot and trying to figure out how to end the fisticuffs. "Mister... Uh, Mister Connell, sir... Mister Connell, can you..." He struggled to interject himself politely to no avail, and after being ignored by the brawlers for a couple moments, he drew in a huffy breath and opted to just wade into the melee.
Taking full advantage of his bulk, he reached down and, in a methodical, almost gentle manner, gripped each wolf by the shirt collar and pulled them apart. At full arm's length he managed to force them out of striking distance, at which point he doubtfully released Noah and focused his full attention on restraining a growling, petulant Easy. As the big bad wolf spat insults and insisted on his innocence, the bull merely held him firmly, looking to his Librarian for instruction. "Want I should throw him outside, Mister Connell? He got no business attacking you."
NOAH: Heaving shallow breaths and nursing a wincing, blinking eye -- these two hadn't spared each other's faces -- Noah could, at last, feel the anger ebb away until he no longer saw sheer unbridled red. Being all but bodily picked up and lifted away from his enemy had been enough to bring him back to his senses, and the man immediately busied himself with pretending it hadn't happened. He tried not to look at the quieter, appalled wedding guests around them, and salvaged the situation as best he could. He pointed at the exit.
"Throw him out, John," he eventually said, one hand delicately brushing his own bruised, split lip. He sounded tired. As much as he couldn't admit it, he was grateful for the bull's calming presence. Take it slow, Noah. Get out of here with your skin and reputation intact. "Dunno how he got in here anyway. Jesus christ."
He picked up another glass of champagne and downed it in one go, letting the chilled drink refresh him. Right. Time to discreetly slink out through one of the other entrances while all eyes were on John hefting out the insurgent.
EASY/JOHN: Easy continued snarling and thrashing for a couple futile moments, held firmly in John's stolid grip. The bull craned his head away as though it were an actual wild animal in his hands, but did not let go. Soon enough Easy resigned himself to his fate, though none too happily, and cast Noah an acidic glare from his helpless restrains. "Oh sure, throw me out." He growled back, "Wasn't like it was me what threw the first punch. Wasn't me behavin' in ways unfit for civilized society. Wasn't--" His words cut off as John yanked him towards the door, forcing him to stumble along.
"Felt good, didn't it Connell!" He shouted over his shoulder, unconcerned by the amount of attention he was drazwing. "Felt goddamn right to let the beast out, didn't it! You remember that feeling next time you're curling up in your little Pentamerone doghouse, Connell! You remember it!" His cries - now shouted with an ominous, knowing tone continued until John shouldered open a side exit and, in an unceremonious manner, thrust the big bad wolf out into the alley.
What: The wolves get into a very vicious, very public scrap at Kilroy and May's reception
When: Later in the evening, during this thread
Where: Terminal Five, New York City
Rating: R for cursing and violence
Note: This scene is a bit delayed, but anyone at the reception probably would have either seen the fight, or quickly heard the gossip that a ~librarian~ got into a fistfight. Please feel free to disseminate this juicy scandal at your leisure!
NOAH: Weddings were Noah's thing. Particularly ones filled with industry professionals and celebrities he halfway-knew and liked to keep tabs on; it meant premium-grade schmoozing at the reception, cocktail glass in hand and an easy smile arranged for any familiar and non-familiar faces who happened to say hello. Once he noticed Velvet across the room, Noah gave his colleague an acknowledging nod after all. This was a big event. Good to have the librarians around and giving their congratulations. Or their sheer presence, at least.
The wolf couldn't help but feel strangely like an ambassador as he meandered through the crowd: not only did he have the mantle of Epic Records attached to him, but, well, he represented the Aesopeans in general. Case in point, an euphoric Edwina alternated between hanging onto his arm and then fluttering off into corners of the room, as she discovered ever-increasingly-fascinating people to talk to.
A whimsical wedding along the likes of Kilroy and May's was something new, for certain, but he enjoyed it. It was filled with friends and other tales and brief acquaintances alike. And even a few women he faintly suspected he might have slept with (he avoided re-introducing himself, just in case). It was a good reception, all things considered, and Noah busied himself by plucking snacks from plates and popping them into his mouth, and refilling his champagne by catching a glass as it floated past, borne by harried waiters. His tale sense had started off crackling and distractful, but soon the sheer weight of the tales' presence made it fade into the background. Like a car alarm, it soon turned from 'intensely aggravating' into 'faintly-irritating drone in the back of your head'.
It wasn't half bad.
EASY: Weddings certainly weren't Easy's thing - that's why he'd gone right ahead and skipped the actual ceremony, and gone right for the reception. See, free booze and desperate, lonely women? Those were his thing. He'd slipped in largely unnoticed and generally kept to skulking around the sidelines, quite certain that if his uninvited presence became generally known, he'd be swiftly asked to leave. Of course, upon spotting the Aesopean Librarian taking up a position off to the side of the crowd, he just couldn't resist getting himself into a little trouble. With a sly smirk pasted across his expression he slipped up next to Noah, clapping one hand over his shoulders and holding on with an unnecessarily firm grip.
"Quite the shindig, eh Connell?" He drawled with a sardonic chipperness, directing Noah's attention out over the crowd. "Plenty of fine does out there, just waiting to be pounced on. You got your eye on anything yet? Best to let me know, so we don't cross hunting paths. Tell you what, what with your killin' instinct not bein' what it used to these days, how 'bout I do you a solid and leave all them really drunk ones to you? Consider it a little favour, in honour a' this most auspicious occasion."
NOAH: Now this was unexpected. Noah rankled at the sudden touch, his shoulders stiffening -- the voice was familiar, and keeping his own gaze trained on the others, the man answered, almost through gritted teeth, "Evening, Raub. How'd you get in? Chloroform and an unwitting catering girl? Crawled through the doggie-door?"
The last time Noah had scribbled to the other wolf on the compendiums, he'd lost his temper more than usual. As a result, their little corner of the room had now turned marvellously tense -- but thankfully, none of the other guests noticed. For intents and purposes, they looked like two men of evenly-matched height, solid and impassive. And simmering with badly-done faux cheerfulness.
EASY: Easy kept his grip firm on Noah's shoulder for as long as it would be allowed - and made sure to showcase it for anyone who happened to glance in their direction. No doubt there was a Tale or two who seemed awfully surprised - and disapproving - to find a Librarian getting so friendly with the local scoundrel. "Come on captain, y'all should know by now: I go where I want. Beauty of being a free man, is what that is." He paused to offer a generous wink and flirtatious gesture at a passing bridesmaid, before a thought seemed to strike him.
"Oh, but while we're markin' off territory, I will stake my own lil' claim: the Demuth woman? Definitely gonna be workin' that angle myself. God damn if that ain't a woman after my own heart, I tell ya. And the things she says..." Easy released a half-whimsical, half-gutteral laugh, to indicate that his flirtations with Monica were anything but chaste. "Gonna be a wild ride with that one, y'all can count on as much."
NOAH: Each successive word made him tense up even further, his muscles winding until Noah abruptly shrugged his way out of Easy's grasp. "Only free 'cos you haven't been caged in the goddamn pound yet, Ezekiel," he said quietly, his tone low. "And she's only a wild ride because I made her that way." He had a lopsided, almost wicked grin to accompany the next few sentences: "Sure you're up for taking my leavings, Zeke? Don't think she'll be too fucking thrilled to cross sides and try the beta."
It was cruel, to an extent. Monica was an older friend than... well... than pretty much anyone in Noah's life. He didn't mean to drag her and the old relationship down with him, but his thinking and planning turned hazy with rage whenever he tried dealing with Raub -- it was no holds barred, and anything became a legit weapon to try turning against the other man. They ran the canine metaphors as far as possible, because it was easier to lurk behind flippant words than admit that, actually, what they really wanted to do was rip each other's throats out before they realised they didn't have those teeth anymore.
EASY: Noah's smug revelation did come as something of a shock to Easy; granted, Monica had hinted that she knew the other wolf, which is partially why Easy had brought anything up in the first place. Still, he hadn't given Noah the credit of that sort of past with the cowgirl, and the notion certainly got his own hackles up. His arm was forced off of Noah's shoulder and he let out an involuntary little growl, before quickly morphing it into an acerbic chuckle. "Why Noah, you old dog..." He jabbed sharply, his body tilting partially towards Noah so that they were no longer standing shoulder to shoulder, as though inviting some sort of head-on conflict.
"Guess that makes an awful lot of sense though... No wonder she's so curious what it'd be like to try out a real wolf." The guise of benign civility was quickly melting away in favour of more overt malice, his lips curling back over bared teeth with each word. He cocked his head to one side and added with a dark smirk, "You goin' and gettin' yourself neutered might just be the best thing that ever happened to me."
NOAH: He recoiled unconsciously at that, entire body wrenching as if about to lunge and strike -- but Noah quelled it at the last second, turning the motion into an awkward sort of spasmodic jerk instead. He tried for a cocky smile, but it transformed into a grimace until every last trace of mirth disappeared. Noah looked serious now, his attention riveted on Easy and no one else. A passing familiar redhead stopped and tried to flag his attention, but the increasingly-sour looks passing between the two men signified that this ... really wasn't a conversation to be interrupted. He didn't even notice her.
"Don't fuckin' kid me," he said with a laugh, sharp and biting. "You really figure she's curious? You really figure everyone and their mother's after your tail?" There was a distinctly dangerous gleam in his eye now; something bestial. "Bet you walk bigger than you talk, Easy. Mo shot you down."
She must have.
EASY: The aggressive shift in Noah's body language seemed to please Easy, his features contorting in a dark, challenging smile. Despite how much he seemed to be goading Noah, he wasn't exactly relaxed himself; his shoulders squared and he leaned closer to his adversary, every bit the territorial predator. His eyes burned into Noah's own, distracted by nothing. Anyone watching might be surprised to find they weren't actually circling each other.
"Ain't my business to be figurin' nothing." He jeered back, his bared teeth blurring the line between smile and snarl. "Just my business to make her say yippy-kay-ay." He made a slight but aggressive feint forward at this to drive home his point, before continuing in an idle taunt, "Ain't never met a girl what loves bein' on top quite so much. Bet you never even thought to find out how she squeals when you get her on her back..." Now he was just straying right into guesswork, but he knew women well enough to figure that Monica more or less wore her sexual proclivities on her sleeve, to his advantage...
NOAH: Oh. Bad idea. Bad idea, Easy. Images flooded Noah's mind and raised hackles turned to clenched fists, nails digging into skin, and rankling temper turned into rapidly diminishing self-control. Noah Connell constantly lived on the knife's edge of lupine instincts, suppressing them to the best of his ability. Because this was civilization. Today, people solved things with words and signed documents, and without goddamn killing each other or getting into scuffles and brawls --
But insinuations of taming -- of leashes and losing his touch -- had finally gotten through. And dear christ was Noah's inner wolf upset.
"Out of my face, Raub."
EASY: Civilization Shmivilization, that was Easy's credo. There was no knife's edge for Ezekiel Raub, who seemed to happily stray from one side of the line to the other, finding ways to indulge his animalistic appetites despite the societal norms that Noah so carefully abided. And he knew it, too... He was happy to readily present his indulgent lifestyle to the other wolf at any given opportunity, lavishly displaying the alternative options at his disposal for negotiating the wolf within. While it seemed to most that he was merely antagonizing Noah, what he was really doing was tempting.
The flash of primal rage across Noah's features only brought a wide, self-satisfied grin to Easy's, which was offered right up to the growling Librarian. Easy was goading the wolf within to come out and play, which he seemed to deem a worthy risk, especially given the vaguely inviting manner in which he was cocking his chin. "Or else what, Rover?" He challenged, with the smug satisfaction of someone who was well aware of Noah's supposed powerlessness.
NOAH: That smug shit-eating grin was the bane of Noah's existence. Not simply because Easy was an infuriating jackass who made it his personal mission to get under his skin, but because that type of loose, hedonistic, immoral, and above all, violent figure was completely who he used to be. Noah remembered. He tried to forget as often as possible, but it never changed the fact that he was an Aesopean, and all of the fables had notoriously long histories yawning off into eternity. Once upon a time, Noah Connell had been that wolf.
He shrugged off the challenge. He finally broke their locked gazes and turned away, shoulders slouching to disappear safely into the crowd--
-- only to abruptly turn back, his arm swinging with him, a burst of movement compressed into a punch to Ezekiel Raub's jaw.
EASY: As Noah turned away Easy's reaction was an incongruous melange of victory and disappointment, but he wasn't above tossing a derisive snort at the back of his rival's head. "Typical dog, walking away with his tail tucked between his l--" So certain was he in his win that Easy wasn't even mildly prepared for Noah's punch, which connected squarely with his jaw. The sound of impact wasn't quite heard over the thrum of music and din of revelry, though the cacophony of Easy falling backwards onto a table drew some attentions. The table upended and the big bad wolf wound up sprawled out on the floor gracelessly, though immediately scrambled to whip his head around, flashing his assailant a violent growl. Forced onto hands and knees, Easy had never so closely resembled his lupine namesake as in this moment.
"Look who thinks he still got teeth." He half growled, half shouted, his muscles coiling to telegraph a lunge. However, before he could actually make an attack, Easy noticed the several partygoers who had gathered on the periphery to watch. His head darted from side to side at first like a cornered animal, but then a slow, dark smirk crept across his lips. He lifted himself up laborously, theatrically exaggerating any injury he might have incurred. "Y'all saw that!" He called to the onlookers, gesturing to Noah. "Y'all are witnesses! Assault! This here Librarian done gone attacked me!"
NOAH: Normally, a reaction like that might have made Noah give pause and withdraw for the sake of polite society -- but old instinct had finally woken up with a vengeance, just like Easy had wanted. And once born, that type of anger started snowballing out of control; Easy's futile appeals only nudged him onwards, because he knew the stark difference in reputations between them, and he knew just how flimsy the excuse of crying wolf was. In fact, the words sent a deep thrum through his memory. The moment they cried wolf, well-- it meant no mercy from the wolf, and it meant victory.
So, against all logic, and against what was proper for a head goddamn librarian to do, Noah tackled Easy again, all quick punches and scrabbling arms, trying to veer and shoulderbutt the other man into the wall.
EASY: Easy seemed to be quite enjoying his moment of showmanship, his cries to the crowd undercut by a strong tone of teasing amusement as he gestures back to his growling rival. He was clearly enjoying drawing attention to their little spectacle, injecting full irony into his role as the hapless victim. "Here I am just tryin' to mind my own business an' have a gay ol' time when the big brute comes and--" As if on cue Easy's words were again cut off, but this time he wasn't caught nearly as off guard. Not that he was ready with any sort of counterattack - he accepted the tackle readily, even managing a sharp laugh that mangled itself into a grunt as he flew backwards.
Despite the oddly vicious joviality with which he entered the fray, Easy seemed disinclined to offer any quarter - now that the fight had been properly engaged, he joined it with gusto. He was far from a trained fighter, but he suspected his foe wasn't either. He fought with a mix of sheer testosterone and primal memory, making up for any lack of grace or precision with sheer ferocity. Ultimately he was the less motivated of the two and it showed - anyone watching could realize that while Easy was getting his licks in, Noah was edging towards victory far faster. This did not stop the former wolf from getting off the occasional snide comments mid-brawl, despite the fact they only seemed to expedite his own beating.
JOHN: Somewhere amidst all the mayhem someone had the presence of mind to go find John, who had likely been dragged out onto the dancefloor and was otherwise quite enjoying himself. At the news that his beloved Librarian was in danger he immediately went into Bull Mode, charging in that lumbering, unstoppable manner towards the altercation. Upon finding the two wolves locked in a knock-down, drag-out brawl he seemed momentarily baffled, shifting weight anxiously from foot to foot and trying to figure out how to end the fisticuffs. "Mister... Uh, Mister Connell, sir... Mister Connell, can you..." He struggled to interject himself politely to no avail, and after being ignored by the brawlers for a couple moments, he drew in a huffy breath and opted to just wade into the melee.
Taking full advantage of his bulk, he reached down and, in a methodical, almost gentle manner, gripped each wolf by the shirt collar and pulled them apart. At full arm's length he managed to force them out of striking distance, at which point he doubtfully released Noah and focused his full attention on restraining a growling, petulant Easy. As the big bad wolf spat insults and insisted on his innocence, the bull merely held him firmly, looking to his Librarian for instruction. "Want I should throw him outside, Mister Connell? He got no business attacking you."
NOAH: Heaving shallow breaths and nursing a wincing, blinking eye -- these two hadn't spared each other's faces -- Noah could, at last, feel the anger ebb away until he no longer saw sheer unbridled red. Being all but bodily picked up and lifted away from his enemy had been enough to bring him back to his senses, and the man immediately busied himself with pretending it hadn't happened. He tried not to look at the quieter, appalled wedding guests around them, and salvaged the situation as best he could. He pointed at the exit.
"Throw him out, John," he eventually said, one hand delicately brushing his own bruised, split lip. He sounded tired. As much as he couldn't admit it, he was grateful for the bull's calming presence. Take it slow, Noah. Get out of here with your skin and reputation intact. "Dunno how he got in here anyway. Jesus christ."
He picked up another glass of champagne and downed it in one go, letting the chilled drink refresh him. Right. Time to discreetly slink out through one of the other entrances while all eyes were on John hefting out the insurgent.
EASY/JOHN: Easy continued snarling and thrashing for a couple futile moments, held firmly in John's stolid grip. The bull craned his head away as though it were an actual wild animal in his hands, but did not let go. Soon enough Easy resigned himself to his fate, though none too happily, and cast Noah an acidic glare from his helpless restrains. "Oh sure, throw me out." He growled back, "Wasn't like it was me what threw the first punch. Wasn't me behavin' in ways unfit for civilized society. Wasn't--" His words cut off as John yanked him towards the door, forcing him to stumble along.
"Felt good, didn't it Connell!" He shouted over his shoulder, unconcerned by the amount of attention he was drazwing. "Felt goddamn right to let the beast out, didn't it! You remember that feeling next time you're curling up in your little Pentamerone doghouse, Connell! You remember it!" His cries - now shouted with an ominous, knowing tone continued until John shouldered open a side exit and, in an unceremonious manner, thrust the big bad wolf out into the alley.