'Keeping a lid on it' just scored a point, because wow, that was not what he was going for at all. "No, I-" He makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "I want you to trust my judgment for this kind of thing because I can read the room! You can back down from a stalemate - you can't back down from a fight!" At least, he can't, and he's not the only one who stood to get injured or even killed if the fight had escalated any more.