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Observations on the Life of Edward Kaspbrak

I found this one interesting and different so, enjoy :)

Summary: When he's not busy hating his job, loving his girlfriend, and trying his best not to get caught gossiping with his work friends, Advik Kavali observes his weird boss.

Ao3:fourteentrout

If there's anything that Advik knows about Mr. Edward Kaspbrak, it's that he's fucking weird. There are a few different reasons for this which he's compiled into a mental list that he heavily considers actually writing down every now and then.

The list, so far, goes like this:

He's ruthless. Like, exaggeratedly so. There's not even any reason for it, too, it's not like anybody is particularly unruly in their department, but if looks could kill, Advik's sure that 80% of the staff on their floor would be six feet under. He once heard that the guy didn't hire someone because they put salt on their food before trying it. Insane.
Advik knows nothing about him whatsoever. He's been working with him for four years. The most personal things he knows are either from gossip (Addison in accounting loves to talk) or context clues (I.e. the ring on his finger that one day was no longer there).
The scar on his cheek. It's, like, objectively one of the weirdest things about him. Shaina in marketing likes to joke that he's in the mob, but with the way he looks at people when they so much as allude to it, Advik would not be surprised.
One day, he'd been humming what was very clearly a Weird Al song. This prompted Advik to muster all his courage and say "I didn't know you listened to Weird Al." Mr. Kaspbrak looked at him like he'd just proposed a threesome, or something equally ridiculous to talk to your superior in the workforce about. Mr. Kaspbrak had said, with the resolve of Abraham Lincoln announcing the Emancipation Proclamation, "I don't," and walked away.
He's, like, kind of ripped. One time Advik had to stay late for a monster of a file that had to be completely re-worked, and Edward had too. He must not have been aware that he wasn't alone, because he stripped down to his undershirt and subsequently revealed impressively toned arms and slim build. It was fucking bizarre.
Advik isn't sure he's seen him smile. Ever. And he's definitely never seen him laugh.

Well, that last one has actually started to change, which is even more odd. Mostly given the circumstances that took place before Edward got, like, an emotional makeover.

First, Edward legitimately disappeared. Later he said it was for an abrupt high school reunion, but he came back with a cut—like a full laceration in the process of scarring, mafia looking shit like Shaina said—and, apparently, an order of divorce for his wife, who Advik also knows nothing about. Either way, the look in Edward's eyes that hadn't been there before the "reunion" tells Advik that maybe there's something more to the story.

Then, Edward started being...not nicer , per se, but a little less...impossible to talk to? Advik had interacted with him a whole of twice for non-work conversation after The Reunion, and never before. The first time was the Weird Al thing, and the second time was in the little office kitchenette. Brad had been giving Advik the generic borderline racist banter that had been going on for as long as he'd worked at Sheridan and Smith. When Brad left, Edward muttered "I swear, if that guy calls you Advil again, I'm going to uppercut him into the fifteenth floor."

Advik did not doubt this. Edward's tone suggested that he wasn't playing white savior, like Becky sometimes did (or tried to do), but that he was just waiting for a reason to give Brad the chop. It made Advik hate his job just a little less.

Since then, Mr. Kaspbrak has been (sort of) like a whole new man. He's still a by the books, takes-no-shit kind of guy that Advik thinks is weird as hell, but he's no longer completely awful to work with. It's like a physical weight was lifted off of Edward's shoulders that made him hate people a little less. Not that everyone in the office noticed, but Advik did. He thinks that Mr. Kaspbrak might not actually be as much of a dick as everyone makes him out to be. He does smile now, too. Not to his co-workers, but Advik can sometimes catch a glimpse of him with a wide, genuine grin when he's on his cell or texting on breaks. One day, he'd nearly missed a meeting because he was on the phone for his entire lunch break and even further still, which was insane for a man that is, quite frankly, the human embodiment of punctuality.