Thinking about these tags of yours:
#give the poor man more trauma responses!! #have him try to hide them so the team doesnt make fun of them!!
Just because I can fully imagine the team making fun of Ed flinching, because they're really mean to him. Mansell would probably prank him by trying to set Ed off on purpose. He'd absolutely hide it after that, no matter how much worse it makes the poor guy feel.
like @4th-make-quail has HEARD at length about the scene where they make fun of ed for getting kidnapped, but in that scene hes literally stood positioning himself behind the whiteboard, his back to the corner of the room!! even then, presenting things hes passionate about, hes at least subconsciously scared! and they make fun of him!! and he leaves abruptly and the literal next shot is of him sniffling in his archive the poor guy!!!
they would TOTALLY see him flinching at them moving too fast near him, or at a pair of cuffs being tossed onto a desk, or cutting himself off mid historical explanation because someone unnoticed came up behind him to put smthn new on the board and absolutely ream him for it :((
mocking him for being scared, downplaying what happened, getting annoyed with HIM for reacting to them badly
AND FUCKING MANSELL ESPECIALLY OH MY GOD
ur wip/idea about him/the team pranking ed by cuffing him in his sleep is immediately what i thought of!! hed totally prank ed to try and set him of!!
banging on desks to “emphasize his point” when eds in the room, clapping him on the shoulder in “congratulations” about a good idea :((
OH GOD him pulling another email prank but this time hes impersonating someone anonymous trying to freak ed out
AND ED HIDING IT!! stifling his reactions, whimpering in the back of his throat, trying not to be obvious about his panic 😭 breaking down when he gets back to his archives, hyperventilating and eyes going blurry with tears :((
