mouseyblue is my ao3!

prism seeing watergirl's failgirl stammering and clumsiness as a transparent ploy to get the boys on the team to cover for her out of benevolent sexism (and if flambae starts being chivalrous too by going out of his way to help watergirl, that could impact his rankings on the scoreboard, which makes watergirl an IMMEDIATE threat in prism's eyes—not only bc she's jeopardizing his ranking, but because flambae is prism's territory. and even if he weren't, he's DEFINITELY way out of waterbitch's league... 😒)

like you knowwww sonar is offering her help while also being a bit of a flirty sex pest, and coupé and punch up are running interference, and flambae is the one who ACTUALLY ends up having to help her... and to petty workaholic prism, all this reads as: a DISTRACTION.

even if prism believes watergirl's fumbling is earnest, she would resent her for not having the temperament and independence to make it as a woman in the highly demanding field of hero work when prism is BUSTING HER ASS out here doing literally the most. and she's not even a former villain???? the fuck? that limp-wristed, goody two-shoes ass bitch is tripping all over herself and STILL thinks she can play in the big leagues??? oh, HELL no!! 😡

flambae slapping noodles all over waterboy and telling him to aim his dick up and water-piss it off is one thing... prism doing the same to watergirl and cattily saying, aw, did the bed-wetting widdle newbie spill her lunch aaaall over herself? 🥺 like you weren't gonna barf it all back up anyway... 😒 bulimia-having ass pissbitch.

prism could be SO fucking mean!! like, the optics of a WOMAN throwing up all the time are completely different than when a man does it!! and prism wouldn't fail to make a cruel comment or a pointed gagging gesture when the opportunity arose... she'd restrict it to the usual sassy radio chatter on-shift, of course, to keep up appearances, and reserve the more severe bullying for when no one else is around. robert is crushing on watergirl here too, (honestly they could be on some EXTREMELY cute, shy, girl next door shit... damn actually that is kind of precious, hold up—), but tragically, he's trying to keep things professional and not make her uncomfortable (she's so nervous!), so in his attempts to be impartial, he only subconsciously favors her withhout realizing it (though prism doesn't fail to notice, drawing her ire), but he averts his eyes in an attempt not to let his gaze linger too tellingly... thus preventing him from noticing prism's hazing 😭

shout-out to @mouseyblue-ao3 for this next thought, which is what hooked itself into my brain and ultimately convinced me this ship was peak: prism giving watergirl a swirly in the work bathroom and telling her to stay away from her man, to quit being so fucking pathetic—then stomping on her pussy until she pisses herself on the tile floor 🫣 (i know she's wearing a wetsuit... but maybe prism's heel poked a hole in it while she was kicking her ass? ouchies... 😰humiliating... 😔) making watergirl cry... ):

and who needs a squad of women complicit in your malicious same-gender hazing to guard the door when you have light clones to do that? prism stalks out with her clones in tow and leaves watergirl crying on the floor of the bathroom stall... ): the evil corollary to robert comforting waterboy in the janitor's closet 😭💔💦

as for the upswing...

watergirl would be even more subdued than usual during the next shift... maybe she cuts out of work early (her pussy hurts 😭)... but a few shifts go by and she's improving little by little, even as prism wages psychological warfare on her every chance she gets--doing things like, tripping her on purpose and acting concerned for her that she's so clumsy, or giving her a subtly backhanded compliment in front of the others, or a snide insult or an open threat in private. watergirl always quails but doesn't tell nobody. and somehow while dealing with work and prism's bullying watergirl finds time to hit it off with golem (he's the one who was the LEAST weird about her being a shy pathetic girl who needed everyone's help in the beginning, lol) and she shyly invited him to see her cover band perform at a small house party... and he was like hell yes, baby, when and where? (idk, i think it can actually be so cute if they hit it off... not enough golem love in this fandom if u ask me 🪨🩶)

(also i think as a woman, watergirl would either face even more societal pressures in life that forced her to seek outlets for her inner rage to cope—or else as a woman she would have been pressured to "smile more", mask more, and generally be more sociable. in either case, she's not just a metal enthusiast, but she has a band of fairweather friends who play together)

but the z-team catch wind of it when golem mentions it offhandedly while begging off of bar plans, and they intrusively invite themselves along. 😩 and watergirl is stressed as FUCK when they all show up at this small little house party. like they are all former villains and current sort-of superstars who do hard drugs and go clubbing, they are all WAY too cool to be here. 😭 and of course they are her asshole coworkers!! which is to say that some of them might baby her a little at work, but they are also chronically sarcastic compulsive smartasses, so they can't help but tease her about being in a band... and of course PRISM THE MUSIC SNOB has the most to say about it. no respect for amateur musicians in this house lmao... she's like, what could you possibly play? drums? can't imagine you playing anything else without shorting it out, since you're always sopping fucking wet. and watergirl is sooo much taller than her but god she's still shaking like a leaf. ): and she's like uhm... i'm the vocalist... 🥺👉👈 and prism guffaws, HA! YOU? a field mouse could project better than you. and watergirl mumbles well... that's what... the mic is for... 😢 things escalate to the point that robert tries to intervene, but he has no jurisdiction in Girl Catfight Crossing ✋😤 🛑 prism keeps piling on the antagonism, asking if she's gonna stuh-stuh-stuh-stutter serenade them? and watergirl finally raises her voice to snap that if prism didn't want to hear it, then she could have just stayed home, because watergirl didn't fucking ASK her to show up uninvited, did she?!

and it's quiet in the backyard as watergirl stomps up to the low makeshift stage and nods nervously to the band, and then she belts out a cover of "rebel girl" by bikini kill (shout-out to @superloserz and my eternal gratitude bc this song was revelatory for the dynamic lmao). and the only reason it takes prism the full duration of the song to realize watergirl MIGHT have a crush on her is because it is so jaw-droppingly improbable that she is genuinely having trouble believing it.

and the fact that watergirl didn't WANT prism here for this is sooo humiliating bc she clearly wanted to belt out this lesbian anthem like a diary entry to a crowd of strangers who wouldn't care and golem who wouldn't judge her even if he did figure it our. then she could process it outside of work. but prism and the gang just HAAAD TO SHOW UP UNINVITED and after the full set (and seeing prism's flustered face watergirl suddenly looks a lot more confident 😳) prism walks up to her again and is like huh??? what????? was that?????? and watergirl is like uhmmm well i like that you don't baby me? i do want to do the hard work and actually i think i do my best work under pressure. which you put me under. a lot. of pressure. actually. uhm. and you're really pretty and i admire you a lot, and i actually really like your music, i think your lyricism is really clever and--and prism is like hold up, you... like my music? and watergirl is like yeah? it's really good? and prism is like bitch i KNOW it's good i guess i'm just... surprised you have taste.