do you think when overwhelmed/really hurt waterboy just.. stops talking?
Like maybe he's thinking about how "granny needs another medicine, the cats need to be taken to the vet, the water damage is causing mold, i need to be a hero, etc." and when he spirals he just.
shuts down.
he doesn't talk much, he doesn't say hi to the z-team, he only mumbles affirmative and negative answers to different jobs.
On the other hand, during a mission, he gets struck by the villain. hard.
He groans (or makes any wounded noise) and asks for assistance before growing mute.
Z-team HATES when he does this. the second one especially. It makes them anxious because they go "hey waterboy are you alive.. hello??.. hellooo.... 🙁".
Robert has to look at his stats and reassure them that he's alive (he also felt incredibly anxious).
They hate seeing their bubbly, stuttering, personified ball of sunshine be so sad/hurt to the point of turning mute.
Honestly that whole “ah ha..ha..ha….mm…excuse me” moment he did I totally see this happening. I think it also happens when he’s like, upset.
When he’s stressed out he usually stammers more than usual and tries to keep calm but sometimes he just..can’t speak. He’s so stressed that speaking is a chore. He just…can’t. So he goes quiet.
When the others notice this they know he’s having a bad time and he’s stressed. Even when he’s stressed he’ll talk and panic, but..this is the mind trying to preserve itself.
When Waterboy gets hurt to the point he goes quiet, it has to be something REALLY bad. Mind you in his voice lines, he’s pretty chatty when he’s LITERALLY ABOUT TO LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS. So it has to be REALLY bad cause this guy is chatty when he’s hurt.
This has to be near death stuff. Like his body can’t heal his wounds fast enough and he’s bleeding out stuff. He goes quiet cause talking is too tiring. He tries but..he can’t.
As for upset, he’ll go quiet before he gets angry. He’ll definitely do an “excuse me” a couple of times cause he just wants to calm down. Other times, he doesn’t say anything. He’s just silent and he gives short “yes” and “okay” answers. He’s the sunshine of the team and these moments everyone feels guilty even if someone didn’t DO anything.
Heck it might not even be the Z team! Maybe it’s a REALLY bad villain or more than likely, a REALLY bad customer. An ungrateful hateful asshole who doesn’t even care Waterboy helped them. They are still mad.
He’ll go quiet for a bit but if it’s first shift, he gets it together. If it’s second shift well…he still does his best but he’ll be quiet and hurry off home when he can. If he does get caught by someone though..they’re concerned. And Waterboy feels ashamed he lets people get to him like this. He just..hates being told his powers are useless, or he’s useless or what that customer said, “a waste of space”.
So….
He just…holds himself together until he can bury his face in his pillow
