Work Text:
"I gutted some of the Sigma-17's communication systems," Boulder had said. "Integrating them with the human systems already in the bunker will give us way better range and functionality that both we and the humans can use. I've already done all the connections and groundwork, I just need you guys to do some wire management and then close it all up."
Blades had sighed. Heatwave had resisted the urge to do the same, but hadn't pretended to sound excited about it when he agreed to do the work. It wasn't like they had anything better to do that afternoon anyways.
It was the middle of a Wednesday, and there wasn't much going on. Cody was at school. Dani was off-shift and hanging out with friends downtown. Kade was upstairs on the comm center and wasn't about to come down and hang out with them. Boulder, Chase, Chief Burns, and Graham were heading out to one of the nearby islands to do some maintenance and perimeter checks on some off-site science facilities and some other random tech nonsense that Blades hadn't been paying attention to. There was nothing interesting on TV that Blades hadn't seen before.
Blades didn't despair, though. Luckily, he did have a way to entertain himself that afternoon.
Both he and Heatwave had, without speaking, mutually agreed to put the comm center repair off as long as possible, and had gone their separate ways almost immediately after the rest of the team had left. He was down in their little bargain brand medbay now, working on a side project that he had gotten the idea for a week or so ago.
You see, Blades had a problem. Most of the time, the whirlwind adventure that was being on an alien planet and one of the only rescue workers for miles kept Blades busy enough that he didn't have a lot of down time. What time he did have to himself was usually occupied by recharging cycles or by outfitting the Burns's bunker to better suit the needs of their new alien roommates. But, as they put the finishing touches on the facility they had jury-rigged from basically nothing, and as they settled into their new working routine, he found he had more and more down time, and that was where the problem lay.
He was bored, pure and simple, and even human TV could only take him so far.
Not to mention, he was tense and strung-out, more so than he could ever remember being. On top of crash landing on an alien planet after sleeping through a millennia of war, he could now fly, which was a nightmare, and he was charged with taking care of a bunch of tiny, fragile humans. Any bot would fritz their processors trying to keep track of all the dangers on Griffin Rock, and if Blades didn't start getting some serious stress relief, he might have a meltdown. Making friends with the humans had helped somewhat- they had introduced him to all sorts of little distractions that took the edge off, and it was always nice to bitch about this or that with Dani while they made their rounds.
It wasn't always quite enough, though, and as Blades found himself with more free time, he couldn't help but start to feel that tell-tale itch under his plating that meant his body wanted a break, too. The humans, as he understood it, called it 'being horny', which was definitely one of the more inexplicable turns of phrase he had heard since arriving on Earth. Humans didn't even have horns.
If he were back on Cybertron, a casual hookup would have taken care of that without too much fuss, but they weren't on Cybertron anymore. His options were pretty limited, too, since the Rescue Bots weren't supposed to have much contact with any other bot on Earth, for security reasons. That meant he only had three options.
Boulder and Heatwave had been together for awhile, and Blades was no homewrecker, so they were out. That left Chase, but Blades had found himself so far unable to work up the courage to broach the subject with him. For one thing, Chase could be downright intimidating even in the most innocuous of circumstances, and for another, Blades was pretty sure that their tastes in mechs were similar. That was a great quality to have in a friend, but not so much in a bot you were trying to interface with, since they weren't really each others type. Oh well.
That left Blades with only self-servicing as an option, which was fine, but he was going to need some equipment. Hence, his current project.
He was almost finished, too, and he was humming a pop song he had heard on the radio to himself as he did some final checks when he heard Heatwave enter the medbay.
"What are you up to?" Heatwave asked idly, the door swishing shut behind him.
Blades only glanced over his shoulder, and kept working. "Just a side project I've been working on. I'm almost done, though, so you can't avoid work by helping me."
"That's not what I was trying to do." Heatwave lied smoothly. He didn't crowd Blades by his workstation (thankfully), but stopped a bit behind him and leaned on one of the medberths. He looked around the little makeshift medbay, and, seemingly finding nothing to comment on, eventually returned his gaze to Blades's back. "Just checking in on you."
"Uh-huh," Blades said, still not convinced that Heatwave wasn't just wandering in to bother him out of sheer boredom. "I'm doing just great, thank you."
"You sure?" Heatwave asked. "You've been a little, uh. Stressed, lately."
"Yeah, no shit." Blades replied, the colorful human phrase slipping out as if he had been sparked speaking the language. "But I'm fine right now. Now that we have more free time, stress relief is going a lot smoother."
"Tell me about it." Heatwave commiserated. "Now if only we could figure out a shift rotation so we could cut down on the chance of getting interrupted by the emergency alarm."
"I wish you luck with that one, O wise leader." Blades, satisfied that his work was done, spun around in his chair to face Heatwave, and grinned at him. Heatwave seemed to be in a shockingly good mood today, if he was willing to joke around. It was a marked difference from how cranky he had been seemingly since they landed on this rock.
"Although," Blades continued. "If you're going to ask Chief Burns to adjust our work schedules so that we can defrag more, make sure I'm in the room to see the fallout first."
When it came to Cybertronians, they saw no issue discussing the fact that interfacing (or sex, as humans called it) sometimes happens, as long as everyone involved in said discussion is of sane consenting age. Humans, evidently, did not feel the same way. They had also learned that humans have a wide variety of psychosomatic responses to embarrassment, and it had been an enlightening experience for all.
Heatwave laughed. That discussion had marked the first time he had ever driven Kade to speechlessness, and he remembered it fondly. "Yeah, I may have to wait on that one. Let them recover a little bit first."
"That's probably fair." Blades stretched his arms above his head, and sighed in satisfaction when the struts clicked back into place more comfortably. He really ought to take more breaks when he was working like this. "Ugh. You know, you shouldn't complain too much. At least you have Boulder to defrag with. Chase and I are just gonna have to figure it out."
Heatwave gave him an odd look. "You don't want to interface with Chase?"
"I don't think we're each other's type." Blades said honestly. "Although if he does want to try me out, I'm down. I am definitely not gonna be the one who starts that conversation, though. My anxiety does have its limits, and Chase is still a mystery to me."
That seemed to amuse Heatwave, and he half smiled. "He's not that scary."
"Says you. You've known him for a bazillion stellar cycles, though." Blades waved his hand in a grand gesture. "I hardly ever saw him at HQ. I don't think I'd even had a full conversation with him until we got to the orbital station."
Heatwave shook his head, but didn't argue. "Fine. Well, what about Boulder, or-" He paused for a second. "Me? I mean, if your hand is really doing it for you then that's fine, but if you wanted to actually interface, we're around."
That caught Blades off guard, and he straightened up in his chair.
"I thought..." He began, regarding Heatwave warily. "I thought you two were exclusive?"
Heatwave shrugged, the gesture just a touch uncomfortable. "I mean, not really? I mean- we don't go around interfacing with whoever, but we have an agreement about... you know, certain bots-"
"Oh," Blades said. "You have an 'it's okay if it's blank' list."
"Yes." Heatwave said, seemingly relieved that Blades was understanding better than he was explaining. "As long as a bot is on that 'list', and we tell each other what happens, it's fine."
It gave Blades pause. This was a new window of opportunity for him.
"So," He rubbed his neck thoughtfully. "You have a predetermined list of bots that Boulder is fine with you messing around with, as long as you openly communicate the situation to him."
"Yes."
"And I'm on that list?"
"You are." Heatwave said matter-of-factly. "Boulder's always thought you were cute."
Blades hemmed as he processed this new information. "You know, I don't know if I'm offended or not. Did I only make the list out of pity because there's no one else around for me to interface with?"
Heatwave fixed him with a level stare. "You were on the list before we crashed on this mudball."
Blades blinked. Huh. Well that was certainly news to him. He and Heatwave had known each other for awhile, yeah, but their interactions before they left Cybertron had mainly been work-related or, on several notable occasions, moments of teasing each other mercilessly as they passed in the hallways of Altihex HQ. He had hung out with Boulder a few times outside of work, since Hot Spot and Inferno were friends, but he hadn't had a chance to get to know him that well until they crashed on Earth. Of course Blades found Boulder attractive, who wouldn't, but the former construction bot had gotten together with Heatwave pretty early on in his rescue bot career, and Heatwave had always radiated an 'I don't share' vibe that could be felt for kliks around. At least, Blades thought he had. Clearly he had been misinterpreting.
Blades frowned. "How long is this list? Also, you're telling me I could have been getting railed by Boulder this whole time and no one told me?"
That made Heatwave laugh. "Well, you know," He chuckled. "We couldn't make it that easy for you."
Blades rolled his optics. "Out of curiosity, is Chase also on this list?"
"What do you think?" Heatwave crossed his arms. "Chase has been on that list since we started dating."
Blades nodded. It made sense. Chase was hot, and Boulder (and Heatwave, shockingly) had good taste.
He slowly spun his chair back towards his workstation, thinking. "Well, I'll be sure to proposition your boyfriend as soon as he gets back, but that doesn't help me right now." He picked up his little project and spun back towards Heatwave, holding it up so the firebot could see. "So, I have a proposition for you."
Heatwave's optic ridges went up at the sight of the device. "What is that?"
Blades adjusted his hand so that the thing balanced across his palm. It was a vaguely cylindrical metal tube, with its edges rounded down to make it slightly more egg shaped. Actually, it kind of looked like a pickle, now that he was thinking about it. And knew what a pickle was. "Remember those defective conveyor motors that Boulder helped Doc replace? Well, I took those, machined counterweights for them, and encased them in some body-safe alloys we had laying around."
Heatwave laughed again. "You stole Doc's castoff tech to make a vibrator?"
"I didn't steal scrap," Blades corrected. "He saw me take them. And if he wants them back, I'll be happy to explain to him exactly why that won't be happening. And I didn't make a vibrator." Here, he turned in his seat and grabbed a second one, then held it out to Heatwave. "I made two. Want to help me test them?"
Their first order of business was to set their boundaries. They were basically on the same page in this regard, and, since there would be no actual interfacing between the two of them (at least not today), the matter was settled fairly quickly. Once that was done, Heatwave had a very serious discussion with Blades about protocol, and what he was supposed to do if Heatwave ever made him uncomfortable in a professional sense. Blades found that part of the conversation to be both endearing and very, very funny, because while it was important to take into consideration the fact that they were both coworkers and, now, interfacing buddies, he found it funny that Heatwave didn't seem to think that any Rescue Bot had ever dared to interface with one of their direct subordinates. Cybertronians tended to put a lot less drama on interfacing than humans did, and while 'facing with your coworkers wasn't necessarily encouraged, it was never outright forbidden. However, he remembered how much stress that particular situation had caused when they had first arrived on Earth and Heatwave had been put in charge of Boulder, so he kept his amusements to himself. Besides, even if Blades knew in his spark that Heatwave would never abuse a personal relationship like that, it was kind of nice to be sat down and told that, in no uncertain terms.
With that out of the way, they finally arrived at the most important question: how were they going to do this?
"I'd ask if you like static holovids, but I'm pretty sure we don't have any." Heatwave said.
Blades perked up. "Oh, we totally do though! Whoever was stationed on the Sigma-17 before us left a bunch of their personal datapads on board. Most of them were for work orders or studying, but one of them had a bunch of static stuff on it." He knew exactly where it was, too, and hurried to grab it, sweeping out of the medbay before Heatwave could get another word in edgewise. When they had been sorting through all of the usable equipment left on the Sigma-17, Blades had been charged with checking all the datapads and either saving them or wiping them for further use. When he got to the static one, he had watched about a minute of it before laughing and throwing it in a drawer. He hadn't had a chance to actually, really look at it until now.
As he reentered the faux-medbay, he noticed Heatwave squirming a little. He quickly stilled himself and regarded Blades calmly, but his minor slip up had already confirmed Blades's suspicions. Heatwave was a fairly private person, after all, and really sensitive, so it made sense that interfacing would make him nervous. Blades, on the other hand, had no such reservations.
The last thing he wanted was for Heatwave to clam up and have a terrible time, but getting him to loosen up could be tricky. Luckily, Blades knew exactly how to frame the experience so Heatwave could refocus himself;
As a competition.
"Alright," Blades began, taking a seat on the two medberths they had pushed together and propping the datapad up so they could both see it. "Here's my suggestion. We find something on here that's not awful. We shove these vibrators behind our panels. First one to overload has to finish the comm center overhaul."
Heatwave narrowed his optics. Perfect. "You're on."
The setup didn't take but a moment; panels were opened, vibrators turned on and placed, and holovid started. Blades and Heatwave made optic contact and nodded at each other, which made Blades laugh. It was like they were about to embark upon a serious mission, not mess around and watch raunchy holovids together. He supposed it was a serious mission, though- he really didn't want to do the comm overhaul.
The vibrators, so far, were working exactly as intended. They fit inside the valve comfortably and emanated a pleasing hum that was quickly working its way up through Blades's core. Heatwave leaned back next to Blades on the medical berth, evidently having no complaints either. Blades took a moment to be satisfied with his handiwork.
A problem quickly presented itself.
"Wow." Blades noted, watching the datapad critically. "This stuff is so normal."
"Yeah," Heatwave agreed, propping his head up on one elbow. "For a datapad you randomly found laying around, I thought it was gonna be way weirder. I mean you usually only save niche stuff to datapads, right?"
"Right." Blades shook his head, briefly tearing his gaze away from the two bots 'facing each other onscreen to raise an optic ridge at Heatwave. "I mean, you could pull a million videos like this off the datanet whenever you wanted. Why bother?"
Heatwave seemed to mull over this for a moment. Blades returned his attention to the screen. The bots on it had changed positions and were now kneeling, one behind the other. The bot behind pressed a kiss to the other one's shoulder, and snaked their servo down to wrap around the other's spike. Blades sighed, somewhat involuntarily, and shifted his legs a bit. He overrode the command to start his vents.
"I'm pretty sure Silverbolt's team had the Sigma-17 before us." Heatwave said finally.
"Well this isn't Silverbolt's datapad." Blades said immediately.
Heatwave turned a bemused look on him. "No?"
Blades shook his head. "No. I ran into Silverbolt a couple times in the static district down in old Polyhex. He definitely had a niche."
Out of the corner of his optic he saw Heatwave looking at him, and when he turned to face him he saw Heatwave grinning. "Oh yeah?" The firebot prodded, clearly looking for more.
Blades turned back towards the screen. "Yeah. It wasn't super weird, he was just one of those guys that likes getting tied up and blindfolded, you know? No way this vanilla nonsense would do it for him."
Heatwave hummed thoughtfully, and returned his attention to the screen. After a few moments, Blades felt him squirm slightly and heard his vents kick on. A thrill went through the copter at this small victory- he was winning.
"Maybe this was Air Raid's." Heatwave wondered, and Blades was pretty sure he didn't imagine the slight waver in his voice.
"Air Raid?" Blades responded incredulously. "That guy was a grade-A weirdo, and I mean that in the most loving way possible. No, this was definitely Skydive's. I've never met a more normal posterbot than him. Skydive was sitting in an empty room eating iron sticks for 25 vorns before just walking out and joining the Rescue Bots."
Heatwave laughed, and Blades couldn't help but chuckle too. "Okay, you're not wrong." The firebot said eventually. "But that's exactly why I don't think it's his. No one is that normal. He was probably into some highly specific nonsense, we just never found out about it."
Blades inclined his head to concede the point. The vibrations in his valve were starting to build up a charge deep in his array, so he gripped one side of the berth hard and tried to ignore it. He finally let the command to start his fans go through.
"This is definitely Air Raid's- or maybe Slingshot's." Heatwave continued pensively. He tensed up suddenly, and drew his legs towards him. After a moment, he relaxed, letting out a slow vent. He either missed the look Blades gave him, or ignored it.
"Slingshot was a jerk." Blades said after Heatwave got a handle on himself. "And if there's one thing I know about afthead Rescue Bots, it's that you're secretly big softies and are into that romantic scrap." He nodded his head at the datapad. The bots were making out hardcore while one penetrated the other from behind. "So yeah, you're probably right. This is definitely Slingshot's."
Heatwave fixed Blades with a stare that was both withering and apparently shocked that Blades would read him for filth out of nowhere like that. Blades smiled serenely at him. He really shouldn't have been so surprised though- Blades had never missed an opportunity to make fun of him.
"Oh, don't look at me like that." Blades laughed when Heatwave continued to glower silently at him. "I've hung around you and Boulder enough to get a good idea of what you like. You're not all that hard to figure out- plus, it's been pretty tight quarters for the four of us since we landed here."
Heatwave finally glanced away, embarrassed. "Fine, you have me pegged. This 'vanilla' slag works for me. What are you into, then? Even I know old Polyhex isn't exactly for us unadventurous types."
Blades giggled at Heatwave's sour tone. "Don't get your tailpipe in a twist, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your taste. Plus, you're probably plenty adventurous, you just haven't had a chance to explore it yet." That put a strange expression on Heatwave's face, but Blades plowed right ahead. "Anyways, I don't really know what I like. I like trying new things."
He watched the video thoughtfully for a moment, considering. Heatwave was silent beside him except for the sound of his fans trying to cool his chassis down. "I've got preferences, yeah," Blades continued. "And stuff I won't do, but I don't know if there's anything I like any more than anything else. I think it's more about the experience of going out and having fun for me. Especially if I bring a good sort-of-friend sort-of-'face-buddy with me." Here he elbowed Heatwave, which earned him an annoyed look with no real heat behind it.
They were silent again for awhile. The bots onscreen had changed position again. The bot that had been getting penetrated had now turned around and was giving his partner the blowjob of their life. Blades was actually kind of impressed by the sheer dedication and technique displayed. His interface array twinged again, and the humming of the vibrator seemed to worm its way into his circuits, building charge to distracting levels again. He felt his chassis starting to heat up from exertion, and he tried to close his optics and calm down. His satisfaction from building the working vibrators on his own was gone and replaced with annoyance that they were working too perfectly- he had a competition to win, after all.
He opened his optics a moment later once the spike in energy from his pelvic array seemed to level out, and chanced a look at Heatwave. Heatwave's optics had dimmed a few levels, and he had drawn his knees together again, but he seemed to be staying on top of his charge as well as Blades was.
He drew in a long, somewhat shaky breath to try and help his vents cool his chassis off. Alright, maybe not dealing with it as well as Blades.
"Doesn't it stress you out?" Heatwave spoke up again after awhile. The first video had finished and auto-played the next one which was, to Blades's disappointment, just as average as the first one. "I mean, I don't think I'm breaking new ground if I say that your anxiety levels are through the roof, but -but being vulnerable like that doesn't bother you?"
Blades couldn't resist smirking at how strained Heatwave's voice sounded, but he gave the question due consideration. "No. I guess I'm more afraid of the unknown? And the static district is pretty much all about rules and education and all that scrap. Not a ton of surprises there- unless, you know, you're into that, I guess. As for being vulnerable," He side-eyed Heatwave here. "It doesn't bother me. I actually hadn't thought about it that way. Funny that you do though."
Heatwave grumbled and squirmed, but didn't respond outright. Blades thought about ignoring the conversation (he had a building charge to attend to after all), but something made him pause. It was almost like there was something unspoken hanging in the air between them, a barrier that could either keep sitting comfortably, or could be pushed through and crossed.
And it's not like Heatwave was going to be the one to make a leap of faith, at least not on his own.
"You're hardly one to talk about my anxieties," Blades continued, proving himself incapable of not making fun of Heatwave whenever the opportunity arose. He could be a little gracious, though, which he demonstrated with his next words: "But it's okay to be nervous, you know. Everyone's different, we all need different things in life."
Heatwave didn't respond, so Blades returned his attention to the holovid. He thought Heatwave would drop the topic altogether, but a few moments later he spoke again.
"I guess... yeah." He said uncertainly. "I think that's part of why I liked Boulder so much right away. Because... I was nervous, and he- he-" He stopped, hesitant, embarrassed.
"He makes you feel safe?" Blades finished, rescuing the firebot from vocalizing his own feelings.
Heatwave nodded. "Yeah."
Blades stared. Heatwave narrowed his optics dangerously.
"Aww." Blades cooed.
"Shut up."
"That's so sweet-"
"Blades-"
Blades interrupted Heatwave's protesting with more laughter. "Don't worry, the secret of you liking your boyfriend of 5,000 stellar cycles is safe with me. I won't tell him."
Heatwave continued glowering at Blades, but didn't say anything else as Blades halfway rose to grab something off the table next to them. Blades fiddled with it for a moment before he realized that it was a remote of some kind.
"Wait, do these things have other settings?" He asked, almost warily.
"Oh yeah. Shall we?" Blades pressed a button on the jury-rigged remote, and waved it down near their pelvic areas for good measure. One could never be too sure with human-made wireless devices, after all. It proved unnecessary, though, as both vibrators simultaneously kicked it up to the next notch. Heatwave and Blades both groaned in unison.
"Okay, I have to hand it to you." Heatwave panted, his fans clicking onto the next highest setting. "These things are pretty good. I didn't know you were so mechanically talented."
Blades giggled at the compliment. He felt like he was going to vibrate right out of his plating. "Me neither! I should start a small business."
Heatwave sighed and let his optics close. Blades rolled onto his side to face Heatwave. This had the added benefit of letting him squeeze his legs shut a little tighter, in a desperate bid to try and dull some of the sensations emanating from his valve. As he watched, Heatwave's features screwed up and he gasped, his hips rising off the berth for a few seconds before he sighed again and dropped back down.
"Fuck." He said, resigned. The English swear word made Blades laugh again.
"Feeling a little overwhelmed?" Blades teased. He lifted one of his own legs and gripped his thigh, hard, trying to ignore the urge to roll his own hips.
"Shut up." Heatwave repeated, but there was no force behind it.
Blades resisted the sudden urge to run his hands over Heatwave's plating. He knew Heatwave was fine with it- might welcome it, even- but any additional stimuli could contaminate the results of their competition. After all, it was hardly fair to help someone overload when the goal was not to.
His valve suddenly clenched down on the vibrator, apparently without sending the signal to his processor for approval first. He ran a hand over a seam on his chest, but slowly, trying to control the tempo his body suddenly seemed so desperate for. He rolled his hips in a slow, controlled circle.
Heatwave did not fare nearly so well. He was, after all, an impatient bot, and he could only deny himself for so long. His legs finally fell open all the way and he was making jerky, desperate thrusts down onto nothing at all. He moaned quietly, the sound both pleased and frustrated.
Blades couldn't help it- the bot clearly needed to overload. Blades wanted him to. He let go of his own thigh and gently placed his hand on Heatwave's pelvic array. When Heatwave pressed his hips up into the touch, accepting it, Blades slid his hand down to the other bot's valve. It was already parted around the vibrator, so he rubbed two fingers down either side of it, along the soft folds of the valve, and used a third finger to press in and up on Heatwave's anterior node.
It happened very quickly from there- Heatwave tensed up for a moment and rolled hard into the contact, and then that was it. His overload was a long, shuddering thing, and Blades gasped as electricity crackled up his arm and added to his own charge. After a long minute Heatwave's last aftershock shivered through him and he collapsed back onto the berth strutlessly, exhaling one last breath of hot air as his chassis finally started to cool down. Blades obligingly retrieved the still-moving vibrator from his valve and set it aside.
That dealt with, Blades leaned back and laid himself back down on the berth, closing his optics. His charge was at a near-uncomfortable level, and without a reason to edge it off anymore he found himself desperately chasing after relief of some kind. He clenched down on the vibrator in frustration- it wasn't enough.
He felt Heatwave moving beside him, and opened his optics to see the firebot leaning part way over him. They regarded each other for a moment before Heatwave, seemingly reading his mind, readjusted his position until he was kneeling in between Blades's legs. He gave him a questioning look, his hand hovering over Blades's valve.
"Y-yes." Blades managed, and Heatwave wasted no further time.
With one hand, the firebot held the end of the vibrator in place, while the other hand got to work. He slid two fingers into Blades's valve, under the vibrator, and the amount of lubricant he had built up over the last however many minutes meant that they slid in with little resistance.
The fullness of the feeling registered immediately, and Blades couldn't suppress a shout in time. He rolled his hips down, hard, and when Heatwave gamely moved his hands to meet him, his systems finally crashed over the edge into overload. Pleasure coursed through his circuits in erratic waves, drawn up and down in maddening arcs by the vibrator. Heatwave left his fingers in for the duration, but his other hand gently stroked Blades's side in a soothing gesture.
"Guh." Blades said eloquently when his body finally stopped shaking. He flopped limply back down onto the berth, and Heatwave removed his hand and the vibrator. While Blades lay there, his frame ticking as the metal cooled, Heatwave found a cloth and cleaned his hand and both of their thighs, then fiddled with the remote until he figured out how to turn the vibrators off. Blades watched all this with distracted affection, and then scooted over when Heatwave finally finished and heavily flopped down onto his front beside him.
Blades didn't go to cuddle him, but he did press their sides flush together, shoulder to shoulder, and that got the barest hint of a smile out of Heatwave.
"You cheated." Heatwave pointed out after a few blissful moments of silence.
"Guilty." Blades replied immediately. And then, somewhat snottily: "You're welcome."
Heatwave chuckled. "Your little inventions are pretty good, but-"
Blades was already nodding. "We need to go bigger."
In the end, neither of them got to finishing the comm center overhaul that afternoon. Chase and Boulder were less than impressed.