#it’s scenes like this that really show how much Heatwave and Kade care about each other

[rescuebotsoutofcontext]

[poisonflowercorvidae]

Hey, while searching through ao3 I came around "My Other Half " and I just loved it (and I kind of finished really fast). Do you have some kadewave hc?

I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I never really expected anyone to pay much attention to that fic with such an out-there premise, but it means a lot to me that people did/do.

Sorry for the late response, but this got looooong.

My thoughts and headcanons for Kadewave are kind of all over the place because I've shipped these two practically since I first started watching Rescue Bots, and their dynamic changes so much over the course of the series that I think a lot of the specifics of how they get together and what their relationship is like depends on when it all happens in relation to the series and how canon compliant things are

Some headcanons I tend to hold regardless of all that:

Kade and Heatwave are monogamous. I think the idea of polyamory being normalized in Cybertronian society is pretty neat, but it's still not for everyone, and these two just strike me as the kind that would stand by one partner at a time

Heatwave is the jealous type. This is just canon, I think. (Blades: "Kinda scary, but I'm rethinking the whole Kade partner option." Heatwave: "Rethink again.") He's pretty good at reigning it in except for a snappish comment here or there, so Kade mostly finds it funny

Kade has more experience with relationships. It's not necessarily good experience--he messes up a lot in his relationships and/or falls for the wrong people--but he has dated more. While Heatwave has lived longer, even after accounting for stasis, he's kind of the "married to the job" type and spent too much time playing leader and eldest-brother-figure to the rest of Sigma 17 to really do all that much dating

Heatwave can still be a tease, though, especially after they get together, because it’s fun to rile Kade up

We know, from when Cody and Frankie time traveled, that Griffin Rock is more progressive with regards to racial issues than much of America has been, so I tend to think GR also has less of a homophobia/transphobia problem, so Kade doesn’t have to struggle so much with the gender/sexuality aspect of being attracted to Heatwave. The “He’s a giant alien robot” part still took some work, even after they start respecting each other more as firefighting partners

Most of the resistance on both sides to their feelings was still more about how stubborn/hotheaded the other one is

Heatwave does worry over Kade a lot. Like, it’s one thing if Kade stubs his toe or gets a paper cut because of his own stubborn carelessness; Heatwave will just roll his optics or huff some kind of, “Why do you always do that?” But if it’s even the littlest bit more than that--if Kade catches a cold or gets a burn on the job or something--Heatwave will obsess over it and what he could have done to prevent that

Usually, I think there isn’t so much a first to confess or realize their feelings; they just sort of gravitate towards each other over time. The exact timeline or AU could change that, and I can see either one of them spitting it out in a fit of passion after a tense scene, but especially in more canon compliant timeline, it’s just something they kind of...fall into, whether or not they actually talk about it

Neither of them are good at talking about their feelings in either universe. They eventually get better, but they rarely if ever say they love each other around other people/bots, even in timelines where they don’t go through massive misunderstandings before getting together. They’re excellent at showing each other they care, though

Their relationship isn’t 100% an Everyone Can See It situation--some people definitely assume they’re just Buds--but a few people can pick it out. Usually the rest of the extended family, but some faster than others: Cody, because he’s perceptive; Chief Burns, because he’s a Wise Dad; Dani, because she’s a romantic but also because she knows the difference between her own sisterly mocking of Kade versus Heatwave’s metaphorical pigtail pulling; Blades, because he and Dani love to gossip; and Blurr, because whether they mean to or not, Kade and Heatwave trying to train his recklessness out of him definitely results in them dad-ing him

Like I said, a lot of this plays out differently on timeline/universe points. For most of these, I’m going to either assume Kade and Hayley break up or ignore that they got together in the first place, though the polyamory or Kade cheating on Hayley angles are still valid for other people who want to explore them. It’s just for me personally, I really only see Kadewave happening if Kade isn’t with Hayley.

The most canon-compliant version is also probably the most laid back and chill version of them getting together. It wouldn’t happen until late in season 4 or after, because Kade is still dating Hayley through most/all of that season in canon, but by that point in the series, Kade and Heatwave have really mellowed out. Listen to them talking about Blurr at the beginning of “Need for Speed” (Heatwave: “He’s as stubborn as you are.” Kade: “And as hot-headed as you.”); just the way they say it, Heatwave’s done with Blurr’s shit but Kade shoots back all amused and kind of fond. They bicker and trade barbs, but it’s in that “Close enough to argue” (or, if you prefer, Old Married Couple) kind of way where how much they like each other still bleeds through, and by this point in the series, they aren’t arguing about important things like how to do their job any more. It’s smooth going. So, Hayley and Kade split, and after a little while, Heatwave and Kade move from, “Hey, actually, I like this guy,” to, “Oh, hey, I like this guy,” and that’s that.

My Other Half/The Parts of Me I Hide mostly follows that track but with the complications of 1) being set in an AU where sparklings can happen (and interspecies sparklings, specifically, can happen) and 2) Kade getting horribly, terribly broken-bones-and-blood hurt. It turns what could be a simple slide into a relationship into a dramatic mess via bumping against all their issues of not talking about their feelings and Heatwave reacting to Kade getting hurt etc etc.

If we go way back to the first season up through season 2′s “Changes,” this is where Kade and Heatwave are in full tsun4tsun mode. Neither of them wants to admit even to themselves that they like each other, even after they get over the initial friction of their introduction. This is deffo in the zone of, “If they get together, it’s probably after some kind of blow-up fight,” and even then it’s not likely because they’re both too busy going No, absolutely not, I do not find this aggravating creature attractive no matter how many dangerous situations we face down together. “Changes” definitely marks a shift in their relationship because Kade has to acknowledge that Heatwave does actually like him as much as the reverse (”Heatwave cherishes your partnership,” anyone?). It might still take him a while to process what exactly he feels and whether or not Heatwave cares about him in the same way, but it’s definitely the crack in the damn that makes him stop lying to himself that he doesn’t like Heatwave somehow.

Season 3 is the awkward middle ground where they know their own feelings, they have to know that the other likes them to some degree, and while they aren’t really pretending about it anymore, they aren’t ready to say anything about it, either. It’s this dance around it, and all it would take is one little slip to tumble head first into a relationship and--oh hey, new recruits! Let’s deal with getting them integrated into life here rather than deal with whatever we’ve got going on

Some My Other Half/The Parts of Me I Hide specific headcanons:

Heatwave is mad at himself for the first class of recruits hurting Kade because he thinks he should have been there to step in sooner. It might or might not have actually affected the outcome, but he blames himself a bit all the same

This was an exchange I had in mind for the fic that got cut, but Heatwave and Kade definitely had an argument about The Incident that included an exchange along the lines of “What if you’d lost a leg or an arm?” “I’d say I’d be the first amputee fire fighter, but someone already beat me to it. Guess I’d have to settle for the first in Milford.”

Their second sparkling is a daughter named Spitfire

“So, if we’re dealing with a universe without sparklings, where DID Kade go?” Yeah, I’m still working my headcanon for that one out myself.