Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun was just beginning to shine over the horizon when Thomas woke up for the day, all comfortable in his berth at Tidmouth sheds. He blinked slowly as his vision finally cleared up, revealing the pinky blue sky and soft clouds as well as the gorgeous sun rays.
Usually a view like this would put a smile on Thomas’ face but today, no. Lately, his dreams had been all over the place with no rhyme or reason to them. His dreams seemed too human though. Romance? That was for humans. Trains had no need for all that. But these dreams had made his boiler ache with want and desire. He wanted to experience all of that for himself!

Finally awake he hummed and looked down and then gasped in surprise at what welcomed him. There seemed to be a red string attached to one of his buffers, leading off down the track and into the distance. How strange.
He looked over at his fellow engines (minus Edward who had to do a night run) and they all had a red thread too! This was very interesting. Thomas didn’t know why everyone had a red string.
His eyes snapped away when he heard his driver and fireman enter the shed, a smile forming on his face. “Hello driver. Hello fireman.” Thomas whispered to them, as to not wake the other trains.

“Hullo Thomas. Did you have a good sleep?” His driver, Peter, whispered back as he got into Thomas’ cab, the fireman stepping into the cab and starting the fire up. Jonathan, the fireman, was never really a morning person so he wouldn’t get talkative until way later.

“I did driver. I did have some very weird dreams though.” He hummed, looking back down at the string attached to his buffer as he felt the warmth begin to grow from his firebox. He didn’t bring up the red string though, deciding against it for the time being. “What’s our first job?” He asked.

His driver chuckled softly. “Our first job? Take over from Edward of course. He’s left the trucks at the docks for us to collect and he’s on his way home now. Whatever shipment the big boss ordered was a very large shipment. Poor Edward’s basically been awake for 2 days trying to get it sorted and I think he’s given up.” He hummed. “So we’ll take over for him and let him rest. It means that BoCo will be on your branch line today, but that’s alright isn’t it?”

“Of course driver! Poor Edward, I don’t think I could stay awake that long!” And Thomas frowned. “Has his crew stayed awake that long as well?”

“No, another crew took over after the first day.” Peter hummed and soon spotted Edward returning to the shed. The poor engine looked absolutely knackered, with his cheeks slightly pink and heavy bags under his lidded eyes.

Thomas watched as Edward said nothing, not even acknowledging him as he rolled into the shed - not bothering to even be turned on the turntable - and almost immediately passed out.

He frowned and soon moved forward onto the turn table once he had enough steam. “Poor Edward. I hope he sleeps well.” He mumbled, heading towards the docks to finish what Edward started.

At the docks Thomas saw more red strings from the engines; Salty had a red thread that went off down the tracks, Cranky didn’t seem to have a red string at all, Emily had a red string too that went up and off the tracks.
He perked up as he saw Hiro pull up beside him, a red thread on his buffer as well.
“Hello Hiro… can you see the red strings?” He asked him softly.

The larger Japanese engine’s face seemed to look relieved and he sighed softly. “Ah, yes Thomas. I can see the red strings.” He hummed. “I am certain this will spell trouble for a lot of the engines who have them.”

Thomas blinked in surprise, confused and shocked that Hiro knew about this predicament. “Oh? What do you mean by that, Hiro? What do the threads mean?” He asked, wanting to know everything so he could relay it to the others.

“Back on my island, I have only ever seen this far and few… and only on humans…” Hiro started off slowly, unsure of how to explain it to Thomas. “The red strings on humans mean that a relation is predestined, and those whose strings link up are bound to find each other in life. Obviously I’ve only ever seen it a couple of times and on humans, never have I seen such a large event of it like this. Or on trains for that matter.” And Hiro frowned. “I suppose whatever god did this added their own flare…”

“The only god I know is Lady, and she rarely intervenes with us after the first two situations that happened.” Thomas exclaimed, trying to figure out why Lady would even do this. They had all been good engines he was sure of it. “So, is this a romance thing, do you think?”

Hiro hummed as he watched his own string. “Perhaps it is. I am not sure. But I suggest you relay it back to the others. I shall try to inform those who I can, but I will be off to the mainland shortly.”

Thomas frowned at that. He’d had to try and inform all the engines who had a string about this? That could be all the engines! “I’ll-I’ll try Hiro, but I can’t make any promises.” He promised Hiro, unsure if he’d even be able to complete this seemingly impossible challenge. It just seemed too difficult and impossible.
He went quiet, deep in thought as the last of the trucks were lined up for him and coupled to him. “Bye Hiro.” He said, giving a whilst before taking off slowly down the tracks, pulling the line of trucks with him.

All day Thomas seemed to notice more and more engines with red strings attached, the strings all leading off down different train tracks. If Thomas had a chance to, he would tell the engines he met about what Hiro said about the strings. It was amazing to see but also rather confusing. Thomas thought back on his conversation with Hiro, and how the red strings probably had something to do with romance and how Lady most likely gave them to everyone.
‘Why Lady, why?’ He thought to himself in confusion as he pulled up to the blue mountain quarry. Half of the trucks were apparently filled with new parts for Owen and Merrick.

“Hello Skarloey.” Thomas said politely as the narrow gauge engine rolled up beside him. “How are you?” He asked, noticing all the narrow gauge engines seemed to have the red string too. “You all have red strings.” He exclaimed. At least it made it easier for them.

Skarloey blinked in surprise, not expecting Thomas to be so forward about this. “Why er, yes. We all seem to have this ailment and it’s not been the best so far. We’ve been trying to figure it out all morning and it’s not gone well. Peter Sam is convinced it’s something bad bad has holed himself up in the tunnels, Sir Handel has pretty much done the same, but he’s convinced it means that something bad will happen is the strings snap.” He sighed.

Thomas opened his mouth to speak but Skarloey started up again, seemingly not done talking. “Rusty and Duncan have been arguing back and forth about if it’s a curse or a blessing. Rusty’s convinced it’s a good thing and Duncan has been threatening to cut his all day. Poor Luke doesn’t know what to think, and has just assumed it’s a weird prank.”

“Oh my, well Skarloey, on the topic of that-“ and Thomas was interrupted again by the narrow gauge engine. “As for Rheneas he’s trying not to think about it, says it’s messing with his work and his head. As for me, I think it’s very easy to know what it is.” Skarloey huffed finally seeming to go quiet.

Thomas cleared his throat, trying to make it known that he actually had something important to say and without interruptions. “Well, Skarloey, I’m sorry you and the others have all been confused about this. I have too. But I’ve spoken to Hiro and he knows what these are.”

This time Skarloey looked to Thomas, eager to know what it was. “Oh? You’ve figured it out?” He asked him, eager to know what was affecting them all.

“Well I didn’t figure it out. Hiro told me. Hiro said that this is red strings of fate and he’s seen it a few times in his home country of Japan. I think he said it was something about fate and destined to be together. Something romantic I think.” He hummed.

“Ah I see… I will inform the others here…” Skarloey said, a frown on his face. “This will upset a lot of them. Romance was never a thing for engines, Thomas. You’re younger than me by a few decades and less shipped about. Back then, engines weren’t supposed to have feelings. And love is one of the strongest emotions, it can make you do stupid things. You’ll find, Thomas, that a lot of the engines won’t know what to do with this.”

Thomas frowned at that, letting out a small wheesh of acknowledgement. “I understand Skarloey. I’ll be careful with it, I promise.” And he gave the narrow gauge engine a smile, several trucks being uncoupled from his load. He gave a whistle and then went on his way, not even saying good as he left the blue mountain quarry behind him, the only thought on his mind being about the red strings.

Later that night Thomas returned to Tidmouth sheds with a soft smile, happy to be home for the night. All day he had been telling different engines about the red string and what it means, mainly skipping over most of what Hiro had explained and simply telling them it was about fated romance; easy enough.
“Guys, guys, you’ll never guess what Hiro told me today!” Thomas said to them excitedly, a bright grin forming on his face. His driver and fireman left through the side door, leaving all the engines alone and missing this crucial detail.

“Ugh what now Thomas?” Gordon asked, rolling his eyes as he settled in his berth for the night, Henry next to him already yawning and wanting to go to sleep.

“Hiro told me all about the red strings we have! He says it’s for a fated romance!” He chirped. “Whoever is attached to the end of our strings means that we’re fated to be with them.”

Gordon huffed. “Romance?? Pah! Don’t be silly Thomas. Engines aren’t made for romance, especially not silly little tank engines.”

That got Percy involved, the saddle tank engine never one to back down from insults and always ready to defend his best friend. “Hey! Don’t be mean you oversized kettle!”

“Romance isn’t for nasty little industrial engines either.”

“Don’t be rude to Percy!”

“I’m simply telling the truth.”

The arguing woke Edward up who blinked away sleep as he rolled forward slightly, trying to focus his eyes. “Why are we yelling?” He yawned, being completely ignored by the trio.

James rolled his eyes, listening to the arguing with a giddy sense of humour. “Thomas explained what the red strings on us meant and that set Gordon up with a perfect opportunity to insult them, so he did. Which got Percy involved.” He hummed.

“I see.” Edward hummed in return. “So what do the strings mean?” He asked James softly, hearing how Henry got unwilling involved in the arguing after Gordon pulled him in.

“Oh Thomas said something about ‘fated romance’.” James told him, a lazy smirk on his face as he listened to the four engines argue. He liked drama when it didn’t involve him.

That caused Edward to gasp softly in surprise. “R-Romance? B-But that’s for humans? We engines don’t deal with romance!” His cheeks were pink with confusion. Romance? For an engine? Unbelievable!

James looked to Edward, his smile growing wider. “Well it seems Lady decided to treat us to something new. You scared?”

“A little bit!” Edward shot back. It was mainly his own insecurities at play. He wasn’t an overly old engine - only being twenty years older than James - but he felt older. Edward was slower than others and he wasn’t as strong either. Surely engines wanted someone powerful and fast.

He snorted at the worry on Edward’s face. “Oh you’ll be fine. Whoever gets you will be lucky to have you.” He hummed.

Edward’s cheeks went pink and he looked away from James, all flustered. “You’re just saying that!”

“I’m not, honestly.” He chuckled softly, smiling at the older engine. “You’re a nice and helpful engine, Edward. You always try to see the best in others and you’re always willing to help out, you care greatly for everyone and you’re kind of a silver fox. Whoever ends up with you will be the luckiest engine on the island, I know that’s for true.”

The older blue engine looked to James, mouth opening and closing as he tried to form a reply but any words simply died on his tongue. He slowly looked down at their buffers to see a red thread attaching them together. He looked back up in James in shock and surprise, the red engine simply winking at him and rolling back into his berth more.
Edward happened to blush more, a high pitched giggle escaping him; the sort of giggle one develops when their secret crush compliments them.

With that Edward also rolled back in his berth more, knowing that tomorrow they’d have much more time to talk properly. For now, they could talk in hushed whispers as the other four engines bickered with each other into the night; leaving the red engine and the blue engine to their own devices.

How exciting these red strings were!

Chapter Text

The next day Percy happily rolled along the tracks, following his red string as he did. He didn’t have any jobs for the moment so took this free time to try and find his match.
Once news of James and Edward being together had spread, it was like an explosion; everyone wanted to find their match and get to know them.
After hearing about the very odd situation from Thomas and Hiro, Sir Topham Hatt allowed the engines to go looking for their ‘soulmate’ so long as they did their work and it wouldn’t interfere too much. He even allowed James and Edward to work together, the two chattering happily to each other as they double headed trucks and passenger trains.

It was romantic!

Percy wanted that so badly.

As a small tank engine, he never really understood the bigger engines and their desire to be wanted. Sure it was nice to be wanted, but when Percy was first created he was simply a small saddle tank. His first colour was black with orange stripes and he was an industrial engine; foul-mouthed and crazed.
It’s simply what happens when you work in industries and factories under the rule of capitalism.

Eventually he settled down and was quote on quote “tamed” - as the bigger engines put it - and he was repainted green with red stripes and began to do shunting jobs as well. The desire to be wanted never really set in until he arrived on Sodor and wanted to be friends with the others so badly! Sure with time he did become their friends, but now with the idea that trains could be more than friends he wanted that too!

Except, Percy wasn’t sure what it felt like to be more than friends. He had tried asking some of the older engines but that turned out useless, a lot of them not know what to say as they’ve never experienced it either. He had tried asking James and Edward but he just couldn’t find them! They were just always a bit out of reach which sucked.
He had then decided to ask some of the younger engines since the older ones couldn’t give him an answer and first Thomas suggested that it probably felt like a tickle in your boiler but a good tickle, which seemed fair enough. Duck told him it probably felt like your firebox flaring happily, which also made sense. Although Boco told him it felt like your engine purring which definitely didn’t help Percy, cause he didn’t have an engine.

He hummed softly and put those thoughts to the side as he stared at the red string, watching the way it shimmered and seemed to sparkle in the sun. How interesting. He wondered if it was truly as magical as Thomas said.

He slowed down when he approached the shunting yard, looking around nervously as he heard Diesel chattering angrily to another engine. He could hear the loud purring of their engines, the occasional puff of black smoke filling the air. They seemed to be gossiping about the red strings and Diesel did not sound happy. Percy was fortunately hidden behind some old coaches and he began to listen in.

“These stupid red strings have been ruining everything! If I get a stupid steamie I’m going to be so mad!” The diesel engine snarled angrily, causing Percy to shake just from how upset the engine sounded from it all. “Mavis has been slacking off all day to go look for her ‘true love’ it’s stupid!”

“I better get a diesel. It’s what I deserve at least.” He heard the diesel scoff loudly and Percy froze at hearing the other voice chime in. “Just for that I hope you get a steam engine. I’m the one who deserves a diesel engine.”

It was Diesel 10.

He was stuck in a shunting yard with two of the most notorious and devious diesels and neither of them sounded happy about these strings. Well, now that Percy thought about it, Diesel 10 wasn’t too bad. He considered the war diesel his friend of sorts and he could be really nice! He was very helpful too sometimes! But paired with Diesel?? The two were trouble when together.

He attempted to get out of this situation but in his panic he had juddered forward by mistake, his wheels screeching on the track slightly and he wheeshed in surprise.

All was silent until Diesel spoke up. “Is that a steamie I smell?” Diesel said mockingly and the two diesels purred off to where Percy was hiding. Panicked more by Diesel, Percy backed up to get away but the points were switched and he went down a siding instead, bumping into the buffers quite roughly and he made an ‘oof’ sound as he corrected himself, eyes rolling.

Percy had no time to make his grand escape as Diesel 10 came purring onto the same siding, effectively blocking him up. Diesel came purring up onto the tracks next to Percy and noticed how Percy and Diesel 10’s strings linked up.
Diesel 10 also noticed and the strings, as well as Percy, and no engine said nothing, it was all quiet in the shunting yard.

Diesel 10 seemed to study the string before staring at Percy, his claw twitching slightly. “This is… acceptable.” The war diesel said after about 5 minutes of intense and awkward silence. For Diesel 10, Percy was the absolute best choice for a steam engine soulmate; they talked often, Percy often came to talk to them and mainly him, the little green engine even invited them over for Christmas one time! It was great! The green engine was sweet and polite, cute and always willing to help, Diesel 10 could just go on and on about Percy. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Diesel.

“Excuse me?!” Diesel screeched at him, a look of disgust on his face. “This is acceptable?! Unlikely! He’s a stupid steamie! You yourself said you wanted a diesel engine but here you are cuddling up to the stupidest steamie!”

Suddenly the war diesel’s large claw snapped roughly at Diesel, causing the smaller shunter engine to back away in fear. The claw screeched slightly as it snapped at the engine and Diesel 10 scowled angrily at him. No one insulted Percy and got away with it.
“I said this is acceptable! Now scram!” He snarled, causing Diesel to wheel away in fear and leaving both Percy and Diesel 10 alone.

The large diesel turned his attention back to a trembling Percy and approached slowly, eyeing the small saddle tank as his claw gnashed its teeth at him.
Soon the claw moved down by Diesel 10’s side before lunging forward to grab Percy by his buffers and lift him up slightly, the saddle tank letting out a few wheeshes and whistles of surprise, his eyes wide and confused. It also seemed that Diesel 10 was surprised by this too.

“Pinchy behave!” Diesel 10 grumbled to the claw, now seeing basically eye to eye with Percy. “So much for nice introductions Pinchy…” and he cleared his throat, a blush forming on his cheeks. “It appears you are my ’soulmate’, as Sir Topham put it as…”

“Uhh yeah! It seems so!” Percy said, becoming less nervous. Diesel 10 was a bit silly sometimes, and he usually meant well; he definitely had a few felonies too but unless Percy saw it in writing, he was willing to look past that. “So what now? Are you going to cut the string?” He asked quietly.

Diesel 10 gave him a look of slight confusion. “Cut the string? Why would I do that?” He asked, wincing as pinchy dropped Percy roughly back to the tracks with a loud clang and a loud ‘oof’, the claw lookin at Percy with its jaw dropped.

“Well I’m not a diesel engine, and I heard you talking to Diesel about only wanting a diesel engine, so I assumed you were gonna cut the string…?” Percy said sheepishly, cheeks going pink.

“Huh? Oh no, I only said that to get him to shut up. I like him but Lady does he go on and on.”

“You got that part right… so what now ‘soulmate’?”

Hours later, Sir Topham Hatt was talking to Duck in the yard about a new job that needed to be done, the man stood on a small box to at least be taller for the engine.
As he was describing the task, a small explosion sound filled the air followed by the screeches of fireworks which caused the stout man to stumble slightly in surprise. Both Duck and Sir Topham Hatt looked to where the sound came from, watching a laughing Percy and a cackling Diesel 10 whizz away down the tracks.

“Well, pardon me for saying, sir, but it appears Percy and Diesel 10 are a match…” Duck hummed squinting at the two as he watched the duo giggle away with a matching red string on their buffers.

Sir Topham Hatt merely sighed tiredly, looking at the damage done to a now burning flatbed truck as black smoke filled the air and fireworks continuing to go off every so often. “I’ll call a fire truck and talk to Percy and Diesel 10…”

Chapter Text

The word of Percy and Diesel 10 being soulmates spread like wildfire on the island of Sodor - especially after they burnt a flatbed to the ground - and just after three days, everyone (human and machine) knew about them.
Not everyone was pleased that they were dating but they couldn’t really do anything since the red strings of fate said otherwise.

Currently, some of the bigger engines were gossiping about the duo, watching them from a safe distance as they had to shunt trucks together as a punishment. It was more like a fucked up date for them than anything.

“These strings are weird. Giving us soulmates or whatever and they give little Percy, a convicted felon.” Gordon sighed, unimpressed as he watched the two just play around. “Tank engines…” he grumbled, seeming to just glare at the green tank engine and the beige war diesel.

James and Edward were also watching, the duo never leaving each others side now that they were soulmates. “I mean, Percy is an industrial engine. Industrial engines were crazy when they first started working. I think it makes a good match.” Edward hummed thoughtfully, trying to see the best in this situation even if he hated it.

“Perhaps we should explain to Percy what ‘attempted murder’ means.”

“Percy should definitely know what that means.” Edward sighed, turning his eyes again from the two and looked to Gordon. “Maybe Percy just likes them big?”

“Pah. Trust a tank engine to like them big!”

James finally spoke up. “Likes ‘em big? Ha! Ask any narrow gauge engine and they’ll tell you exactly why they like em big.” And he gave the other engines a smug smirk. “Trust me. Those little narrow gauge engines definitely like em big.”

Gordon in turn gave James an unimpressed look, not wanting to keep this conversation going. “And just how do you know this information, James?”

“Oh just some blackmail, stalking, and threats of violence.”

“Trust you to do that, James.”

“James come on we’ve talked about this!”

“Let’s not talk about crime any more. It’s making me nervous.” Henry finally spoke up, drawing the attention of the others that yes he was there. The wet blanket needed to speak up more cause damn. “Let’s talk about something else.”

James and Gordon both rolled their eyes at Henry. “We get it you’re a bottom.” James grumbled, earning a glare from both Henry and Edward.

“Leave him alone, James. Let’s just get back to work before Sir Topham Hatt has anything to say about us hanging around and watching Percy and Diesel 10 like homophobic grandparents.” He told them, giving Henry a sympathetic smile and beginning to leave with James following after him happily.

Henry also decided to take his leave, beginning to roll away as he stared at his string. None of this even made sense. Why would engines get a red string if Hiro said only humans got it? Why would Lady do this to them and why didn’t all the engines get a string? Could it be the writer doesn’t actually know half the cast despite watching the show?

“Huh. What a strange thought.” Henry chuckled, deciding to shake them away as he puffed down the tracks. He had some coal trucks to take.

Duck wasn’t having much good luck either, the engine currently in a siding taking a rest. He wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the strings. Sure love was exciting, but was it Great Western? Didn’t think so. He yawned tiredly, bored from the day of work and the constant thinking about the string.

Love was a weird, sacred thing. Back on his Great Western line, romance was practically forbidden. It got in the way of work and other things so most railway owners outright banned it, those who were romantically involved had to hide it very carefully; even talking for too long could get them discovered! Life was scarier back then.
Sodor was a very different place though, a good different.

“I wonder who’s on the other end of my string.” He hummed, wondering about who he could’ve gotten. His superiority complex would definitely make it difficult to have someone just had stubborn as him. Duck liked to be in charge so he definitely wanted someone who’d go along with his plans. Call him toxic, he didn’t care.

He finally decided to follow his string, seeing as he had enough free time to do so. He rolled slowly out of the siding and down the track, keeping his eyes on the string as he did. Surely he got someone nice! Duck didn’t want to be stuck with Diesel for the rest of his life, that would suck; he didn’t even know if engines could get divorced either.
He wanted someone sweet, but level headed, similar to BoCo, but more reserved yet gentle. A gentle giant of sorts.

He hummed and continued down the tracks - spending an hour just rolling around - before beginning to enter through a forest, slowing down slightly to enjoy the sounds of the birds chirping loudly. It was a relaxing place to be, nice and calm, quiet yet not eerily quiet.
He looked around happily before accidentally bumping into some buffers.

As Duck looked up he was met with the back of a fat green tender. “Oh! Beg your pardon Henry! Didn’t mean to bump into you!” He said, his cheeks flushed as he backed up slightly. “You alright?” He asked the larger green engine.

“Oh hello Duck!” Henry said happily, a smile on his face. “I’m alright. Sorry for parking in the middle of the tracks. I was just trying to find my soulmate.”

“As am I, Henry. Where’s your string pointing? Maybe we can search together?” Duck suggested, still stuck behind Henry and still looking at his tender. He couldn’t see past it anyway.

Henry looked down and frowned. “Well my string is pointing behind me now, which is odd.”

“Ah, uh, I think we might be soulmates, Henry. My string is only pointing forward and there’s no other strings…”

“Oh…”

“Is that a bad ‘oh’ or a good ‘oh’?”

Henry’s cheeks went pink. “Oh I meant no offence Duck, honest! I just, we don’t really know each other…” he said shyly, unsure of what to say.

Duck gave a sigh of relief at that, his cheeks red as well. At least Henry wasn’t hating the idea of them. “Well we obviously have some time now, so why don’t we roll along slowly and get to know each other?” He asked him with a smile, rolling to press his buffers to Henry’s buffers. “That sound good?”

The bigger engine’s cheeks went darker. “Sure! That sounds good!” He chirped, his frame shaking nervously. He wasn’t used to this romance stuff yet and he wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about Duck. Sure the engine was polite, useful when needed, and decent company, but he didn’t truly know him - if that made sense. He was snapped out of his thoughts when through Duck’s sheer strength, the pannier tank began to practically push Henry along.

“Let’s roll and talk, Henry. Don’t want to block up the lines now do we?” Duck asked with a chuckle.

Henry’s face went an even brighter red. “N-No! Of course not!” He said and began to actually roll along, going down the track with Duck. “So what do you like to do for fun, Duck?” Henry asked him.

“Well, I quite like going to the ocean to watch it. The sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean make me happy. I assume that’s why you like the forest a lot?”

“Oh! Y-Yes, it is. I like how the forest smells after it’s rained. It smells earthy, and the grass smells so rich and nice. The trees also smell like pine and oak and it’s so calming to be around.

“Don’t I know the feeling! The ocean always smells so crisp and nice, especially after a storm. There was this one time back on the Great Western Railway when we had a storm and the ocean breached the water ways….”

As the sun began to set, Edward rolled along with James and soon spotted Henry on a siding. Henry was against the buffers happily, the engine still as he seemed to be taking a nap of sorts. However, as they rolled more forward they spotted Duck facing Henry, happily pressed against his buffers and talking quietly to Henry, the two engines were unable to pick up what Duck was saying but Henry had his eyes closed and a small smile on his face, so Duck must be saying something sweet to him. Maybe even telling him a story.

“Oh my. It seems Henry’s found his soulmate in Duck.” Edward mumbled quietly to James, glad that Henry had a soulmate would was stubborn and would stick up for him.

James hummed in agreement. “So it seems… told you he was a bottom.” He huffed.

Edward shot him a glare. “James, be nice.” He huffed in return. “I don’t particularly want Duck to hear us and plot his revenge. That would be no fun at all. It’s sweet! They’re soulmates.”

The red engine frowned, shooting his own glare at Edward. “Fine, I’m happy they’re soulmates. At least Henry will have someone spoon him at nights now.”

The blue engine sighed, having given up. That’s probably the nicest thing James would say about someone. “Come on, let’s leave them alone and get back to Tidmouth.” He said to James.

“Best idea you’ve had all day.” Snorted James and followed after Edward happily, leaving the two new soulmates alone for the night.

Duck watched them leave and rolled his eyes playfully, soon closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh. Having spent the whole afternoon talking to Henry and learning about his likes, dislikes, his history, his friendships, and even his family; Duck could honestly say he was truly in love.

The large green tender engine was so sweet and caring - sure he could be a prick but they all could - with a big heart for all his friends and even for nature. The shit Henry had to put up with and what he’s managed to overcome and be who he is today honestly made Duck’s boiler bubble and his firebox burn; he wanted to spend the rest of his days with him.

As for Henry - the engine’s large frame vibrating gently from relaxation - he could honestly say the same about Duck. The way he was so passionate about everything, the stories he could tell, how confident yet kind he was. His stubbornness and his eager to please. It just made Henry fall hard and it felt like he was simply drowning in everything that Duck was. He felt like a boat on an open ocean, constantly surrounded by Duck and his presence.

“Goodnight Henry.” Duck hummed softly to the large engine, the two quiet as nightfall finally took over.

“Goodnight Duck.” Henry mumbled quietly in reply, the weird v shaped smile that Duck loved so much still planted firmly on his face as the two fell asleep together; buffer to buffer, their strings connects and glimmering brightly.

Chapter Text

Back up in the blue mountain quarry, the narrow gauge engines were struggling to find who got who. For some reason, their string was all looped around in the tunnels and the tracks, ensuring they wouldn’t be able to find their partner unless they unwound it. Definitely not done for plot reasons by a lazy writer.

Peter Sam was somehow the first one to realise this, beginning to go through the tunnels backwards and forward, switching lines to undo the mess that was his string. Peter Sam was desperate to undo this mess and go back to simply when he was pushing trucks and riding through tunnels. This was all one big mess that he didn’t have the energy to figure out.

“Ugh come on! Stop getting mixed up!” Peter Sam whined loudly, staring down at his string in frustration. He didn’t want to break the string but he couldn’t have it all jumbled up anymore. Seeing the sea of red all over the tracks and in the tunnels was driving him insane!
“Are you sure I’m not allowed to break the string, Sir Handel?” He asked the other engine

Sir Handel glared at him with a look of aghast upon his face. “No breaking the string! We don’t know what it could do! I’ve already had to restrain Duncan so he wouldn’t break his!”

Duncan glared from where his front wheels were derailed on the track. “Can ye let me go? I have work to do at Crovan’s Gate.”

“No!” And Sir Handel turned his attention to Peter Sam once again. “You’re not allowed to break the string!”

“Ugh no fair!” Peter Sam whined, practically ignoring Duncan as well as he pouted to Sir Handel. “It’s just annoying me! It’s all wrapped up in the quarry and the tunnels and even around Luke’s wheels! Come on Handle Bars! Pllleeaaaassseeeeee!”

The blue engine cringed at that. “Nope Nope Nope Nope! Nuh uh! And don’t call me ‘Handle Bars’!” And he sped off, leaving both Duncan and Peter Sam behind.

“Can ye let me go?”

“Aw I’m sorry Duncan but if Sir Handel said no then I’m not allowed to (｡•́︿•̀｡).”

“How tha fuck did ye say that?”

Peter Sam simply sighed, annoyed that he wasn’t allowed to snap the annoying string and rolled away sadly, leaving Duncan perplexed and still derailed.

Hours passed and Peter Sam had given up all together, in their little shed without walls as he sighed. “This sucks… why did Lady do this to us? I thought we were in her good books!”

That caught the attention of Skarloey, the older engine raising an eyebrow to Peter Sam. “What ails you?” He asked him, a frown on his face. He had been hearing the engines sighs all day and it was starting to annoy him a bit as the sighs would echo.

“It’s just these strings, Skarloey! Every time I think I get so close to unscrambling them, they just end up worse! And I can’t break them cause Sir Handel said no, but it’s just annoying me! They’re everywhere!” Peter Sam cried, very upset with how it was playing out.

Skarloey sighed this time, rolling over to be beside Peter Sam. “I understand. I really do. It’s annoying, I get that. But you also need to be less of a doormat though, stop being so wishy-washy. It’s not getting you anywhere.” He said firmly yet kindly. “You’re capable of making your own decisions, alright? If you let Sir Handel always tell you what you can and can’t do, you’ll never get to be yourself.”

“I’m-I’m not like that at all!” Peter Sam said, eyes wide with shock at what Skarloey - sweet old Skarloey - had just said to him. “I say no all the time to Sir Handel!”

That got all the other engines to chime in.

“No you don’t.”

“You usually always agree with him.”

“Yeah sorry Peter Sam but you are a bit of a doormat.”

“Yer a wee little softie.”

“You are a bit meek. Nothing wrong with that though!”

“Yeh why would you ever say no to me? Your blue bestie?”

Peter Sam frowned and looked to the floor. “…Oh my… (っ- ‸ - ς)… I didn’t realise it was that bad…” he mumbled, unsure of what else to say. It’s not good when Skarloey does a read that was so accurate everyone else agrees.

The older engine let out another soft sigh, knowing now he’d had to tread carefully and deciding to not even question how Peter Sam was speaking in symbols. “I didn’t mean it like that, Peter Sam. I know he’s your friend but when it comes to big decisions like cutting your string, you don’t have to listen to Sir Handel to do it, alright? If you wish to cut your string we can figure something out. Maybe our drivers can cut it.”

“Cut my string…” he mumbled. “But what if something really bad does happen and Sir Handel is right?”

“Then Sir Handel is right. But what if you cut it and nothing bad happens? It means Sir Handel is wrong. He’s not always right about everything.” Skarloey counteracted.

It went quiet between the two, both engines quiet as Peter Sam thought hard about it all and Skarloey thought about when Sir Handel had made them watch ‘say yes to the dress’ which resulted in a massive fallout. Sir Handel had NO taste at all. Neither of them noticed their strings moving.

Peter Sam was the one to break the silence. “I think you’re right, Skarloey. This is my decision to make, not Sir Handel’s decision.” And he looked to to the red engine. “I don’t think I’ll cut the string. We don’t exactly know what happens and I wouldn’t want my soulmate to be without a partner. That’s cruel. I had time to think on it and that’s my answer.”

The older engine smiled softly. “I’m glad about that, Peter Sam. It’s nice that you thought about your soulmate in all of this and realised that your actions could hurt them. Whoever is your soulmate would be pleased.” He hummed. Peter Sam could be a honest and sweet engine when he put some thought into it, even if he was a little naive.

“Thanks Skarloey. I hope you get a nice soulmate too! Maybe it’s Rusty! You and Rusty would make a great pair.” He chirped happily, grinning brightly to Skarloey.

Soon, both felt a weird tug on their buffers and they looked down and both gasped in surprise. Their strings were connected to each other.

They were soulmates!

Oh god they were soulmates.

“Oh jeez I’m sorry Skarloey! I think you’re stuck with me…” Peter Sam sighed, his cheeks pink from embarrassment. Skarloey could so much better!

Skarloey frowned at Peter Sam’s reaction to the string and sighed once again. He really needed to stop doing that. “Look, Peter Sam, I’m not upset that we’re soulmates. Sure it’ll take some time to get used to the idea of us being together, but if Lady says we should be together, we can’t really argue, can we?” He chuckled softly, trying to be gentle with the younger engine.

“But you could do so much better Skarloey! You’re so out of my league are you kidding me?” Peter Sam whined loudly. “You’re like the hot single uncle who everyone wants to bone! And I’m just that guy™!”

“Oh don’t put yourself down Peter Sam! You’re a sweet and kind engine and you always think of others. Of course I’d be happy to be with someone like that. To be with you.” He said, face as red as his livery as he tried to be smooth with it.

The green engine looked to Skarloey with crocodile tears in his eyes, his cheeks red as well. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do, Peter Sam. Don’t put yourself down like that.” He said softly, smiling sweetly to him as he pushed through the embarrassment of it all. “I’m happy to be your soulmate.”

The two shared a moment of simply basking in each others love, the two smiling sweetly at each other. Their cheeks red, their frames shaking from embarrassment, and their eyes filled with adoration and love for each other.
Their moment was broken up by another engine.

“This be all cute and shit, but can ye please let me go?” Duncan grumbled, glaring at the duo.

“Oh maybe later Duncan! Skarloey and I still have work to do, not to mention we need talk more since we’re soulmates!” Peter Sam said with a grin to the Scottish train.

“Like Peter Sam said, we’ll be back for you later Duncan!” Skarloey hummed, leaving with Peter Sam and leaving poor Duncan still derailed.

“Ye cannae leave me here!”

“♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝”

“How tha fuck are ye saying this shite Peter Sam?!”

Chapter Text

The very next day at the China Clay Pits, it was a complete and utter mess of trucks lining every siding and every bit of track; no Bill or Ben in sight, and poor Marion could hardly move.
Poor Timothy was smothered with work and was very annoyed by it since Bill and Ben were supposed to be there to help but nooo they just had to run off to try and find their soulmates. Which is all good since Timothy also kind of liked the idea of a soulmate, but skipping out on work? That was annoying.

He was in a foul mood when Sir Topham Hatt arrived to the Clay Pits with both Bill and Ben in tow, the two engines looking very sheepish and apologetic after the scolding they got by the railway owner. “Timothy, I’m so sorry for how Bill and Ben ditched you with their work.” The stout man said firmly. “For that, Bill and Ben will finish up here and you will go down and work at the docks. Salty has been sent to the shunting yards to help there and so Porter is in need of some help.” He said, ignoring how both Bill and Ben whined loudly in protest at that.

“But who will help us here?!”

“We need Timothay’s help!”

“Silence!” Sir Topham Hatt snapped sternly at the duo, effectively silencing them. “You ditched Timothy and he had to do all the work himself. You two can manage without his help for a few days.” And he looked to Timothy again. “Once Bill moves these trucks you may leave and head down to the docks. Porter will be awaiting your arrival.”

Timothy perked up happily at that. A few days away from Bill and Ben? And he gets to be at the docks with Cranky and Porter? Oh boy was he excited! “Thank you Sir.” Timothy said, a grin on his face. Once the trucks were out of his way he bolted down the tracks, whistling a goodbye to the group.
He noted how the red strings seem to be wrapped all over the place, seemingly from where the engines had travelled; parts were tangled up into knots and other pieces caught under the tracks.

How bothersome.

The oil-burning engine decided to not think any more of it as he made his way quickly to the docks, excited to be working with engines who weren’t Bill and Ben. Curse Boco for leaving to work on Edward’s branch line! The fucker up and left his horrid kids at the clay pits for Timothy to look after!

He saw the docks come into view and he smiled brightly, finally relaxing as he slowed down and rolled into view. “Hello Cranky! Hello Porter!” He chirped at them, feeling all his anger flush away as he looked to Porter happily.

“Hello Timothy.” Cranky called down, going back to counting the seagulls that had landed on a rooftop. He counted 36 so far.

“Oh hello Timothy!” Porter smiled at him, rolling over to him. “It’s just easy shunting work but I can’t do it alone. Glad you’re here though.” He hummed.

“I’m glad to be here too. I think if Sir Topham Hatt wasn’t there I would’ve murdered Bill and Ben by now.” He huffed. “I would’ve cut their bodies up into little pieces and scattered them around the island, making sure they could never be put to rest….” He hissed darkly

Porter blinked in confusion. “What the fuck. I just need help with these trucks, man.”

“Oh I didn’t actually mean it! They just drive me up the wall! I’ve been stuck without their help for 3 days.” He sighed, gesturing to his driver to not go through with the murder plans.

The other engine relaxed and let out a chuckle. “I get ya. Stressful ain’t it? I’d probably be the exact same if I was stuck with the twins and they weren’t any help. Fortunately, you’re here for the next few days so it’s like a deserved vacation!” He grinned, completely falling for it.

“Just what I need.” He chuckled softly, smiling to Porter. “So what first?”

“Oh that’s simple. It’s just shunting these trucks around and making lines of 8 with them for Duck and Oliver to come and collect. It’s simple really, but it’s repetitive and relaxing and not too stressful.” Porter replied with a smile. “It’s steady work.”

“Sounds easy enough!” Timothy chirped and got to work.

The two happily shunted the trucks around for the next few hours, chattering happily to each other as they worked hard. They occasionally stopped to say hello and talk with Duck and Oliver when they’d come to collect the trucks. Porter and Timothy worked together in tandem, working hard and sorting the trucks; they sometimes got a short break before they continued.

“Hey Timothy.” Porter started, the duo having stopped for a short break together. “What’s your thoughts on these red strings and the whole soulmate idea?” He asked the oil-burning engine.

“Oh… I will I haven’t really thought about it all that much. I like the idea, sure! It makes me want to find my soulmate, but I don’t know how anyone is gonna find their soulmates with how tangled these strings are!” He sighed. “They’re all tangled in the tracks and they’re all knotted up!”

“True. I feel bad for those who are trying to find their soulmates. Maybe the string knows and will connect them after?” Porter suggested, smiling to Timothy.

Timothy chuckled. “Maybe. Seems like that’ll be the case in the end. No way are engines going to be able to find their soulmates.” And he let out a soft happy sigh. “Hopefully you’ll be able to find your soulmate, Porter. I’d hate for you to not be able to find them.”

“Well that’s the thing, Timothy. I don’t know if I want to find my soulmate. Especially not with how tangled the strings are.” Porter admitted quietly. “I’m worried whoever will get me will be disappointed that I’m not what they want. I’m not liked by many cause I look a bit different. I have too many domes and I’m painted almost like a diesel. No one wants that.”

The oil-burning engine frowned at that, feeling sad for Porter. He could relate, being an oil-burning engine and all. “I get the feeling, Porter. I think I’m worried they won’t want me either. I don’t burn coal like you guys and everyone knows that. Bill and Ben have even bullied me for it before.”

“I don’t get why you continue to work with them when they’re such assholes.”

“Oh well Boco asked me to babysit and I did and then he abandoned them with me. Like gave up all rights to them and everything.”

“Wow. I didn’t know you could do that! Do you think that’s why they didn’t bring him back for the cgi?”

“Oh no, that’s probably a different reason.” Timothy chuckled softly and sighed. “I like Bill and Ben, but it’s a battle I’ll never win with them. No matter what I do I can’t ever put them in their place. Not like Edward and Boco could.”

Porter hummed, thinking hard about it. “I know we probably won’t be soulmates, Timothy, but would you like to be my partner? Help you to get away from Bill and Ben for a while?” He asked him softly, his cheeks flushed a red colour. Both engines unaware their strings were beginning to move.

It was Timothy’s turn to blush. “So like… fake dating?” He asked him.

“Well, kinda. I like you, Timothy, I really do. You’re caring and understanding.” Porter said shyly, refusing to make eye contact with the blue engine. “You’re a nice engine, Timothy. And I wanna be with you, even if the strings say otherwise.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Porter… I-I think I feel the same way. About everything. Why do we have to go with that the strings say?” He asked rhetorically, his cheeks red as he smiled to the other engine. “I want to be with you as well Porter. I think I’d like that more than anything…”

A whistle sounded and both engines smiled to each other, knowing their break was over but that they’d get many more with each other as they got back to work, both unaware that their strings were connected. Maybe that was for the better.

Cranky watched the two get back to work and he rolled his eyes, moving to hoist several crates from the ship. Engines and romance was a weird mix, he was certain about that, but it was nice to see them getting along and being together, even if Cranky himself didn’t understand it. Romance didn’t interest the crane at all. He had no use for it and no feelings about it. He was content as he was.
“Stop chittering! I need a flatbed over here!” Cranky snapped down at them, a small smile on his face.

Sodor would be alright.

Chapter Text

It was a quiet day at Ulfstead Castle, Stephen milling about and occasionally talking to guests and to both Millie and Caitlin when they’d pass by. Every once in a while he’d get Percy or Thomas show up which was also nice.

It’d be much nicer if they stopped talking about their red strings and soulmates though.

However, Stephen wasn’t exactly sure about this whole ‘soulmate’ situation that was happening around him. It seemed interesting enough, and all the engines who popped by to the castle seemed happy and eager about it too.

Still Stephen just couldn’t wrap his head around it. Call him old but to him it just didn’t make sense! Surely there was an age limit on who could date who, maybe even a cut off time. For engines as old as Stephen, they had seen life and death and witnessed romance for decades, before engines were even considered as ‘living’.

He sighed, parking up slightly for a midday rest as his crew left to go and get some refreshments. It was a sunny day so keeping hydrated was definitely up there and Stephen needed to rest his wobbling wheels.
He spotted a new face approaching and he raised an eyebrow, this new engine was pulling Edward’s coaches.

“Did Edward get an overhaul and repaint?” He asked the green engine, hearing the new engine laugh at that.

“No no, sorry to confuse you. I’m BoCo. Edward is helping James with a task now that they’re soulmates.” BoCo chuckled, smiling to the older engine. “You’re Stephen, right? I’ve heard a lot about you from Thomas.”

The engine smiled to BoCo. “Yup. I’m Stephen. Oldest engine ever. I don’t think I’ve ever met you before, BoCo.” He hummed. “You younger engines have all been obsessed with this idea of soulmates lately.”

BoCo’s smile dropped slightly and he sighed. “Well, not all of us. I unfortunately don’t have a string, and I can’t see anyone else’s string.” He admitted softly. “It’s just one of those things, I guess. Some engines get them and some don’t.”

“Oh, I’m sorry BoCo, I didn’t mean to pry like that.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault Stephen. It’s just one of these things.” He hummed.

“Still though….” He frowned.

BoCo rolled his eyes and gave him a soft smile. “It’s not your fault. Some get strings and some don’t. It’s nothing we can argue with. Do you have a red string?”

Stephen looked down at his buffer, staring at the red string that had distracted him every now and again. “Uh yes. I do.” He hummed.

“Then get it old man! People love older engines you kidding me?”

“Eh…. I’m not exactly hot stuff.” Stephen snorted. “I’ve seen younger and hotter engines come and go. City of Truro was hot…” he muttered.

BoCo rolled his eyes again. “Stephen! You’re an older engine if not the oldest! You’re gonna have any famous engine fawning over you!” He said, trying to hype the older engine up. “You’re basically a silver fox!”

Stephen had to laugh that at. “I’m not a silver fox BoCo!”

The diesel engine joined in with the laughing, the two laughing together before Stephen’s crew returned and a whistle blew.

“I’ll see you later Stephen! Think about what I said though, alright?” BoCo told him cheekily before leaving with a honk of his horn.

Stephen watched the green engine leave before his driver spoke up. “Well Stephen, Sir Topham Hatt has asked us to go to Knapford station. Said something about a railway historian coming to visit.” He said, petting Stephen’s side. “I did tell him it might take us a while.”

“Compared to these new engines of course it will. But back in my day I was the fastest engine there was!” Stephen snorted but took off slowly, blowing his whistle as he took off down the tracks and the hill, excited to be able to head down to Knapford station. What BoCo said played in his head and he felt himself warming up to the idea of a soulmate.
Anyway, Being old always had its drawbacks, but knowing people came to the island just to see him was exciting enough.

Stephen soon pulled onto the main tracks, knowing that Sir Topham Hatt would’ve informed the railway workers to keep this track cleared for Stephen. Being crashed into by an engine like Gordon would not be fun.

He would literally die.

He blanched for a moment at hearing the rails shake before it seemed to slow down, a whistle sounding behind him. “Excuse me? May you move?” A loud boisterous voice said. Stephen nearly mistook him for Gordon. Before he managed to look behind him.

“Nope. Not allowed to. They cleared the tracks for me so there wouldn’t be an accident. Didn’t you get the memo?” Stephen asked with a hum.

“Of course not! I’m here to see an important person!” The engine huffed, not even looking down at Stephen all that much. “I’m much too busy to be stuck behind the likes of you.” And he instantly regretted his words when he noticed just who he was behind.

That got Stephen mad and he came to a stop, feeling the engine bump into his buffers. “Excuse me?! ‘The likes of you’?!” Stephen asked in shock and anger. “How dare you say that to your elders! I’m the bloody Stephensons Rocket! I set the pace and you bloody follow! None of this ‘I’m more important’ shit!” He said sternly, practically feeling the other engine recoil. “Telling me to move and hurry up…” he scowled, continuing to go down the track at his measly 15mph. There was no need to reach his super fast speed of 30mph as of now.

The engine behind him could barely speak, mouth opening and closing in shock like a fish. He had just insulted the great Stephenson’s Rocket, literally the engine who changed the railways. He insulted a legend.
Flying Scotsman was more embarrassed than ever. To think he actually insulted a famous - if not the most famous - engine and got him not only mad, but also swearing.

Oh the indignity.

Flying Scotsman simply stayed quiet and pathetically followed behind him like a lost puppy, unable to change tracks due to this track solely being cleared for Stephen. It would be a long and awkward journey.

After a short while, Flying Scotsman spoke up. “Uh, I’m sorry.” He said, clearing his throat slightly, awkward and unsure of how to word this. “I didn’t mean to uh, insult you.” He added as he tried not to upset the older engine more.

Stephen sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. Sure it was a bit of a shock to hear a random engine insult him that badly, but it was fine. “It’s alright. Just don’t do it again.” He hummed. It really wasn’t alright. He was lying. “You younger engines always tend to forget us older engines pathed the way for you lot. What’s your name?”

Flying Scotsman cleared his throat quietly as he tried to regain control of the situation. “I’m The Flying Scotsman.” He said proudly.

“Oh The Flying Scotsman! Yes I remember when you were simply plans on a drawing board.” Stephen said, thinking back to it. “Actually I remember when you were merely someone’s verbal idea…”

The larger engine deflated slightly. “So you’re not even impressed?” He asked him, devastated for a moment.

Stephen sighed, hearing the engines voice. It was like someone kicked a puppy. “Honestly? I’m impressed you reached 100mph first, that’s a big feat for any engine. But honestly? I’ve been around so long, Flying Scotsman. I’ve seen the life and death of a lot of engines, I’ve met engines older and younger than you. You’d have to do something crazy to impress me.”

The younger engine took that as a challenge. “Fine. I’ll do something to impress you.” And he went quiet before speaking up again.

“Have you seen these red strings everywhere?” He asked, eyes on the other tracks as he noticed them everywhere.

“I have. The younger ones are calling them strings of fate. On the end of them are ‘soulmates’ apparently. I’m surprised I even have one! I’m old enough to be the great-great-great grandfather in a family sense!” He snorted, looking at his own red string. “BoCo told me I apparently have a ‘silver fox’ going on and that younger engines like older engines!” He laughed. “I think he’s lying to make me feel better.”

Flying Scotsman listened before simply staring at the engine in front of him. Stephenson’s Rocket had a red string? Flying Scotsman could have a chance with him, and Stephenson’s Rocket was definitely a silver fox.

As a famous engine, Scotsman had a desire to be seen with other famous engines. One reason as to why he chatted with City of Truro and kept in touch with Princess Maggie Rose and Sentinel Joyce. Being with famous engines made Scotsman not only feel better about himself, but also gave him a sense of security.

Which was why he was so annoyed and upset when the one and only Stephenson’s Rocket didn’t even seemed phased that he was in the presence of such a well known engine, if not the most well known engine of all!

It was disgraceful!

But surprisingly Scotsman was totally into it?

The way this engine simply brushed him off like he was nothing tempted Scotsman so much more and made his boiler bubble in anger but also desire.
He wanted to prove to the old engine that he was something to be awed at!

“Anyway, I think Thomas also called me a ‘zaddy’ once, whatever that word means.” Stephen chuckled, snapping Scotsman out of this thoughts.

His face went pink. “Thomas called you zaddy?!” He asked, choking on his shock and surprise.

“Yeah he did! I tried asking him what that meant but he just kept giggling with Percy so I never actually got an answer from him.” Stephen hummed.

Scotsman’s face flushed darker, staring down at the engine before him. “It uh, it’s basically a hot older man but uh, fashionable…”

“Oh that’s nice of them.”

“No it’s more than a compliment.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

His mouth dropped. “That’s all you can say? ‘Interesting’? He was basically flirting with you!”

Stephen laughed at that. “I’m certain he wasn’t! You younger engines get worked up far too easily.”

Scotsman gaped at him more. Surely Stephensons Rocket wasn’t this dense! He had to know people were flirting with him! He stared down at the smaller engine in surprise and shock, wondering if Stephen just didn’t see it that way cause he was so old.

He saw Knapford station come into view and he whistled, managing to get the points changed so he could pull up to the platform.
Stephen came rolling into the station beside him, letting out a whistle as he came to a stop.
He finally took in the sight of Flying Scotsman and smiled. “It’s nice to actually meet you Scotsman. I’m Stephenson’s Rocket, but you can call me Stephen.” He hummed, happy to rest his wheels as he parked at the platform.

Flying Scotsman opened his mouth to say something but the arrival of Sir Topham Hatt interrupted them. “Ah perfect! You’re both here!” He said happily. “You two will be going to Knapford sheds for photos and an interview with this railway historian. I expect you both to be on your best behaviour. Especially you, Flying Scotsman, since you are a guest on my railway.”
Both engines muttered a yes and rolled off to Knapford sheds.

Once parked and stationed at the sheds, the two engines began to talk to each other more, mainly about the other famous engines. “How is City of Truro? I met him once or twice in my life time.” Stephen asked.

“Surviving. Still a bumbling idiot.” Scotsman snorted.

“He’s always been one. He’s not a bad engine to look upon though. He’s a nice shape. Quite regal looking.” He hummed, thinking back to the different times when he had met the engine. “Even if he always does say the first thing on his boiler.” He snorted.

Scotsman rolled his eyes. “He’s very regal looking. Unfortunately his way with words is awful. He once said that Lady Patricia had a ‘fat tender’. Got her riled up and got him hounded upon.” He huffed.

That got a laugh from Stephen, the smaller engine remembering things that City of Truro had said to him. “I remember when we first met, actually. Poor engine couldn’t even form a sentence!”

The larger green engine scowled at that, remembering exactly why City of Truro was so speechless. “Yes I remember why he was so dumbstruck! The idiot had a crush on you! All us famous engines do!” He snorted before his eyes went wide. “Fuck you weren’t meant to hear that.”

The silence that followed was incredibly awkward for both of them. Scotsman looked everywhere but at Stephen and Stephen for once was stumped on how to reply.

How could he reply to that statement?

“I see…” Stephen hummed, soon looking at Scotsman with a smug look after he remembered what BoCo told him. “So every famous engine has a crush on me?” He asked.

“Y-Yes.”

“Dooeeeesssss that include you?”

The larger engine refused to reply, his face red. Stephen laughed loudly at that, watching the big engine clamp up and become embarrassed.

“I’m sure your soulmate is waiting for you somewhere!” Scotsman said with a cough, trying hard to ignore the older engines smug smirk.

“Well, Scotsman, if you actually spent time down to earth and stopped looking up you’d find that our strings have actually been linked since we first bumped into each other.” Stephen said matter-of-factly, sounding far too smug about it all.

Scotsman was surprised, the older engines eyes snapping to stare in shock at Stephen. “And you just—what—you didn’t—why didn’t you say anything?!” Scotsman yelled at him, face bright red as he tried to think straight. “You just let me embarrass myself like that?”

“You never asked.” Stephen hummed, rolling his eyes playfully. “Next time, just get your head out of the clouds and come down to earth. Besides, I didn’t expect a youngin to be so in to me. Makes me feel young.” He chuckled, soon perking up when he saw the railway historian rush over excitedly.

“We can talk more later.” Stephen said to Scotsman and giving him a wink, watching the bigger engine flush bright red, almost matching James’s coat.

Hours later and BoCo watched how Stephen rolled down the tracks happily, a pink cheeked Flying Scotsman following behind him like a love struck puppy. Fuck we need to stop comparing him to a dog.
He rolled his eyes, happy that Stephen found someone to be with.

“It’s almost sickening.” Thomas said with a hum, parked beside BoCo as he watched the two talk. “Like, I’m happy, but I’ve never seen an engine so love struck. And I’ve been watching James and Edward all day!”

“Mhm. I am glad Stephen found his match. I know so many engines who wanted him and are gonna be devastated that he’s no longer single.” BoCo chuckled softly.

Thomas chuckled too. “True. I wonder if he’ll call him ‘zaddy’. Or maybe daddy. I don’t know what Scotsman likes.”

That got a laugh from BoCo. “I tried to tell Stephen that he was a silver fox! I don’t think he believed me. Or if he did he hid it very well.”

“Oh he definitely hid that. He’s old but he’s not stupid.” Thomas hummed, watching the two disappear from sight. “I wonder if Scotsman knows that sleeping with an older engine is not called daddy issues but caring for the elderly.”

“Who knows.” BoCo hummed. “But we should warn no one to go to the castle, I’m certain we’ll hear them busting buffers.”

“Loud and clanky and annoying.”

“Overbearing.”

“Yeah it’ll sound like an explosion.”

“Of fun!” Percy added, having just caught the end of Flying Scotsman’s two tenders disappearing down the track. “Do you think he has a you-know-what kink?”

“Huh?” Thomas asked before realising. “Oh you mean daddy kink? Absolutely. No questions asked.”

“Why doesn’t Percy just say ‘daddy’?” BoCo asked.

“Oh Percy doesn’t like the word he says it sounds weird so he doesn’t say it.”

“Huh. Understandable.”

Chapter Text

Thomas was happily puffing down the tracks and towards Knapford station, Annie and Clarabel behind him hqppily. He was glad the engines were finding their soulmates and they all seemed happy about it; he had even overheard James and Edward planning a date!
It was all so new and exciting, but Thomas wasn’t in a rush to find his soulmate.

He soon spotted a large freight train on the next track just a bit in front of him and he perked up slightly, thinking it was Henry.
Thomas picked up speed, hoping to catch up to the green engine but as he was passing the flatbeds filled with freight he noticed that there seemed way too many for Henry. The flying kipper was long but this train was way too long for even Henry to pull.

As he approached the front he saw a square shaped black engine pulling the freight and he picked up to be side the engine.

“Neville?” He asked softly, trying to bite back his excitement.

The larger engine looked over and smile brightly at the small tank engine. “Thomas! It’s been so long oh my gosh I didn’t expect to see you!” Neville said happily. “How are you? How have you been?”

“It has been a while! I thought I wouldn’t see you again! I’m doing great, same old same old!” Thomas laughed happily, smiling brightly at him. “You in Sodor for a while?” He asked him, almost jealous that he didn’t get a strong engine like Neville for a soulmate.

“Yeah, for the time being.” Neville hummed. “I’m not needed back on my own line anymore, so Sir Topham Hatt has me here on trial runs to see about pulling freight to the mainland. It means that he doesn’t have to pull Henry or Gordon away from their work.”

Thomas frowned. “Oh I’m sorry Neville.” He said softly, unsure of how to continue.

Neville sighed softly. “It’s alright. I had a feeling it was going to happen sooner or later. I watched as they added electric tracks and knew it was only a matter of time.” He hummed. “Can’t change that. At least Sir Topham Hatt had room for me.”

“Yeah… still though…” and Thomas smiled at Neville again. “It’s good to have you back though Neville. I’m sure the others will be super excited to have you back!”

He laughed. “I hope you’re right.” And he saw his turn coming up. “I’ll see you later Thomas!” He said, blowing his whistle loudly as he went down the tracks and off towards the docks, leaving Thomas alone on the tracks.

Thomas wasn’t blind though, having spotted the red string on Neville’s buffer. It seems this had affected mainland engines, probably engines who had been on Sodor before.
Things got a lot more interesting…

At Knapford station Thomas let his passengers disembark as he waited happily for BoCo to arrive with more passengers from Edward’s branch line. All this stuff about the red strings made the engines get shifted around, so Thomas never really knew which engine was doing what. It’s also cause the writer couldn’t remember which engine was doing what.

He perked up at hearing BoCo’s honk, the diesel engine purring into the station. “Hello Thomas.” He said, pulling up beside the steam engine. “How are you?”

“I’m good BoCo. You’ll never guess who’s back! It’s Neville!” He said with a grin. “He’s come to live in Sodor.”

“Oh it’s good to have Neville back! You’ll never guess who else is on Sodor though.” And the diesel grinned. “Gator is back. He arrived first thing today by a ship.” He said. “Apparently he’s back cause a diesel’s taken over his track, so Sir Topham Hatt has bought him.”

“Oh dear. It seems we’re going to be having a lot more old faces show up…”

“Indeed. But it’s not all bad. It’s probably just a bad case of nostalgia.”

“Yeah… I mean, apparently Bertram is finally coming back to Sodor and he shows up for like what, one episode?”

“It’s a shame Smudger won’t be back though.”

“Who?”

And BoCo laughed at Thomas’s confused face. “Don’t worry about it. Engines before your time.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him. “So how do you know this engine before your time? You’re younger than me!”

“I’m just a favourite.” And he heard the whistle on his platform blow and he smiled. “I’ll see you later Thomas! If I hear anymore about Gator I’ll be sure to tell you.” And the diesel took off from Knapford station and down the track.

Thomas watched him go, a soft smile on his face. BoCo didn’t seem sad that he didn’t have a soulmate so Thomas assumed he just didn’t really care, wondering if the diesel had gotten over it. He noticed that some engines had soulmates and some didn’t, perhaps a fact that the writer doesn’t know half the characters and doesn’t actually care for half of them either.

He heard the whistle on his platform blow and he took off down the track happily and back towards his branch line. Thomas had a lot to think about, especially now that more engines from his younger days were returning to Sodor amidst the crisis that was “revolutionary engines”, so steam was slowly getting replaced.

It was just a little scary.

Thomas knew though that Sodor would be a safe haven for all of them, steamies and diesels alike. After all, they survived this long on Sodor, and they’d keep going.

Chapter Text

Mavis was enjoying her time at the quarry (after being reprimanded by Sir Topham Hatt for running about and abandoning her duties) as she was shunting trucks and keeping things in order. She’d occasionally see Percy come by for trucks or see Diesel purr by, so she wasn’t alone.

It was relaxing.

Currently Mavis was in conversation with Thomas, the tank engine on his break and without his soulmate yet so it was easier to talk about stuff that didn’t revolve around love.

“No Thomas, I don’t think you quite get it. I don’t think I’m interested in women or men, but if I had to pick a soulmate I’d want a woman. Is that too much to ask?” Mavis asked him softly, thinking hard about it all.

Thomas sighed. “I get that Mavis, but we might not get to pick and choose what we want. The strings decided for us.”

“Okay, and if Lady is all knowing and gave us the strings, then she knows I want a woman.” She hummed, a little nervous about it all. “Are you wanting a man or a woman?”

“Eh, I’m not overly bothered about if I end up with a guy or girl.” He told her. “Most of the engines are ending up with guys as there’s more male engines than female engines.”

“Yeah I know… how unfortunate.”

“Look it’s not my fault there’s more male engines.”

“Maybe the design team should’ve let Edward become a woman.”

“What would that solve??”

“More women.”

Thomas sighed again. “Look, there’s not many women and I’m sorry. Is there any particular lady you’re interested in?” He asked her.

“Eh I’m not fussy, but if I had to pick? Maybe Emily?” Mavis hummed. “She’s nice and she’s got me flowers before so maybe her. I’m not too fussy. Daisy is a nice pick too. She’s polite and she’s also a diesel. It’s nice to know another lady who’s a diesel engine. Even Rosie would be alright. I just want to be with a woman.”

Mavis then sighed. “What does it matter though? I don’t get to choose so knowing my luck I’ll end up with Salty or something or even Diesel.” And she shuddered at that thought.

Thomas chuckled. “I think Salty would rather marry the sea than an engine.” He snorted softly. “I need to get going now. Hopefully you get a lady engine to be soulmates with.”

“Thanks Thomas. I hope you get someone good too. I’ll catch you later.” She said, watching Thomas leave with a wheesh and a whistle. She then got back to work, not wanting to upset Sir Topham Hatt again.

Down at Tidmouth Emily, the green engine busy with some freight cars and bumped into Edward. “Oh hello Edward!” Emily chirped, smiling to the blue engine. “You alright?”

“Yup. I’m good Emily.” Edward hummed, smiling to the engine. “I’m just here to collect some coaches to take to my branch line, BoCo is working at the docks for the moment to keep up with the demand there so my branch line is free to me again.”

“Oh that’ll be nice! I bet you’re excited to be back on your branch line Edward.” She giggled and let out some steam as she sighed. “You happy with James? Your little soulmate?”

Edward blinked in surprise at that but smiled. “Oh, I am. He may not show it but he is caring and sweet when he needs to be.” He said softly, thinking about James. He was always thinking about James. “Even if he does drive me up the fucking wall.”

“Welp! That’s romance for ya!” Emily laughed.

“Mhm. So it is.” He chuckled. “He’s not a bad lover, he’s just a bit selfish.”

“Oh is that why he hissed and let off steam and wheeshed angrily when Spencer even dared get close to you?” She asked cheekily.

Edward blushed and rolled his eyes. “Okay so maybe he’s a little overprotective of me but it’s fine. It’s just who he is.”

Emily laughed at that, letting out steam as she began to leave. “Sure sure! Keep telling yourself that.” She hummed.

“If you’re leaving then I best tell you that Mavis is hoping to have a female soulmate. I was hoping maybe you could inform Rosie or Caitlin if you saw them.” Edward said, going to leave before hearing a screech of wheels and Emily come flying back.

“You said Mavis?” She asked eagerly, her eyes sparkling as she looked to Edward excitedly.

“Uh, yes?” He said, raising an eyebrow at her excitement. “Mavis is hoping for a female soulmate as she’s more comfortable and- are you unlatching from your freight train? Emily! You can’t leave your freight train! You have to deliver it!” Edward said, sounding aghast as he watched Emily begin to leave again.

Emily whistled a goodbye. “I’ll be back for it later Edward! I gotta go see Mavis!”

Edward’s mouth dropped open as he watched Emily leave, unable to utter a reply as the engine sped off quickly. “You stupid lesbian! Get back here!” He yelled after her but it was no use, Emily was already out of earshot and could no longer hear him.

Emily rushed down the tracks excitedly, speeding past slower engines such as Percy and Toby and even managing to pull up beside the larger engines like Henry and Neville. She was excited to see if she was the perfect match for Mavis and was even more excited to see her string did lead towards the quarry.

After all, Emily loved women. And Mavis was hot.

She was used to hanging around the steam team; used to Thomas and Percy and their cheeky ways, used to Edward being the one everyone looked up to, used to how James was always vain and prideful, how Henry was all kind yet like a doormat, and how Gordon was definitely a bottom pretending to be a top.
She liked hanging around them though, they were fun.

But Emily just liked women all that much more. Sure she never hung around them much, but by god did she want to smooch every women ever.

Emily finally made it to the quarry and she slowed down, rolling in slowly. “Hello? Mavis? You here?” She called out as she looked around the large area.

A honk sounded and Mavis pulled up, a soft smile on her face. “Oh hello Emily! I didn’t expect you here today!” She chirped happily. “How are you?”

“Oh I’m good! I was at Tidmouth just doing some work. Bumped into Edward there.” She hummed.

“Well it’s nice to see you. Is Edward doing alright? How is he?” Mavis asked her.

“He’s fine as usual. Having a fun time with James since they’re soulmates.”

“With James? But he’s so, yknow, stuck up, vain, prideful, angry-“

“Yup. Same old same old. He must give good head to get compliments from Edward. He literally called James sweet and caring.”

Mavis chuckled softly at that. “I suppose that’s love for you, always brings out the best and worst in people.”

“Right on the money.” Emily chuckled, beginning to tremble with excitement as she noticed their strings connected. “So Mavis… a large metal birdie told me that you want a soulmate who’s a girl?”

“If you’re talking about Edward, I wouldn’t call Edward’s ‘larger seagull’ build a ‘birdie’, they’re more like an overgrown rat with wings.” Mavis huffed, rather hateful of seagulls in general. Thank god Edward was simply named after them and not built after them. “But yes, I would prefer a woman. Simply a preference.”

Emily hummed, agreeing with that. “Interesting.” And she rolled a little closer. “So, since you want a female soulmate,,, How would you like to go on a date, huh? Get to know each other a little better?” Emily asked her.

Mavis blushed slightly, looking to the side. She was unaware their strings were connected and so simply thought Emily was flirting. “Oh! I’d-I’d love to!” She stuttered out.

“I mean, a diesel as pretty as yourself deserves to go somewhere nice.” Emily hummed, rizzing Mavis up easily and she smiled sweetly at her. She knew she had won. It was easier to rizz up someone who was more nervous than you.

With that Mavis blushed much more, her cheeks pink as she giggled nervously. She wasn’t sure what to say. “L-Lead the way Emily.” She said, looking at Emily through her lashes.

Internally Emily cheered and thanked Lady that she knew how to flirt despite being a useless lesbian (examples S13E12, and S19E16) and gave Mavis another charming smile. “Well, shall we finish up here and then ditch work to take a little trip on the rails near the beaches?” She purred, thanking Edward this time who taught her to purr like that. Thank you old iron we salute you.

“O-Of course!” Mavis chirped and soon the two got to work shunting trucks around filling hoppers up with coal before they made their exit from the quarry just in time to watch the sunset from the rails, Emily still taking the lead of it.

From a safe distance BoCo watched with Neville by his side, the duo having finished their work for the day. They were catching up and also resenting that they were never brought back for the cgi.

“It’s cute. Emily was always one for the girls.” Neville hummed. “I know that much from working with her before.”

“Mhm. I’m glad she’s found someone. I’m happy for her. I’m glad that Mavis has found Emily, she’s always been a more nervous diesel and I think with Emily she’s going to become more confident.”

“Maybe. I mean, Emily is a bit of a useless lesbian from time to time…” and they watched as Mavis laughed at something Emily said, her frame shaking. “It’s cute.”

“They’ll be happy together…” BoCo hummed and then going quiet as he watched them, wishing he could have that too.

“Hey BoCo, how come you’ve been in the later chapters more often?”

“Oh I’m just a current favourite so far.”

Chapter Text

Over the next two weeks, Sodor had become wet and windy. A storm from the south had struck, bringing with it wind, rain, and bad energy.
The weather wasn’t seeming to lighten up and so work became slower to stop it becoming dangerous. The quarry and the clay pits had closed for the duration of the storm in fear of landslides.

Down at the docks work continued on but much slower, Cranky being told to take it slow and to not move too fast due to the wind speeds.

Below on the tracks, Porter let the rain drench him and the wind hit him as he watched Cranky slowly and steadily place crates onto a large line of flatbeds.
It was much longer than what Henry would take, so it was definitely for a much bigger and powerful engine.

Porter drew his eyes away when he heard a whistle and he smiled, despite heavy downpour. “Hello Gator.” He chirped, watching the green engine pull up beside him. “Lovely weather isn’t it?”

“I’m beginning to wish I was back home in Colombia.” Gator huffed, feeling cold and wet. Sure the weather in Colombia could be just as bad, but at least they got more than just a few days of sun.

“You’ll get used to it.” Porter chuckled softly, watching the workmen in bright coats secure the crates to the flatbeds.

Gator sighed. “I better. Now I know why British engines are always so angry.” And he turned his attention to the line of flatbeds. “Who’s that for? Henry?” He asked.

“Nah. It’s far too long for Henry. It’s for Neville.”

Gator could sense an unspoken sex joke just then.
“Who is Neville?”

And Porter’s mouth opened in surprise, before it promptly closed it due to getting rain in his mouth. Damn microplastics in the waters.
“You don’t know Neville? Gator I’m ashamed!” Porter gasped. “He’s only one of the strongest engines on the island. He can pull double the amount of trucks Henry can. He’s built for work, literally.”

Gator frowned. He had never heard of this engine. “Built for work…?”

“He was made in world war 2 to basically lighten the workload for the other engines. He’s quite literally made for work.”

“Ah, so he’s a veteran.”

“Yes.”

“I see…” and Gator went quiet, thinking about this mystery engine. He’d like to see him. He probably had that thousand yard stare and PTSD.

Soon another whistle filled the air and a large square shaped steam engine rolled by slowly. He was as large as Henry and Gordon, but painted black, and was such a familiar square shape almost like a diesel. It seemed like Gator’s thoughts were answered.

Gator was immediately hooked, eyes wide with wonder and awe and lust as he watched Neville roll past them and towards the front of the train. He had never seen such a unique shape steam train in all his life.

“That’s Neville?” He mumbled, unable to pull his eyes away from the engine.

“Yup! When he first arrived Thomas mistook him for a diesel since he was being cornered by ‘Arry and Bert, so that gossip spread around. Then he nearly died so that was another thing.” Porter hummed, thinking about it. “Series five to series twelve was always a little weirder…”

“Huh…” he hummed, keeping a watch as the black engine was coupled up to the freight train.
As the guard blew his whistle, Gator watched with intrigue as Neville blew his whistle in return, pistons turning and wheels slipping on the tracks before he got a good grip and slowly began to pull the train. Picking up speed as he wheeshed around the corner and disappeared out of sight, his train following behind him

Gator’s jaw had dropped as the last of the freight disappeared from sight. He was in awe. A sexy shaped train who was powerful enough to pull any freight train?
Amazing.

Porter giggled and rolled his eyes. “Alright love bird, get a hold of yourself. You still got work to do so you can’t be day dreaming about Neville just yet.” And he moved to line up some smaller flatbeds for Gator. “These are off to Crovan’s Gate, for the Steamworks.” Porter hummed. “They contain a whole bunch of new and imported engine pieces and components.”

“Finally. Means some of us can actually get fixed.” He snorted, changing tracks to be coupled up to it. “Thanks Porter. I’ll see you later. Hopefully the storm lightens up soon.”

The storm did, in fact, not lighten up. And thus that’s how Gator found himself taking refuge at the Steamworks, rain dripping off of him and onto the floor. At least it was warm.

Gator had jinxed it. On his way he had to go slow, change to different tracks due to flooding and broken trees, even having to wait patiently as Henry was lifted to safety (the poor engine having no grip to the track as he rounded a corner and went flying off and into the mud).

(Duck had been a complete mess about it.)

(Gator couldn’t blame.)

And so his journey got slower and slower until the rain really began to pour, rattling off of his frame and making loudly clanging noises. All work came to a stop still as it just began to get too dangerous for them all.

Gator thought it was a bit bullshit. They were giant metal machines, a bit of rain couldn’t hurt them that badly. He was grateful for the early shift end though. And so that’s how Gator ended up taking refuge for the night at the Steamworks, listening to the clanking noises and soaking in the warmth.

He smiled at Victor, the smaller engine being very welcoming. “Thanks again for letting me stay for the night, I know it’s not ideal…” he said, worried he was taking up space in the massive factory.

“It’s no problem my friend! It’s far too dangerous out there right now. I’d rather have you here and healthy than here and injured.” Victor said kindly. “Now, I hope you don’t mind, but I am going to play Se Encendio el Beeper on repeat for at least 20 minutes whilst I stare into the flames.”

“Oh fuck yeah. That’s like one of my favourite songs.” Gator chuckled, watching the smaller engine move away. “Oh just one moment.” He said, noting the red string. “When did they you get a red string? Mine appeared whilst I was in Colombia, and no one else could see it.”

Victor blinked and then chuckled. “It’s been here for a couple weeks. Just appeared over night and that was it, we all have someone waiting for us on the other end. Edward found James, and Percy found Diesel 10. It’s completely random.”

He blinked owlishly. “Completely random? So I could get anyone? What if I get someone I don’t like?” He asked nervously.

“Well, no one’s complained thus far, so you should be alright my friend. Don’t think about it too hard. Try and get some rest.” He said softly. “Whoever set these strings up seem to know what they’re doing.” And Victor moved away, leaving Gator alone.

Soon the doors to the Steamworks opened, letting in the wind and the rain as a creaking and groaning of metal sounded, a large black engine reversing into the Steamworks and letting off steam, it’s frame relaxing.
The doors closed and Gator took note of his new berth mate.

“Hi, I’m Neville.” The engine said with a smile, its frame soaked. “Awful weather huh?” And Neville felt his crew leave, watching as they walked over to a staff room in hopes of refreshments.

Gator couldn’t help but stare, pupils blown as he eyed up the engine near him. He could finally marvel at his shape up close and it was heavenly! He was squared but still slightly rounded, giving him a frame like none other.

Neville could feel this green engine staring and he tensed up, unsure of how to approach until he really got a good look at him. This engine was simply gorgeous. Neville had never seen such an engine in his life. The way he was rounded yet still slightly squared, his multiple funnels and boilers.

The two merely stared at each other, a red blush forming on their cheeks as they didn’t know what to say. But soon they did speak.

“I’m Gator.”

“Do you wanna make out?”

“Huh?!” Gator said, snapping out of his trance and staring at Neville with a raised eyebrow. “You’re gay?”

“Your name is literally Gator. Gay-tor. I don’t wanna hear it.”

“You right, you right.”

With that, silence fell upon them, the faint sound of music filling the air. The Steamworks was warm as all work seemed to come to a standstill due to work ending for the day.

Neville was the first to break the silence, the engine raising an eyebrow as he looked around the steamworks.

“Is that fucking el beeper playing?”

“Marry me.”

He frowned, unsure if it. “But I’ve only just met you?” Neville said nervously as his blush darkened.

“Well our strings say otherwise so marry me big guy and we can get to know each other better on the honeymoon.” Gator said.

Neville continued to frown, even though inside he was happy his string found a match. “Even if my shape is weird?”

“Neville, you are the sexiest shaped engine I have ever seen, are you kidding me? You’re absolutely gorgeous!” Gator gushed. “I’ve never seen an engine shaped like you before.”

“W-Well you’re gorgeous too! You’re so unique and different, you’re one of a kind… and you’re kind. Percy was talking to me about you earlier and he was saying all sorts of nice things, saying how you look different but your sweet, wanting to help everyone, kind and brave and strong.” Neville’s mumbled shyly, giving Gator a bashful smile.

To Gator, Neville looked stunning with the way the light reflected off his wet frame, making it sparkle. The light also made his eyes glimmer, adding to his bashful expression. He only had one thing to say.

“Neville, marry me right fucking now.”

Chapter Text

It was another busy day at Brendam Docks and Thomas was feeling very annoyed. He had just heard from Henry, who heard from James, who heard from Emily, who heard from Rheneas, who heard from Paxton, who eavesdropped on Sir Topham Hatt, that Ryan was coming back to the island.

RYAN!

His purple rival!

Thomas could feel his boiler bubble angrily and he tried to soothe himself. Surely this would be fine. Surely nothing bad will happen. It won’t definitely be like that one specific Thomas and Friends movie with famous actor and voice actor John Hurt.

Definitely not like that movie.

Thomas grumbled to himself as he pulled several troublesome trucks up a hill and towards Ffarquhar. He had collected these trucks from Brendam Docks and they were filled with old bricks and used stones. Apparently, they were going to be crushed up further and used for construction. Thomas was certain the writer didn’t actually know what the fuck they were on about.

He smiled and blew his whistle as he passed Henry before he finally pulled into Ffarquhar. His trucks were dropped off at the construction sight and he continued further on. He soon perked up at spotting Percy and rolled over to him, the two at a siding near the station. Thomas smiled brightly at his green friend. “Hello Percy.” He chirped happily, all angry thoughts of Ryan gone. “How are you?”

“Oh hello Thomas! I’m fine! I’m just doing a ‘am I gay’ test. Driver and fireman are in the staff room on the computer. They give me the multiple choice answers for the questions and I picked which ones. I’m just waiting for the results.” Percy hummed.

Thomas blinked. What the fuck. Time to lie. “Oh! That sounds very interesting!” Nailed it. “Where’s Diesel 10? Is he not with you?”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Not today. The idiot somehow managed to damage his breaks.”

“Well that’s nothing new. He’s daft sometimes.”

“Mhm. I think Paxton said it was something about ‘playing chicken’. Dunno what that means but I haven’t seen Diesel either.” Percy told him.

Thomas chuckled at that. “Sounds about right for those two. Bet Diesel 10 was defending your honour.”

Percy blushed at that. “Hey! I can defend it myself!”

“Oh Diesel 10! You’re so big and strong! Protect me with your mechanical claw that’s totally a war crime and definitely illegal in France!” Thomas mocked, voice a higher pitch as he attempted to mimic Percy’s voice.

“Oh shove it!” Percy laughed. Thomas soon followed and the two engines were left giggling.

Soon though, their giggling subsided, Thomas immediately glaring as Ryan rolled into the station. “Ugh it’s Ryan…” Thomas grumbled, glaring at the purple train who hadn’t noticed them. They weren’t in the station, but they were bright blue and green. They were noticeable.

Percy turned his attention to Ryan and he hummed. “Oh he’s looking very nice in this sunny weather.”

“Percy! You’re meant to simp over Diesel 10!”

“Oh come on Thomas! It’s 2024! You’re allowed to find other engines attractive, that’s just how it is!”

“That’s definitely not how it works!”

“It totally is! The same way when you start dating you can have friends with the opposite gender!”

“Okay that one is totally valid.” Thomas agreed. “Who would disagree with that?”

Percy’s voice lowered to a whisper as he looked around cautiously. “The heterochromias.”

Thomas gave him a look, an eyebrow raising. “I think you mean the heterosexuals.”

“I know what I said!” Percy huffed, rolling his eyes as he turned his attention back to Ryan, the purple engine standing there stupidly. “I wonder what he’s come here for. He’s got a red string so that’s something.”

“Ugh he’s probably come to brag about something I just know it! He may look dumb and innocent but he’s a Gresley like Gordon and Spencer!” Thomas huffed, trying to kill Ryan with his glare as he ranted.

Percy’s eyes narrowed as he watched Ryan intensely, trying to see what Thomas saw and he didn’t. “Hmmm… I don’t think I can see what you see…”

Thomas ignored him, continuing on with his rant. “I bet his stupid string is attached to Daisy’s buffer. All they did was ogle each other last time he was here, not to mention getting me into trouble…”

“Nah, he totally looks like a fa-“

“PERCY!”

After that debacle at Ffarquhar, Percy got his results back and the test said he was definitely gay (not surprising), and Thomas had slinked away to go back to Tidmouth Sheds.
As he rolled along slowly, he began to grumble to himself.
“Stupid Ryan and his stupid purple paint. I wanna wipe that stupid dumb look off his face! He’s like a stupid little puppy! With his aloof attitude… and his stupid handsome smile… and his big gorgeous eyes and…”

And Thomas trailed off, coming to a stop on the middle of the empty tracks.

“Oh no…”

He whispered, eyes wide as his frame shook. He soon wheeshed loudly, letting off steam as his face went red.

“I’m in love with Ryan!”

He gasped before racing off as fast as his pistons could work. Fuck fuck fuck! Thomas thought back to the very beginning, to all the times he was angry about Ryan, annoyed that Ryan seemed so infatuated with Daisy, jealous of the attention he received.

Thomas wasn’t angry at Ryan, he didn’t care how well people liked him, Thomas was simply jealous that Ryan’s attention was never fully on him. He was jealous that Ryan was infatuated with Daisy and not him. Thomas wanted to be the one who Ryan was obsessed with. Thomas wanted to be the only one for Ryan.

“It’s Thomas and Friends not daisy and Friends…” he grumbled, cheeks a bright red from this realisation.

Oh no.

Ryan was on the island with his own red string! He was probably attached to Daisy!

“Aw fuck!” Thomas cried unhappily, a scowl on his face as he slowed down and let off steam as he stopped at a siding by Tidmouth Sheds. “This isn’t fair! Why did I have to be the one to fall for the most impossible guy! Our strings probably aren’t even attached this sucks! Ugh! Who can I even talk to about this? Damn damn damn!”

Edward was passing by and simply paused to watch as Thomas began to take his frustrations out on several poor troublesome trucks. “Oh dear…” Edward sighed, knowing he’d had to clean his mess up.

At Ffarquhar, Ryan eagerly thanked Sir Topham Hatt before racing off towards Tidmouth sheds. After the disaster of him being here last time, he had returned to try and make it up to Thomas, and what better way than to get to work with him!
“This is so going to improve our relationship that we don’t even technically have yet!” Ryan said happily, rolling along eagerly.

It was also such a beautiful day! The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Ryan had some mysterious partner waiting for him at the end of his string! What could be better than that?

…

“I just KNOW you wanted to write drugs or alcohol just then, writer!” Ryan said smugly. To his driver and fireman. he just sounded insane. To you guys, he probably sounded mostly sane.

Ryan continued his journey before arriving, looking around eagerly before trying to find Thomas. His string also seemed to be straightened out, as if his new beloved was nearby. Ooo he wonder who it could be! Maybe it was daisy! Or maybe it was James!

Oh who was Ryan kidding! He knows exactly who he wanted and would stop at nothing to get them! That’s what a true yandere would do! And boy was Ryan exactly that!

Just kidding!

Unless,,,

Anyway he just so happened to be obsessed with one very specific blue tank engine.

He came to a stop, raising an eyebrow at seeing several troublesome trucks scattered across the ground, and poor Edward with a crane sorting them out. “Oh my… what happened here?” He asked softly. His string didn’t connect to Edward, which was unfortunate.

“A hurricane by the name of ‘Thomas’ came by.”

“Sodor gets hurricanes?”

“No you-“ and Edward managed to cut himself off, pausing to take a deep breath. “No, Ryan, what I mean is, Thomas came here all angry and just trashed a bunch of trucks. I barely understood what he was yelling about.”

Ryan frowned at that. “Oh dear… that’s not like Thomas at all…”

Edward gave him an exasperated look. “Oh no that’s definitely like Thomas.”

He blinked, his cheeks going slightly pink. “Oh dear….”

“Oh dear indeed. If you’re looking for him, he’s holed himself up in the sheds. Not hard to miss his angry face.”

“I see… thank you Edward! I hope your cleaning goes well!” Ryan chirped, trying to stay positive as he rolled past the crime scene, speeding up as he heard Edward grumble, “I should’ve left that blue prick in the shunting yards by himself…”

At the sheds, Thomas had no time to react as suddenly Ryan rolled right onto the same tracks, eagerly pressing his buffers to Thomas’s buffers. “Hi Thomas!” He chirped happily, smiling brightly. “It’s so good to see you again! Sir Topham Hatt said you’d be here! How have you been? Gone on any fun adventures? These red strings are everywhere! Have you found your match? Have you seen Spencer yet?”

The flurry of questions were lost to Thomas as he stared down at Ryan’s buffers pressed firmly against his. “O-Oh! H-Hello Ryan!” He said, trying to calm his bubbling boiler.

“I’m just here to tell you that Sir Topham Hatt says we get to work together whilst I’m here!” He hummed excitedly. “Isn’t that so fun? Just you and me for always and always!”

Thomas’s face went red and he gulped slightly. “R-Really? A-And how long are you on Sodor for?”

Ryan thought about it for a brief moment before smiling at Thomas. “I have no clue!” He chirped and pushed against his buffers hard, pushing him back further into the sheds. “And I have no plans to let you out of my sights anyway.” And he got a dark glint in his eyes as he pushed Thomas into the back buffers of the shed.

Thomas stared at Ryan dazed, his face bright red and his boiler twisting. He was definitely out of his depth, but the idea of Ryan being obsessed with him and only him did make him shudder with delight.

The strings be damned he was taking this!

Hours later, a very eager and besotted Ryan rolled along side a very dazed and love-struck Thomas, their strings connected tightly to one another.

To others it simply looked like they merely found each other via their strings and went on their way, but in reality it was simply a purple engine who was madly obsessed and a blue engine who wanted to be the centre of that obsession.

The writer could’ve gone so much further into the nsfw zone if they were human, but they are simply engines. Maybe another time.