"Isle of Lovers: Reader X Thomas and Friends Humanized Characters Fanfic"

Gordon's Dilemma

The morning air was chilly and harsh against your face as you made your way to the shunting yard. In the distance you could see the sheds. You saw Gordon near his engine. He was usually the first one out every morning, but this morning, he oddly wasn't. After you finished your first job, you went over to him. You could hear him fussing as you neared. "What's wrong, Gordon?", you said. "You're usually out by now."
He sat down on his engine's cab step. "My engine's safety valve busted. So now it has to go to the Steelworks."
"Oh. That's... pretty bad."
"It is", he groaned. "Now someone else shall take the express instead of me. Probably Henry."
As you stood there, an idea popped into your head.
"How would you like to help me with my conductor duty this afternoon?", you said, trying to be as non-sarcastic as possible.
Gordon looked up at you, flustered.
"Puh! I could never. I wasn't meant to do something like that. Unlike you."
You turned to walk away. "Ok then. I guess you wouldn't want to do something that someone really useful and reliable would do~."
You heard Gordon huff. You turned around to him. He glanced up to you then back down. He sighed and stood up, walking towards you.
"Fine. I'll...... euh...... I'll help", he said, sounding defeated.

Gordon stood on the platform next to you, embarrassed of what everyone else would think. You could tell he hated every second of it.
"Don't worry, Gordon", you told him. "At least your being very useful!"
He huffed.
The shift continued, with not much traffic, in terms of coaches coming in.
Sometime later, Edward pulled in with his blue FR 21/ K2 Class engine carrying four coaches. While the passengers were loading up, he struck up a conversation.
"Gordon is that you?", he said stepping out of his cab. Gordon was so embarrassed. Edward looked to you. "What happened?"
"His engine is out of commission. So, I asked if he'd like to help me with my shift."
Edward chuckled. "Is that so?"
Gordon grew red. You and Edward chuckled. "At least he's being really useful", you said to Edward, making him chuckled more.
"That is true."
The porter shut the last door.
"You're good to go, Edward!", you said before blowing your whistle. Edward smiled.
"Here I go!"
He hopped back and his cab and blew the whistle.
"See you both later!", he called out pulling away.
You watched before turning back to Gordon. You walked over to him, placing your hand on his shoulder.
"You're doing good today, Gordon. Maybe not what you had in mind, but still good nonetheless."
He looked over to you before returning his gaze elsewhere.
As the shift continued, you could see Gordon struggling a bit, so you lend him a hand. At first, he was very presentient, but as the day went on, he warmed up some. After all, he did like to be admired but probably not like this. At the end of the shift, Gordon seemed worn out. The clock rung six.
"We're finished", you said to him. "Hopefully your engine is fixed now!"
Gordon looked over to the distance. "I hope so too", he mumbled.
You patted his back. "Oh, come on. You know you liked it!"
Gordon glanced to you. "Puh. Barely."
You chuckled. "Gordon, when are you not grumpy?"
Gordon walked away without responding. You giggled before heading out too. You caught up to him, walking across the gravel.
"So, if your engine isn't back to working order by tomorrow, would you want to help me again?"
"I....... don't know", he replied.
"Ok."
You both continued walking. You looked over to Gordon to see a light shade of red on his cheek. As if he noticed, he spoke.
"What is it?", he said.
You turned away swiftly. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
Gordon turned back forward. His light shade was now a full-on blush.