Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

Sodor Mix and Match Dating Event

Chapter 10: Norman and Sidney

"Ok, Norman and Sidney. You two are next!" Cranky smiled and looked down at the two shy diesels. He had known about their sexuality for a long time, but this was the first time they were open about it. And perhaps the first time they knew about each other's sexuality. They looked at each other bashful and blushing, maybe the feared the other engines reactions, but none had reacted to James getting out of the closet, so why should they act different towards these two?

"Best of luck!" Paxton yelled after his two friends as they left the docks.

The two diesels rattled alongside each other across the island, not sure how to act or open the conversation. Both were thinking hard to come up with something to say.

They slid to a stop on a hill, looking at the view. Throwing shy glances at each other, quickly looking away when their eyes met.

"Umm… I…" Norman tried to say something, but stumbled in his words and sighed.

"I… I…" Sidney stuttered. He looked down also sighing. "I… forgot what to say…"

"Mmm…"

The silence between them was awkward and none of them knew how to break the ice. Sidney felt sad; this wasn't going the way he had hoped. He had been dreaming and imagining how his first date would be a long time, but now he had forgotten everything he had planned to say or do. He swallowed hard, looking sideways at the unibrowed diesel. He had never thought that Norman was gay, so when he had seen which engines was left at the docks; he had hoped it was Paxton or Toby. But he liked Norman too, even his unibrow. He knew that he wasn't exactly a pin-up engine himself, so he never judged and engine by its looks. The unibrow fascinated him.

"I'm glad I am on a date with you and not Bert…" Sidney mustered up the courage to say after a while. "Bert is too aggressive and mean… and he once said he was going to shunt me into the furnace…"

Norman looked at him, raising his eyebrow in surprise over the sudden word-flow from the dark blue shunter.

"Yeah, me too. And I wouldn't want a date with James either. He hates diesels, I think." Norman replied low.

Another long and awkward silence followed. Norman bit his lip. Sidney was nice, but his face wasn't what he would consider pretty… although his personality made up for his lack of good looks. Then he scolded himself mentally, he was very aware that he wasn't model-material himself, he couldn't pick from the top-shelf either. His unibrow caused most potential partners to back away in disgust. Sidney was actually the first one who didn't flee… and he was kind of cute, being so shy and all.

"Should we go? Is there anything you would like to do?" Norman asked and smiled to his date, trying to loosen up the awkward and tense atmosphere.

"I want to…" Sidney tried to remember what he had been thinking of. "Umm… I forgot…"

Norman chuckled. "Alright, I understand this is a weird way to date and such… it's probably normal to forget things in such situation."

"I guess so…" Sidney looked down at the tracks. "We could go to Ulfstead Castle and look at the view and the lights from the town from there…?"

"Good idea, let's do that!" Norman agreed, he wasn't able to think of anything else himself, so Sidney's suggestion was the only option at the moment.

They oiled on, starting to climb the steep hill up to the castle.

They both looked up as they heard rattling and a whistle peeping. Right then a truck loaded with milk came trundling down the hill, heading straight for Sidney! A desperate steam engine followed hot on track, trying to catch up with the runaway truck. It was Duck.

"Watch out!" the Duck peeped, closing his eyes as he saw that the truck would hit the shunter.

CRASH!

The truck ran straight into Sidney's bumpers, milk flew everywhere and soaked the three engines. Luckily, no one was harmed, but they were all covered in milk.

"Oh no…" Sidney said, looking at the mess and the derailed truck in front of him.

"Are you alright?" The steamie asked, rolling over. "I am dreadfully sorry, the chain snapped and I wasn't able to catch it before it rolled down the hill… Are you hurt?"

"No, I am alright." Sidney said, looking sideways at Norman, who also were dripping with milk.

"I must say sorry again. I am only filling in for another engine that is at the docks for that dating event, I am not quite used to this line." Duck said.

"We're on that event too." Norman said. "Sidney and I were going to spend our date at the castle, but now we have to go to the washdown instead."

Duck looked ashamed. "Oh, I am so sorry I ruined your date! If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, just let me know!"

"Don't think about it. It's ok." Norman replied. "You lost your goods, that's worse than a date at the wash…"

"Yeah, you don't have to be sorry." Sidney agreed, backing away from the derailed truck, so Duck could get it back on the tracks.

"Still, I am." Duck said as he pulled the truck back on to the tracks. The milk was spilt, but at least the truck was ok. He had to go get a new load though. "So, my offer stands. If you two ever need anything, perhaps a day off or something, just let me know, I'll fill in for you."

"Thanks, Duck, but it's really not necessary." Norman assured and continued on the way to the castle, it would be easier to go up there and turn at the turntable instead of backing all the way down again. Sidney followed him after saying goodbye to Duck.

"Ok, so it seems like we're going to spend our date in the wash instead." Norman mumbled as he turned. Sidney stood waiting for his turn, looking a bit disappointed.

The unibrowed diesel felt a sting of guilt, he hadn't really been the best date so far, he just didn't know how to break the ice, it felt a bit strange since he had known Sidney for so long. They were good friends and he was afraid their friendship would take damage if the date didn't turn out good. Nervous, that was the right word, he thought. He was nervous. He and Sidney usually had no problem talking to each other on a daily basis… so what was different now? Nothing really… he decided to try pretending it was just a normal day. With a twist.

He drove off the turntable, stopping beside Sidney as he was about to roll on to it. He smiled friendly to him. "Sidney… I'm sorry our date turned out like this, but… I promise to take you on a second date, ok? This was… well, you see, when we went to the docks and we didn't know who we were going to date, we had no chance of preparing ourselves. The next time, I promise I will have a plan for the night. We'll have fun and… maybe we'll find out that we'll take our friendship a step further."

Sidney lit up. "I would love that, Norman. It sounds really nice!"

"I'll try my best not to disappoint you. And you know what…?" Norman said with an affectionate smile.

"N…no?" Sidney stuttered, looking a bit puzzled.

"You're kind of cute." Norman whispered and started driving before Sidney was able to answer; it had taken all he had of courage to say it, so he needed to get a little distance before meeting Sidney's eyes again. His pistons pounded hard, it felt good and scary at the same time. He was happy that he had dared to say it; he hoped that Sidney understood that there was a lot more in those words than he had been able to express.

He heard the rattling of wheels behind him, knowing that Sidney followed.

"Thanks, Norman." The blue shunter said shy. "I… I think you're… umm… pretty."

Sidney felt dumb, it sounded so silly to say it like that, he wanted to tell the other diesel that he thought he was handsome, nice, kind… and then all that came past his lips was "pretty".

Norman smiled by the clumsy compliment, the shunter was really cute. Cute and forgetful… and very lovable.

"Thanks, Sid." He said, taking a deep breath of the fresh night air.

The wash was empty now, so they didn't have to wait to get in. Norman had turned so he could stand face to face with Sidney, so they could talk while being cleaned.

"Sidney… there is one thing I've been thinking of a lot…" He started.

"Yes?" Sidney looked up.

"When the dieselworks caught fire… you were still on the lift. I… I was so afraid; I thought you had died…" Norman said, almost tearing up by thinking of it. He had been really worried.

"I was really scared…" Sidney said slowly, not feeling comfortable with the terrible memories coming back to him. "It hurt a lot… the flames I mean. I thought I was going to die in there. My paint bubbled and cracked… I… I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember is the roof falling in, and that I was soaked in water right afterwards. Belle… she cooled me down while Flynn extinguished the fire."

Norman moved forward, buffering up to him. "I'm thankful that they saved you…"

"I… I would have died… wouldn't I?" Sidney didn't really want to think of it. "If Belle hadn't seen me in there and sprayed me with water… I would have died, right?"

Norman nuzzled his buffers. "But you didn't. Let's not think what could have happened… the most important is that you're alive."

Sidney didn't know what more to say, he wanted to tell Norman about the nightmares he still had about the fire, but at the same time he also wanted to put it all behind him, never recalling the memories again. He sighed as the water from the water-tower sprinkled over them, washing away the soap.

He almost jumped as he felt Norman's lips brushing over his, light and careful, as if he was afraid that he would be rejected. Sidney looked up and met Norman's eyes, smiling shy. That gave the other diesel the courage to kiss him for real, just a small, quick kiss at first. Sidney's engine revved, it felt new, weird, scary and good at the same time. He locked stares with Norman, they faces were so close they could feel the warmth from the other engine's breath. Sidney licked his lips, still tasting the kiss burning on his lips.

"D… do it ag.. again…" he whispered, his whole body was shivering from nervousness and delight. "Please?"

Norman coupled to his coupling chain, pulling him as close as he could, pressing his buffers in. Then their lips met again, still they were careful and shy. The water streamed down their faces, making it feel even more intense. Norman felt how his engine was heating up, his rpm's skyrocketed, he felt dizzy and had a tingling, fuzzy feeling inside. Like butterflies in his fuel-tank. It was a really wonderful feeling.

Sidney felt the same way, he could hear his own pistons pound hard. He had never felt more alive. The water and Normans lips felt soothing, making him forget everything else. All that mattered was life, here and now. And the diesel in front of him. It was the first time he was kissed, and he had never expected it to feel so good.

Norman breathed heavy as he broke away, looking at Sidney. "I think I'm falling for you…"

Sidney swallowed hard before replying. "I've already fallen for you… like a blind roofer."

Norman chuckled by the humorous comparison. That was another thing he loved about Sidney; his funny metaphors. Sidney didn't always mean to be funny, but he was anyway, and Norman found it irresistibly cute.

"Must have been one hell of a slippery roof, since I am falling too… with my eyes open." He giggled and blinked at the blue shunter.

They both looked up as Belle chugged by. She looked at them, whistling a greeting.

"Yo, guys! It's time to return to the docks!" she shouted friendly and continued further down the line.

"Too bad." Norman said, giving Sidney one last kiss before they uncoupled and moved out of the wash.

They smiled at each other before oiling side by side towards Brendam docks. They could see that many other couples already had returned. Only four was still not in, but they probably wasn't far away.

Cranky looked down at them and blinked; he already knew they would go on a second date. He had known they belonged together, long before they understood it themselves.

The two diesels approached the others with care, still feeling a bit shy about their sexuality and expressing affection in public. They looked at them, seeing that there was at least two engines that seemingly had no problems expressing their feelings in public. Lady and Arry seemed so caught up in each other they barely noticed the surroundings. Sidney blushed, seeing other couples kissing always had that effect on him. The sight intrigued him and made him uncomfortable at the same time, and he always ended up having wet dreams after seeing others kiss… it was always embarrassing to wake up and find a small stain of oil on the tracks beneath him. He could feel the sight of the couple have an effect on him already, as he was still aroused after the kiss at the wash.

He quickly moved his stare to the others, Edward, Rosie, Mavis, Thomas and Percy was chatting along about everyday things. Gordon and Caitlin was telling each other stories about speed and… Sidney moved on, not very interested. There was Daisy and… BoCo? What did BoCo do here?

"Hi, BoCo…?" he asked carefully.

"Hi, Sid!" BoCo replied friendly as always.

"I.. uhh…" Sidney wanted to ask what he was doing here, but lost his courage. It would be rude, wouldn't it?

BoCo understood what questions the shunter had and laughed. "I was hooked up with Daisy by Percy, Sid. They were on a date… and well, Percy knew that we had a thing for each other, even though we hadn't quite understood it ourselves. He just gave us a push in the right direction."

"Oh, that's lovely!" Sidney beamed feeling happy on their behalf. Norman agreed, smiling to him. It was the same way with them; everyone else had probably seen that they would be a perfect match before they saw it themselves.

Sidney looked around to find Bert and James. He was curious, as he hadn't known that Bert was gay, and James hated diesels, so he wondered how the date had turned out. He saw James standing alone and looked over with eyes full of unanswered questions.

The red steam engine looked back at him with a sad expression. "It didn't go well. Bert isn't gay. Someone pulled a trick on us."

"Oh…" Sidney said, feeling bad for the red engine. "I hope your next date will be better."

"Thanks, Sidney. Me too." James smiled sadly.

"Where is Bert by the way?" Norman asked, looking around.

"In the opposite corner, sulking." James muttered.

Both diesels looked around, catching a glimpse of a greyish green and yellow shunter behind Lady and Arry, facing the wall and not talking to anyone.

"He'll get over it." Norman rolled his eyes at the ironworks diesel.

"I'm glad the matchmakers didn't set me up with him." Sidney whispered to Norman. "He's a meanie."

Again Norman had to smile of Sidney's somewhat childish way of expressing his opinions. "Meanie…" he chuckled.

Belle decided to tell them before they asked, she knew they wanted to know where Diesel 10 was.

"D10 is at the dieselworks, he has a little accident and needed some repairs. He'll be fine, it's nothing big." She smiled.

Sidney and Norman nodded, they had wondered why she was alone. And both were relieved that she had told them so they didn't have to ask. None of the liked to be too nosy.

Everyone looked up as a whole group of engines arrived at the same time, all the remaining engines came laughing and singing into the docks. They all seemed merry and like they had a good time, but had any of them found love tonight?

Two of the engines rolled up to Cranky.

Everyone held their breath in curiousity.

To be continued…