New Year's Resolutions

Even in the holidays, the Benally Railroad was alive with activity as it always was and that didn't look set to change as the new year approached. Having calmed down over being fooled by the size of the tree, Jacques soon found something else to be unhappy about and that was his family's latest attempt at making a tradition.
"Come on Jacques, there's got to be something you want to improve on!" Irenia protested as the two engines sat waiting for their trucks to be filled in Kenai mine.
"You can improve in keeping your smokebox out of the clouds!" Jacques snapped back.
"You two could resolve to argue less?" Edrick suggested a little tensely as he rolled in with a line of empty trucks behind him.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Irenia agreed, even though Jacques huffed the suggestion off. "What's your New Year's Resolution, Edrick?"
"To stop disattaching myself from you all so easily." Edrick sighed. "Alexander says I'm getting as bad as Oliver when you all kick off."
"Well, it has been rough this last month or so." Irenia admitted.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Jacques glared between the two. He, Ken and Lizable had been on the line around a month now but he didn't think that they had been much trouble.
"When you introduce a big group into another, it's going to cause problems." Edrick stated matter-of-factly. "Apparently introducing Clarabelle and Danielle to Ace and Bertam went as well as you'd expect it to."
"We haven't been that much trouble!" Jacques protested, starting to feel his boiler pressure rise.
"Just Ken running into the coal store and clogging himself up for several days..." Irenia started.
"And you complaining about the tree after being so insistent on getting it..." Edrick added.
"Lizable missing random stops on the off-grid supply line..." Irenia continued.
"Alright, you've made your point!" Jacques raised his voice but brought it back down when they stopped. "You say that like either of you two are perfect. You're always away with the fairies and you think you're so high and mighty."
"At least we're working on our faults, unlike some." Irenia retorted.
"Why is everyone yelling?" Ken slunk in with his own train of empty trucks as he looked at the others with wide eyes.
"We're not. Just Edrick and Irenia preaching about how us three are terrible because we're not perfect at everything yet." Jacques grumbled.
"Neither of us said that." Edrick took a firm tone with Jacques as Irenia rolled her eyes and puffed away with filled trucks, the older engine shunting around to take her place.
"It's what you meant though." Jacques had already been rubbed up the wrong way and wasn't calming down anytime soon. He ignored the sound of his crew responding to the radio in his cab.
"I didn't mean to run into the coal store, it was an accident..." Ken genuinely looked ashamed and Jacques knew it was an accident, and his fault if anything, but he wasn't about to admit it.
"Of course you didn't." Edrick tried to sound empathetic, but it wasn't working on either of the twins. "It was an accident."
"Still think we should put our coal elsewhere." Jacques snorted. "Like in the yard, not at that junction where trucks and engines keep bouncing off it."
"Subject of the yard, Control says we need to head over at our earliest convenience." Jacques' driver interrupted quickly before Edrick could argue more.
""Our earliest convenience"?" Jacques questioned.
"As soon as we get this load of ore taken." His driver answered.
Jacques never got to respond to that as the chute was opened to fill the last of his trucks. As soon as it was safe to do so, his crew set the train off away from the mine to the drop off point.

Jacques' mood hadn't improved when he rolled into the yard at Evelyn's summons, even less so when he found Ace sat outside the workshop with the breakdown train and most of the Benallys crowded around too.
"What's happening?" Jacques sighed as he rolled over.
"Lizable snapped an axle on something. Be kind." Alexander told him in a firm tone.
Jacques only got more irritated, being reminded of Edrick and rolling forward to see what had happened. Lizable had indeed snapped an axle, her front-most leading wheels, like she had hit a rock at full speed. She had been lifted in the air and the broken axle had been dropped, although it had collapsed in on itself sadly and some workers were starting to remove it. From the crane, Lizable looked like she had been crying, and her two coaches were watching in with concern, as was Ace.
"Jacques, glad you managed to get down here so fast." Evelyn turned to the engine as soon as he looked in. "We need you to take the supplies out to the off-gridders."
"Why me?" Jacques protested, eyeing Bear and Wolf angrily and they eyed him back wearily. "I hate coaches. They're far too fussy."
"Because you were the next available engine between drop offs." Evelyn told him, looking a little cross herself.
"Hey, it's alright, I'll do it." Ace offered. "I need a break from the mines."
"No, that won't be necessary, Jacques will do it." Kojak held a hand up to silence the biggest engine.
"It don't know where I'm going or where to stop!" Jacques protested. "Get Genny, it's her route too!"
"It was my route once too." Ace interrupted again. "Please, let me do it while he can get back to the mine."
Kojak sighed, seeming to finally give in to the two engines.
"Alright, alright, Ace, you can take Bear and Wolf out." Kojak sighed. "You can take some machinery to Seacoal and resume work there when he's gone."
"Why not Kenai? I was there before!" Jacques protested.
"Fallon has been moved there." Kojak answered. "And that's final. Your train is over there."
With a gesture to a small train of pumping machines, Kojak and Evelyn turned away and began to go back towards the house while their kids went into the workshop with Lizable, Sophia to calm her and Oliver and Alexander to continue work.
"How are you doing up there?" Sophia asked, Lizable's only reply being a whimper.
"You're a few feet off the ground, what are you afraid of?" Jacques asked, rolling his eyes as his sister's eyes began to water again.
"Jacques, stop that!" Oliver of all people was quick to wheel on the engine, even though he was trying to help in his own roundabout way. "You're not helping. Go get your train and leave."
"Gotta wait for Kojak's pet over there." Jacques responded, looking over at Ace as he backed down onto the two coaches.
"He's trying to make himself more helpful." Oliver responded flatly. "Maybe you should do the same."
"Not this resolution stuff again." Jacques groaned.
"Why not? We're all making one." Sophia joined her brother briefly. "I'm going to start helping out in the workshop more."
"Nothing could go wrong there." Jacques responded sarcastically.
"At least she's trying." Ace told Jacques before he left with the two coaches.
Jacques looked away, grumbling some unpleasant things under his breath. At the same time, he saw Harlon in the sheds. The engine was normally asleep at this time but had probably been disturbed by the commotion.
"At least I'm not a night owl like him." Jacques thought.

Jacques finally made it to Seacoal mine with the pumps, finding Clarabelle and Danielle handling one set of trucks in and out of the area and Bertam handling more off to another side on a raised line, the railroad's own supply Jacques assumed. However, what Jacques didn't see was any reason for him to be there.
"Hey Jacques, come and take these trains over for a little while so we can get cleaned up!" Clarabelle called over.
"You're really thinking about your appearance right now?" Jacques responded, being unhooked from his own train.
"Of course I am!" Clarabelle huffed. "Can't work at my best if I'm all dirty!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Jacques could see Bertam sighing along with him and it made him more bold.
"Someone should do research on how much time you two waste on getting cleaned in a day." Jacques continued when Danielle began eyeing the opportunity to get out as well.
"They should do research on how much hot air you produce." Clarabelle retorted. "Bet it'd stop global warming if you stayed quiet."
"Clarabelle, sooner you go, the sooner I can go too." Danielle encouraged.
"You're looking to skip off work too?" Jacques huffed.
"No, I'm trying to keep work going." Danielle told him.
"You're the one stopping work, sitting there arguing." Bertam voiced from the higher line.
"I thought you didn't like their obsessive girly cleanliness!" Jacques called back.
"That's neither here nor there." Bertam answered as coolly as ever. "What I don't like is this all holding the mine up."
Jacques began to fume again as Clarabelle left and he was directed onto the end of her train. Her rather long train. Longer than the ones he was dealing with in Kenai and he didn't see why they needed to be that long either. It was just a little too much effort to start moving with it, let alone stopping and starting for each one to be filled and then dragging them out the mine as well. Bertam was clearly watching from above, as his own trucks were taking a long time to fill with whatever specific cargo he was hauling, and Danielle rushed out as soon as Clarabelle returned.
"I feel so much better now." Clarabelle beamed to Jacques as she took over Danielle's train. "Maybe you should go for a wash too."
"I want to actually be useful, not vain." Jacques huffed.
"Suit yourself." Clarabelle chuckled as Jacques went to take another train out.
Bertam continued to watch as Jacques and Clarabelle cycled in and out and when Danielle returned, he finally spoke up.
"Make three trains. It'll be more efficient." Bertam told them.
"Who left you in charge?" Jacques grumbled.
"Common sense." Bertam answered. "Make three trains and you won't struggle as much."
"I'm not struggling!" Jacques snapped.
"Just do it." Bertam commanded.
Jacques couldn't argue as his crew were in control and as he was the smallest engine there, he was the one tasked with the shunting and left to wait while his train was refilled, meaning Clarabelle and Danielle were able to get their trains out and chatter happily about something Jacques didn't care to hear about and he was left to stew under the judgemental eye of Bertam.

Jacques was first to be let go from Seacoal mine that evening, much to his relief, and the engine was ready to roll into the yard, go to his corner of the shed and fall asleep. Unfortunately, it was never going to be that simple as he didn't even need to get into the yard to hear Genny and Fallon sat under the nearest water tower with Eveyln and Sophia. Kojak, Alexander and Oliver were evidently still in the workshop as the lights were on and Ace was in the doorway talking to them and Lizable.
"Hey, Jacques, why the long face?" Genny called over.
"Please don't. I've been with Clarabelle and Danielle all afternoon." Jacques grumbled. "And they think I'm full of hot air."
"I mean, they're not that wrong you know." Genny snickered.
"Oh, will you shut up!" Jacques finally snapped. "You're no better! Either of you!"
"Jacques!" Evelyn, Sophia and Fallon protested all at once, although Evelyn was certainly more angry than the others. Genny looked like she was about to burst with rage.
"Listen here you-"
"Genny, resolution." Fallon gently warned.
"To stop being so hot headed, I know." Genny calmed a little with a wheesh from her sides, but she was still glaring at Jacques. "You should do the same. Or start being less of a pain in the funnel to everyone."
"I don't need to make a New Year's Resolution." Jacques rolled his eyes. "I'm fine as I am."
"You forget how things spread around here." Evelyn said.
"What do you mean?" Jacques eyed them wearily.
"Well, we were there when you were mean to Lizable about being on the crane." Evelyn started.
"And when you called Ace dad's pet." Sophia added.
"I ran into Bertam when he was bringing some coal over to our supply hole." Genny continued. "He told me about how you didn't want to split the train up so it was easier for all of you."
"Not for him, he spent most of the day sat up top." Jacques huffed. "And I wasn't struggling to pull it. There was no need for three engines down there."
"It sounded quite efficient when it started up." Evelyn inputted. "One of you coming in just as the other left and another was dropping it off at the drop."
"Only because the train was shorter." Jacques huffed.
"Well, when I got to Kenai, Irenia and Edrick weren't full of praise for you either." Fallon added. "They told me about how you twisted Edrick's words. Ken is still upset."
Jacques went quiet, his mouth opening and closing a few times. He never meant to upset his little brother. He never did.
"You should apologise to them all." Evelyn prompted gently and Jacques' face scrunched up again in an instant.
"There's nothing to apologise for." He answered with a scowl. "Edrick said I was causing problems when I wasn't and Bertam was acting like he was the boss. They should apologise to me."
Jacques had had enough and reversed into the shed, into his usual corner where Ken and Lizable would sit and sleep in front of him at nighttime. He hadn't been there long when another engine rolled sheepishly in and began to reverse into the shed as well. On the line directly in front of him and jolting Jacques completely awake in surprise.
"Ken! Watch where you're going!" Jacques called, and his twin brother stopped dead where he was.
"Sorry Jac." Ken responded, sounding as mopey as Fallon described. "Why didn't you come back? Why did Fallon come?"
"I got assigned to Kenai instead." Jacques rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going out with the coaches."
Ken didn't say anything for several moments, allowing Jacques just enough time to think he could have a nap before the others came back.
"Jacques, what's your New Year's Resolution?" Ken asked.
"I don't know." Jacques sighed irritably.
"I was thinking about what you and Edrick said this morning. About us three being more trouble than we're worth and me running into the coal store." Ken continued.
"Forget what Edrick said, he's full of hot air-"
"I want to be a better engine." Ken didn't let Jacques finish what he was saying. "Be useful, no more accidents and make everyone proud of me."
"We are proud of you." Jacques told Ken.
"But you haven't had any accidents yet! I want to be like you!"
Jacques was stunned into silence, looking at the end of his twin's tender with wide eyes. He silently vowed to be more supportive of his siblings, especially Ken.