A/N Gordon makes accommodations for Erica when she's working on the rails when he's on track, but she's on a siding, so he didn't know in this chapter. Michaela belongs to FurryFoxFires.
Gordon was in Knapford with the Express. He whistled and said "Out of my way! Express coming through!", loud. He was unaware of Erica on a siding, though.
Erica heard Gordon and began to cry, wailing and shutting her eyes, feeling the sting of her tears. The bigger engine realized she was there and said, "I'm tired of having to make accommodation for you, cry-engine!" as he left. She detected the presence of someone human after Gordon left and asked "W-who?" through a wailing sob.
"I'm your friend, Timmy," came a voice as he climbed on her buffers. "What's the matter?"
The bluish-purple tank engine sniffled, "C-can y-you w-wipe m-my e-eyes?", feeling him climb on her. "G-Gordon d-didn't k-know I-I w-was h-here a-and w-whistled r-really l-loud. H-he y-yelled, too." Her face was covered in huge water droplets and tear-stained.
Timmy pulled out his handkerchief because he knew Erica was unhappy and wiped her tears from her eyes, then dried her teary face, reassuring her as he did so, "There, there, Erica. I'm here for you. I know Gordon upset you, so I'll comfort you until you feel better."
"K-keep w-wiping", she sniffled, crying and wailing more.
He said, as he continued to wipe her tears away, "I shall keep drying your eyes as long as you cry. So, go ahead and cry as much as want." He gave her empathy and compassion, doing what he could to support and provide comfort and relief, but without being pushy or intrusive, just attentive and practical comfort.
Erica's wails and tears subsided and Timmy dried her last tears away, patting them from her wet, red cheeks and dapping the dampness from her red, puffy eyes. "Thank you, especially for wiping my eyes," she said, smiling. "That's called a meltdown. Sometimes, I get mad and other times I cry and wail. I was diagnosed with Asperger's many years ago, but now it's all autism spectrum disorder. My friends Duck and Michaela have some autism, too. Duck's like me, Level 1 under the current system, but Michaela I just suspect because she acts like it. She seems to have meltdowns, as I do, but for different reasons sometimes. Like recently, we had to shunt some freight cars, as trucks are called where I was built, to Killdane and she cried and wailed herself dry over the Smelter's Yard and being called a cry-engine. She told me she's a shunting tender engine. Compared to me, she's dreamier and more sad and scared. I'm more in the moment and optimistic. But she, like me, seems grateful to have her tears wiped."
Timmy walked off, his sodden hanky in his hand, saying as he did, "I've got to go, love. I know you feel better now. If I feel tears coming, I can't usually hold them back. You remind me of me, as I tear up easily, feel things deeply and am not afraid of emotions and crying. I'm also in the moment.".
Erica's crew returned and she told them about how Gordon upset her and Timmy dried her eyes and helped her feel better. She had a drink and then heard her "brother" whistle. It made her smile and reply with a happy whistle of her own. She asked, "Can we play Hide and Peep?"
Thomas told his "sister", "When we're both done with our jobs."
The tank engines finished their day's jobs and Thomas met Erica in Knapford. She told her "brother" about Gordon and Timmy, then, after he finished his reply, they began their game. She hid behind a shed, then he hid behind some coaches and then they hid some more. They played until it was time for Thomas to go to his shed. Erica then went to her shed, still smiling from being able to play with her "brother".
A/N My FanFiction buddy typed Timmy as an ISFP and if someone's an ISFP they comfort like this, due to Fi and Se. "As a result, they combine a talent for seeing current opportunities for improvement with empathy and compassion. When someone they care about is struggling, the ISFP will: – Listen attentively to the person struggling, paying keen attention to body language as well as verbal and physical cues. – Attempt to "get into their shoes" to understand how they're feeling.– Scan the environment for opportunities and experiences that might provide relief or comfort– Provide emotional reassurance while simultaneously trying not to be overbearing– Provide an uplifting experience or else be present with the individual in their pain and patiently listen and support them". The site the quote came from describes ISFP comfort as I described Timmy's comfort of his friend.
