Romantic or Not

The biting cold was finally starting to lift a little from the Benally Railroad as time rolled on and the engines' routines started to settle again. It was also at this time that Sophia started spending lots of time with the engines, Fallon in particular, much to Harlon's annoyance as he always ended up near them in the shed when it was otherwise fairly quiet and it was always - always - girl talk.
However, Harlon managed to keep a lid on it up until one morning. That morning he had been assigned to Kenai mine alongside Ace, Bertam and Fallon, and due to machine faults, their shift started late. This meant that not only was Sophia in the shed with Fallon, Alexander was in the shed as well, talking to Ace and Bertam with a magazine in hand.
"Fallon, I don't know what to do." Sophia could be heard talking to Fallon away from the boys, although Harlon could hear them anyway. "I like him, but I don't know how he feels."
"You seem to be good friends with him." Fallon tried to soothe the anxious young woman. "Have you tried talking to him about it?"
"I can't do that!" Sophia protested. "I don't want to make it all awkward and loose him as a friend if it goes wrong."
"But you don't want him to get with that other girl either." Fallon responded calmly. "If you want him, you're going to have to say something."
Harlon had already had enough, not caring to hear Sophia's protests and rolled over to his brothers. The two engines and Alexander looked at him when he did so, annoying Harlon a little at being singled out, but he was brought into the conversation nonetheless.
"Hey, Harlon, have you seen this?" Alexander pointed out a specific article. "Some guy has made a railroad that goes in and out of Alaska and Canada like a rat out of a hole!"
"Huh." Harlon commented as he looked at the article. As well as interviews from the owner, some staff and even some of the engines, there were pictures of the engines and trains and even a small map of the current and planned lines.
"Do you think they'll try and get permission to run down our line to the port?" Ace questioned.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Bertam responded. "They've already made it to Rampart House from Little Gold. It won't be too long before they go past Alcan and decide to expand into our land."
"You think dad would let him run the line?" Alexander responded, starting to look a little nervous.
"If he could pay enough, I don't see why he wouldn't." Bertam stated coolly. "Or run the line alongside us at least."
Harlon had to admit he did see where his brother was coming from. The picture of the owner printed in the magazine rubbed him up the wrong way, getting the feeling that he was not used to being told no and was the kind of man to just throw money at his problems, judging by the size of what was meant to be a fairly new railroad.
"I think he'd expand into Canada more first, you know, with Little Gold being in Canada and his company being a Canadian company." Oliver suddenly inputted, striding crossly into the sheds but mostly glaring at his brother. "I admire him though."
"Him and his ragtag fleet of engines?" Alexander responded in mild disbelief. "Please."
"Collecting engines heading for scrap like that works." Oliver argued. "Just look at Sodor's North Western Railway. That railroad has a fleet of over eighty engines, engines saved from scrap or being put in a museum."
"At least we're made for this line. Can't say that about that lot." Ace scoffed.
Harlon said nothing, only looking at the magazine again. Indeed, there seemed to be both American and Canadian engines in the fleet and they seemed to get along just fine, although he had to wonder for a moment if that was because all of the engines on this Border Railroad were all male.
"There's nothing wrong with giving engines second chances." Fallon inputted into the conversation before Ace and Oliver tore each other apart. "As long as they're happy there, I don't see why it's a problem."
"You would say that." Oliver grumbled to himself.
Harlon had no desire at all to participate in this argument. Instead, he returned to looking over at the magazine, blocking everything else out and actually reading the article, wondering what this other railroad was like.
"Do you see something you like?" Sophia suddenly asked, making Harlon jump a little.
"I was just reading." Harlon stated, but the gooey, sappy look on her face combined with everyone else now looking at him just made Harlon go bright red.
"You like those engines?" Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean, I guess." Harlon began tripping over his own words and going redder from embarrassment.
"Well, I guess they're kind of cute." Fallon grinned over at Harlon.
"No no no, it's bad enough having Sophia being starry eyed over a guy." Alexander protested, although Fallon and Sophia only shared a look of amusement.
"I'm glad you're all siblings so there's no dating drama and we don't have to deal with Valentines Day over here." Oliver sighed, taking his magazine back and walking away. "Mom and dad get gooey enough at this time of year."
"Ouch, who hurt him?" Ace asked jokingly.
"That girl from Williamson that runs the pet store with her father." Alexander answered seriously, startling the engines.
"Well, I have to admit I'm glad we don't have to deal with romance either." Bertam sighed. "Being around you lot is messy enough for me."
"Same here." Alexander chuckled, elbowing his sister playfully when she protested.
"Alright, let's go see if Kenai is up and running yet." Ace urgently inputted when both Bertam and Fallon opened their mouths to speak with some very strong emotions all over their faces.
Despite not receiving any official word, Harlon was only too happy to go and urgently followed after his oldest brother.

Harlon soon found himself back in the shed, but at least this time he was on his own. His siblings were all at work, the yard was peaceful with a breeze whistling through and his crew had put the heaters on so he could nap in warmth. Having a nap was just what Harlon intended to do until the crews' door to the shed opened and Sophia looked inside.
"Hey, Fal- Oh." Sophia cut herself off mid sentence when Harlon cast her a very unimpressed glare. "Sorry, I thought it was Fallon that had come back."
"No, it was me." Harlon replied curtly. "The others will be there until the shift ends, I was sent back because I'm on the maintenance train tonight. Line for Fallon's tours needs fixing."
"I see." Sophia responded. However, the girl looked like she was about to burst and couldn't suppress a beaming smile the more she hung around in the shed. Harlon sighed, knowing he had to admit defeat and delay his nap.
"Alright, what's going on?" Harlon begrudgingly asked, internally regretting asking about coming back when he found the mine not working at full power, as Sophia's expression lit up in girlish glee.
"He asked me on a date with him on Valentine's Day!" Sophia beamed. "He's making dinner and everything!"
"The guy you've had a crush on for over a year now?" Harlon asked emotionlessly.
"Yes! Ben!" Sophia responded in exasperation. "But get this, he asked me!"
"Did you tell him you liked him?" Harlon was almost amused at the range of emotions one girl had in her.
"Well, yes." Sophia started to blush. "But I had to do it over text, he was at work the whole time, so he didn't respond for ages and I was getting really worried and then he just responded with "Would you like to have dinner with me on Valentine's Day?"!"
"That's... random." Harlon answered slowly. It was such a sudden question that Harlon couldn't not feel slightly suspicious and Sophia picked up on it immediately.
"Harlon, it's fine. He really wants me to come to dinner." Sophia reassured him, not that he needed reassuring. "He was asking about what food I like and what time I could get there."
"You should let Kojak take you." Harlon stated.
"Harlon! I'm eighteen!" Sophia laughed. "And since when were you the overprotective big brother?"
Harlon had to pull a face at that. Ace was always the overprotective big brother of his siblings, unsurprising since he was the oldest, but the less parallels that could be drawn between the two of them, the better in his opinion.
"You mean that Oliver and Alexander aren't?" Harlon asked.
"Oliver? Not a chance!" Sophia laughed. "And I still think Ace is practically the engine version of Alexander."
Harlon hummed his agreement to that statement, it probably wasn't wrong. With nothing more to say, he let things go quiet and closed his eyes to sleep.
"Hey, Harlon, you still thinking about those other engines?" Sophia asked with a certain look in her eyes.
"Depends what you mean by that." Harlon sighed.
"Well, you were very interested in Oliver's magazine earlier." Sophia teased.
"Because the rest of you were bickering and I don't want to get dragged into that." Harlon answered. "And I guess I'm a little curious about other the railroads too."
"Curious about other railroads?" Sophia echoed.
"I've never been anywhere that isn't here or the workshop." Harlon reasoned.
"What about meeting other engines?" Sophia grinned.
"I guess." Harlon answered, but he could feel Sophia staring at him.
"You could meet a nice lady engine." Sophia encouraged. "Or a nice boy engine, you never know."
"I don't know." Harlon sighed.
"You don't?" Sophia asked, now pulling herself up and sitting on Harlon's front. "You've never thought about who you'd like to spend your life with?"
"I'm a steam engine, we don't do all that marriage and dating stuff you do." Harlon shifted uncomfortably.
"But if you were a human, who would you spend your life with?" Sophia continued.
"I don't know. Ask one of the girls. Or Ace." Harlon grumbled.
"You know your taste in others better than any of us." Sophia pushed more.
"Debatable." Harlon grumbled.
"You really have no idea what kind of person you'd fall in love with?" Sophia looked shocked.
"No. None of us do." Harlon was finally starting to loose his cool. "Especially us boys who aren't into all the girl talk you're having with Fallon."
"I know exactly what kind of engines you'd all fall for!" Sophia proclaimed with a laugh.
"If I let you tell me, will you let me sleep?" Harlon grumbled.
"Fine, fine, I will. I'll go harass Alexander or Oliver instead." Sophia laughed, holding her hands up in defence.
"Get on with it then." Harlon sighed.
"Well, Ace would need someone to keep him on his toes, sassy and passionate." Sophia threw herself into her ideas, clearly having put too much thought into any of this. "Bertam would like a soft, nerdy type. Clarabelle and Danielle would totally get with twins, or at least brothers, boyish but not really massively manly. Edrick would go for a placid, girly girl, amazed by everything around her, while Fallon would definitely like the tall, dark and handsome type. Genny would like someone quieter and calmer than her but focused as well. Irenia really needs grounding, but they'd need a sense of humour too. Jacques and Ken would need someone to match them too, a being of utter chaotic energy and someone who sees the world through wonder. Then Lizable, she'd need someone bold to bring her out of her shell a bit more, someone adventurous but kind."
"... And me?" Harlon asked.
"Oh, you'd need someone to crack you out of your shell a bit more too." Sophia grinned. "Someone who is sensitive and emotional, but quiet like you isn't bad either."
"... Right..." Harlon responded. "Can I sleep now?"
"Alright, alright, I'm going." Sophia laughed, getting down and heading towards the door. "Enjoy dreaming about your future love!"
"I won't." Harlon responded with a grumble as the door slammed shut.
Finally the engine was in a nice, warm, peaceful shed on his own. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep at all, gently wishing for Valentines Day to be over as fast as it had arrived.

The almost fully waned moon was hanging quite clearly in the sky by the time the other engines began to come back due to the relatively short days. Harlon woke up enough to hear the clamour as Fallon and Sophia met in the middle of the yard and the latter passed on the news, but they moved over to what Harlon assumed was the works so he was able to sleep a little bit longer before everyone else came back.
However, Clarabelle and Danielle soon came into the shed when they got back, stopping any sleep Harlon was going to get once and for all. And they came in gossiping.
"Did you hear Sophia and Fallon?" Clarabelle smiled to her sister as they reversed into the shed in perfect unison, right down to the movement of their side rods.
"I did, it's so sweet!" Danielle beamed. "I'm glad she's found someone at last."
Harlon was suddenly reminded a little too much of Sophia's earlier gushing and promptly decided he was leaving with what power he had left, rushing out of the shed only to nearly run into Genny, Glacier and Icicle.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" She asked him, amusement glittering in her eyes.
"Away from the gossiping." Harlon answered crossly. "And to find the crew for the maintence train."
"I've got your crew here." Genny told him, but glanced to the shed with a laugh. "Thanks for the warning though."
Harlon laughed a little, glad that at least one of his sisters was sane in his book.
"Alright, we're here, we'll rescue you." Harlon's night driver laughed, jumping down from Icicle and walking up to the engine, the night fireman in tow.
"Yes please." Harlon responded, rolling over to a water tower while everyone else began to work around him.
As his crew filled his water tank and moved him over to get some coal, the train's guard was climbing into the caboose to ready the train and the workers were piling in tools, rail and ballast onto the maintenance train for the evening. It wasn't a specialised train, rather some trucks and a mess coach that had been adapted one way or another, but it did what it needed to do and everyone was happy enough with it. Two workers also fetched Harlon's head lamp and snowplow, knowing that there was probably going to be wildlife on Fallon's tour route and this was the closest he had to a cowcatcher, the bright light from his head lamp beaming out into the rapidly falling darkness ahead. Everything ran like clockwork, the night crew being a small family of their own who threw inside jokes around each other like a baseball ball between a father and son but mostly Harlon was happily left to work with his own driver and fireman.
Eventually, the engine was shunted onto and coupled up to his train. With a blow of the guard's whistle, Harlon was off into the night, Ace calling after him and wishing him good luck, as always, which Harlon didn't acknowledge.

At night, Fallon's tour route was largely peaceful. There weren't many large or dangerous predators in the area as far as they knew, such as wolves, lynxes or bears, only the occasional fox, attracted by the smell of the workmens' food and brave enough to try and steal it, and none of the larger, hooven animals were around at this time of night. It was just Harlon, the workmen and some bats every now and then.
On the maintenance train, even Harlon's own crew chipped in with the work, lit by Harlon's head lamp and other lights powered by an on-board generator, mostly leaving the engine to relax.
"Looks like those Mountain Goats have been here again." One of the workmen commented, shining his torch on the ground some meters ahead. "I swear this nanny herd gets bigger every year."
"As long as they're not going to hang about on the tracks, who cares?" Another workman commented with a shrug, the track being raised up in the middle of a fairly open landscape.
Harlon chuckled a little, he was surprised that there had been no accidents yet as well but he knew his sister was careful. He heard his crew laughing in his cab too.
"By the way, how's your wife doing?" His driver asked his fireman. "Can't be too long now until she gives birth."
"No, only two weeks until she's due." His fireman replied, Harlon practically able to feel the man smiling.
"You're not worried she'll have the baby while you're at work?" His driver asked before Harlon could speak up.
"No, she's got her sister with her and both of our mothers. She'll be alright." His fireman chuckled. "What are you doing with your missus tomorrow?"
"Spending the day together, just us. Kids are spending the day with their husbands too." Harlon's driver answered, an older man who had been working on the railroad almost since it had opened. "Walking around town, cooking dinner at home together-"
"You? Cooking?" His fireman laughed. "Harlon can't make it to your home for dinner."
"Yeah, I can't be around to be your grill." Harlon added jokingly.
"Very funny you two." Harlon's driver responded, but he was laughing as well. "I never said anything about grilling food. Are you going to be cooking for your wife?"
"Of course." Harlon's fireman answered. "She's eight months pregnant. I'm going to pamper her as much as I can."
The more his crew talked about their wives and Valentine's Day, the more Harlon found himself thinking about what Sophia had said earlier, gradually tuning out of the conversation. He tried to imagine the engine she tried to describe in front of him. It ended up looking a little like one of the engine's from Oliver's magazine that morning, painted in dark green with bright white edging and a face that showed exactly what kind of engine it was - quiet but sensitive and emotional. However, no matter how else he imagined this engine to be, nothing sat right, whether it was female, male, ambiguous, girly, tomboyish or somewhere in the middle - Harlon felt nothing for the engine he had just imagined.
"Maybe this romance thing really isn't for me." Harlon concluded to himself quietly.