A/N Each chapter of Autumn's part of this fic will be a new season, until I get to present day. I've mentioned my head-canon of her autism, but here's the backstory of my head-canon: she was diagnosed off-page a few years ago with autism spectrum disorder because the psycholgist saw her as meeting the DSM-IV Asperger's criteria, but DSM-V calls it all autism spectrum disorder. This is last summer, so Autumn's almost 8. Remember her British dad for plot convenience, to explain her having relatives in England, so she could get TRS books. A plot convenience snowball, basically. In Autumn's daydreams, I may do thing with canon ones I just usually do with engine OCs. As far as Autumn comforting a crying engine, what happens on Sodor stays on Sodor. The Hurt/Comfort's for my FanFiction buddy, with some of the plot convenience type elements related to her typing of Autumn. Plot convenience is anything other than her stated personality elements in my earlier writing of her or certain things she has or does that come from kid me, but though some things are a blend. Blend means it resembles something from my life, but tweaked for plot convenience.
Autumn had just watched Blue Mountain Mystery and was now playing on her swing set. I love swings, she thought. The girl played for a while, with her mother watching and then they went back in.
Autumn misbehaved some point after coming back in.
Her dad said, "You've been naughty, Autumn. He locked all her toys in the closet and then told her "Go to your room!"
Autumn sat in her room for 7 minutes, wailing and holding her pillow. She wiped her tears on her pillowcase because they were out of tissue, likely. My mum probably used all the tissues, she thought. Because her grandma died. I never knew Great-Grandmum well enough to care for her, good or bad. I can't get a hanky from my daddy until after time-out. But I need to wipe my eyeballs.
Autumn's dad came in her room, unlocked the closet and said, "You're done with time-out now.". He heard her sniffle, so he gave her a tissue and her favorite hanky of his. "That's the last tissue in the house, so if you need to blow your nose or anything from crying more than it can handle, this is it."
She replied, "I dried my eyeballs on my pillowcase, so just need to blow," and her father left. He could hear her loudly blowing her nose as he did so. The girl decided it was time to see her imaginary friends, after tossing her tissue, so she looked at her Thomas poster dreamily.
Autumn landed on Sodor and sang The Island Song. "Thomas, I cried before I came here. So, no foghorn impression as I'm well today. I went through a shedful of tissues when I had that virus when I came a few months ago. Bridget was sobbing about something." and hugged her friend's face.
Autumn arrived back home and rode her bike for a bit. Her day went on, ending with her falling asleep, hugging her cuddle Thomas.
Thomas said, "Bridget had a rough day then. She had a fight with her best friend, who was mad at her for a while. However, they patched it up. Recently, 2 new engines arrived for the Skarloey Railway, as I heard they're narrow gauge." He smiled with twinkling black eyes. "The engines on my branch line other than myself are busy now."
Autumn said, "You might be the cheeriest engine on NWR. Peter Sam could be that on SKR." and she went off to other places on the island than Thomas's line.
Autumn went to the Skarloey Railway and was near the Blue Mountain Quarry. She went to the entrance to a tunnel and heard sobbing. Huge sobs, Autumn thought.
Luke was hiding in a tunnel in the quarry, sobbing his mechanical heart out. His face was wet with great tears and he kept sniffling loudly.
"There, there, Luke," said his driver, drying his engine's tears with a cloth. "Let the shame and grief out. I know you're overwhelmed with emotion. I'm here for you, to give you empathy and compassion." He gently rubbed his engine's cheeks and pressed the cloth to his eyes, being attentive to the little green tank engine's cues as he tried to understand how his engine was feeling.
Luke cried and sobbed more. He sniffled again, hard, coughed as he choked on his tears and hiccuped. He gasped and gulped, shaking as his tears poured from his eyes not once stopping as his driver did his best to comfort his engine.
He said, as he continued to wipe the tears away, "It's fine, Luke, that you feel this way. Let it all out. I shall paitiently support you, drying your eyes as long as you need me to wipe away your tears." He wiped all his engine's tears away as best he could and tried to reassure him without being overbearing.
Luke went on crying and sobbing until he had no more tears. His driver dried his engine's last tears away, wiping his cheeks and eyes dry of tears. He went back to the cab with the sodden cloth and Luke had a drink.
Autumn left the quarry after meeting Luke. Luke's so unhappy, she thought. Is he homesick? Or is it like the movie I just watched before I played on my swings? The little saddle tank engine had begged her not to tell anyone about him. His face was all red and his sore and swollen eyes were as well.
Later on, Autumn went back to the quarry and Luke. His crew had gone on break.
"Autumn," he said softly. "Can you wipe away my tears? I've got to cry again and you're the only human here with me." His eyes welled up and he sobbed loudly, which made his face wet with tears. He was sobbing and sniffling too hard to speak anymore.
"There, there, Luke," Autumn said, overwhelmed with empathy. She pulled out the hanky she had no need of before and softly dried his tears. "I'm here for you and I can wipe your eyeballs." She listened to him and imagined how he must feel. "Your emotion's valid, given what's going on, so cry as much as you want and I'll wipe your pain away." She rubbed his cheeks to wipe his tears away and held the hanky to his eyes, letting him sob into it and thought of context and possibilities for inspiration.
Luke cried and sobbed more. He sniffled hard, coughed as he choked on his tears and hiccupped. He gasped and gulped, shaking with sobs as great tears constantly poured from his eyes in response to Autumn's comfort.
She said, as she continued to wipe the tears away, "I don't rush someone's healing, so let it all out. Let tears fall like rain, if that's needed.". She wiped all his tears away as best she could.
Luke finished his cry with no more tears left. Autumn dried his last tears away, wiping his cheeks and eyes dry of tears His face was all red from crying and his sore and swollen eyes were, too. She put the sodden handkerchief away, gave him the inspiration she thought of as she hugged his face and went back to Thomas.
Autumn gave her blue friend a hug, told him good-bye and he said, "Good-bye!" Peep! Peep!
Autumn went back home and rode her bike for a bit. Her day went on, ending with her falling asleep, hugging her cuddle Thomas.
A/N Autism makes swings addictive, as Temple Grandin said. She compared them to drugs for the autistic. I had a swing set as a young girl and never outgrew swings, even though I outgrew other playground things. I never had the go to your room punishment, but I did have stuff taken away when I was young as Autumn or even some older (young girl) and I did have time out at school or on a camping trip as a young girl. Her tears are kid me's, because I cried when I'd been naughty at 7, her age here. There's a book I read as a kid in which a girl who was crying in school over a story "loudly blew her nose." and a boy said, "There goes the foghorn.", which influenced me in this chapter. Also, the "a shedful of tissues" came from a comment on fanfic on Wattpad that's also here. Luke was in tears in BMM, according to his wikia page gallery and I read part of a series in which he cries. Autumn can dry Luke's eyes because he's so little.