On The Empty Tracks Of Sodor (GOTP AU)

6. The Next Morning

Boulder was awakened the next morning by the sound of unfamiliar voices. His systems came online with a start, and for a moment, he was in a panic- but then his memory caught up with the rest of his processor... The Mosaics, everything was fine.

The night before, Boulder had scanned each of them and determined that none of them were in bad enough condition to need additional care- at least not until he was more rested and it was morning. He left them for the evening to retreat to his sleeping quarters, after putting down a few ground rules-

1. No touching the buttons on the Groundbridge or elevator console to see how it works.

2. No roughhousing.

3. Don't go out the giant metal door at the end of the bunker that leads to the tunnels. You WILL get lost.

Apparently, he'd needed to put 'No yelling before 8 AM' on that list as well, as he heard bickering tones from two of them.

He groaned softly, sitting up on his berth and popping his joints with a yawn before getting up and heading for the door. He really needed that sleep- and perhaps more.

He opened the door and wandered down the hall and out towards the common area. "Alright alright alright..." He hummed as he stepped out into the light, "What's the problem?"

The newcomers were spread out across the common area, as were books from the bookshelves, as one of the shelves laid broken in half and its contents spilled to the floor. Thomas, Percy, and Henry all stood in the corner, optics wide and shaking their heads as if denying involvement. Edward and Emily were seated on the couch and appeared to be watching whatever had been playing out beforehand. Cranky was sitting up now, but with his back to the wall and optics closed as if still asleep.

Diesel, Gordon, and James were the ones by the bookshelf, feet slowly shifting on the floor as they tried not to step on any of the scattered tomes. "Good morning?" James greeted nervously.

Boulder placed his hands on his hips, "What's the problem?" He repeated, brow raising.

"James knocked the shelf down, Diesel laughed, Gordon got offended." Cranky mumbled, opening one eye and then closing it again.

"I didn't mean to!" James defended, "I was just bored and trying to get one of the books down and it just fell! Flimsy board."

"Clumsy Steamie!" Diesel mocked.

Boulder lifted a hand to stop James or Gordon from responding, bending down and scooping up the books into his hands gently. "It's okay, James. You're still getting used to having hands, so you probably just put a little too much force on the shelf, that's all."

"Sorry, Boulder..." Percy peeped, "Please don't be mad."

Boulder smiled, "I'm not mad. I get it, really."

He walked over to one of the tables and set the books down in a neat stack, and then overlooked all of them slowly. "How are all of you feeling this morning?"

"We're alright, I guess?" Emily shrugged, "It took a bit to get to sleep cause... well, we kept moving. My arm would move, his leg would move-"

Boulder nodded, and then looked to Cranky. "What about you, Cranky? You doing alright?"

"Don't mind me... I'm not exactly used to moving at all."

"True..."

"Are we going to go back to Sodor today?" Thomas asked.

"That's the plan, assuming no big emergencies come up."