An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Starlight Express - Phillips/Stilgoe/Webber
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blue Lightning/Lumber (Starlight Express), Electra/Porter (Starlight Express), Dinah/Slick (Starlight Express), Hydra/Rusty (Starlight Express), Hydra & Lumber & Porter & Slick (Starlight Express), Momma & Hydra & Lumber & Porter & Slick
Characters: Lumber (Starlight Express), Porter (Starlight Express), Slick (Starlight Express), Hydra (Starlight Express), Blue Lightning (Starlight Express), Electra (Starlight Express), Dinah (Starlight Express), Rusty (Starlight Express), Momma McCoy
Additional Tags: Spilt POV, a characters pov is able to be skipped if you don't vibe with the ship, Gift Giving, Gift Exchange, Fluff, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Freight as Family (Starlight Express), They/Them Pronouns for Hydra (Starlight Express), Anxiety, christmas fic four days late don't kill me pls xx
Summary:
"Why the fuck is buying presents for people so hard?"
...
"You could make them something?"
A fic in which, the freights make presents for their partners, then getting to deliver their hard work.
Hot as balls today and I’m off to drink in a mates garden so I might not get around to writing today. However, I leave you with the image of Porter and Rusty (constantly warm, literal fire in that generator) using their built-in-liquid-coolant-supplied partners of Electra and Hydra respectively in a desperate attempt to cool the fuck down and definitely not as an excuse to pin them down for cuddles all day.
(Slick, greaseball and Dinah are not that lucky. They are all melting but at least Dinah is supplying icey lemonade. Lumber is objectively fine but has gotten into a good routine of swapping out Lightning’s cold flannels for a new one in the fridge whilst she doesn’t want contact)
This makes me SO EMO cause of what happened in the recent TOA book :’(
Top 5 favourite characters: Jason, Leo, Piper, Nico, PercyOther characters you like: Coach Hedge, Annabeth, the Amazons, Thalia, Hazel, FrankLeast favourite characters: Phineus he was so annoying, and Hera tooOtps: Any canon ship tbhNotps: uhhhhhhhhFavourite friendships: THE SEVEN + NICO + COACH, Jason and Leo, Jason and Percy, Annabeth and Jason, Annabeth and Piper, Piper and Hazel, like just EVERYONEFavourite family: Percy and his fam will always be my faveFavourite season/book/movie: The House of HadesFavourite quotes: “Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that’s when they’re needed the most.”Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: THE PERCABETH REUNIONWhen it really disappointed you: n/aSaddest moment: Oh man idk I haven’t read the books in a while so all I remember was when Annabeth was gonna fall into Tartarus and Percy didn’t want to let her go so he fell in with her and then in HOH, Annabeth said she loved him while they were falling :’(Most well done character death: I don’t like thinking about character deaths in the riordanverseCharacter you wish was still alive: Uhhh this is a spoiler if you haven’t read TOA so I’m not gonna sayOne thing you hope really happens: I really wanted Leo to come back with Calypso and welp guess what IT HAPPENEDMost shocking twist: Frank’s dad’s Aries like wow didn’t see that one comingWhen did you start watching/reading?: I started reading the books I think in the sixth grade??Best animal/creature: Mrs. O’LearyFavourite location: Camp Half-Blood will always hold a special place in my heartTrope you wish they would stop using: n/aOne thing this show/book/film does better than others: The dang diversity manFunniest moments: LMAO When Leo was dressed up in that ridiculous getup with like the fake tattoos and rolled up sleevesCouple you would like to see: I wanted to see Hazel and Frank being cuties and I GOT ITFavourite item: I miss Annabeth’s cap :’(Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: I own the books??? That’s about it really. I also have maps and posters that came with the booksWhat house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: I would’ve loved to be with the main 7 but I think I’d be in Will’s group while they were blowing up the other team’s weapons and stuffsMost boring plotline: n/aMost laughably bad moment: idkBest flashback/flashfoward if any: Leo’s flashback of the day his mom died :’( Most layered character: LeoMost one dimensional character: uhhh idk i always thought the gods were a bit one dimensionalScariest moment: the entirety of percabeth’s time in tartarusGrossest moment: ^^Best looking male: Idk how they look but based off of fanart, Percy’s freaking hotBest looking female: I HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE??? I think I’m biased cause Annabeth is my fave girlWho you’re crushing on (if any): n/aFavourite transportation: FESTUSMost beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Oh man idk there were so manyUnanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: n/aAt what point did you fall in love with this show/book: right away
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Starlight Express - Phillips/Stilgoe/Webber
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blue Lightning/Lumber (Starlight Express)
Characters: Lumber (Starlight Express), Blue Lightning (Starlight Express), Porter (Starlight Express)
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Starlight Express Wembley Production (2024), Meet-Cute, First Meetings
Summary:
When Lumber first arrives at the yard, racing doesn't catch his eye, but of course, when racing is how you get close to an engine, racing is now your personality.
Lightningwood and "You're not too broken to talk to me"? I'm imagining lightning like, very defensive and trying to be strong about it.
Yeh alright :3c I went down the line of the race 2 crash for this one - last time I saw the show Lightning said Lumber pushed her but he was 2 feet behind her showing off to trackside 1 so I'm just saying justice for my boy... I know his character is like, Evil Stooge 1, but I don't think he crashed her! So this is kind of my interpretation of what went down.
Click here to read on AO3, or hit the below to read on tumblr!
Would you like a little stex fic? Send me an ask request!
He didn't mean to crash her.
Really, Lumber swears up and down for as long as anyone will listen, he didn't - he was trying to show off, spotted Porter and Slick in the crowd leading to the hairpin and stuck his skate out too far, or at least, that's what he thinks must have happened. Maybe he wasn't paying attention, maybe he tripped her, maybe he pushed her too far when posing for the cameras they just whipped past at a million miles an hour. One moment their wind was in his ears, cold and brisk against his cheeks as he grinned, the next, he's not sure.
With a grumble, Lightning pushes herself off the advertising barrier that they'd both just slammed into, and as Lumber staggers back he can see the damage clear as day. Great ice-like cracks creep across her armour plating like an infection, sharp and angular where they've torn the grain of the metal, and her lights flicker intermittently as she sways on unsteady wheels, hissing and groaning as her eyes flutter dangerously. Of course she took the brunt of it, she was always going to suffer the worst of a crash; she said before she doesn't like others getting hurt, and any other occasion maybe this would have made Lumber's chest tight and his cheeks burn.
Instead-
"You stupid fucking wood truck," Lightning spits, oil dripping from her split lip as the marshals begin moving back the crowds, "you pushed me! You dick-"
"I didn't do shit!" Lumber argues, fear turning to relief turning to tumultuous, searing anger as Lightning bares her teeth against him, "I didn't even have my hands on you, don't blame this on me."
"That's the problem, dickhead." For a second, her breath catches, words crisp and caught as a flash of fear cracks across her face, but it's gone before Lumber can comment. "You're supposed to be my breaks, I can't slow both of us down on that hill and you know that- fuckin', shit."
A cough wracks through her, wet and painful, and as her hand comes away from her mouth, there's a shadow between her fingers that wasn't there before. In the floodlights above them it shimmers slightly, and Lumber's generator suddenly runs cold like ice has just been thrown against his battery. That's oil, that's her oil, from inside her, that shouldn't be there, and if she's coughing up oil, then-
"We need to get to the repair tent," he urges as best as he can, reaching out to take Lightning's hand before she snatches it away like he's electrified, "c'mon Blue, fuckin' hell, I'm sorry, alright?"
A wary eye follows him as he steps forward, her body moving away as he gets closer. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
"C'mon, you're hurt-"
"And you're a good for nothing, lousy as fuck partner who is just happy to let me crash because he's busy showboating," Lightning argues angrily, and he'd probably take that to heart if panic wasn't settling in very clearly on her face, eyebrows furrowing as her already oil-stained hand reaches to her chest, "I- fuck, Lumber-!"
With a lurch she trips forwards, clipped cry of pain echoing with a gasp, and all Lumber can do is hold his arms out to catch her. Under her weight he sags, but maybe that's also how unstable his legs are, how weak his knees feel as he looks down at her pallid face, eyes tensed shut against the pain, and there's something wet against his fingers. Slimy, slick, warm, out of place, there's no way that she's losing that much oil that quickly, it was only a crash into a signage board, he wasn't paying that little attention, was he?
"C'mon Blue," Lumber chuckles nervously, holding her tightly around the shoulders as she pushes herself out his arms, "you ain't too broke to talk to me, love, I'm-"
Immediately under his touch she steels. They've always had this rule, of not bringing their relationship into racing, but the nickname slips out before he can stop it; he'd hoped it would be lost under the roar of the crowd and the other engines whizzing past them on their final few laps, but the almost painful tightening of her fingers around his arms says she heard. As electric blue eyes connect with his, he can see fear there if he looks hard enough, desperation rather than anger, and the hollowness he feels in his chest is vile.
"It's fine, I'm fine," Lightning croaks, peeling one eye open as her hands fly to his biceps, "just- just get me to a repair truck, fuck - you were showing off to her again, weren't you?"
To her? What, like he's cheating? There wasn't any other engines out there that he was trying to impress, just the cameras and Porter and Slick in the back row. For some reason, the freight are never given good spots in the pens, no matter how much they queue, and Lightning should know by now, after everything they've been through, that he doesn't have eyes for anyone else. Couldn't, wouldn't, Lightning's far too impressive for that, too beautiful and too kind to him after long, hard shifts. "Who? I wasn't trying to impress anyone-"
And he'd crashed her. He'd been selfish and he'd crashed her.
"The oil tanker, hun', saw her at the back of the pen," Lightning spits, defeat laced in her tone as he slowly begins to lead her over to a bench; in the distance, Lumber can spot the oncoming marshals, repair truck in tow, but they're not getting here fast enough, "she always knows when to distract you."
Over his shoulder, Lumber casts a cursory glance, just to check; Porter's pushed his way to the front, angrily peering through the railing that's slightly too high to climb, but Slick's gone. Vanished into thin air, as if that glimmer of yellow he'd seen had never been there in the first place.
"What are you saying?" Lumber can't help but argue, feeling her hand slide down his arm as he shoots Porter a shaken thumbs up, "what, like this was her fault? Love, she weren't even here - Love?"
That grip around his wrist has loosened. It shouldn't be that loose, Lightning's got a strong grip - too strong, sometimes, she's pulled his shoulder out of the socket a few times just on account of trying to playfully pull him up off the ground after they've been scrapping again. It shouldn't be light like this, teetering on unstable wheels as the LEDs in her eyes spark and flicker, and all Lumber can do is grip onto her elbows as she falters.
"Blue?" He urges, voice barely above a whisper despite the roar of the crowd around them, but she doesn't respond, no acknowledgement from her at all as he guides her to the bench, "Blue? C'mon, love- repair truck! Here!"
