“Huh?” Rusty hadn't been expecting to be spoken to, so it took a moment for Caboose’s words to sink in, and a longer moment for him to figure out what he was talking about.
Caboose’s hand was on his. Rusty stared down at it like he was trying to figure out what it was doing there. He wasn't holding Rusty's hand, at least not in any sort of romantic way. Rather, he was forceful with it, not so much holding his hand as he was holding him back.
It was only then that all the pieces came together and Rusty realized what was going on. He’d been absent-mindedly scratching at a patch of rust on his wrist. To his mild embarrassment, he'd broken through the skin. “Oh,” he said somewhat dumbly. “Sorry.”
Caboose tutted, letting go of the hand he was holding and reaching instead for Rusty’s other one. Rusty let him have it, letting his arm go lax as Caboose turned it this way and that, inspecting the damage. After a couple of moments, Caboose sighed. He kept hold of Rusty’s arm with one hand, reaching up with the other to tug at the knot at the back of his neckerchief.
Rusty wondered what he was doing for a few seconds before it clicked. “You don't have to—” Rusty started to protest, but too late. Caboose was already dabbing away the tiny droplets of blood that had welled up from the scratches.
His touch was gentle, a strong contrast from his remonstrating tone of voice. “Why do you do this to yourself?”
“It wasn't on purpose,” Rusty defended. “I just didn't realize how hard I was scratching.”
“You're not supposed to be scratching at all.”
Rusty shrugged. “It's itchy.”
Caboose shot him a scathing look. “You have medications that help with this.”
Ah, yes. His medications. A few months back, Wrench had prescribed him a wealth of topical treatments that were supposed to help with rust. Nothing could cure it completely, not permanently, but they could alleviate the symptoms and help strengthen the skin to treat the flare ups and make them a little less common. The problem was: Rusty hated them. He loved that they helped, of course, but that didn't outweigh how thick and tacky and uncomfortable they were.
Caboose knew this, but he didn't fully understand. As far as he could see, Rusty was simply refusing to use something he knew would help for no reason. It frustrated him to no end because, although getting him to admit it was like pulling teeth, Caboose cared. He hated to see Rusty in pain, even if that pain only amounted to some mild discomfort because he was itchy sometimes.
That was an argument he didn't feel like rehashing right now, so instead he settled on a cop-out answer. “It's complicated.”
Caboose scoffed. “Complicated.” Despite the snark in his voice, his hands remained gentle.
Rusty could only offer him a sheepishly apologetic smile in response.
The scratches weren’t that deep, and in just a couple more seconds they were dealt with. Caboose pulled his scarf away and lifted Rusty’s hand up to his eyes, checking to make sure the bleeding had fully stopped. Satisfied, he rubbed his thumb over the area, applying just enough pressure that it would feel nice for Rusty, even if it didn’t quite scratch the itch.
Despite his success in taking care of Rusty, a small frown was playing at Caboose’s lips. Rusty knew why: the cuts had stopped bleeding but the skin around them was still dry and cracked, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Caboose could also feel how tight it was. He had fixed the immediate problem, but not the root cause.
A frowning Caboose was always a dangerous thing. Rusty tried to take his hand back before Caboose did something less pleasant, like hold him down and force the medications on him, but Caboose tightened his grip on Rusty’s wrist, keeping it where it was. His eyes were sharp when Rusty met them, aware of what Rusty was doing and not liking it one bit. The look Rusty gave him back was pleading.
Caboose was just trying to help, Rusty knew that. It was sweet, and it wasn’t like he didn’t appreciate the thought. But even just the idea of having those sticky ointments slathered on his skin was enough to make his stomach turn. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if Caboose actually made him use that stuff.
His desperation must have translated into his gaze because after a few more moments of standing firm, Caboose’s shoulders sagged. Caboose was as stubborn as a mule, so Rusty really must have looked awful to make him relent so easily.
Although, he didn’t give in completely. He loosened his grip on Rusty’s wrist but still kept it in his hand, fixing Rusty with a beseeching look of his own. With his free hand, he dug out a tiny bottle he’d had tucked under the wristband of his glove. “Will you at least let me use this on you?”
Rusty squinted at the bottle. It wasn’t any of his prescriptions. Instead, it was just a bottle of lotion. The good kind, pricey but specially formulated to help with rust. More importantly, it was immediately soothing and not unpleasant to put on at all.
It was an acceptable compromise. Rusty nodded his assent, letting his arm go lax once more as Caboose moved his grip from around Rusty’s wrist to cradle his hand instead. Keeping a hold of Rusty’s hand meant that Caboose needed to bite the bottle cap in order to unscrew it, but that didn’t phase him for a second. Rusty kept his eyes fixed firmly on their hands as he did, fighting down the heat threatening to rise to his cheeks.
Caboose squeezed a generous dollop of lotion onto the back of Rusty’s hand, then screwed the cap back on and tucked the bottle back into his glove. With his hand once more freed up, he began rubbing the lotion in. Rusty smiled. It felt nice.
As Rusty let himself be taken care of, his mind began to wander. The lotion Caboose was using was good, but just for rust. It wasn’t like any of the fancy creams and serums Caboose favored, anti-aging or skin-brightening or whatever the latest trend was. Caboose would have no reason to use this, much less carry a bottle around with him.
It was for him, Rusty realized, a rush of warmth blooming in his chest. Caboose had gone out of his way to find the best lotion for rust he could, price tag be damned, and carry it with him, just in case Rusty ever needed it.
Rusty’s smile threatened to double in size at the thought, and he bit his lip to stop it from showing. Caboose liked to pretend that he was only ever looking out for himself, but everyone knew that was just a front. He had a sentimental streak a mile wide that he tried to keep hidden. In most cases, he was fairly successful. Rusty, however, was his one weakness. Ever since they'd gotten together, and even for some time before as Caboose tried to make up for the crash in the championship, Caboose couldn’t be anything other than sweet to him, no matter how hard he tried to disguise it.
Despite the fact that the depth of Caboose’s care was common knowledge, Rusty fawning over his soft side would only serve to make him embarrassed. Something about Rusty “ruining his image,” as if Caboose didn’t do enough of that on his own.
As cute as it would be to see Caboose get flustered, the immediate consequence of that would be him getting mad, as well, and there were few things worse than Caboose in a stormy mood. With that thought in mind, Rusty forced his face to go as neutral as possible.
It didn’t take long to apply the lotion, and in another couple of moments, it was done. Caboose let his hands linger on Rusty’s a little longer. “Better?”
“Much,” Rusty said. He twisted his hand slightly so that he was finally—properly—holding Caboose’s hand. “Thank you.”
Caboose grinned, far too pleased with himself in his victory of getting Rusty to admit that the lotion had helped. It was the sort of look that made Rusty certain that he would be holding it over his head for the foreseeable future, using it as proof that Rusty should let him use any of his prescriptions on him to his heart’s content. Rusty allowed him to savor that feeling for all of two seconds before pulling him in and kissing that smug look off his face.
I'm pretty much open to any ship to be honest - especially if it involves Rusty!
Rusted Brakes (Rusty and pre-2018 caboose)
The first ship I ever shipped when I became a Starlight Express fan. I thought it was a rarepair... but it isn't lol (which I'm glad there's shippers!). This relationship is far from perfect and I think a lot of trust needs to be built up again before they give anything a go! But they're one of my OTPs :)
BoboEspresso (not sure if there's a ship name for them...)
I love them so much and I have no idea how I started shipping them. I started loving Espresso… and then Bobo… and then boom! One of my OTPs! I just love them so much and they're totally canon (JOKING).
SteamPress (Rusty and post-2018 caboose)
Honestly, this ship started as a joke and at a time I hated the post 2018 caboose and found him cringe. I was like "Lol how funny would it be to put Rusty with this new cringe caboose" and then called it "Cursed Rusted Brakes".
Then…. uhhhh I started actually shipping it… a lot. That's okay though because I now like the post 2018 caboose and don't think he's a cringe fail anymore.
But yeah… this ship is honestly my number 1 OTP… they're my comfort ship if I'm being honest.
Greasedinah (Greaseball and Dinah)
My favourite canon ship that's actually canon! Sure, they aren't perfect but what relationship is? I think they're very sweet and I enjoy reading fanfics and seeing fanart of them!
Rustgold (Rusty and Ruhrgold)
The idea for this ship came when I was in my hotel room in Bochum and thought it would be a really cute ship. I like Rusty! I like Ruhrgold! So why not ship them? Lol! I thought I would be the only shipper but turns out a few other people shipped them too!
