#the red caboose

[op3ra]

v-day gift exchange piece for @tabooi pt 2 ⚡

(pt 1 here)

[mus1ca1]

caboose: 😁

greaseball: wtf was that

[blue-inferno]

C.B

[charliestrainyard]

"Dinah?~" 😏 (sketch)

[tabooiart]

it's everyone's favorite toy soldier/trucker/baseball player/clown!!!!!!!!

[nauticaltrainofthe80s]

assorted stex art i never posted, including:

joule and electra warmup, fully rendered pearl floating in space, prusty fankid, rusty and electra in 2023, and never to be finished wip of cb doing....something

[your-fave-ship-is-canon]

Can you do Electra the Electric Engine from Starlight Express and The Red Caboose from Starlight Express

Your fave ship is canon: Electra the Electric Engine and The Red Caboose from Starlight Express!

[marastriker]

[starburst2000]

StEx Appreciation Month 2023!

Day 17: Red Caboose!!!

OLC Caboose (AV) and Broadway/Bochum Caboose (CB)! They're up to no good.

[hayl0ftt]

ELECTRIC CB (STARLIGHT EXPRESS)

I’ve been obsessed with the idea of CB as an electric train (like him being converted to electric) , so I make my return to tumblr by revealing my silly CB art piece of this !!

( yes he does have a prosthetic leg tbh I love including that in CB art)

[workofthediesel]

Please could you do some post 2018 rusted brakes? If not, maybe Electra and Rusty? 🧡

Rusty winced as he lowered himself into the bath. His rust patches had been bothering him for the past few days, and he’d finally decided to do something about it. Baking soda baths never fully solved the problem, but they did stop the itching and helped shrink the patches down a bit. Sometimes, that was all he needed.

Still, the patches were a bit raw. Despite everyone telling him not to scratch them, Rusty couldn't help himself; they were just too itchy. The natural consequence of that were the dozens of little scratches he had itched into his skin–the exact thing everyone had been trying to prevent.

It didn't hurt too bad, and Rusty had been taking care of the scratches so there was no risk of infection. Even so, the overall itchiness and tightness and slight stinging of his skin was starting to get too much.

Baking soda baths weren't his favorites, but he had to admit, they did help.

He sunk down into the water, trying to get comfortable. He was going to have to soak for a while. 

He wouldn’t have minded that so much if he’d had his hands free, but since he had some particularly stubborn patches of rust on his wrists and around his knuckles, he’d need to keep his hands under the water, too. That changed the experience from a relaxing afternoon when he could catch up on some reading to an exercise in boredom.

He sat in the tub for as long as he could stand—by his best estimate, it had been about an hour. His skin was feeling much better by that point, and with any luck, it would have been long enough to loosen up the rust enough for him to scrub it off.

He grabbed the scouring pad off the edge of the tub, dumped some extra baking soda onto it, and raised it up to his neck. The patch there wasn’t as bad as some of his others, so if anything was going to come off, it was probably that. 

It worked well enough. After a minute or so of scrubbing, he scooped a little water over the area and was able to wash off a good amount of rust. Another minute of scrubbing and the patch was all cleared up.

He moved on to some of his other lesser patches next. The bad ones could use the extra time to soak, and besides, he was somewhat dreading the amount of work it would take to get those ones off.

At a certain point, however, he couldn’t put it off any longer. With all of the easy parts done, there was nothing else to do but start attacking the hard ones.

He started with his knuckles. It was easy enough to scrub the backs of his hands, but it was significantly more difficult to get between his fingers. He got frustrated with it pretty quickly, but after ten minutes spent alternating scouring his hands and dunking them back into the water, they were clearer than they had been in weeks.

By the time he’d gotten to his elbow, Rusty was ready to call it quits. He was bored and frustrated, and he just wanted to be done with this already. 

Distantly, he heard the front door open. Caboose had been out with Electra for the afternoon, which had been part of the reason Rusty had chosen today to do this. He was supposed to have been out for three or four hours, so Rusty was anticipating being done before he got back. The fact that he wasn’t doubled his irritation. 

Moments later, Caboose called, “Rusty?” from the front hall.

“In the bath,” he shouted back. 

Not even a minute later, Caboose was pushing open the door to the bathroom; Rusty must have forgotten to lock it. He leaned in the doorway for a moment before coming in. He came to a stop next to the tub, tossing his hat to the side and kneeling down to be on level with Rusty. His eyes flicked to the water for a moment, and it was clear that between the cloudiness of the water and the scouring pad still in his hand, he was able to put together what was going on. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Okay enough,” Rusty said, resuming his scrubbing at the inside of his elbow. 

“And that’s why you’re attacking your skin with a scouring pad.”

Rusty sighed, dropping his arms back down into the water. “It’s just a flare up. You know they happen.”

“Yes, I do,” Caboose said, reaching into the water to grab Rusty’s hand. “And I also know that I told you to let me know when it started to get bad.”

“It’s not that bad,” Rusty said defensively.

“But it’s bad enough that you’re taking a baking soda bath.” Caboose splashed his face with a bit of the water, an act that toed the line between playful and punishing.

With his free hand, Rusty wiped off his face. Despite his best effort, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “It’s just a little itchy.” In this instance, a little itchy also meant a little painful, but Caboose didn’t need to know that. 

As always, Caboose knew exactly what Rusty wasn’t saying. He watched Rusty with a knowing look for a moment, but all he said was, “Okay. I don’t believe you, but okay.”

Rusty was happy to let that be the end of the discussion, but it was at that moment that Caboose let go of his hand. Seconds later, Caboose pulled his hand out of the water, and Rusty saw that—without him realizing it—Caboose had worked the scouring pad out of his hand under the water and was now holding it in his. 

He only had a second to process that before Caboose said, “Lean forward,” placing a hand on his back and pushing him into the position he wanted. 

“You don’t have to—” Rusty started to object even as he let Caboose manhandle him.

“Oh, I know I don’t have to,” Caboose said, grabbing the box of baking soda sitting on the edge of the tub. “But I want to.”

With no further discussion, Caboose started sprinkling a little extra baking soda on the rust patches on Rusty’s back and got to work scrubbing.

He was a little rough with it, but Rusty knew that was what he needed to get the rust to come off. Besides, even after soaking them, the patches were still a little itchy. Having them scratched was satisfying.

Gratefully, Rusty let himself relax into Caboose’s ministrations. In contrast with the aggressive way he was scrubbing at the rust patches, the hand he was using to brace himself was gentle on Rusty’s shoulder. Whenever he poured water over the area to wash away the flakes of rust he’d managed to get up, he followed it up by running his hand over the area, rubbing it with a light touch.

“That feels nice,” Rusty said softly, his shoulders sagging as he relaxed even further.

Caboose chuckled. “Good. I’m glad.” He planted a gentle kiss on Rusty’s back before scooting to the side a bit and reaching for Rusty’s arm.

Rusty gave it to him without a moment’s hesitation, and Caboose got to work on the patch on Rusty’s elbow. While Rusty had been nothing but frustrated with that one in particular, Caboose didn’t seem bothered, scrubbing off the patch without a single flicker of irritation crossing his face.

Rusty watched him, taking in all the details of his face, trailing over his sharp cheekbones and the pointed tip of his nose. Even though he seemed deep in concentration, Caboose’s face was calm, the barest hint of a smile playing at his lips. Seeing that, Rusty couldn’t help but smile, too.

They passed a few more minutes in silence before Caboose deemed Rusty’s arm to be as good as it was going to get. It was certainly better than Rusty would have gotten it. 

“Thank you for this,” Rusty said, reaching up to take Caboose’s hand. “You really didn’t have to.”

“For you? Anything.”

[op3ra]

hello, old friend

[neacle]

Terence Uphoff as The Red Caboose, Bochum September 2022

Source

[blue-inferno]

-Wip-

Someone please give him a hug....he's very sorry ...

[charliestrainyard]

♥️ "Wide smile, high style... Hang loose..."

[tabooiart]

been too long since ive drawn this horrible beast