#theincoironworks-blog

[queenofbaws]

There's been a drought of non-poly Chrashley-focused content for quite a while now (apart from the occasional story on Ao3), and I'm starved for ANYTHING featuring the nerds and their schmaltzy escapades. I've considered remedying this situation by making my own food (read: trying to write my own fanfiction), but I fear I wouldn't do the characters justice. You've proven to be a talented author from what I've read of your works, so would you be willing to write a soft, sweet snippet in my stead?

catch me catching up on some not-quite-six sentence sat(or)sunday!

"So...is it that you think glaring it down is somehow going to magically make it safer, or...?" He couldn't mark it down as a full victory, not with the way her mouth was twisted up like that, but there was juuust enough laughter in her eyes for Chris to pat himself on the back. Not that he ever needed much of an excuse to do that.

After another moment of heavy, heavy consideration, Ashley sighed, then groaned, then forced herself to take a single lurching step over the threshold and into the cable car. She mumbled something as she shrugged her bag off and plunked it down on the same bench where he'd ditched his, and while he couldn't make most of it out, he for sure caught "death trap" and "tin can" thrown around in there.

"That'd be a 'yes' on the glaring question, then?" he teased, pretending not to follow her with his eyes as she sat beside him. She folded her arms and sighed again, and he nudged her shoulder with his own. "Think about it this way," he tried instead, "maybe it's Peter Pan rules - if you believe we're going to drop about a million feet and plunge to our icy deaths, then we will, and if you don't, we won't!"

"Chris! Oh my God." Ashley dropped her head into her hands, laughing tensely. Very, very tensely. "Do you seriously think that's helping?"

"Nah. I just didn't want to go full bad movie cliche and say, y'know...c'mon, Ash, what's the worst that could happen?"

The cable car's door clicked shut, the mechanism began to hum, and Ashley's laughter took on a desperate note. "Oooh but you said it anywayyy!"

She scooted another few inches away from the window, and just like that they were flush against each other, her arm pressing into his...from between, like, twelve layers of jacket, anyway. They hadn't even chugged a single inch up the mountain yet and whoop, yeah, uh huh, now Chris was all aboard the Anxiety Express too, his ticket paid for, processed, and punched in not by heights or the decidedly out-of-date maintenance sticker on the back window but Ashley herself. As was so often the case.

What was his move here? Did he have a move here? And, maybe more importantly, since when did he think about his life in terms of moves?

Okay, that last one was actually easy enough to answer: Since he'd hung up with Josh all of three minutes ago. It had been a thirty second call, if that, just enough to let him know they were heading up and he should expect them at the summit's station in the next ten minutes or so...but in true Josh fashion, he'd managed to pack that thirty seconds with as much psychic damage as humanly possible.

"Hope you two have a nice ride up," he'd said cheerfully enough, which had tripped at least five different warning alarms in Chris's brain. "See the sights, revel in the atmosphere, engage in a much-needed heart-to-heart...you know, just...really enjoy each other's company."

Good ol' Josh. Always knowing the exact thing to say to leave a guy completely unarmed.

Armed! Was that the answer? He could, in theory, sort of stretch his arm around her shoulders. People did that, didn't they? If someone they were with was freaked out? It...it didn't have to be seen as a romantic gesture, not if all he was doing was comforting her, but...but would she see it like that?

The cable car crept a foot off the ground, two, three, four, five...and right as they crested the roof of the station, it...well, it stopped. Completely.

"What's going on?" All it took was the cable car rocking once as it came to a halt and Ashley was on him, her face buried in the fur lining of his parka and her arms wrapped so tightly around his middle he could feel her fingers knotting at his side, Princess and the Pea style. "I can't look! How high up are we? I - wait, no, I don't want to know! Don't tell me!"

"I...we're like seven feet up, Ash. Like, maybe eight. Nine?"

"Make up your miiiiiiiind!" she groaned into his coat, her shoulders shaking as he did, in fact, scrounge up courage enough to wrap his arm around them. "I knew this was a bad idea...God, I hate these stupid things!"

"They've never stalled like this before. It's probably just, uh, a glitch or something. The system needs to warm up a little bit." He tried to sound confident as he said it, even as he glanced out the window and started running the numbers in his head. Could they jump out if they needed to? Maybe. It'd probably hurt, though, and he was prone to getting hurt on leisurely walks around the block, to say nothing of sick, snowy stunts. Plus, it'd taken a hell of a lot of convincing to get Ashley into the cable car in the first place; convincing her out of it...

"Yeah," she agreed, poking her head out from his coat only long enough to shoot a worried glance out the window on her side, "they've never stalled like this before, that's the problem, Chris! Maybe this is it! This is the time they break down for good! We're going to be stuck up here and - "

Before she could get another word out, the lights in the car flickered. And dimmed.

They turned to each other, eyes wide as panic began to really set in, and...and then...wait.

Now wait one fucking second.

The car suddenly filled with music. Music of the low and slow variety, that was, music the likes of which you only ever heard during the swelling denouement of a cheesy Hallmark romance movie, and Jesus Christ, he was going to kill Josh when they got to the summit. If they got to the summit.

Chris's head fell back against the glass panel behind him with a dull thunk. He squeezed his eyes shut as tight as they went. "Well," he said, feeling his adrenaline begin to flag, "looks like someone installed speakers in this bad boy since our last visit."

"Oh my God. Oh my...God." Beside him, Ashley slumped. Up until that moment, she'd been a spring wound tight against his side; now she felt more like a ragdoll folded up under his arm, her heartbeat still frantic enough that he could feel it through their layers upon layers of winterwear.

A moment later the cable car chugged back to life, rising up, up, up into the sky and towards the lodge, its lights low and its jams smooth. Chris waited for the moment Ashley straightened again, prepared himself for their inevitable separation...and even as the lights of the summit slowly came into view, it did not come.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Ashley asked after awhile, her arms still tight around him, her head still nestled in his parka's lining. "Just had to go and jinx us, huh?"

It took him a second, but when it clicked, it was all he could do not to laugh outright. Instead, he pressed his luck a liiittle more, tightening the arm around her shoulders to pull her closer before setting his chin atop her head. "Ash, uh, if this right here is the worst that could happen, I gotta be honest, I would love to know what your idea of the best-case scenario would've been."

#theincoironworks-blog #six sentence weekend #queenie writes supermassive #until dawn #chrashley #!!! oh my gosh thank you so so much for your kind words T_T and then your SAINTLY PATIENCE!!! #i'm sorry it took me forever and a day to get to this - i hope you enjoy!!! :)

[queenofbaws]

I know I said my previous request would be my last one for the cable car series, but with each prompt fill being better than the last, I can't help but come back for more. I've been eatin' good so far, so I'm gonna double down and ask for dessert - a fifth and final part to the saga! I'd love to see a post-kiss heart-to-heart/true confession from Chris and Ashley. Something that dialogue-heavy might be a bit much for six sentences, though, so maybe save it for one of those long prompt weekends?

not-quite-six sentence weekend :P

(once upon a time, in a cable car not so far away...)

"So," they somehow managed to say at precisely the same time - Chris and Ashley, Ashley and Chris - neither the cold nor the heights nor the earth-shattering reality of what had just happened in the dimly lit cable car proving enough to override the wavelength they so often shared. The moment led to another (both telling the other to go ahead), led to another (both saying no, no, no, you first), led to another still (averted eyes and vague hand gestures, half-formed words that all sounded suspiciously like giggles). Then the cable car was quiet.

For a moment, anyway.

"So," Chris tried again, "how about this weather we're having?"

Ashley groaned, or sighed, or did both at the same time, it was hard to parse. Still, she found it within herself to sit up straight, all her earlier worries about this trip long forgotten. "Really, Chris?" she asked, keeping her voice playfully flat. "Really?"

"Really! I mean, check it. It's really, uh, weathering out there. As far as the eye can see."

"Sure is."

"I mean, someone should call the news. This weather? This right here? I mean...someone's gotta report on this stuff, Ash. It's not every day you see something like this." It took him longer than he would've liked, but he scrounged up courage enough to glance her way, feeling his insides do the usual flip-flop as he watched her shake her head, roll her eyes, laugh. It bolstered him enough to swallow that last bit of anxiety down, and that, along with the memory of her lips warm against his, ended the crummy joke. "Also? That was, uh, nice."

Ashley nodded slowly, waging a very similar war inside herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

"The kind of nice," he continued, feeling a little bit like one of those bomb defusers crime shows loved using for some reason, "thaaat I could...get used to. I-If you also could...get used to...it, I mean."

She dropped her face into her hands for an instant, still laughing, still nodding, and when she sat back up, she forced herself to meet his eyes. "I could also get used to it, yeah. Super used to it, in fact."

"I - oh! Well. Neat! I guess - "

Which was of course when the slow jams Josh had been piping in over the hidden speakers suddenly cut out, giving way to the evil emcee himself. Whatever he'd used to hook the things up, the connection wasn't great, so there was a staticy, old-timey radio quality to his teasing that only made the situation feel that much more surreal.

"Heeello again, ladies and gents. This is your captain speaking, informing you that you will be reaching the summit - and the scenic Blackwood Pines estate - in about three minutes. Please be sure to dispose of all garbage in the designated receptacles, keep your hands and feet inside the ride and all times, and for the love of Christ, if you haven't already had some gross Hallmark movie moment in there, you better get that shit out of your combined systems NOW, before I have to deal with you for the whole weekend.

"Quick notes to help that process along: Ashley, I'm sure you're wondering whether I found all those darling love poems in the notebook you accidentally left at my place last week. Yes. I did. You're probably also wondering if I have the balls to read them out loud. Yes. I do. And Cochise. Sweet, precious Cochise. This is my reminder to you, my man, that there are appropriate and inappropriate things to say to a lady before, after, and during a romantic embrace. Appropriate things include but are not limited to - wow, you're gorgeous; I've wanted to do this for such a long time; and it's you and me against the world, baby. Inappropriate things, as we've been over many, many times, include - but again, ARE NOT LIMITED TO - hubba hubba awooga; aw geez; and neato!"

Ashley snorted so hard she startled herself, jumping in her seat.

Chris, on the other hand, was less amused. "...I mean technically 'neat' isn't the same as 'neato,' sooo..."

"Now, I didn't think to rig this shit up to be two-way, so I can only assume you're both saying 'Okay Josh, that makes sense Josh, you got it, Josh,' over and over again in there. When you get to this station, God as my witness, there better not be one iota of romantic tension left between you, or - "

The speakers squawked once and died out as they hit a slight bump in the line, but where there had been panic the last time that happened, now there was only relief. Chris turned to Ashley, Ashley turned to Chris, and while their faces were still much too red for how cold it was inside the cable car, things felt absolutely, undoubtedly, utterly perfect.

...for a moment, anyway.

"So...love poems, huh?"

#theincoironworks-blog #six sentence weekend #chrashley #until dawn #queenie writes supermassive #hehehehehehehe i always stop short of a 'happily ever after' when josh is involved because lbr #having him be your wingman is just asking for '...the end...?' after every interaction hehe #i hope you enjoyed!!! :D it's always a DELIGHT to get to write about these two being awkward around each other!!!

[queenofbaws]

Hello again! The final installment of the Chrashley cable car saga was exactly what I'd hoped for, so thank you for indulging me. Now, since you apparently don't mind my prompts, I was wondering if I could push my luck and ask for one more. Instead of another sequel, though, I'd like to request a version of the last prompt from Ashley's perspective. I can just imagine her train of thought going from "Oh my God, what have I done?" to "Wait, holy shit, he kissed me back!" Curious to see your take.

(PREVIOUSLY ON: CABLE CAR KISSES)

If you'd asked her five minutes ago - heck, maybe just a minute ago - what part of the whole cable car deal scared her the most, Ashley would've been able to rattle them off like a machine gun sprayed bullets, one after the other after the other: the heights, the darkness, the view, how achingly slow the thing moved, the screeching coming from the cable itself, the fact it was Josh and his family responsible for its upkeep, did she mention the heights?!

Now, though, as the adrenaline in her blood cleared juuust enough for her to process what she'd done, a new fear had been unlocked. She'd just kissed Chris, kissed him for real, and there was no telling what sort of irreparable damage she'd done to their - well, hang on.

There was no record screech; there was no moment of scrambling panic; there was no horror, no shock, no terribly awkward moment where he maneuvered pushing her away while letting her down gently. Instead, he...he was kissing her back, softly and nervously, and yeah she'd say it, perfectly, sending her heart racing for reasons entirely separate from their agonizing climb up the mountain.

Maybe she wouldn't kill Josh when they got to summit after all.

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

#theincoironworks-blog #six sentence weekend #until dawn #chrashley #queenie writes supermassive #hehehehehee omg not pushing your luck at all!!! i PROMISE!!! <3 getting prompts fills my heart with joy! :P #hope you enjoy the little pov switch! hehe!

[queenofbaws]

Thank you so much for the second installment of Chrashley cable car shenanigans - I loved it just as much as the first one! I apologise if this is asking too much, but if you're willing to indulge me once again, could I get a third and final part to this little saga? We have the setup and the smooch, so how about the aftermath? The revelation that they've been pining for each other for AGES and the sheer disbelief and joy they feel... that's my favourite element of Chrashley stories. Exquisite!

(where we last left our intrepid heros dorks...)

When the reality of the situation sunk in - really sank in - and his brain caught up with the rest of his nerve endings, his face burned so hot that he, uh, sort of regretted all the layers he was wearing. Ashley had kissed him (him, of all people!); it hadn't been an anxious little peck either, much less an accidental brush against his cheek, it had been a kiss, a real kiss, and maybe it was corny, but suddenly there was a kind of magic there in the air of the cable car, and -

And suddenly the speakers were crackling again.

"Well gooooood evening, lady and gentlenerd...I'm sure you're both wondering why I've gathered you here today - unless you've already caught on to my oh-so-subtle cues. I sure hope that isn't the case, though, because let me tell you, it's going to make the rest of this supervillain speech way less embarrassing than I was hoping it would be, and since I've been planning it since roughly...shit, when was it you two started getting all YA romance novel on me...oh, right, middle school, I've got a lot of dirty laundry I'm hoping to air out here."

Face burning even hotter then, Chris squeezed his eyes shut and groaned; he was shocked to find the magic had only barely fizzled, though, because no sooner had Josh begun his (horrible, terrible, absolutely monstrous) monologue about their mutual crushes than Ashley buried her face in his parka again and all was right in the world...or would be, at least, once the cable car reached the station and the two of them threw Josh off the mountain once and for all.

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

#theincoironworks-blog #six sentence weekend #until dawn #chrashley #queenie writes supermassive #hehehe omg not asking too much AT ALL!!!!!! i THRIVE on this stuff!!! ;Dc #i'm so glad you've enjoyed these!!!!!

[queenofbaws]

Well, I'm glad I dusted off my old Tumblr account - though God knows why I made it in the first place, since I've never used it for anything besides that prompt - as it was worth the wait, for sure. I don't know how to give you recognition or appreciation outside of these "asks," so I hope this message will suffice. Now, if it's alright, I'd like to make a request for the future - a sequel to the Chrashley cable car shenanigans, perhaps with... a smooch? A confession, even? I'd be very grateful.

(where it all began................. ;)c )

When the smooth jams (inevitably) became too much, Chris said what they'd both been thinking: "You know he's going to be waiting for us riiight outside the station door - probably already has his face pressed to the glass and everything."

"I have to be honest," Ashley answered, her face still buried in the faux fur lining his parka, "I haven't really been, um, thinking about any of that."

"Oh shit, not because of the 'dropping to our icy deaths' thing?" Why did his terrible jokes always come back to bite him in the ass?!

"I - no, that's...that's not it," she said, swallowing hard as she finally pulled back, tipping her head ever-so-slightly up towards his. She seemed to struggle for a moment, her body still wound tight with nerves, but as the cable car slotted into its final ascent with a little bump, she didn't flinch or yell or do any of the things he might've expected; she did, however, press her lips to his, and suddenly Chris couldn't care less if Josh was waiting to gloat...not even slightly.

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

#theincoironworks-blog #six sentence weekend #until dawn #chrashley #queenie writes supermassive #!!!! ahhhh you're too kind omg im so thrilled you enjoyed the last one!!! ^_^ #hope this one's a fitting sequel ;)c