Author's Note: My Halloween Contest entry for FlurryDancingFlames's contest. I have no lame excuses for this, it just... popped into my head. I role play an Axel on Tumblr, and it was his high school AU version that decided to fall down into that hole, landing him here in Halloweentown. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all-time favorite movies, so when this scene slipped into my mind, I had to write it! Please, let me know what you think. I am working on the next chapter of my fanfic, but life/school/stuff has decided to eat my inspiration and time alive with gravy. So I'm trying, guys. It's coming...!

Word Count: 2045

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: PG for this first one, but will this continue?

Pairing: Axel/Roxas

Location: Halloweentown

Background: This is AU Axel/Roxas because that's how it decided to form itself in my head. Kk?

Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned/will I ever own Axel or Roxas. I am also not responsible for the love that is this couple. It's AkuRoku, or more accurately, RokuAku, and if you keep reading it's at your own risk. ;)


Axel was reasonably sure that he'd never had a drop of alcohol in his life. Not that he hadn't been curious about trying it of course, but the opportunity had yet to come up. He was also reasonably sure that he'd never done drugs before. The closest he'd come to any of that mess was that time he'd accidentally overdosed on Red Bull, and his teacher had complained that he was acting like someone on Speed. The only reason he hadn't been sent to get tested being that he'd still had the cans in his backpack to take home and add to the recycling pile.

Really, he was a pretty clean-cut, straight edge sort of guy if one didn't get too hung up on the fact that he just liked the color black. He was a bit of a loner, too, which made him a prime suspect for all things that might possibly plague teenagers in school, and his teachers seemed just as happy to pick on him for the way he dressed as the other students did. Maybe one of them had put something into his soda during lunch, or maybe he'd fallen asleep in class and someone had slipped something in his mouth. It had to be that because while he was reasonably sure that he'd never taken any illegal substances, he still found himself in a fountain, in the middle of a dark and creepy town, surrounded by strange creatures, one of which was definitely a skeleton.

"It's been a long time since we had anyone new…" a high pitched voice behind him said.

"What is he," asked another voice, a pitch higher. "What is he?"

"Something completely new," chimed another.

"I won't be the youngest one here, anymore," a scratchy sounding boyish voice added.

"What is he," a growling voice to his left asked, shortly before a large, furry paw prodded his arm.

"Hey," Axel protested, and watched in amazement as, it could only be, a werewolf raised two very intimidating paws defensively in the air. Were they afraid of him?

"Well, it's very strange," the skeleton began, before opening his long, thin arms to Axel and everyone around him, "but we should welcome him with open arms, claws, fangs, and anything else we have. Roxas, come here!"

Axel watched in amazement as a masked figure in the shape of another boy bounded into his peripheral vision, and skidded to a stop in front of the skeleton. "Yes, Jack?"

The skeleton, whose name was apparently Jack, gestured towards him with one long, skeletal arm, causing Axel to flinch back automatically. "I'm putting you in charge of showing him around."

"Oh," the boy called Roxas exclaimed, rubbing his gloved hands together. "Should I give him a tour of the pumpkin patch? Show him the graveyard? Take him to see the vampire coffins? Pay a visit to Oogey Boogey's lair?"

"Yes, yes, all of that. I know you won't disappoint me; now off you go," skeleton Jack commanded, and the next thing Axel knew he was being pulled free of the fountain by a surprisingly strong hand.

Once he was upright he was surprised to find that there were only a few, er… creatures here that were taller than him, while the rest were easily small enough to come up to his knees or his waist. He wasn't given time to compare fully, however, because as soon as he was on his feet he was being tugged out of the circle and towards what looked like a frighteningly dark forest. He could hear the commotion dying down behind him, and the fading voice of Jack trying to get things under control.

"Now listen everyone! We only have three days left until Halloween, so let's get back to…" but in a surprisingly short period of time the trees around them swallowed the noise from that strange little town's center, and Axel was alone with this Roxas character. He felt a tiny chill touch his skin as he looked around him, still being hauled forward by a persistent smaller being who didn't seem interested in stopping or in conversation. When the tall, lanky red head noticed one of the trees leering at him, he decided that examining the back of Roxas's head was far more prudent than looking around.

Not that this whole thing wasn't cool, if it was real, quite the contrary. Halloween was Axel's favorite holiday, and he would've given anything in the world to experience something like this place as a small boy… but, at the moment, he just felt like he'd gone completely insane.

What the hell was going on? Maybe, his parents had lied to him when they said that things like Santa Claus and the Boogey Man weren't real. Or perhaps he had simply ended up in hell for being gay. Little odd, really, since he didn't even believe in… he shook his head almost violently from side-to-side, dispelling those thoughts. It didn't matter. Surely this was a dream, and he would wake up tomorrow morning back in his bed like every other lousy day of his life, get ready to go to his school, which was his living hell, and prepare to survive another day before going home and to bed, only to start the whole process all over again the next morning. The thing was, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go home…

Roxas continued to pull him along without a word, heading in the direction of some clearing that he could sort of make out ahead. The shorter, er… boy, creature, thing was stronger than he looked because he hadn't paused once, and, though Axel wasn't fighting against him, the smaller boy was pretty much hauling him the whole way.

"So, where are we going exactly," Axel finally managed to ask, though only after swallowing twice to get enough moisture into his mouth to form a coherent thought.

"Oogey Boogey's place," came Roxas's scratchy reply. "You'll like him."

"How do you know," Axel mumbled, but the blond seemed to miss that as he continued to tug them both along.

Silence engulfed them both for a few moments, and a short time later the taller of the two found that he could make out a little house in the clearing up ahead by the light of that odd shaped moon that he couldn't quite make out above the trees. Suddenly, he felt a quivering sensation sort of like panic taking over his middle, and that was when he finally responded to the whole situation.

Unfortunately for Axel, his first impulse was not to run or fight but to shout, and to his great embarrassment he did so at the top of his lungs, tugging at the arm pulling him with all of his might. The next thing he knew they were rolling around on the earthy, forest floor, Roxas tugging one way and him pulling the other.

When his air finally ran out, the lanky boy with red hair began to cough, the dirt covering them both seeping into the air he was trying to catch hold of, and down into his lungs, as a result. When the two boys finally broke apart, the smaller of the two looked up at Axel with large blue eyes he hadn't noticed before.

"What was that for," Roxas complained as he sat up, using his hand to brush away the dirt that had sullied his once nice black cloak.

Instinctively, his own long limbs carried him away from the smaller boy as quickly as he could crab walk, though as he was keeping his eyes on the blond it wasn't long before an unseen tree stopped his escape. Those had been the sharpest fangs Axel had ever seen, and that glint in the blue, moonlit eyes had not struck him as friendly just then. Roxas was on top of him in a flash however, leaning over him with a terrifying grin lifting his pretty lips.

"I-I dunno," Axel finally stammered out in response. "I j-just... had to."

He could feel the blond's warm breath on his skin as they both stared at one another for a moment in response to that, but he practically jumped out of his skin when after a long moment of silence a booming laugh filled the wood around them. Roxas was laughing at him, clutching his stomach and doubling over until his forehead rested on one of Axel's shoulders. Considering those teeth, Axel did not exactly consider this to be an improvement, and he held his breath trying to steady the rhythm of his heart before it got the attention of the blond in his lap.

Perhaps it was the strangeness of the situation or the fact that he felt as though he'd gone crazy, but it wasn't until that moment that he realized that there was in fact a very attractive boy in his lap. Not only was this boy rather nice to look at, vampire or not (at least that's what Axel assumed he was based on the teeth), but he was sitting right up against Axel's chest. So much for controlling his heart-rate, because all it took was that one realization to shatter every ounce of self-control the lanky human boy had mustered.

Everything might have been fine without that realization. Axel might have gone on to meet Oogey Boogey, see the vampire's coffins, and whatever else it was that Jack the skeleton had asked Roxas to show him; he might have. However, the moment that Axel's heart began to pound in his chest, blood rushing to the surface of his skin in a type of blush that only attraction or embarrassment could induce, it was all over.

The laughter stopped abruptly. Then, Axel felt the blond's head snap up, nose close to his neck, and the cold air rush past his skin as the vampire sniffed at his skin. He froze, breath catching in his throat as a smiling voice rose up to his ears.

"Yeah," Roxas said, words coming out slowly and delayed. "You'll get over that... feeling. Happens all the time on the way to Oogey Boogey's place. Little pangs of panic just start... sneaking in." He practically sang the last sentence, teasing as his fingers tapped up Axel's neck as though trying to imitate the movements of a spider.

"O-oh," Axel stuttered, taking a deep breath, but, before he could even think of anything else coherent, Roxas's face was suddenly in full view, looking him over carefully.

"He didn't tell me you were human," the blond practically sang. "I wonder what this means... an early birthday present, perhaps. An early HALLOWEEN present, even!"

The blond was talking to himself now, still sitting on Axel's lap, looking at him, but still talking about him as though he wasn't there listening to every word being spoken. The taller of the two inhaled to protest, complain, or do something, but that was the very moment that Roxas's hand found his throat.

Axel gasped as fingers cold as ice held his head in place against the tree he was leaning on, mouth still open as the blond vampire looked into his eyes. The blue eyes that observed him tilted, first one way and then the other, and a slow smile began to slide its way back up those pale lips.

"Well, you're here with me for a reason, ha? Let's make the most of your time here," he said, leaning forward.

"Are you going to kill me," Axel finally choked out, heart pounding so hard he could barely hear Roxas's answer.

"No. No, you're too lovely to waste on death," the blond purred. "You'll sleep in the coffin next to mine, unless... that is... you want to share one when you recover."

And with that, Axel watched as those blue eyes focused on his neck, lowering until all he could see was the top of Roxas's spiky hair. The next moment, he felt a cool breath on his neck, and he shivered as cold lips brushed his skin, knowing that whatever happened next this might be his last moment as a human being. Well, he thought, gasping as the teeth punctured his skin, I'm not sure I want to go home.