Red Wristbands

Sighing, I walked through the door into the staff lounge. Looking at the clock, I groaned and made a face. I had been working on that operation for five hours, and it was now two in the morning. My eyes were half closed as I walked tiredly over to the coffee machine, and made a to-go cup; no sugar, no cream. Taking the first sip, I smiled blissfully, and turned to leave.

Everyone had gone home, more or less. The only ones left in Oblivion City Hospital were the sleeping patients, a few janitors, and the night-shift nurses in case of an emergency. The hospital was eerie at night...I never really did like it. It gave the place a horror-movie feel, with only every third light on while the others cast dark shadows down the hallways. The only sound was the slight echo of each tap my footsteps made against the polished linoleum, and the only smell was the usual antiseptic sterilized rooms that I'd come to grow used to.

I called the elevator and waited for a moment...suddenly getting a cold chill. I shivered and my brows furrowed, and suddenly there was an odd sense of anxiety in the air...I felt my heart jump in anticipation as the doors opened.

But it was only a young boy standing in the elevator.

He was rather pale and looked up in surprise. He appeared to have been crying, and he smiled sadly at me. I smiled back good-naturedly and stepped in, hitting the button for the first floor, and sighing as I leaned against the wall opposite the teen, mirroring his pose. He spread his arms slightly against the handle and leaned back against the panels. I breathed a soft groan, annoyed by the time and wanting to go home. He chuckled softly. "Rough day?"

"You could say that. How about you? You look a little blue." I inquired his depressed state and bleary eyes. He blinked and smiled sadly again.

"I just...had to say goodbye to my uncle, that's all." his voice was a bit thick, and my brows furrowed in sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss." I sipped my coffee and he looked up at me, shrugging.

"Easy come, easy go, I guess I could say...or at least...Well actually that's a pretty bad thing to say about it." he added with a breathed laugh and I chuckled too. "What about you? What's your deep sigh about?"

"I've been sticking my hands into the same organs since 9 o'clock." I breathed in response. The blonde laughed again.

"Must be exhausting." I smiled at his teasing. The boy looked familiar...I felt like I'd seen him before. Then again, he was in Oblivion City Hospital, and he said he had to say goodbye to his uncle. Sometimes the nurses allowed kids to stay extra long if they had a good reason-such as a member on their deathbed-and with parent permission. But his clothes were a bit strange. He wore a blue and red striped polo and jeans, but they looked old and rather dirty and dusty with a few small reddish food stains on his chest and on a few spots of his jeans. Shaking off the familiarity, I leaned back again and took another sip of my coffee. When I opened my eyes again, I caught the blonde tearing his blue eyes away from me quickly, and he looked embarrassed. I cocked an eyebrow.

"You okay?" he looked back up at me and smiled timidly.

"You loo-uh...Coffee smells amazing..." he started, and then looked away. "I'm-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that..." he scratched the back of his neck nervously. I breathed a soft laugh and I smiled.

"Want a sip?" I offered, holding it out. "It's straight up, so I don't know if you'd like it but...hey. Coffee's coffee." I added with a shrug and a wink and he smiled, taking it gratefully.

"I'm sorry. I've just been up for a really long time." he handed it back to me and I nodded in understanding.

"Oh, I know the feeling." I laughed and took another sip...strange...there was an aftertaste of peppermint...

We waited in silence for a little while as the door dinged for the eleventh floor. I groaned in agony. "God, if they build a hospital with fifty floors they can afford to make an elevator that doesn't move like a slug." I complained. The teen smiled and shook his head in amusement.

"Yeah. Everyone just wants to go...home..." the blonde's voice trailed off and he looked up, frowning slightly. I gave him a curious look.

"Everything alright?" I suddenly felt like this teen was keeping something dire from me. He looked back down at the floor and shrugged.

"Nothing, just...thinking, that's all." He crossed a leg over the other and stared at his shoes.

"About?" I pressed on, taking another sip of my coffee and keeping my eyes trained on him. He slowly looked up at me with only his eyes and a slow smirk played on his lips.

"You."

I nearly did a spit-take. Swallowing harshly, and sputtering as I coughed I looked at him with wide eyes. Was this kid hitting on me?

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked when I could breathe again. The blonde chuckled softly and looked up again, his smirk deepening. Was that some sort of punch-line? He looked deep in thought a few seconds ago.

"I said I'm thinking about you. Your eyes are gorgeous, you know that, right? They're such a...warm green. Like they're glowing." I blinked and stared at him owlishly for a moment. Yep...this kid was hitting on me. I laughed once and tried not to look flustered. What should I say? I'm no pedophile! But...he did look rather charming. His blonde hair was swept to one side and rather styled in a rebel-teen way. His eyes were a crystalline blue, and his face was just cute in a boyish way...

"Uh...How old are you, exactly?" I asked, my voice getting higher in octave through the question as I scratched my neck nervously. The teen walked over to me, still smirking and put his hands outside of my own on the railing, staring up at me seductively.

"Nineteen. Need proof?" he added, getting uncomfortably, but rather intimately close. His breath was on my neck and I could feel my pulse racing. I stuttered to continue, but no coherent words would come. The blonde placed a very soft kiss on my neck and I froze. "My name's Roxas. What's yours?" I bit my lip an closed my eyes as his hand traveled down my chest to my hips. I couldn't be doing this in my work elevator! What the hell was I thinking!? But...all I could think of at that moment was the boy, Roxas' hand rubbing lightly and causing a slow tingle in my lower stomach. I let out a soft moan that Roxas silenced with a deep kiss. His tongue was in my mouth without warning, and I fervently kissed back, flushed and unnaturally needy. He smiled against my mouth, and my hand wandered to his shoulder and then his neck as he pushed himself onto me.

Just then, the doors opened again, and I quickly stood, making him stand back in surprise. I turned to leave but froze again. This wasn't the first floor, this was the basement. And there was a figure standing in the way. It was a man I recognized immediately; an older man with long black and silver hair and many scars. This was a man brought in several days ago dying, and was given a red wristband on his right arm. Without second thought as the man started to walk onto the elevator, I hit the close door button repeatedly until they were closed and smacked the fifth floor button. I was perfectly fine with taking the stairs from there.

Roxas stared at me for a moment. "What did you do that for?" he asked. I looked at him, and was a little flabbergasted that he seemed to be pretending that little escapade he just had with me didn't happen. I swallowed and looked at the door.

"That man...th-there was a wristband on his right arm, did you notice?" he looked at me blankly. "Well, I know that when patients come for whatever reason-operation, check-up, whatever, we give them a white wristband on their left arm with their information; like their name and age, etcetera. I have performed a lot of operations, Roxas...and I have seen a lot of people die. When a patient dies, we give them a red wristband on their right arm with identical information to show they're dead. That man...he had a red wristband. I swear he did." I explained hurriedly. My breath was short and the only sounds were my breathing and the slow whirr of the sluggish moving elevator. Roxas blinked, and looked away, staring blankly at the floor for a moment. He blinked.

"Red wristband..." he said softly. Then, he looked back up and raised his right arm. "You mean like this one?"

A/N: XD just a quick drabble I thought of when I read that little wristband funfact. I tried to make the lime-y moment longer, but it didn't seem to fit. Did anyone notice Axel said Roxas looked pale and his clothes had reddish stains? I don't think that was pasta sauce, do you? XD

Reviews are magical. I'll be writing another oneshot later and see if I can post it soon. It won't be pairing, but it'll be Axel and Roxas. Why is Axel the victim of my horror story ideas? ^.^; heh, heh...