This night just got a lot better. Her skin tingled as she felt his hands move under her top, her eyes closed as he trailed from her ear back to her lips. Not to mention her breathing was suddenly much more quick. She almost...

DING! You have arrived at the 3rd Floor.

Zelda jumped, then jumped back away from Nate. Gosh darn. She glared towards whoever was about to enter the elevator. It was another Doctor, a much older man. Bald, looked like he was in his 70's. She had met him a few times since she began working here but they never really talked. She thought he might have been a cardiovascular surgeon - he was always coming and going at odd hours of the day and night.

He was clearly a bit nervous about jumping into the relatively warm elevator, especially as Zelda had pretty much jumped off of Nate. Her face was flushed already, mainly from the heat of the moment. After the initial fright, she grinned towards Nate.

The old man hopped onto the elevator, "Um... Good morning... Dr... Gray? Right? And... Uh, whoever you are." He gave the man in the elevator an arched brow and lipped silently "Good catch," before he came very solemn again. This clearly wasn't his first rodeo in the elevator. He began to mutter something about his this hospital seemed to be more and more like Grey's Anatomy everyday. When he realized Zelda's last name was Gray, he laughed. Zelda honestly thought he was about to lose it before he coughed.

DING! You have arrived at the Lobby.

The old doctor nodded as a way of saying good evening and headed off to the right. Zelda shook her head, unsure of really what to say regarding that situation. "Alright, let's get going." She motioned for Nate to follow her as she began to go down the hallway. There was a pretty standard way the hospital had of marking the exits of the hospitals. Signs pointing, the big red "EXIT" sign at the top of the doors, etc. Zelda took a turn down a small corridor and gave Nate a quick wink. She was heading to a roomy supply closet that she knew she could lock the door. Janitors wouldn't be on this floor at this hour, anyways. 

She opened the door to the closet once they reached, winked towards Nate, "How about we pick off where we were at?" 

There was a thrill to getting hot and heavy in public that was unlike anything else. The way every touch and kiss felt like a forbidden risk. Their heartbeats pounded a little faster and the kisses got hastier because there was the unspoken knowledge that their time was limited.

DING!

Of course, it was limited because, at any point, someone could interrupt. Nate was aware that they had a few floors to go until the lobby, but in the heat of the moment, the functionality of elevators slipped his mind. They were not a Point A to Point B transportation; there were several points in between filled with people ready to ruin the fun of two strangers making out.

Zelda jumped back and Nate would have followed, but he was the one pressed against a wall. The best he could do was move off the wall and make it seem like he was not just getting intimate with a hospital employee in the elevator. (A first for him, surprisingly.)

The old man clearly had some sense that not all was right in the elevator, but Zelda was grinning, so Nate was sure he was no one who could get her in trouble. Evidently, the man even had a sense of humor and, even in his elevated age, understood the camaraderie of “brohood.” Nate gave the slightest of nods to show his appropriate appreciation for the gesture because he understood the rules and did not want to make their elevator ride any more awkward.

His efforts would go in vain as the man mumbled to himself for most of the ride and Nate and Zelda did their best to keep quiet and contain themselves until the elevator mercifully reached the lobby.

Now on the ground level, Zelda was back to controlling the situation, and Nate had every intention of letting her. He saw the look in her eye; their elevator shenanigans were not done. She deviated from the path to the exit and guided Nate to the nearest supply closet. The woman had taste in just-barely-hidden hiding places for public sex.

Zelda asked if they could pick up where they left off. Nate smirked, returning his hands to their resting spot on her stomach. ”Sounds perfect to me. I think we were right here? Or,” he moved his hands up to the base of her ribcage, lifting the top slightly in the process, ”were we here? Oh wait, I remember…” His hands moved up further to new territory. ”Perfect…” he whispered as he moved in to reclaim the kiss an opening elevator door stole from him.

FTB

Zelda chuckled as she pushed him into the supply closet. She locked the door behind her. She wasn't done with him, not yet. Her skin shivered as she felt his hand move up and she began to unbutton his shirt, a devious grin on her face. Once she felt their lips touch, it was a whole new world...

---

Zelda yawned as they sat at the Wallflower diner. It was early, about 6:30am or so. Her hair was a bit disheveled from their little escapade but she had managed to put it into a relatively stable ponytail. She looked over the menu as a chirpy blonde girl came over and asked what they would like. How was she so unbearingly happy this early? Zelda's eyes had some bags under them by now. She had a whole day to go, too. 

"I'll take some black coffee, uh... I'm ready to order my food, too. Waffles with strawberries." Simple and yummy. 

She crossed her legs and leaned onto the table and started talking quietly, "So... I'm not looking for anything serious. My work is my relationship. But I'm totally down for a friends with benefits kinda thing. If you're up for it, at least." She gave him a wink and leaned back in her chair. She waited to see his response. They did just bang inside a supply closet at a hospital, so she was pretty confident he didn't have a problem with her proposal but it would be awkward if they didn't set boundaries up front. "I work a lot. And prefer that. But if you ever have an itch." She felt like she needed to explain a bit more, but decided that was good enough. The ball was in his court now. Zelda wouldn't mind getting in a supply closet again with. Several times.

She shook her mind back from her memories of the couple hours before, excited for her coffee to arrive. 

It was one of those rare moments where Nate benefited from keeping his hare shorn closer than he used to before prison. He liked the variety of long hair, but even he had to admit it was an inconvenience. There were small tells that Nate was a recent participant in supply closet sex, like his shirt, which he finally realized was buttoned unevenly. Still, he did not have to deal with reining in sex hair like Zelda had to do.

It had been… an intense experience. Well, experiences. There had been at least two times where they started putting clothes back on only to accidentally reinitiate things with an errant touch or a flirtatious taunt. Nate was pretty sure people must have been aware of what was going on at some point, but God bless the indifferent hospital staff, who continued to walk past the non-soundproof door without opening it, choosing to continue with their day.

Zelda ordered a sweet start to her day and Nate followed by ordering eggs, toast, and corned beef hash. If he was going to tackle a day without sleep, he needed savory, filling foods. The waitress looked familiar, but Nate dismissed the thought. It was too early and she was too chipper and blonde to handle until the coffee started settling in his system.

With orders in place, Zelda wasted no time laying down ground rules. It was a conversation Nate was expecting and, just as she did in the elevator and the closet, Zelda was taking charge. Her proposal was honestly very practical. She had no need for emotional attachments, but she had physical needs. It was a situation Nate kept finding himself in, each time through more bizarre circumstances than the last.

He mulled over the idea. Natalie had accused him once of having a “revolving door of women” in his life, and it had been an untrue remark… at the time. Now, however, Quin was making occasional visits at night, Zelda was proposing a friends with benefits situation (which Nate expected would be lighter on the friends and heavier on the benefits,) and Natalie herself kept finding her way into compromising situations with him. Nate had a daughter, for goodness sake. Was he truly being the kind of example she needed living a lifestyle that grew more hedonistic by the week?

”I don’t know, Zelda. This could be one of those situations where we agree it was a very fun night-slash-morning and move on with our lives,” he said, allowing the responsible side of his brain to take control.

And then he looked back up at Zelda and his mind flashed back to hungry eyes and body heat and… ”Then again, there really isn’t much harm in exchanging numbers… you know, if you have the occasional ‘itch.’” Nate was weak. He would work on that. At least he was trying to limit his sexual escapades with some well-intentioned moderation.

Zelda was enjoying there little moment in the cute, retro diner. She had never been here before, but it seemed like a decent place to eat. She guessed she'd find out in a few minutes when they bring her food out, at least. She listened to Nate's order and nodded. Sounded pretty good, actually. Actually, she was kind of craving the corned beef hash now but the little blonde had already ran off to the kitchen. No point in changing her order now.

Once the blonde came back and poured her coffee, Zelda let out a small sigh and took a small sip of the black coffee. She savored every taste. She had become a total coffee fanatic since she started medical school all those years ago - there really wasn't any other way to power through things except through, well, less than optimal and illegal drug sharing. Had to do what she had to do, though.

>> ”I don’t know, Zelda. This could be one of those situations where we agree it was a very fun night-slash-morning and move on with our lives,”

She gave a brief shrug. She was fine with a move on with their lives. It would be easy, less complicated, fast. No mess, no issues, nothing. Zelda felt a little weird that she she had opened her research to this person just for them to never speak again but if that is what he wanted, Zelda would provide it. A bit disappointing, but she was sure he had his reasons and nodded her respectful agreement in the end. She could find a different f*ck boy, anyways. She really could find someone else pretty easily - this was a big city full of people who would love to get inside her pants. She knew she was attractive and knew how to get a guy - or girl - where she wanted. She wasn't know why he was refusing - morals, maybe he was actually married with 3 kids? Maybe he wasn't all that much of a player like she thought he was. But then...

>>  ”Then again, there really isn’t much harm in exchanging numbers… you know, if you have the occasional ‘itch.’”

When Nate looked back up, Zelda made sure his eyes locked on hers. She giggled, "Good. Do you have your phone handy? I'm sure it won't be too long." He didn't have to tell her twice, after all. She knew she liked him and she knew he liked her - they had a very compatible bangarang in the supply closet back at the hospital. Poor interns. She probably should have put a sock on the door or something, so they wouldn't even think to come by. Too late now. She pulled her iPhone 7S out of her pocket and tapped the app to add a new contact. She typed Nate in to the first name and put F*ck boy for the last name. She didn't remember his last name, if he even told her, so that should make it easy for her to recognize who it was. Now it was just waiting for his number.