Rei: OKAY! SO! I finally got a good idea for the request/challenge ChibiFrubaGirl gave me! This is entirely for her and all demiku fans… I hope you like it, and please forgive me for being so late! ;;

Dedicated to- see above.

Disclaimer- I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, I would pair almost every male together. XD

Summary: challenge fic Demyx and Riku end up bathing together, and have some laughs about the not-so serious points of bathing, rubber ducks, and shampoo. rikudem

Notes: ChibiFrubaGirl said that I had to have bubbles, rubber duckies and a bath with Demiku action for this challenge, so that's what there'll be! XD This takes place when Sora's asleep but before Riku adopts Xehanort's form. BEWARE OF OOC RIKU!

Bubble Caress- A Demiku One-shot

"Speech"

'Thought'

In The World That Never Was-

Riku's POV

Traveling in this castle was pure and simple HELL. The place is so white it's blinding… I swear, instead of seeing black when I close my eyes, I'll be seeing white. Lots and lots of white. Damn Xemnas.

I had just been 'recruited' or something along those lines… I really just bought my way in. There's no way I'm going to do what they tell me unless I absolutely have to- I'm just doing this for Sora, and the King. They're the reason I'm wearing this cloak, sulking in the lower levels. It's all for Sora, the King, and the good of everyone else…

The only thing I sometimes wondered was, what about me?

I'm being selfish again, but I don't really care at this point. (Poor emo Riku! Don't worry, Demyx will make him happy XD)

Coming up to a door, I grew curious. I heard music coming from the room behind it, and the faint smell of… chlorine?

Pushing open the door, I was greeted by the sight of a huge… not so crystal-clear swimming pool. There were BUBBLES, foam, and even a few rubber ducks here and there floating on the surface of the liquid. There were also plants all around the pool, probably by that fruity pink-haired what's-his's-face guy's insistence and the area around the pool was hard white and blue marble. (By the way, no offense to Marly! I love him!)

But that's not what really held my attention… the young man splashing around in the pool is what I was looking at. He had dirty blonde hair and a nice toned figure… Wait a minute! 'Isn't he that weird water-wielder Nobody? Demyx or something like that?'

(Switching to normal POV now, 'kay?)

Demyx splashed around merrily in his large pool, feeling content in his element. This was one of the only places in the castle that he truly felt at ease in, and he enjoyed the place to the fullest whenever he went there.

Hearing a noise at one of the doors, he whirled around to glimpse a silver-haired, aqua-eyed teen clad in an Organization cloak- 'it has to be that guy… umm… Riku! Yeah, Riku!' Demyx thought- and he waved. "Hey, come on in!" Demyx didn't mind if he came in, in fact he'd like it if he did. Peace and tranquility were nice, but company was even better. It got lonely sometimes, and his Dancers weren't capable of providing him the adequate friendship he desired.

Riku paused a bit, but then pressed on, descending the steps and crossed the room before stopping next to the pool. Demyx swam up to meet him and smiled at him. "Hi! My name's Demyx, number nine, the Melodious Nocturne, remember me?"

Riku nodded, not saying anything but instead looked down on the water boy.

"You're Riku, right?"

"Yes." Suddenly Riku's left eye twitched, seeing all of the bubbles and ducks on the surface of the water made him blurt out, "Why the heck do you have bubbles and ducks in your pool?"

"I'm taking a bath!" Demyx explained happily.

"… In your pool?"

"Well, yeah."

"… Are you serious?" Riku whispered incredulously.

"Completely!" Demyx beamed at Riku and lightly slapped the water next to him. "Want to come in? No offense or anything, but you look like you need a bath!" (note: I have conversations like the one Riku and Demyx just had a LOT… XD my friend Kristin should know, I'm the one who had the Riku responses XD)

Riku's mouth tugged into a frown and he crossed his arms, an almost seemingly 'Sora' gesture. Then he reluctantly looked out of the corners of his eyes to see his silvery hair, which looked a bit duller than usual. 'I guess I could use it…' He thought, and sighed. "Okay, fine, but if you tell anyone else here, I'll won't be happy. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" Demyx mock-saluted him.

"Er… right then." Riku began to strip once Demyx started amusing himself with a rubber duck, and every few seconds he'd be wondering if Demyx was looking at him while he pulled off his shirt, or unbuckled his pants. 'Riku, you're an idiot- he wouldn't be looking at you like that! He's older than you are!' But when he saw Demyx playing in the water, he wasn't completely convinced. Even so, he couldn't help but think that Demyx was cute in his own right- kind of like a smiling brunet from home, only Demyx was different.

Demyx didn't have a heart, Riku knew that, but even if it was true, it was deceiving in the way Demyx would start in surprise when a particularly mean (or so he thought) droplet of water decided to ravage his eye, making it sting, and seeing the pout on his face didn't make it any better. Or when Riku stepped in, Demyx turned to look at him, then blushing and turning away muttering something incomprehensible under his breath while trying not to look at him.

Riku shook his head while moving his arms, which narrowly missed hitting Demyx's hand underwater, and instead commented, "Hey Demyx- where do you keep the shampoo and conditioner around here?"

"Oh, well hold on a second." Demyx swam over to the spot where thirteen ducks presided and guided them over with a gentle sweep of his hand, bringing a current that brought them to Riku. "Pick one," he gestured.

"Pick… what?" They were ducks. Where was the shampoo and conditioner? Riku didn't have a clue.

Demyx "d'oh"ed himself and picked a duck that had a blue head and a cross shaped scar over its nose, then squeezed it in his hand. Blue liquid gushed enthusiastically out of the duck's open beak, and Demyx turned to Riku. With a casual tone of voice, he said in a faux waiter voice,

"Would you care for some Head & Shoulders?"

…Riku stared. "Excuse me?"

Demyx replied nonchalantly, as if this were an everyday occasion. "You know, Head & Shoulders. Dandruff shampoo?"

Riku turned pink. "I… don't have dandruff."

Demyx nodded. "That's all right!" Though under his breath, he mumbled in a voice that was quivering with suppressed laughter as he looked at the duck- "though I know someone who does…!" (… Saïx. I love him, but he seems like the type of nobody who would, you know what I mean? XD)

Demyx coughed before picking up a duck with a pink head and beady blue eyes- Riku was starting to see the connection now, and he cheekily asked, "Let me guess- Herbal Essences?"

Demyx snorted to keep himself from laughing. "How'd you know?"

"Have you SMELT that guy? Not that I go around… doing that… but he smells like he just walked out of a perfumery, mixed with plants." Riku was starting to become a little more open now, and he was actually having fun, for the first time in a long time. Not like he'd admit it, but when you're comparing your supposedly fellow co-workers to rubber ducks and shampoo, everything seems hilarious. (Once again, no offense to marly either or to people who use herbal essences!)

Demyx nodded vigorously. "No kidding! I think it comes from his plant powers or something…" He trailed off, and then snatched up one with blue eyes and a beard. "What about Luxord?"

Riku sniffed it, and declared, "Old Spice, or perhaps even Axe."

"And… this one?" It was the Axel ducky, complete with two tattoos, a red head, and green eyes.

"… Wayyy too much Axe."

Demyx laughed until his stomach hurt- even if it was his friend, it was so true. Finally, after some interesting conclusions (like debating on whether Xemnas was a treSEMME type of guy or a John Frieda (sp?), or even if Larxene's hair style was natural) Demyx finally picked up the last duck- the one that was meant to look like himself. Gulping, he handed the duck to Riku and asked shyly, "So… what do you think mine is?"

Riku didn't even bother to check the Demy duck. Instead, he smiled. "I figure… you're a Sunsilk kind of guy."

Demyx was astonished. Riku was REALLY good at this sort of thing! "H…how did you know?"

Riku waded over to him (which was actually just three feet apart) and ran his fingers through Demyx's wet locks. Demyx was shocked at this intimate gesture and blushed.

Riku let his hand rest there for one moment before he drawled, "your hair is really soft and smooth. How could I not notice someone who uses the same kind of shampoo I do?"

Demyx gaped at him, torn between happiness and surprise. All he could manage was a strangled, "oh…"

Riku turned around before he said, "Besides, you seem like the happy-go-lucky type of person… so 'sun' from sunshine and 'silk' fit well with you." Riku felt his face grew hot as he ended that comment, so he hurriedly got out, forgetting that he still hadn't washed his hair and walking away while pulling on some clothes.

After Demyx came to, he blushed madly and yelled, "Wait! Riku! You forgot to…" as his eyes landed on Riku's figure he couldn't help but see that he was NAKED, and he lost control over his ability to look away.

"You forgot to wash your hair…"

Needless to say, Demyx wasn't going to forget this bath time episode any time soon.

End of one-shot

Rei: I'M FINALLY DONE! YES!!!!! I really hope you all enjoyed that… personally, I was laughing when I was writing the shampoo parts… xD Please review and tell me what you thought of this! ... BY THE WAY... I think I might draw that scene with the duckies! And even just a picture of all the duckies! XD Who'd wanna see that? Anyone? XD