A/N: ZEXION. IN. A. SPEEDO. That's it. That's all I have to say. Oh, and you should thank me for this mental image by reviewing. :)

Zexion couldn't believe this. What kind of hell had he gotten himself into? He craned his head, looking over his shoulder for the hundredth time at his backside in the mirror. Why in heaven's name did playing water polo require wearing a speedo? The things were absolutely ridiculous. He might as well just not wear anything; it'd probably be less embarrassing than this…monstrosity. Someone somewhere had determined that the water polo team's "uniforms", if they could be called that, should have the mascot on the butt. Unfortunately , the school mascot happened to be a sketchy looking pirate, complete with a knife held between his teeth. Not exactly the kind of fellow you'd want occupying your rear-end.

Why did it have to be a pirate? WHY? The first thing that popped into Zexion's head when Demyx stopped by to drop off his speedo, well, besides grabbing the blonde and yanking him into the room, pushing him up against the door and…ahem! Right. Umm, well, besides THAT, the first thing Zexion thought of when he saw the speedo with the pirate on it was the word 'plunder'. He just couldn't help it. That stupid screen-printed pirate on the butt of his new speedo just SCREAMED "ARRRR, me hearties!!! To the port bow! I've come to plunder yea booty!! ARRRR!!!!!!"

Zexion groaned in abject defeat, flopping down on the bed still clad in only his new speedo. He'd never be able to do this. From what he'd read online about water polo, it was a pretty violent sport. People got broken noses so often it was considered a rite of passage. The opposite team sometimes tried to drown you, or pull your suit off, or just plain elbow you in the face. All of this in 14 feet of water. Oh, and you had to wear a speedo with a distinctly creeper-ish pirate on the butt.

But…then there was Demyx. Zexion tried and tried to form excuses in his head for why he couldn't be on the team, but every time he thought of one that just might work, he'd get this vision of how disappointed Demyx would look. The way his eyes would tear up a bit, and his bottom lip jut out and quiver. And Zexion just couldn't bring himself to do that to the man. Plus, there was the consolation prize; Demyx would be wearing a sketchy-pirate speedo, too.

So Zexion pushed himself up from his bed, went into the bathroom, and tried yet again to force his hair into a swim cap.

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Of course, there was a torrential downpour Monday night, so that Zexion was soaked to the bones even before he made it to the student athletic center. Oh well, at least the pool would be warmer than the driving rain that whipped into his eyes on the way there. Zexion got lost for about 10 minutes in the labyrinth that was the athletic center, and by the time he finally located the men's locker room it was empty, the team already having gone out to the pool. Zexion was a mixture of extremely relieved and utterly disappointed, for reasons he refused to explore further.

Shivering, he changed into his speedo as quickly as humanly possible, actually managing to stuff his wet hair mostly into the swim cap. Glancing once more at the pirate adorning his behind, Zexion took a deep, calming breath, and stepped out to face his fears.

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Jovial laughter rang out from two young men walking across campus, their hair giving off a faint scent of chlorine into the night air. Zexion smiled, his eyes bright as he glanced side-long at Demyx, who was walking back to the far side of campus with him.

He still couldn't believe it. He absolutely loved water polo. And it wasn't just the fact that the sight of Demyx in a speedo exceeded even the expectations Zexion's imagination had conjured. Water polo was legitimately fun; he found that he was surprisingly good at it, at least for a rookie, and it helped him let out pent up anger and energy he hadn't known he had. And on top of all that, he found that when he was concentrating on something other than just staying afloat, his fear of water dissipated. With time, he suspected it might disappear altogether.

As they reached Zexion's dorm building, Demyx turned to him, a grin on his face, and pulled Zexion into a quick man-hug, complete with a slap on the back. "You were great today! The team is gonna be so awesome this year!! Oh, and we're having a team bonding night on Friday, so clear your schedule. Xigbar is gonna send a message out later with the details, so make sure you sure up!" Zexion couldn't be positive, but he thought that the other man might have winked at him before turning on his heel and walking off, leaving Zexion to wonder what exactly a water polo players did for team bonding.