"Okay, okay! I'll try to send you it, I guess." Yuki says, twirling a CD case lazily. "I didn't know you liked them."

"I do." Natsuki says, "I can't find anything over here though."

"I had to look around for this CD too, since they're not well known." Yuki sighs. "I'm kind of worried..."

There's a teasing edge to his voice when Natsuki says, "I won't break your CD, Yuki. Trust me a little."

"That's not what I meant, but now that you mention it..."

"Hey!"

"Kidding." He laughs, Natsuki's exaggerated sigh through the phone ends in a chuckle. "I'll send it to you, don't worry."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Oh, shoot. It's almost seven over there, right?"

Startled, Yuki looks at the clock, and sure enough, the time flashes at 6:54 AM. It'd been almost an hour, he realizes.

"I should probably go, right?"

Quickly he replies, "No, it's okay. I slept early."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right then." And a warm, almost feathery tone is in his voice when he says that, and Yuki shifts, the uncomfortable feeling he's gotten for weeks bubbling in his stomach.

Not uncomfortable, he thinks, but...Different.

It's different, that's what's unsettling. The past weeks there's been a fluttery feeling that he gets whenever they talk, especially when the warmth comes into Natsuki's voice.

"Yuki, are you sure you don't need to sleep a little more?"

"Yeah, I..."

"Hm?"

"It- It's nothing!"

Yuki can't explain it without embarrassing himself, but he wants to keep talking. He wants to know more about Natsuki, the small things they didn't speak about before he left, things that never came up. It's an uncertain feeling, but one that doesn't leave him.

At one point he decided it was because he wanted to puzzle Natsuki together, but for some reason he's adding pieces in, as if that makes the job easier. In truth, he's beginning to realize that his explanation isn't making sense anymore.

"Yuki...?"

"Ah!" He blinks, panics. "Sorry, I started thinking..."

"About sleeping?"

"No, uhm, just about..." And he searches his mind for something he can speak about, without letting Natsuki know his puzzling problem. "...Swimming, learning to swim. Haru's been trying to teach me, but he's...Not the best."

"You couldn't swim?"

Yuki is surprised. "I never told you?"

"Not that I remember, no." Natsuki answers. "But it's good that you're getting lessons now, at least. Especially working on a boat, no wonder you were so nervous the first time."

"Yeah, I suppose so." He blushes, it wasn't because he couldn't swim so much as because he'd never been on a boat that fast, but Natsuki doesn't have to know.

"Maybe I can help you when I get back." He says, thoughtful, and Yuki takes a second to think about it, Natsuki and waves, summery smile and tanned skin.

He stutters into the phone, "M-maybe, but I think Haru can manage, he's not that bad at teaching me."

"Oh, that, that's probably true." He sounds just as flustered as Yuki feels. "Nevermind that."

"It's fine. Uhm, I think I have to eat breakfast now, so..."

"I'll talk to you later then. Bye, Yuki."

"Bye."

He tosses his phone on his pillow, head in his hands. That was, surprising, the sudden mental image, he flushes red when he recalls the smile, the warmth of his words.

Again, the turning, bubbly feeling in his stomach unsettles him, and he doesn't know what to do, he's never felt anything quite like this.

He's not prepared.

[[uurghh, following prompts is painful, so very painful, but we're almost at the main bit, so bear with me. ]]