All fifty chickens were crowded underneath the outdoor feeding trough. They were fighting with each other for space, but some were still being pushed out into the rain.
"Okay, chickies. It's time to go inside the chicken coop!" Rick ordered the poultry, but his words were lost in the heavy rain and strong winds. The chickens, who usually came immediately when he called them, didn't budge from their shelter underneath the feeding trough.
Rick was nearly blinded as lightning lit up the sky once again, and the following thunderclap, almost immediately after, nearly blew him over. Well, actually, the strong wind was doing a pretty good job of blowing him over by itself.
What I would give to be built like Zack or Gotz, Rick thought. He was just the opposite. The only thing that saved him from having a tall, lanky frame was the fact that he wasn't tall - at the age of 24, he wasn't even 5'06".
"Okay, chickens, just obey me please!" Rick yelled, his voice actually making it through the rain, wind and thunder. He could make himself really loud if he wanted to (i.e. when he was arguing with Kai), but it was surprising how soft and alto his normal voice was. It was sometimes difficult to hear his normal speaking voice, even without all the rain and wind drowning it out.
The chickens perked up and started making their way out from underneath the feeding trough. But the moment they detected the wind and rain, they retreated. If this wind could just about blow Rick over, it would probably blow the chickens to kingdom come.
"Oh, brother," mumbled Rick in his normal, quiet voice. The wind completely drowned it out and he didn't even hear himself speaking.
It looked like in order to get a chicken inside the barn, he would have to somehow lure it out from underneath the trough, pick it up, and carry it all the way to the chicken barn. And repeat for the other 49 chickens.
He didn't really want to think about it.
He approached the feeding trough and wondered how he could get them out from under there. He could try calling them, he supposed. After all, he was usually the only person whose voice they responded to.
"Come here, chickens," he tried.
The chickens didn't hear. The sound of the wind was too strong.
"Come on out, chickens!!" he tried again, raising his voice significantly.
They heard him this time. Two or three came out, but started to retreat once they got hit by rain. But Rick still managed to get a hold of one of them.
He ran over to the chicken barn, carrying the chicken, and while holding the animal in one arm, tried to open the door with the other. The door seemed to weigh four tons with the force of the wind blowing against it. He couldn't seem to pull it open with just one arm. Then again, he had never been very strong for his age. Something that came with a build like his, and that he wished he didn't have.
He put the chicken down for a second, then using both hands he thrust the door open. By the time he turned back to get the chicken, it had already ran back underneath the feeding trough.
"Oh, this is just wonderful!" Rick groaned, his voice loud enough to actually be heard over the wind. "I have to put fifty chickens in the barn and it's taking me this long just to put ONE of them inside? Could my day get any worse..."
It didn't help that he was completely soaked by now. Actually, he had been soaked within the first two minutes of leaving the house. He felt like he had fallen into the river and drowned four times over. His hair was hanging in his face and dripping with water, and his glasses were almost impossible to see through due to the raindrops that coated their surface. His clothes felt like they weighed three hundred pounds and he was covered in muck from the water-soaked farm field. He was sure he looked like a drowned rat. A drowned, redheaded rat to be more precise.
But he decided he had to get those chickens in some way or another. "Okay," he told himself. "I may be getting drowned out here, but I have to get the chickens inside. This cold, wet weather can't be good for them. Besides, it's not like the situation's going to get any worse..."
His head was feeling funny for some reason. A second later, he sneezed.
"No..." he said. "I hope I'm not..."
He felt his own forehead. It was difficult to tell, as he was soaking wet due to the rain, but his forehead did feel a little too hot to be normal.
"OH JOY!" he yelled in disgust. "Did I say that things couldn't get any worse? Well, I was really wrong, then."
The loud clucking of the chickens brought him back to the task at hand. "Hmm," he said. "I can't abandon this though. I have to get them all inside! Come on, chickens, it's time to get back in the chicken barn!"
The chickens didn't hear him.
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Rick mumbled. "Come on, let's go!" he yelled loudly.
Dramatic, I know. And sooooooooooooo cheesy. I apologize for the overuse of cheesiness.
And about the guys leveling up to another heart color...
These are what the seven heart colors mean:
Black - He does not know you at all. You're strangers.
Purple - He knows you. He wants to be your friend.
Blue - You are friends with him.
Green - You and him and very, very good friends.
Yellow - He is starting to like you. You know, LIKE like.
Orange - He has an enormous, obvious crush on you.
Red - He is now deeply in love with you.
It's hard to explain, but looking at those descriptions of heart colors, you sort of have to decide yourself what heart level he's on. If he doesn't know you, he's at Black. If he knows you a little and is starting to show interest in you, he's at Purple. I would say that for you and Doctor... he's at about the Purple Heart Level. ^-^