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Rick wiped the sweat that damped his forehead, some strands of his own hair kept sticking to his cheeks, he was pretty sure his face was flushing too. Summer is easily the hardest season because of the scorching weather, the worst part being that most of his job consisted of him being outside in the searing heat of the sun, he had to grow corn to produce their chicken and rabbit feed, he had to feed them and he even had to run errands for his sick mother, still, he was grateful because the season was almost over, so he had to endure it for a bit more.
The man stopped doing his work for a moment and left Vivi —their oldest hen— back in the ground and rummaged around his apron's pocket for a certain object.
Aha!
He looked at the scrunchie that Naomi gave him some weeks ago, he couldn't help smiling from just remembering their convo.
"Oh my god, why is your hair down with this hell of a weather?" Naomi gasped.
Rick had to run errands, so he took the opportunity to deliver the feed that Naomi bought the day before, when the female farmer saw him all sweaty from walking with such a hot day, she couldn't help but worry for him.
"It's okay" he responded "I always wear my hair like this so it's no problem"
"What if you get a heatstroke? Come here" she instructed.
Rick put the heavy container with the feed in the ground and approached the preoccupied farmer, she then took his wrist and lead the way back to her house.
Cozy was really the best adjective to describe the farmer's house, it had this nice feeling to it that made Rick a little less anxious, he watched as the woman was searching through the closet that was nearby the entrance and quickly took out a towel.
"Cool off for a little bit, I'll be right back!" Naomi disappeared after giving him said towel, he heard the water running so he assumed she was in the kitchen.
He was hesitant at first, he obviously was grateful with the farmer's kindness, but he felt kind of shy using her towel to dry off his sweat, what if he left the towel with a bad smell? oh my God he wasn't smelly, was he?
Now the anxiety was kicking in again and even worse than before, Naomi appeared again, this time with a glass of water in her right hand, approaching Rick with a cute smile that he didn't notice before.
"Here, I got you a drink" she said, the brunette noticed how uneasy Rick looked, the woman couldn't help but to laugh softly "Don't worry about the towel, I can wash it later" she smiled.
He didn't have a choice, didn't he? The man sighed and finally used the towel, ah, He had to admit that it felt good to wipe away all that sweat that practically soaked him moments ago.
"Thanks" he finally said and took the glass from Naomi's hand and gulped down the entire thing, he was really thirsty and didn't even notice with how engrossed he was with work.
"Also, take this" she handed him a worn off scrunchie, it was pink with a bunny pattern and had a nice bow, her cheeks flushed when Rick gave her a dubious look.
"I only have these and since I don't use them anymore since I cut my hair, i thought about lending it to you" she explained
He stared at the scrunchie for a couple of seconds before taking it from the farmer's hand and quickly tied what he could of his hair (since it wasn't that long, just enough to cover his nape)
"Thank you" Rick was a bit shy, Popuri was surely going to mock him but he didn't care since it was a something that Naomi gave him.
Wait, why would it matter if she gave him the scrunchie? Sheesh, maybe the heat melted part of his brain and now he was thinking weird things.
"Well" Rick got up suddenly after a few seconds of silence "Thank you, Naomi, I'll take good care of your hair tie" he smiled.
"You better do!" Naomi pouted "I had that scrunchie since I was a kid, so you better not lose it!"
"What's so interesting about that hair tie that you practically have your eyes glued on it?"
Popuri suddenly spoke, making Rick jump back to his senses, she laughed right as she noticed how startled her brother was.
"What do you need?" He tied his hair rather annoyed, continuing the chores he neglected minutes ago.
"Naomi came and she's asking for you, I told her you were back here in the coop feeding the chickens so I came for you"
He could feel the thumping beat of his heart quickening at the mere mention of the farmer's name, he gulped trying to calm himself down.
"Tell her to give me a moment, I'm still busy" he replied slowly so he wouldn't stutter his words, thank goodness he was turning his back on his younger sister, so she wouldn't notice how red Rick's cheeks were.
She just hummed in acknowledgment and then heard when she walked away, he sighed and kneeled down, as he feed Vivi and the other hens, he kept thinking for reasons as to why the farmer was asking for him, well, it's not as if the woman wasn't allowed to pay him visit him or anything of the sort plus, he DID feel a little bad for making Naomi wait, but he first needed to regain his composure before facing-
"Hey" he heard the woman's velvety voice behind his back out of nowhere, making him let out a rather loud screech "Damn, Popuri was right, you are quite jumpy today, aren't you?" Naomi let a soft chuckle out of her lips.
"I was alone moments ago and you suddenly appeared so of course you scared me" he huffed and quickly fixed his hair and brushed off some of the feathers that were sticking to his clothes, weird "I thought Popuri told you I was still busy"
"She told me to give you a moment, a moment has passed so I came here to get you myself" he could swore that a smile was plastered on her face and when he finally turned around to her he knew he was right, but her smile soon faded "H-hey, your face is pretty red, are you okay?"
"Ah, I'm okay" he stammered "it's just-"
Rick suddenly choked with his own words as Naomi suddenly approached him and took both of her hands to his burning cheeks, he looked up and saw how her lips were partly open, soon one of her hands landed on his forehead, checking his temperature and making him even more embarrassed than before, he quickly grabbed her wrist, jolting her back to her senses.
"I'm sorry" she nervously giggled "Did the scrunchie helped you staying cooler with this hell of a weather" Naomi shifted topics as to salvage the awkward situation they were both in just a couple of seconds ago.
"Yeah, thank you for that, really" he finally smiled, letting go of her wrists softly "Right, you needed me?" he asked, quite intrigued honestly.
Naomi played with her fingers quite nervously, trying to find the right words even if her request was as simple as a boiling an egg in the hot springs that were up in the mountains of Mineral Town.
"Uh, yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to grab a bite in the Inn with me?" she babbled, quite uncharacteristic of her since she always exuded confidence.
He felt his hands getting sweaty, stupid weather and stupid coop for being so damn hot, he could hear the sound of his heart throbbing like crazy and felt a knot building up in his belly, what it's this feeling?
"S-Sure, let me change because I'm pretty sure the smell from the hens it's impregnated on my clothes" he quickly stood up, brushing past the woman so she couldn't see how his cheeks were flushing again.
"I'll be waiting then" thank god he was distracted, Naomi thought, her face was just as flushed as his was.
Maybe time will tell.