Work Text:
"Do you think I'm a, uh, misogynist?"
Yarn blinked, still holding out the first melon of the season for Alex to inspect. He took it sheepishly, holding it close to his chest as he continued.
"It's just, I tried to give Abigail a compliment a few days ago? She really rocks that black bikini. Like, she's obviously doing something right, y'know? But she just called me a misogynistic prick and left. I think I said that right? I had to Google what it meant…"
Yarn nodded, staring past him in thought. "What did you say to Abigail?"
"Uh, I think it was something about her tits looking great?"
Yarn tilted their head. "Compliment me."
"What? But you're not a woman."
"Yes and?"
"That's like… gay, y'know? Not that there's anything wrong with that! I'm just not. Not gay I mean."
"Hm. Abigail might have been right."
"Oh…"
"That isn't- I mean to say…. I-..."
Had Alex been focusing on the there and then and not the tightening of his throat or the sick churning in his stomach, he might have noticed the animalistic growl of frustration Yarn let slip. As it was, he jumped about a foot in the air when their hands came down on his shoulders. It was the most focused and present he'd ever seen them. There was a trace of a frown on their face as they spoke.
"I misspoke. I believe you believe misogynistic things, but you can change that if you wish to."
"I do," Alex interjected.
"I know, because you're not ‘a prick’. At your core, you are compassionate, and that's what you can't change. You are a good person Alex."
"I don't think good people are misogynists."
"Good people do bad things all the time. Fix your mistakes and learn from them."
"Right. Okay. Yeah, I can do this! I'm all over this!" he declared, filled to the brim with confidence and determination. "But, uh, how?"
Yarn's eyes lost their focused look. "I am… unsure."
"Oh come on!"
Eventually, sunburnt and sweaty, Alex trudged away from Yarn's farm with tentative confidence and an even more tentative plan.
That Friday he put on a nice shirt and meticulously styled his hair. It was late by the time he'd talked himself up enough to walk to the saloon doors. The stench of beer and hard liquor hit his nose before he even opened the door, and he came to a stumbling halt. Shit. He couldn't do this. He couldn't sit there in the saloon with the scent of hops choking him just to be told he was a failure. Wasn't good enough. Wasn't even worth the time of day.
"Hey, Alex, right? Are you okay? You look a little pale."
He barely registered long red hair as he backed away, babbling excuses.
"I didn't do it," he confessed.
Yarn nodded.
"I just… the saloon is… bad."
"You should find a different place to speak to her then."
One of his favorite things about Yarn was the way they just got things like that. "Well yeah but where? You said I shouldn't do it when she's alone."
"Yes."
"But she's always alone!"
"She's around Sebastian and Sam often. Find her then."
And so Alex set out to learn Abigail's schedule. He took note of where she went - mostly the forest and up to the mountains, maybe to visit Sebastian? - and who she was with. He was right that she was almost always alone though.
He was hanging out with Dusty, having noted Abigail trudging off to the mountains again a few hours ago, when all of the sudden Abigail reappeared with Sebastian and Sam in tow and made a beeline for him. Alex had barely stood up when Abigail jabbed her finger in his face.
"What do you think you've been doing?" she asked icily.
"Uh. Hanging out with Dusty?" he asked, confused.
"Not- Ugh! No! Why have you been stalking me?"
"What? I haven't been stalking you!"
"Excuse me?! What would you call keeping tabs on me all day every day then? Any time I see you you're already staring at me! What the hell?!"
Dusty's whine was so quiet Alex almost missed it. Crap, they couldn't have this fight here!
"Please don't-"
"Don't what?! Yell? Hell no! I want the whole town to know what a creepy stalker you are!"
Next to him, Dusty whimpered again and Alex winced, glancing over.
"No, you can yell at me, just-"
"Oh, thank you so much for the-"
"Abigail, please? You're scaring Dusty. Can we do this somewhere else?"
That stopped her. She looked at Dusty, back at Alex, and huffed. "Fine. Come on, you're not off the hook."
All three men trailed after her as she led them to the beach. Abigail whirled around and glared at him.
"Don't think this means I won't be telling Evelyn."
Alex winced. "I'd rather you- Can I say something first? And thanks for not yelling by Dusty."
Abigail pursed her lips. "I'm listening."
"So I wasn't stalking you. Or, like, I was, but not really?"
"Riiiight," Sebastian drawled. Alex shot him a nasty look.
"I was trying to find a good time to apologize," Alex confessed.
"What?" Abigail asked.
"I was being gross when I said that about your uh, chest, at the beach last week. I thought it was a compliment. But it wasn't cool, and I'm sorry."
The other three seemed taken aback, looking to each other for guidance.
"What's with the sudden change of heart?" Sebastian asked, suspicious.
"After I went home and googled 'misogynist'-"
"Wait, you had to google that? Dude," Sam said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Alex blushed. "I'd only ever heard people use 'sexist' before, alright?"
"Sam, shush, I want to hear more," Abigail said.
"Uh. So after I googled that, I went to Yarn. They helped a lot."
"Okay," Abigail said, tentative. "So what did you do wrong then? Like why was I mad?"
Alex brightened. "Hey, I actually know that! Just watched the video last night. I was objectifying you, right? So it wasn't a compliment, and I should've just said that you looked good or the bikini looked good on you. Or probably not said anything since we don't really talk."
Abigail looked stunned, and Sam's mouth was hanging open. Even Sebastian looked taken aback. Alex couldn't help puffing up a little in pride.
"Huh. You actually do mean it," Abigail said. "Well, in that case… apology accepted. And sorry I called you a stalker. It wasn't like you were actually following me around or anything."
"No, but I'm sorry I freaked you out."
"It's all good."
The four of them stood in awkward silence for a second before Alex said goodbye and sped off.
It had been one of the most awkward conversations of his life, but he'd done it! He's really done it! Alex grinned. He couldn't wait to tell Yarn.