The Replacement

Part Two

Warning: swearing

***********

"Thank you for the delicious meal Ma'am-" Negan tells you when you go to collect the dirty dishes from his cell.

"My pleasure- I'm glad that you enjoyed it" you respond with a smile and make your way to leave. "One last thing before you go" Negan stops you before leaving.

"Sure, what do you need?" you turn around towards him. "Excuse my French Ma'am. But how the fuck do you guys still have pasta after all this time? And that shit ain't even stale nor nothing!" Negan asks you.

"How would you be able to tell the difference between stale or fresh pasta?" you ask with a chuckle. "Well... not to toot my own horn or nothing, but do make a mean spaghetti dish myself-" Negan states with a dimpled smirk.

"Oh, a regular master chef are ya-" you comment chuckling at Negan's so called charm. "You could so, yeah. Maybe you should let me cook for you one day" Negan replies, tongue poking out over his bottom lip as he stares into your eyes with a devilish grin.

"They're homemade. Had the liberty of coming across a fully stocked and undisturbed kitchen supply store on one of my scavenging runs. Found quite a bit of hand operating equipment that including the pasta maker as well as some electrical cooking tools" you remark to his comment.

"Well, aren't you just as smart as you are pretty-" Negan states. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning at breaks then. Goodnight Negan" you respond and then take your leave of him.

"Goodnight Warden-" Negan replies with a soft chuckle as you shake your head in amused at him.

*****

You had just finished cleaning up Negan's dish when there was a knock at the front-door, you answer to find Michonne standing in front of you.

"So, how was it seeing to your new charge?" Michonne asks as she follows you into the living-room.

"Surprisingly, not bad. I thought you said the guy was a handful, he talks a ton of crap that I have established but other than that, he seems fine enough for me not to want to murder him" you respond, crossing your legs Indian style as you settle into the couch.

"Oh-, give Negan sometime to figure you out and he will eventually make you regret having said that" Michonne chuckles, "but he's behaving himself, right?" she then asks.

"Oh yes, he's been quite the gentleman actually. Following the rules while being a flirt at it, I haven't had to repeat my requests of or anything" you reply.

"That's good to know that he's settling in well with you. And don't be bothered too much by his flirting, that's just part of Negan's nature" Michonne tells you.

"I figured as much" you chuckle. "But there's something that I'm confused about though" you remark.

"What is it?" Michonne asks concerned. "Negan seemed really surprised at the dinner I brought him, it's as if he hasn't had anything like it for quite some time-" you comment.

"Well, no one here likes Negan after all he's done, so he got whatever the person that made his meals at the time decided to give him" Michonne responds with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Ok...now I understand it all" you state.

Michonne left not longer after and you found yourself thinking about everything what she told you about Negan, how the others saw him as nothing but a nuisance and the way that they treated him. 

While finally settling into bed you still found yourself thinking of Negan, how you actually felt sympathy towards him for the way he was being treated.

*****

The Next Day

"I'm either having one of the biggest wet dreams of my life or I died and this is heaven!" Negan overstates staring at the breakfast you brought him.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell ya; last night's dinner was poisoned. This is heaven-" you remark with a chuckle.

"Oh, so the Warden has a sense of humour on her and a dark one at that too-" Negan responds, tongue poking out again as he smiles at you.

"Well, I do have my good days-" you shrug your shoulders, giving him a wink as you turn around to leave, "see you in 30mins Negan-" you call out walking away, the sound of Negan's chuckles following you out.

*****

You were busy going through a box of stuff when suddenly there was a knock at the door, "Hey Gabriel" you greet him upon opening it.

"Hi there, Y/N. Am I interrupting you with anything or do you have some time to talk?" Gabriel asks you. "No, you're not, come on in. I was just going through the box of board games I have" you respond.

"Board games? You planning a game night with the kids again?" Gabriel questioningly smiles at you. "No, but I sure would love to have another one. The kids really seemed to have loved the last one" you chuckle thinking about it.

"Yeah, I remember the kids were talking about it for days still after, your idea of drying out some of the corn kernels really paid out that night" Gabriel chuckled.

"Board games and popcorn. I mean, what could be better than that-. I think the adults were more excited than the kids were that my idea worked" you remark with a chuckle and Gabriel nods in agreement while laughing.

After settling down, Gabriel then speaks again, "oh yes, before I forget . I came to find out how things were settling in with Negan"

"Things are going fine so far, he hasn't given me any problems as of yet" you tell Gabriel. "I know Negan is an acquired taste, he can be very... how can I put it... Colourful" Gabriel states.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me... I've picked that up already" you chuckle. "But he is behaving himself, right?" Gabriel asks concerningly.

"He's been very well behaved actually, quite entertaining too" you remark. "I'm glad the two of you are getting on well together. Negan could really do with having someone besides myself to have a civilized interaction with" Gabriel responds.

"I've heard that he really isn't a fan favourite, yeah" you comment. "The people of Alexandria aren't really willing to forgive Negan for the crimes he has committed. But they seem to forget the things we have done doesn't put us in the right either-" Gabriel states.

"We've all done some messed up shit since the fall and they all were to survive. I can't judge you guys and neither can I judge Negan" you tell Gabriel.

A huge smile then irrupts from Gabriel lips, "I do believe we made the right decision in choosing you as Negan's new caretaker. You'll be real good for him to have around."

"Meaning?" you arch your brow questioningly. "Just that, I believe you're what he needs right now" Gabriel tells you with a smile.

"Ok..." you awkwardly reply.

"I know you were giving him counselling and stuff but I'm not good with that stuff nor am I a shrink. So, I was wondering if it's ok for me to keep him busy with those board games and maybe later I could get him to assist with some of my projects I had in mind" you ask changing the weird topic of before.

"As long as he remains within the cell, then it shouldn't be a problem. It's actually a good idea you have of him helping out. It's about time Negan contributed to the community, we might even be able to have him work outside on a later stage if he proves himself trustworthy" Gabriel responds.

"Cool. Then I better go through the box to find something entertaining, Negan should be done with his breakfast by now" you state. 

Gabriel takes his leave then and you go back to searching through the box.