ELEANOR . NEGAN

096.

Dark and gloomy with a touch of dew and dirt. Mould seeped through the roof and the corners of the walls as the lit lantern flickered across the room. There was silent murmurs, shuffling of feet — they were still being watched.

Yet it was silent.

Negan and Eleanor were planted in shitty wooden chairs that twisted to the front of a desk that was decorated with jars of weird shit, papers, and a bottle of whiskey. But the man behind the desk? He was unnerving. Flickering eyes and restless fingers. The chubby hand danced across the desk in a nervous matter; this was not a stable man.

Still, no one spoke.

Eleanor forced a gulp just to ease the void as she carefully twisted her head. There were two guards at the door, each with melee weapons and then at the back corner, a lantern shone upon shelves of— skulls?

Elle didn't care how she scrambled for Negan's hand at the sight. They were skulls... human skulls. People don't collect them for shits and giggles. When Negan felt her fingers wrap tightly around his, he swerved his head to look at her complexion.

She didn't look carefree.

Her eyes were saying it all; she was regretting this.

"What do ya want?" Great, he had the English of Daryl. "Ya come along... with all those darn weapons... and what?"

Negan went to speak. Elle could literally see his mouth open and a smirk curl onto his face but it was no good. "Annie... Annie said we'd have a spot here." This was careful waters; Negan was with her. "Look, we can—"

"Ya can what?!" He slammed a flat hand against the table, it shook heavily and echoed through the room. Negan could feel her hand squeeze his again. "Ya gonna give us food and water again? Hoping we come out and fuckin' share?"

Remember that, Elle thought. "No, look." Elle cleared her throat and pulled her hand away slowly. "You need people, right?" The man quirked an eyebrow. "We are people — solution solved!"

"Ya tryna be funny with me, girl?"

Elle's right eye twitched... she cannot be assed. "Hey, man." Negan's turn. "Annie said we'd have a spot; that's all we came for. If you need people, we're happy to help... alright?"

They both stared at this leader, at this warlord. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were never settled, but the tapping on the wooden desk stopped. Good sign? "Tell me about yourselves." Okay, so good sign.

Negan looked down at Eleanor and rested his gaze on her face. He waited for her to say something, see if she let go of her lip with her teeth, waiting for her eyes to flicker up and look at the Warlord.

She didn't.

Weird.

"Names Negan." He started. "I've lasted this long so far and I ain't a Goddamn pussy." He raised his brows. "That good enough?"

The boss, Warlord, whatever, inhaled air through his nose as a gross snotty sound filled the air. He then blew out air through his mouth and took a swig of the whiskey. "Ya good." Then he looked over at Eleanor, rolling his head along his shoulders with a wicked grin. His teeth were blindly yellow. "This yur girl?"

"Careful, man." Negan warned, his eyes narrowed at the Warlord. "Don't say something you're gonna regret."

The man pulled his lips into an 'o' and widened his eyes with a teasing grin. "Don't get ya panties in a knot, Negan." He then sat straight in his chair, an eerie crack from his back as he leant forwards on his elbows. "Yur girl a fucking selective mute or what?"

"No, I ain't a fucking mute." She snapped. The leader gasped in fake shock, she just wanted to roll her eyes. "My names Eleanor-"

"You know," He pointed a finger at her. "' haven't heard a Brit in long fuckin' time."

Elle just looked at him, ignoring his sentence altogether. "My names Eleanor — used to be a soldier." With a tantalising look, she gave him a pointed stare. "Does that make you happy?"

"A soldier?" He grasped his jaw with settling eyes. "Alri'."

"Alright?" Negan cleared.

The leader of this place screwed a cap back on his whiskey bottle and leant back in a rotting chair. His fingers were dancing against the table again; fuck. "Ian." His voice sounded wobbly now. What the fuck is wrong with this guy? "Welcome."

And with that single word, the guards at the door cleared their throat and walked over to the two quietly. "Follow us."

Negan was the first to stand up, his chair scraping against the moulding laminate floors and creating a brain rattling sound. He then swung his hands out and gently cupped Elle's, giving her a straight look, a lets-fucking-go look. She nodded carefully and stood up, not letting go of his hand no matter what.

They trudged out that office with so many words yet no privacy to share them. The two guards in front of them twisted into one, clearly they weren't too worried about Elle and Negan, and guided them to a hallway with a few stranded doors.

"Here you go," The guard wrapped his hand around a doorknob and twisted it open. "Annie'll come around later." Then he turned around and left.

When Negan took a step inside the room, he walked around like he was the king. His footsteps heavy against the carpet as he gleamed over to the large bed against the window. Yeah, it was yellow and dusty and the whole room looked like it was falling apart. But it was a bed. "Well, sunshine. Ain't this a Goddamn hoot-"

He stopped speaking when he looked over at Eleanor. Her body was stuck outside the door, her face still pointing down the hallway towards Ian's office. What the shit? "Ellie," He took a step forward. "Baby,"

"We need a plan."

"A plan?"

Elle finally tore her eyes away from the office and took a step into the room, Negan closing the door behind her. "Did you see his hands?" She asked, plopping onto the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, Doll. Looked like a serious case of ants-in-his-damn-pants." Elle snickered which made him grin. Some sort of normality was coming back. "Are you worried?"

She bit the edges of her thumbs and huffed. "No. Not yet." She then brushed down her jeans, hands sliding up and down her thighs. "If shit hits the fan... we need to go."

Negan nodded his head and sat down next to her, his large hand coming to a squeeze on her leg. "You and me, Doll."

Sounds about right. With a precious smile, she rested her head on his shoulder and hummed in content. "You and me."

i wanted ian to remind elle of her step dad but i didint want to because i remembered they have to live with each other for six months <3

but um yeah i jumped the gun and now i just want the commonwealth

let me know if this is out of character for negan. its way harder to write him when he gains back his morality compared to the sanctuary era. also it was quite hard to write ian too since he was like in an episode for like ten minutes. i am trying though guys!! it's just hard
wink wink nudge nudge