[saviour ➼ negan]

03.

IT HAD been two weeks since artemis' arrival at the sanctuary. the night she got here, dwight had showed her to her own room. it wasn't anything too fancy but considering she had previously been sleeping in trees and in the back of broken down cars, it was like the ritz.

dwight had assigned her to garden duty, said it wasn't too bad of a job if you liked the peace and quiet, which instantly intrigued artemis. it sounded like heaven to her. she still couldn't believe this place existed in the current state of the world.

she had not seen negan in a couple of days, it was no lie when he said he was a busy man. she was impressed that he had founded this place and brought it to what it was today.

artemis relished in the outside air as she pulled away weeds from the crops. the cool summer breeze was accompanied by the beating of the hot sun on her skin. she quickly became accustomed to garden duty, it was only her and a few other people, which meant she could be on her own. she still wasn't used to the company of many people after being on her own for a year.

her ears perked up as she heard a few loud voices, disrupting the peaceful silence. she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes landing on him. he stood proudly with lucille balanced on his shoulder. he spoke to one of the saviours, most likely ordering them around. his eyes scanned the area, a grin falling on his face when he spotted artemis kneeling by the garden patch. he excused himself before heading over to her.

"enjoying yourself?" he asked as he stopped by her.

"yes, sir." she responded, continuing to pull at the weeds. negan grinned at her response, she had quickly taken to his rules which he liked.

"thought you would like garden duty, i assumed you didn't want to be working in crowds." negan spoke, swaying lucille in his hands.

"you assigned me?" he nodded. "thanks, i don't think i could stand being around so many people at once."

"you'll get used to it." he reassured. a silence fell between them. it wasn't awkward, it was calming.

"y'know, i just can't help but feel like since your arrival we haven't properly spoken." negan admitted, using lucille like a walking stick to prop himself up.

"uh-i'm sorry?" artemis replied, unsure of what to say in response.

"since i'm a fuckin' nice guy, i'm gonna invite you for dinner in my room." artemis cringed slightly at his unnecessary use of swear words, although she knew that was just how he was.

"really?" she questioned, sticking the shovel she had been using into the soil. she glanced up at him for the first time, using her hand to block the sun. "why?"

"uh, cause i fuckin' said so." he answers rudely. artemis rolled her eyes at his words, which he noticed but chose to ignore.

"be there at 7. if you're late, i ain't gonna be too happy. there will be consequences." he commanded, before waltzing away, lucille back on his shoulder. artemis watched him leave. shaking her head, she returned to the weeds.

"what was that about?" artemis looked up to see mary, one of the women she did garden duty with, looking at her nervously. mary was a nice woman, probably in her late sixties. artemis didn't know much more than that about her.

"just negan being negan. he told me i had to go to his room for dinner tonight." artemis explained.

"watch yourself girl. if you play too close to fire, you'll end up getting yourself burned." mary warned before walking back to her own patch, leaving artemis frowning at her words. what did that mean?