Chapter Text
"You shouldn't have treated him like that!" Carl had angrily stormed in unexpectedly into Negan's rooms, which was surprising not only because he, well, stormed in unexpectedly, but also because Negan didn't even know the kid was here. He probably slipped in through one of the supply trucks again, the sneaky little bastard.
"Jesus Christ, kid," he started, feeling exasperated and exhausted at the lip he'd received from the other Grimes man just a few hours prior.
"You Grimes' and your fucking glares. What the fuck did I do this time."
"Where do I start. I heard about what you said to my dad." Carl's glare intensified and he rounded on Negan, who had been shielding himself from the kid behind the tea table. Hey, Carl Grimes was a force to be reckoned with, he was in many ways scarier than his father, although Negan was more partial to the opinion that Rick was more cute than anything, but Carl? No one can blame him for being scared shitless of Carl. Especially when it came to things that concerned his dear daddy.
"What I said? What I said was perfectly reasonable! Totally within the realm of shit I am allowed to fucking say." It really wasn't that bad. Well, the fight was not something Negan was proud to have participated in, but really, he can't give in to every one of Rick's silly little ventures.
They were looking at some empty land on the Sanctuary grounds. Negan had hauled Rick all the way from Alexandria, with the promise of a home-cooked meal (spaghetti, to be exact) prepared by yours truly, if Rick would only advise him on what he thought Negan should do with the unused land.
Really, having Rick's say was just a tie breaker between him and some of his higher ranking men, but Negan found himself actually anticipating what Rick had to say. The guy was badass, and although he was sure Rick would agree with his idea to build a munitions and weapons assembling area rather than a watch tower which would be a very redundant addition to the one not even 30 feet away from the area, he was curious to see if the man had any other ideas for the land.
What he wasn't expecting was Rick to stare wistfully at the dirt beneath his shoes, crouch down and sift it through his hands, then stare up at him with those pretty blue eyes, curly hair falling over his forehead, and with a sweet smile and a bit of a blush, say "How about farmland?" Which had Negan laughing for a good twenty seconds, mirthful at the prospect of wasting good land on something as silly as farming, and even more amused that Rick, badass, hard-as-nails Rick had said something so... Naive? Innocent?
Negan honestly couldn't say what about the way he said it was so funny, but nevertheless, he would not be wasting good land on silly farming. And he told Rick as much. Which was, evidently, the wrong thing to do, because he got defensive, with his whole "It's a good idea!" And Negan's whole "That's fucking stupid."
At some point, Rick got really defensive, eyes downcast, brows furrowed, and his head did that cute little side tilt thing, which was, admittedly, very distracting for Negan, but his resolve remained strong.
"Little Farmer Rick, out here with the beets and radishes," he said before bursting into another bout of laughter at Rick's expense.
"Maybe if you dumbasses were growing your own food, you wouldn't have had to beat people into submission just so they would work their asses off to keep you alive and fed." Rick flustered out, his cheeks were pink with the embarrassment of being laughed at for what he knew was a good idea.
Really, what Rick said was true, sure things were a lot better between the Sanctuary and it's former prisoner communities, but in the moment it didn't stop Negan from yelling out things he definitely regrets saying looking back on it.
"Well I guess strong men don't need to farm when there are weak men like you to take from." And that was the ticket. Rick's embarrassed blush transformed into an angered flush and he stormed off, but not before leaving Negan with one last thing, not an insult or a curse, that might have been better than the sincere and hurt-sounding words he left Negan with before going back to Alexandria.
"I was taught by someone who was very important to me. It made me a better man." His eyes were solemn, and Negan couldn't help but notice the painful enunciation on the word 'was'. He turned away from Negan then, and his shoulders seemed heavy, as if he was carrying a burden there now he hadn't been carrying before. "It'd do you good to try it too."
The implications of it, that Negan wasn't really a good man, had him feeling overwhelmingly guilty. He knew that Rick and he had made progress, Negan really treated the other communities with respect now, and his interactions with Rick had been friendly. Even when he flirted with the guy, there was always sincerity and a deeper meaning behind the frivolous words.
But the insinuation that Negan needed to farm because farming made someone a better man, well... That meant that Negan was not a good man. Or at least, he was a man that could stand to be bettered... Right? He had spent the next few hours lamenting on this. Fucking insecure from one word out of Rick Grime's pretty mouth...
And now his spawn is here, defending his honor or some shit. He must have said that last part out loud because Carl had blown up at him again, "I'm not doing anything about his honor, this is about him. His emotional state."
Those eyes, so much like Rick's, became ice cold and serious. They both were sat on the couches across from each other, Carl's line of sight almost to the height of that of Negan's. Jesus when did this kid get so big? When did he become a man, trying to protect his father?
"Kid, your dad isn't a little pussy." Negan couldn't help but defend Rick from what seemed to be Carl's attempt at emasculation.
"I know he's not, and having emotions doesn't make a guy a pussy." That's true. While Rick had to be one of the most emotional men he's ever seen, he's also the strongest. He was really way off base with that "Stronger men can take from the weak," Rick wasn't weak. Perhaps his idea was not so bad. If someone as strong as Rick felt so strongly about it, it couldn't be weak.
"Listen," Carl's expression morphed from angry to concerned, "he has so much that he cares about, and when he gets full, he sometimes bursts when something goes even slightly awry."
Now what the fuck is he talking about. "Bursts? The fuck, kid..." And there's that trademark Grimes Glare.
"He thought you were becoming more... Like him."
"More of a pussy?"
"More caring. More... Democratic. More open. That's what he's wanted for you. And the fact that you brushed off farming, which is kinda one of his core things, it really upset him."
Negan's eyes widened at that. Rick thought well of him? Not just that, he was rooting for him?
"The farming thing... He has this thing about it... I didn't really understand it first either, but then... As time went on I sort of understood. I guarantee you'll want to farm with him after you see him the first time." Carl regarded him with a look that suggested he was relaying some very important piece of wisdom.
"Why? Does he do it shirtless? Does he sweat?" Negan couldn't help but imagine. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea...
"Gross. Shut up." Carl wrinkled his nose in disgust at Negan imagining his father like that. "You'll want to farm with him because... I don't know. He's happy when he does it." He looked at Negan expectedly.
"Happy? So what. I've seen him happy before." He thinks back to the many times he's been able to conjure a laugh out of Rick from a dirty joke, or the times when they've just talked for hours, and Rick looks at him with that soft smile, eyes aglow.
"Not like this. Trust me." Carl got up from his seat and headed to the door, seemingly done with their conversation. "Give him his farm. You won't regret it." He said with a final smirk behind him "Oh, and be nice to him. I hate it when he mopes around the house sullen and teary eyed. If you're going to make him cry, at least comfort him until he stops." Carl gave one last threatening glare, before turning and exiting the room, leaving Negan to his thoughts.
Negan couldn't help but wonder at what Rick looked like when he was farming. If he really loved it like Carl said, he could imagine Rick smiling as he tilled the dirt, laughing with joy during the first harvest, and caring for the crops in that way, that perfect way he did everything. Negan couldn't stop thinking about it. He thought about it that whole evening, the thoughts of what Rick would look like, what Rick would say, bouncing around in his head. He went to sleep thinking about it and he woke up thinking about it.
After two days of non stop mental dedication to exploring everything Rick-related to farming, Negan resolved that he would give Rick the farm.
What could be more important than Rick's smile? Munitions and weapons? Fuck no.