Poker Face

Chapter 22 - Hilltop Colony

"Oh...Negan! What an absolute pleasure to have you!" Gregory groveled as Aven observed the ratty little gray-haired man with a dumb look that appeared to be his resting facial expression. "Normally Simon does pick ups but we are always so happy to have you."

"Of course you are, Gregory!" Negan boomed, slapping Gregory on the back so hard he jumped. "Always a fucking pleasure to have me. Let's go inside." Negan draped his heavy arm around Gregory's shoulder, the littler man clearly struggling to stay upright under the weight of Negan leaning into him. The two made their way up to the Hilltop mansion, Aven following behind with the team of armed Saviors. When they got to the door, Negan turned around to face his men, Gregory still under his arm. "Arat, Jared, go to medical. Find Carson."

"Y-you're not going to hurt anyone," asked Gregory timidly. "N-not that I would tell you what to do. I just-"

"Wasn't planning on hurting anyone," Negan interrupted. "Why? Should I?"

"No! No, of course not! I just thought maybe if you need the doctor-"

"Calm down, Gregory." Negan removed his arm from Gregory's shoulder only to slap him too hard on the back again. "You gonna invite us in?"

"Oh, yes, of course," said Gregory shakily before failing to put on an excitedly hospitable demeanor, dawning a toothy, tight-jawed smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Come on in!" Gregory opened the door to the beautiful mansion, which Aven had been examining intently, as the Saviors filed into a large, nicely-furnished living room.

"Is this all original Dutch Colonial?" asked Aven, eying the inside of the building just as intently.

"Um, well, I believe it's been restored quite a bit but yes, original," Gregory answered, giving puzzled glances back and forth between Aven and Negan, waiting for an introduction.

"How far are we from Williamsburg? We're still in Virginia, right?" Gregory nodded even though Aven hadn't looked at him once while speaking.

"Gregory, this here's my new secretary," Negan said, placing his hand on Aven's shoulder. "Aven, Gregory."

"Are...are you interested in architecture?" Gregory asked, trying to make polite conversation.

"History," she answered. "Unimportant." Negan only grinned as he watched Aven marveling at the home, her jaw dropped leaving Gregory to flounder in place, pretending to be occupied by looking somewhere out the window until Negan finally turned his attention back.

"Let's go somewhere more private, Greg," Negan said, heading towards the stairs, Lucille swinging by his side. Gregory nodded too many times in agreement, following close behind. Aven, still staring up at the details of the tall ceiling, trailed behind them, having been told by Negan to stay with him.

"Wow, this is really nice," she breathed. The three of them walked into Gregory's office and Gregory closed the door behind them while Negan sat down with his feet on the desk.

"So Gregory," began Negan, holding Lucille horizontally between his hands. "What do you know about a settlement called Alexandria?" Gregory's eyes grew wide and Aven could see why Negan said she'd get a kick out of him. This man was so transparent and a complete failure when it came to keeping convincingly steady composure.

"I- I, uh, I do believe I might just know who you're talking about," he said like he was afraid of giving the wrong answer and wasn't sure if he'd given the right one. "Yes, in fact, we had some visitors a few days ago. They'd taken Jesus and held him, I guess he took some of their suppies because we were running low, we didn't have enough for the next pickup, you know- Not that I'm blaming you! We did what we needed and-"