Negan watches Malcolm quietly, eyes narrowing on him. "Look-- I hope it does. Sometimes you gotta have shit blow up in your face, or nearly lose it, to realize you really need to change."

He had to, at least. It wasn't until Lucille was sick that he realized what an absolute asshole he was.

"But that said, you need anyone to deal out a punch or two, you know you got me, right?" He adds, flashing a grin to show he's joking. Mostly. It feels just as weird for him to be in on any of this really, but Neal told him what was up and he can't just pretend he doesn't know.