The first time Tahani tried a cup of antimatter, it's pitch dark with a few flecks of stardust and electrons floating near the surface. The barista who handed it to her does so with a small smile, saying that it was a new recipe that they were trying out. Tahani had laughed and bid them a jolly goodbye as she carried the cup of this strange beverage back to her desk.
Her desk is a small thing, certainly not fit for her previous lifestyle all those Jeremy Bearimy's ago, but she's proud of all the neat stacks of paper and the little pile of pens and highlighters that she had cast to the side before her little break. Besides the documents, there are a few other knickknacks that some of her coworkers had made fun of her for (bad habits, but forgivable after a scheduled intervention). There were pictures of her family in the drollest clothing ever and walking in venues that would have been an embarrassment back when they were alive. There were other pictures of her coworkers—Glenn with a nervous smile on his face, Val waving at the camera all shy-like, Vicky poised like a model just about to strut down the runway, and Shawn who…well, he says he's smiling, but it looks like he's baring his teeth to the viewer. He claimed that it was his bad habits flaring up again, but even after a couple thousand Bearimy's, she wasn't all too sure.
Despite the slew of photographs that stand at attention, there is something of far more value that stood at the very front of the other photos.
As Tahani placed her cup atop a small coaster that she had made herself, she glanced down at the photo and took it in hand. It was a photo of the family that she had formed with those who had been with her since the very first "Good Place" session. Shawn had volunteered Glenn to take the photo since he thought that the entire scene was too mind numbingly sappy for him to properly function even outside the workplace. Of course, being the gentleman that he was, Glenn had managed to capture a photo filled to the brim with chaos.
Jason was busy shooting everyone with his paintball guns, Eleanor was using Chidi as a shield while Chidi had summoned a couple of his books as canon fodder. Janet was rooting on the sidelines while Michael flanked Jason on the left, but he was armed with a backpack filled with water balloons. As for Tahani, she was busy striking a pose at the camera to notice that one of Jason's paintball bullets were aiming for her while both Eleanor and Chidi were begging her to get down.
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips before she gently buffed the edges of the framed photo and set it back down gently onto her desk. She was about to settle into her seat and start her work, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Hey there, Tahani! What's shaking?"
Ah, the outdated colloquialisms. There was only one person who would dare use such language when other demons were in earshot.
"Michael! You're here!" She immediately forewent any sense of propriety and practically jumped onto him. Her slender arms wound around his shoulders and her head rested against his shoulder. For a moment, the pair were living in each other's presence, both of them glad that they were seeing each other again. After that, however, Michael subtly nudged Tahani away while coughing just a bit.
Tahani raised a brow, confused at his actions.
Michael was quick to remedy the situation by holding up the same style of styrofoam cup that Tahani herself had. "Got myself a fresh, steaming cup of antimatter just for this special occasion. Apparently, it's the stardust special."
At that, Tahani couldn't help but laugh. "Really? What a coincidence!" She grabbed her own order of antimatter and presented it with the aplomb of a showgirl on a game show. "I've got my own. Although…I'm not sure if it's the stardust special."
Michael looked at Tahani's beverages before nodding slowly. "Nah, you got lucky. Stardust specials are rarely offered. The baristas often make these bad boys once or twice a Bearimy." A beat. "When the timeline matches up with the highest point on the first peak of the 'r' in Jeremy."
"You know, it's been a thousand or so Bearimy's, but I don't think I'll get over the novelty of a name being on par with the universe's lifespan."
"Well, it's a lot more complicated than that, but that's another story for another time." Michael gestured towards her desk with a knowing look. "Got a lot on your plate?"
"Oh, do I ever!" Tahani practically collapsed back into her seat as she began flipping through her portfolio that held several blueprints that were either in progress or were already checked by her superiors. "Look!" Tahani pointed at one of her architectural plates, all of it well designed and drawn. There were measurements written in tiny print alongside the margins in pencil, which was good, Michael thought. With architectural plating, the architect shouldn't leave their mathematics on the side, it would just cause clutter. As Michaels' eyes roamed Tahani's chosen plate, he saw—
"Oh my, are you remixing the Taj Mahal and Buckingham Palace?"
"Careful there, Michael, or else you look like I've actually made you speechless."
Michael glanced first at Tahani, back to the design, back to Tahani, and then finally, he placed the design back onto her desk.
"Speechless?" Michael wrapped his arms around Tahani, his strength momentarily causing the young woman to lose all breath in her lungs. "Tahani, I am so… so…" He surreptitiously wiped at his eyes.
"Are you crying?" A sudden stab of insecurity was all Tahani could feel before blurting out, "Was it that bad? I can fix it! Look, I'll remix Big Ben and the Taj Mahal! Or even better, the White House with Big Ben or—or—"
"No, dear, it's absolutely perfect." Michael sniffled a little before casting a watery smile at Tahani. "What I was trying to tell you before this meat suit got wet—"
"Gross."
"—was that I was proud of you." A sudden thought occurred to Michael. "Did Shawn approve? Because if he didn't, I can rough him up a little. Old Bad Place style."
"Absolutely not, Michael!" Tahani's self-assured smile spoke volumes. She puffed up her chest with a look of pride, all pretense of humility all but gone out the window. "Shawn says that within a few more Bearimy's I can get certified."
Michael clapped his hands. "R-really! That's amazing! We should celebrate! We should get Chidi and Eleanor and Janet and—"
"I actually have a better idea right now." At Michael's questioning glance, Tahani raised her coffee cup high and waited for Michael to raise his own. "A toast, if you will, Michael."
"Ah, yes. A toast…what is a good thing to—Ah!" With renewed vigor Michael's voice began to echo throughout the architect hall, which caused all other architects, both Good and Bad, to look at them with a mixture of amusement and disgust. "To a new era of neighborhoods, courtesy of one Tahani Al Jamil." In a much softer tone, Michael continued. "Congratulations, knock 'em dead. Not literally, of course, that's kind of not the point, but you get what I'm saying, right?"
They both laughed, clinked—or rather, they tried to clink—their styrofoam cups of coffee together.
That first taste of antimatter with sprinkles of stardust burned her tongue, was a tad too sweet, but was overall filling as she watched Michael drop her name as he went from architect to architect. All the while, he was singing her praises like she was the savior of all of humanity.
Well.
She kind of was.