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“This is Tahani. Your soulmate,” Michael said to Eleanor with a swoosh of his arm as a woman walked in.
A woman.
Okay, that wasn’t much of a surprise to Eleanor. As an openly bisexual woman, she knew it would be one or the other as her soulmate. And she knew that the other would be just as likely as one.
Michael gave his permanent smile and looked between them before walking out of the house, shoes clacking on the tile floor before reaching the welcome mat.
Eleanor stared at the woman. Tahani, he had said, was her name.
Tahani was tall and lean with dark wavy hair. Her skin was half a shade darker than what could be described as a golden-brown tone. Pretty. And not in the way Eleanor saw herself.
Like, flaming hot, drop dead gorgeous, could give a teenager an erection just by breathing kind of pretty.
But she was not very pleased.
“Excuse me? I must be imagining things. Are you a lady?” Tahani looked affronted. She had a British accent that floated in the air the way wind chimes did in the spring breeze.
“Um,” Eleanor raised an eyebrow. “Yes? I’m a woman.”
“Well, then something’s wrong. I don’t do…” Tahani waved a hand in the air. “This."
Eleanor rolled her eyes, just wanting to provoke the other woman, “You don’t do what? Girls? You don’t do girls? Well, I do. I do girls, Tahani.”
Then there was a long awkward pause as she let Eleanor’s words sink in.
“Soulmates...?” Tahani repeated, almost to herself, but Eleanor would take any and all opportunity to have the last word. Or just to talk to her in general.
“Yeah, sexy giraffe,” Eleanor walked up to her, arms crossed. She almost swallowed from nerves. This woman had a whole head of height on her and it was extremely clear.
“D-don’t call me that,” Tahani took a step back, despite having the “high-ground.”
“How about a rich, tan lady with legs for days?”
“Oh, God,” Tahani breathed.
“I think I already hate you,” Eleanor squinted.
“I don’t think you’re my soulmate either,” Tahani nodded. Finally, it was the first time they had seen eye to eye this entire conversation.
“Then, we’re in agreement,” Eleanor nodded.
“Yes, we are.”
Tahani let her eyes drift around, looking anywhere but at Eleanor. Eleanor stared directly at her, a smirk playing on her lips. The taller woman cleared her throat.
“Anyway, I’m going out to a party tonight,” she walked past Eleanor and through an open doorway.
Eleanor followed her into the room, which was revealed to be a bedroom. It was painted a light pink with floral stencils above the wallboards. The bed also had a similar print of flowers and butterflies. The curtains were a light green and matched the walls perfectly, and they let light shine through that just lit up the whole room.
In short, it was heavenly, like the rest of this goshdarn place.
Tahani threw open the doors of a mahogany wardrobe in the corner and let out a big sigh. It was filled to the brim with dresses, most of them without sleeves for warm days. There was a tiny drawer that slid open to reveal freshly pressed gloves of all different sizes inside.
“Do they expect me to wear *those*?” Eleanor snorted.
Tahani whipped around, “Excuse me? They are wonderful dresses.”
Eleanor gave her a look that made Tahani look aghast. “That’s it.” She pulled out a dress that did not match Eleanor at all. “This is what you’re wearing tonight to the party. No arguing.”
Eleanor put her hands up in the air, “Woah. That’s, um, not what I meant.”
“Well, I said exactly what I meant. This is what you’re wearing.”
“O-kay,” Eleanor took the dress and backed up slightly. She stepped into the attached bathroom to change, eyes wary on Tahani the whole time.
At the party, it was clear that Tahani was in her element, and Eleanor was... more than qualified to say that she wasn’t.
She was adorned in a champagne dress with floral patterns on the very bottom. It had low cut and spaghetti straps paired with white tights under pink heels.
She was swirling between throngs of people, chattering so much that Eleanor couldn’t keep up as she was dragged along.
Finally, Eleanor spoke up between groups, “Tahani?”
“Yes, Eleanor? I’m busy, right now,” Tahani responded, a little irritated.
“Yes, yes. I know. Super busy talking about... decorations... and stuff. But I’m bored. Can we at least get a drink?” Eleanor sighed, eyes drifting to the self-serve bar.
“That’s not at all what we’re talking about.” Tahani glanced at the drink counter as well. “But I suppose I have been neglecting you. Fine. We can get a beverage.”
“Praise whatever’s above,” Eleanor muttered under her breath.
“Aren’t we technically whatever’s above?” Tahani raised an eyebrow. She brought Eleanor over to the table in an unintentional sweeping motion.
Eleanor pursed her lips, trying not to giggle at the action. It was only a small thing for a short time, but she felt like maybe she was finally getting somewhere with this lady she was apparently stranded with. Well, not stranded exactly, but close.
She scooped up two glasses of bubbling champagne from the table and offered one to Tahani. The glass felt cool against her palm from the liquid inside as she also offered a smile.
“Erm, no thank you,” Tahani declined, gently raising a hand to the lip of the cup.
“Suit yourself. More for me,” Eleanor sighed and then down the first glass like it was a shot. The taller women’s eyes widened, practically bugging out of her skull.
“Eleanor, that was very unbecoming of you. Do you not know even how to properly drink champagne?” Tahani wrinkled her nose. In that moment, Eleanor felt the feeling of wanting to giggle dissipate from her, replaced by the urge to just be annoying some more.
“Oh, shut up. I’m drinking this how I drink everything,” Eleanor rolled her eyes and proceeded to mockingly take an exaggerated sip of the second glass. She set the empty one down on the counter, not even bothering to take a moment to put it away properly with the other dirty kitchenware.
Tahani could only muster a sigh. Nevertheless, she didn’t speak up, deciding to just let Eleanor be Eleanor so long as no one else was around to judge.
Tahani watched carefully as Antonio and Gunnar began walking over, hand-in-hand, her fingertips on Eleanor’s shoulder. They weren’t the only other openly queer couple in The Good Place, or even in the neighbourhood for that matter, but they were the ones who most like it was just normal.
Not that Tahani thought that gay people weren’t normal. It was just... refreshing to experience.
“Hey,” Gunnar raised his hand up like he was expecting a high-five. Tahani cleared her throat and took the excuse of shaking Eleanor to get her attention to not give one in return.
Antonio high-fived him instead and their fingers entwined, so that now they didn’t have any free hands. Just them holding each other.
It was so sweet. So incredibly sweet. And Tahani couldn't help but feel a rush of longing and envy. There was absolutely no chance she would ever get that with Eleanor, who hadn’t taken the hint and was stuffing her face with cocktail shrimp. On the other hand, there wasn’t any chance of her finding someone else.
Tahani cleared her throat and bumped her elbow into Eleanor’s side, teeth grit “Sweetheart, I think you might want to meet these people.”
“Huh?” Eleanor whipped her head around, looking partially disgusted at the nickname before remembering herself. She swallowed the copious amount of shellfish in her mouth and raised her hand in a half wave. “Hey. I’m Eleanor. Tahani’s... soulmate.”
Tahani sighed, “Yes, dear. I think they gathered that."
“Well, people in denial sure love to gal-pal us women up,” she shot back.
Antonio laughed awkwardly, “If you want us to leave you alone-”
Tahani immediately shook her head, tone going back to sweet, “No. No, that’s okay. Please, stay. It’s just a... lovers’ quarrel.”
Gunnar and Antonio looked between each other, but Gunnar shrugged and began walking toward an empty table. Antonio dragged slightly behind him, whispering to Tahani as she took a step, “It’s okay. It’s normal. These things happen.” She nodded lightly and focused on her moving feet.
Eleanor caught up with Gunnar and began chattering away. About what, Tahani wasn’t interested.
They sat down at the table together, Eleanor, who was still only talking to Gunnar, to the left of Tahani and Antonio, who was looking worriedly between the two women, to the right of her.
In truth, Tahani was also on edge. She didn’t mean for Eleanor to be upset at her. She wished that their relationship, along with the situation, was different that it really was.
She was watching the blonde, having waited several minutes for an opportunity to jump into the conversation when Antonio spoke up. He wasn’t exactly softspoken or quiet, especially when Gunnar was there to bring his personality out, so it surprised Tahani when he lowered his voice.
“You two can kiss, you know? I know things might be... rocky now, especially if what you thought your sexuality was is being questioned by this, but that shouldn’t stop either of you from being happy. Gunnar and I were nervous about public affection too at first.” Antonio glanced at his soulmate, who caught his eye, which in turn, caused Eleanor to look at them. He continued. “Just... don’t let these things stop you from being, well, proud.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind,” Tahani breathed out, head bowed.
Eleanor, in a flash of pity and guilt, put her hand on Tahani’s knee and a small smile shown on her face. Tahani tried to keep her cheeks from going hot and darker. While it wasn’t exactly successful, her heavy application of makeup helped. It was strange in this moment, to feel this way about Eleanor.
Sure, she wouldn’t exactly call them close after only meeting this morning, but she did feel like maybe they weren't as different as she had predicted they were this morning. In the sense of their emotional dynamic. Definitely not in their sense of style.
“I’m sorry for snapping earlier,” she murmured and placed her hand lightly over Eleanor’s, sunset orange painted fingernails drifting along her skin.
Gunnar cleared his throat gently, “Who wants to get a drink?”
Eleanor jumped up from her chair, mind shooting far away from the previous touch, “Me! Heck yeah!”
Tahani watched her as they swaggered to the drink counter, hand going up to hide the smile being tugged up on her face. She didn’t bother to hide the rest of her expression from the man beside her, mind only consumed by one thought.
*Eleanor is like no other person that I have ever met.*
She didn’t know if it was for the better or for the worse.
When they got home, Tahani threw her purse on the floor beside the bedroom and kicked her heels off. Eleanor followed behind her and unzipped her dress, ready to burn it. That is, if she could even manage to get out of it.
She got into bed, fingers tracing over the imprints left behind from her outfit and shoved her head under the silk cased pillow.
Tahani looked at Eleanor in bed and stood there, trying to ignore the fact that she was only in her underclothes.
“Um, there’s only one bed,” she scrunched her nose up.
Oh, shirt.
There *was* only one bed.
And the only couch in the house was a couch Tahani insisted was too fancy to sit on and risk wrinkling.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Eleanor stuttered and moved to roll off.
“No. No. It’s fine. We’re not soulmates. It’s fine. It’ll just be us as friends.
Sleeping in the same bed. Perfectly fine,” Tahani made a face, but laid down on the other side of the bed. Eleanor couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t take her dress off, which, though she liked wearing them much more, still couldn’t be comfortable for so long.
“If it helps, the bed is a California king,” Eleanor gave her an awkward smile. Tahani's right eye twitched, completely undoing her effort to make this seem normal. Then she shifted uncomfortably. There was a pause.
“Tahani, you must be… not the most at ease in that. Why don’t you change into some… pyjamas or something?” she murmured after a moment, trying to mimic Tahani diction in hopes of making her listen more.
Tahani shook her head. Eleanor sighed and reached over to undo the button on the back of her neck, “Come on. Let me just help you.”
Tahani swallowed and nodded, going with every move that Eleanor made. Soon, after several awkward moments of Eleanor’s cold hands, she was in just her pantyhose and bra. Those weren’t exactly the best to sleep in either, but she didn’t want to tell Eleanor that and risk having her remove those as well.
Odd. Normally, she didn’t mind showing off her smooth skin and finely cut curves. Not in a slutty way. Just in a way where she knew she was perfect for the task.
“Thank you,” she finally breathed, trying to make it as normal as possible.
“You know, what Antonio said at the party, that we can kiss…” Eleanor trailed off.
“Yes,” Tahani nudged her shoulder, urging Eleanor to finish her sentence.
Another drawn out pause before she began speaking again, faster and declarative, “I have an idea. We can make it into a game."
Eleanor sat up in bed, blanket held up around her. The stitched-on butterfly perched on a flower draped around her and pooled onto the bed.
“Make what into a game?” Tahani sat up too, arms crossed over her chest.
“Being soulmates. Kiss me. I dare you too,” Eleanor leaned in, a grin growing on her face.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me,” Eleanor wrapped her fingers around Tahani’s dark smooth arms.
“Are you… sure?” he coughed into her elbow.
“Very.”
“Okay.”
Eleanor leaned in closer and grabbed her face. She took a moment to admire in a way she hadn’t yet.
Deep brown eyes curtained by dark eyelashes. Eyeliner wings that gently swooped into sparkly eyeshadow. Her lips were a dark red from a lipstick that was probably made to plump them up, which definitely worked. The rest of her face had the perfect shades of skin and flush that only came from make-up expertise.
“You’re absolutely gorgeous,” Eleanor murmured.
For once, Tahani didn’t respond with an ‘I know’ or a ‘You don’t say’.
She could only remain silent, as she basked in Eleanor’s warm breath on her face. Tahani breathed back into her before leaning in.
It wasn’t long before Eleanor was on top of her in bed and her hands were running through Tahani’s long, long waves.
“Eleanor, please don’t stop,” she breathed out when they broke away.
“Do you do girls, now?” the blonde leaned back in, but her teasing tone was erased, replaced by something more genuine and almost needy.
“We’ll find out,” Tahani pulled her back in with one hand as she fumbled with her remaining clothes with the other.
Tahani couldn’t have been more correct.
Tahani rubbed Eleanor’s bare back in circles. It was the morning after their... intercourse and all she could feel was astounded.
The night before had been remarkable. Sweet and slow.
“Your skin still glows in the moonlight. And in the dawnlight,” the blonde murmured into Tahani’s neck, eyes closed.
She blinked and let out a laugh, “We had sex last night, and all you can do is talk about my skin. Very cliche. Additionally, I don’t need you to do that. I already know.”
Eleanor kissed her neck gently, “But you would be upset anyway if I didn’t say anything.”
Tahani nodded sagely, “That is true.”
Eleanor couldn’t help the rush of pride that came from already knowing Tahani the way she did.
“This doesn’t make us soulmates, does it?” she asked through the light feeling in her chest.
“I… don’t know,” Tahani breathed out. Her hand stopped its motion the moment that Eleanor pulled her body up, causing Tahani to freeze again, putting her in an awkward position.
If she moved her hand from Eleanor’s butt, would she be offended? If she didn’t, would Eleanor still be offended?
Eleanor cleared her throat and shifted again to kiss Tahani’s cheek, “I get that I’m super shapely, but you’re allowed to move if you’re uncomfortable.”
“Sorry,” she bowed her head, subconsciously leaning into Eleanor’s lips. Tahani moved her hand to try and rest somewhere safer.
On Eleanor’s hips? No, too close.
Her chest was definitely off-limits in their undressed state.
Back to below her shoulders? Would that be weird?
Tahani put her hand on the sheets beside them and let her fingers twirl around in the expensive fabric. Eleanor almost sighed in disappointment and plucked Tahani’s hand from its place and back to her spine.
“Remember when I said that I didn’t know if we’re soulmates?” she hesitated before drifting her back up and down.
“Yes? You just said that, like, two minutes ago?” Eleanor smiled tapping her index finger against Tahani’s cheekbone.
“I may have lied because I feel really warm when I’m around you...” Tahani bit her lip. Then she saw the smug look Eleanor was giving her and sighed. “No, Eleanor. I am not talking about masturbation or my... parts in any way.”
“Darn.”
“I was trying to say that I think I like you in the way that soulmates are supposed to like each other, which, to be clear, again, that isn’t a euphemism,” Tahani kissed her temple.
“You’d be a lot funnier if you made more of those,” Eleanor nodded.
“You’re ignoring what I said.”
“Can I get back to you on it?” Eleanor gave a smile.
Tahani deflated a bit. She wanted an answer now, but she understood that if Eleanor had to process, then she would simply have to wait.
“Tahani, love, I’m kidding. I mean, soulmates is a bit... far. Let’s work it out. And we could call it... being queer women together?” Eleanor brushed her waves back from her face.
She let out a sigh of relief and buried her face into Eleanor’s neck, “Thank whatever’s above.”