Title: dress it up with the trappings of love
Fandom: the good place
Rating: teen
Length: ~1200 words
Author notes: title from edwin mccain's i'll be, set in a random s2 attempt, the dnr mentioned is a made up edm band not the philly rock band X)

“Good morning residents! It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for- it’s a surprise but once you hear it, you’ll get it- Soul Wings!”

Michael looks around the crowd of Good Place residents, an awkward pause as audience members exchange confused glances. Chidi himself already has the beginning of a headache- were the wings for the soul, of the soul, a band, really great tasting barbecue wings? He’s pretty sure it isn’t the last one given Michael’s introduction, but Henry has sworn up and down that the one fish and chips from Flannigan’s changed his life.

“Huh, I thought there would be a bigger reaction than that,” Michael mutters.

“The residents do not appear to know what ‘Soul Wings’ are,” Janet says.

“Ah! Jianyu, come up here my good man. With a snap, your own pair of wings will be created that are a perfect reflection of your soul. As a monk, I’m positive yours will be a great example. And of course, as these are magical wings, after today everyone will be able to fly!”

Cheers go up at that, and Jianyu goes beside the podium. Chidi can’t help but think about his vow of silence, it tends to come to mind every time he sees Jianyu. In college, he couldn’t even stick to Monday meditation mornings, much less attempt such a strict vow.

Michael snaps his fingers and abrasively teal and yellow spotted wings appear on Jianyu.

“Wonderful! Not what I expected, but how exciting! Take them for a spin in the sky,” Michael says.

Jianyu looks up to the sky with a huge grin, bends his knees and jumps up, wings flapping and propelling him forwards. A deep bass seems to be coming with every wing beat, and Chidi is confused. Then again, it’s probably just because he doesn’t know Jianyu very well- really only knows the most basic of facts about him. That he’s a monk, his soulmate is Eleanor, and both of them seem to have successfully seduced the not-girl, not-robot Janet- and that’s an accidental memory from the fro-yo bathroom he’d rather forget.

Tahani leans in to murmur in his ear, “That’s DNR’s beat, I met them once- Erica really doesn’t live up to it.”

Chidi laughs lightly, Tahani has an incredible habit of breaking his incoming internal ethical debates. He’s pretty sure it’s a soulmate thing, but he also doesn’t want to take away any credit that should go to her if it is intentional. Or perhaps it’s a soulmate thing only in so much as Tahani is his soulmate in part because of her nearly magical ability to-

“Would you like to fly home after this? I bet our gardens are positively stunning from a hundred feet up.”

Chidi smiles, “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

.

Tahani and Chidi end up at the end of the wing acquisition line, which is probably his fault. He’s not sure when the line to Michael was formed, caught up in discussing their favorite post-impressionistic paintings. Janet’s said before that she can make anything appear, and Tahani’s already tested that thoroughly, a mini-museum on their mansion’s second floor. When Chidi first came to the Good Place he couldn’t imagine living in such a ridiculously huge place, but the opulent house has really grown on him. It suits the regal Tahani perfectly, and as the days pass it feels less like living in a deserted hotel and more like home. (He doesn’t even get nighttime queasiness from picking a room anymore, though admittedly he does get nighttime queasiness from thinking about Tahani, his soulmate, only a few doors down.)

“Chidi and Tahani, our last two love birds, ready to grow some wings? Who wants to go first?” Michael asks with a wide smile.

“Please,” Chidi says, gesturing to Tahani. His liver is already cartwheeling- what if the visual representation of his soul isn’t anything like he imagined? Should that change how he views himself? How could it not?

“If you’re sure darling,” Tahani says, stepping forwards.

Michael snaps, and two gorgeous wings appear behind Tahani. She looks like an angel, most of the feathers blindingly white with golden tips, a filigree frame.

“They’re- you’re beautiful,” Chidi blurts out, can’t get over how fundamentally right they look. They simply match her in a way that’s hard to pin down, and he’s never been good with aesthetic arguments.

Tahani smiles, her wings stretching before settling back down. “Thank you my dearest, your turn.”

Chidi gulps, shuffling forwards. What if he’s the only person in the entire Good Place who can’t get wings? What if the next activity is a group flight to some volcano and he’s stuck trying to navigate the ground all alone and- oh no, is navigating the sky going to be harder than the ground? Maybe it is best to avoid-

There’s a loud snap, a sudden heavy warmth on his back. Chidi turns, sees his wings are a deep midnight blue. Subtle, nice if a little- and then they’re hot pink, yellow, indigo, brown- they keep changing, flashing different colors at an increasing rate.

Chidi swallows, tries to look forwards, dizzy and sick at the sight. “Uh Michael, are they supposed to do that?”

“How extraordinary! I’ve never seen Soul Wings do such a thing. Maybe they’ll settle down after a few decades? Or maybe not- what fun! I have an architect meeting- you two enjoy now.”

Michael pops away with Janet, and Chidi had been so distracted by the wings he hadn’t noticed everyone else left. Just him and Tahani, and Chidi turns to her, half-fearing imminent rejection.

“Well it’ll certainly be harder to color-coordinate your outfits,” Tahani informs him, relief flooding through him.

Chidi laughs softly, “Yeah. Yours really are perfect.”

He reaches out and strokes a soft feather, hand freezing as he realizes what he’s doing. Tahani doesn’t seem to react, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Race you home?”

“We haven’t even tried flying yet-” Chidi starts, and Tahani’s already jumped up into the air, gold tipped wings gracefully flapping.

Chidi hesitates, can’t help seeing flashes of color out of the corner of his eye. When he got to the Good Place he thought the soul was immutable. It had to be with a Good Place right? Otherwise new people would be coming in, or at the very least leaving with possible change. Unless of course knowing of the judgment that awaited them rendered actions invalid, in which case it should still be possible to lose points. Perhaps no one had lost enough yet to merit the Bad Place? That it was simply a matter of time, and wasn’t that a horrendous conclusion. Chidi can’t help smiling at the thought, it practically has a British accent for all he can hear Tahani say it.

“The air’s lovely up here, I promise,” Tahani calls down to him. She really does make a picture perfect angel, a sunny halo around her. His heart swells, still can’t believe this afterlife is real.

And for once, Chidi doesn’t second guess an action, leaps up into the air.

.

(The attempt doesn’t last much longer, a middle school dance in the sky to celebrate that evening. Every other song is the Cha Cha Slide or Get Low- neither of which are easy to flap to- half the residents are super into it, and the other half awkwardly floating on the sidelines. There’s no alcohol for ‘authenticity’, and when Edwin McCain’s I’ll Be comes on Eleanor screams that this really is the Bad Place. Tahani freezes under his hands, and they’re falling, crashing to the ground-

Michael's fingers snap.)