Work Text:
It was around the 300th iteration of the neighborhood that Michael realized the perfect plan to torture the humans. He had to find a way to keep them from realizing it was the Bad Place. And he was sure he had stumbled upon it. The perfect set up to keep Eleanor from figuring it out, from seeking out Chidi, from revealing his plan embarrassingly fast.
He was going to pair up Eleanor and Tahani.
It was perfect, honestly; he had seen the way the two of them looked at each other. It was obvious that they were attracted to each other. After all, Eleanor had as much as said so in the first iteration. She would be so enamored that she wouldn't assume the match was made a little south of heaven. Then Tahani would open her mouth and things would go down hill for them, privately at least, from there.
And it seemed to be working. He had introduced the two of them, much as always.
"Eleanor, this is your soulmate, Tahani Al-Jamil," he said, standing in the modest one bedroom house he had created for them. It was too small for Tahani to be comfortable, and yet too big and clean for Eleanor. He had also included one of the clown paintings from the first neighborhood. He had been particularly fond of them, and he knew they would drive Eleanor batty.
"Holy fork," Eleanor breathed, looking at the beautiful woman in front of her. Michael could practically see the way she fell head over heels. After all, he had seen it 300 times before.
And then Tahani said something that he could only describe as Tahani-esque, name dropping three celebrities in the process. Michael barely suppressed his grin as he felt the annoyance flow off of Eleanor.
It was perfect.
This neighborhood had managed to last for six weeks. That was how long it took before Michael realized that something was wrong. He had been paying closer attention time, trying to keep a tab on Eleanor and Tahani and their personal life.
Which is why he knew he had to restart the neighborhood.
They weren't torturing each other. They had become friends, maybe more than friends if the rumors the demons were spreading were true. Perhaps they really were soulmates?
With a sigh, Michael transported himself to the beach. It was time to kill Janet again. Maybe neighborhood 301 would be the right solution?