Tying a Bell on a Disturbed Cat [closed]

Sweet and almost timeless, Liseran didn't know how long she was going to be there with him and she swore to herself it was the happiest day that had ever happened to her. Where everything had been so bleak: the empty family room where her aunts would call her to dinner, her tenth birthday when she realized the Dormirse's semblance would never bless her, the constant tragedies she saw before her eyes and then later happen as she tried to stop them...all of it just vanished away in this swift eternal moment. She heard Cheshire whisper in her ears and she felt herself nod, tears once again brimming in her eyes.

"How I wish that, too," she said. She gripped him tighter one last time, and finally let go, smiling like it was her first time ever.

As Cheshire felt Liseran let go he regrettably did the same with some slight hesitation. Staring into her smiling face, Cheshire's cheeks were reddening. Cheshire placed his fist over his mouth and cleared his throat nervously, his ears twitching anxiously. He looked up at the jewel trader who was staring at them the whole time.

"Uh... I- I'll take it," Cheshire stammered.

Cheshire slowly stood back up and dusted the dirt off his pants. He offered his hand to Liseran to help her up.

Liseran realized only now that so many people had been staring and she did her best not to make eye contact with anyone. As Cheshire made the purchase, she recalled the paper bag she had been holding.

"O-oh!" she said in epiphany. "That's right. I have something for the shop...and you...too."

Gingerly, she handed over the bag which would reveal two things. One of them looked like a plaque and the other was a box about the size of Cheshire's hand. The plaque was made of finely finished mahogany wood and gold plating.

"I thought it'd be nice for the shop," Liseran said, completely nervous and twiddling her thumbs. "It's not much...but I was in a hurry. I hope it will do..."

The plaque had something engraved on it.

This plaque is hereby given to
The Ace of Riders Dealership
As recognition for its outstanding service
And to wish it the best of success in the future

"I have no idea what plaques are supposed to say," Liseran laughed faintly as she scratched her head. "But I thought it looked pretty and...maybe it will bring in more customers for you."

She then put it back in the paper bag and revealed the other gift, the box. Inside was something she had hoped Cheshire would like.

"I have no idea why I got it," she confessed. "But I thought it would suit you."

It was a pocket watch of white gold. With a beautiful porcelain face, the watch's roman numerals had been delicately hand painted onto it and the hands were made of thin metal intricately patterned. A long chain trailed down into the box.

"I-it's my way of saying thank you," she managed to say.

Cheshire stared at the contents of the bag silently. Here neither uttered a word or made any motion. He turned to the right to hand the vendor some lien to pay for the ring and pause. When he finally turned to face Liseran, all he did was smile as he gazed at her. It wasn't must of a gesture but for those who have known him at all in the past, Cheshire was known for one thing, that he never showed emotion. For someone like him to smile even for a second, it was the ultimate gesture for him. Without saying a word, Cheshire clipped the chain of the pocket watch to his inner coat pocket and pocketed it along with the plaque.

Holding Liseran's hand, Cheshire walked with her down the street until they reached where Badnersnatch was parked. As Cheshire helps Liseran on the bike and starts up the vehicle himself, the faunus finally breaks the silence.

"So where do you live," he asks.

The smile said a million words to Liseran, somehow knowing that words weren't needed to convey thanks just as she had when she had embraced. The ring made her feel weirdly giddy and at the point of fainting, but in a good way rather than a bad one. She held Cheshire's hand one more time, but she was also doing it because of balance because she was in such a daze that she'd probably swoop over or something.

They reached the Bandersnatch. It was impossible for Liseran to think that just hours ago she and Cheshire had rode on it as complete strangers, not knowing it would have led to any of this. She got on behind him, now not so scared of holding his waist or even letting her cheek touch the soft back of his coat.

"So where do you live?" Cheshire asked.

Liseran smiled upon hearing his voice, but also felt a little saddened. The night was about to end for them now. But that's okay... she thought. It will hold so much more happiness than anything has my entire life.

"It's a bit past the northern docks," she said. "You'll have to follow the stone brick road form there to a cliff. That's where my home is."

Yes, she thought. The new home of mine that's brought me a strange, happy new life.

Following her instructions, Cheshire drove Liseran through the night until they reached the place she mentioned near the cliff. As Cheshire slowed the Bandersnatch to a stop, he asks her, "Is this the place?"

The cliff overlooked most of Vale and earlier in the evening, it would have reflected the sparkling lights of the city. But it was very late now and the stars were more visible now. Liseran smiled.

The cottage was a small one-floor home she had purchased with the help of her godmothers. There was a small garden and stone path leading to the stone house and pretty vines and orchids hung from its walls. Its dark black roof glittered.

"Yes," she said proudly. "This is the place."

"I'll walk you to the door," Cheshire declared as he kicked the parking brakes on Bandersnatch. Cheshire escorted Liseran up to her porch and stopped. He looked at her, her face illuminated by the moonlight. He remained silent, staring intently at her as they stood there in front of Liseran's house. Cheshire was unsure of what to do from here. No matter how much he tried he could not manage to keep his thoughts straight. He had always considered every possible and calculated every variable before he tried to do any action or speak any sentence, yet this night he had done so many things out of impulse. Everything he had done he had done without thinking and it resulted to this. No he was hesitant and unsure.

"May I... ask you something?" Cheshire managed to say speaking out of instinct. He decided to let his words come out of him naturally and spoke without thinking about it. "Is it okay.... for me to call you beloved?"

The walk to the door seemed like an eternity. Liseran felt once again nervous, heart pounding, mind racing, hands trembling. A few times, she glanced at Cheshire, trying to read his mind, but she couldn't. How was it she came upon him? How was it that she was so lucky to have had an evening with him? She could fee blood rushing to her cheeks again, but she couldn't stop it. She was in the borderline of confusion and joy.

They stood at the door for a while and Liseran could barely make out Cheshire's face in the shadow of the race.

"May I ask you something?" he finally said, though she was sure he had spoken just a minute ago. "Is it okay...for me to call you beloved?"

The words struck Liseran's heart in a place she didn't know she had. Her cheeks were on fire now and her eyes sparkling with tears and unbelievable happiness. She took his hands one more time and drew him closer to her, her lips right at his ears.

"You may be the first person to have ever asked," she said. "...and you'll be the only person allowed to do so."

Her words sounded like beautiful music as she whispered into the faunus's ears. Cheshire smiled for the third time that night.

"My... beloved," Cheshire whispered back, "I'm sorry... but for once I'm not going to be a gentleman..."

Spoiler:

Liseran was so surprised when Cheshire drew closer she was going to yelp, but instead her lips closed onto his into a soft, but passionate kiss.

Her cheeks burned furiously and her heart was pounding so much she could actually hear it bursting outside her ears. But she felt something else, too. Something she couldn't really identify because she had never felt it and she never dreamed she would. Her heart seemed to flutter and there was such sweetness, such happiness, that soon Liseran's confusion faded and she closed her arms around Cheshire to draw him closer to her.

For Liseran, it wasn't just a kiss. And she and Cheshire weren't just leaning on her front door in the moonlight, either. Her eyes were closed, but Liseran could see things that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. She could see hers and Cheshire's souls together, intertwined in some fate that had only been permitted now. She could see his sorrows even if she couldn't identify them. And she could see her own, her loneliness. And together, she could feel the scars healing...and renewing into...love.

Surely... Liseran thought. Even Cerinthe smiles upon this sight. Smiling because the bells have found a place they belong...and they're ringing...merrily.