3.X Interlude: Lise

The young brunette pretended to fall asleep as her acute hearing picked up on her big brother's frenetic pacing and mumbling. It was always like this when concerning her new brother. On most nights, he would be the sweetest older brother that Lise could ever wish for, on some nights, however...

"I can make a change..."

Lise was scared.

The young girl thanked the gods that Rouge was her big brother; someone willing to protect her and be there for her. But sometimes, Lise wondered just when did her adopted big brother turn into a monster.

"Heh."

The moment her big brother looked at her with an emotionless, bloodied face was the moment the young girl knew that her sweet older brother was more than capable of killing her fellow men. Rouge's cold, calculating gaze still haunted her mind's eye whenever she closed her eyes, more so than the older lady that held a blade to her neck. It was a shameful feeling; being afraid of the one that essentially took her in. But there was just something deep inside the young girl that wondered...

Was she about to lose her Big Brother to insanity?

"Yes... Yes..."

At first, she thought it was just a one-time thing; that Big Bro was merely using his wits and imagination to lighten up his own sour mood. There were the exceptions, of course, but as the nights went by... With every other nonsense word that the he spouted whenever he found himself rambling...

"Crop Cycles... Maybe Chemistry..."

Lise couldn't help but worry about her new brother's well-being.

It started off small. Big Bro woke up with a start one night, his eyes filled with tears and her breathing ragged as if he had seen a ghost. Like the good little sister that she was, she comforted the red-haired man, hugging him till he went back to sleep again. Eventually, it became a constant. Big Bro woke up, she'd hug him to calm him down, then they'd both go back to sleep like nothing ever happened.

"Pneumatics... Pharma?"

Then the night terrors became more frequent. More intense. Big Bro would wake up screaming, hugging himself as she rambled about what Lise was sure to be the events of how his parents were killed. She tried her best to be as supportive as possible; to be there for the person that essentially adopted her as a little Sister.

Lise tried to hold back her tears as she heard Rouge talking to himself again.

"Maybe steam power... Or basic plumbing..."

It tore her apart whenever she heard Rouge mumble about nonsense; imagining that the same person that was teaching and giving his own food to her was slowly becoming someone only worthy of becoming a jester. Once, Lise heard the other Nenners whispering to themselves about how her older brother has completely lost his mind while making up random words out of thin air.

All while still being frighteningly talented at smithing and Seigelcraft.

Maybe that was the reason why. She knew that her adopted older brother was smart. Scarily so. Perhaps the smarter a person was, the more likely they were to get lost in their own world?

"No... That'd be too inefficient..."

It ached her that she never knew what half of the words he spewed out meant. Maybe if she knew what her brother meant by them, she'd be able to understand just how he thought. Rouge always seemed to know everything there was about the world despite his tendency to make up his own words. From the intricacies of smithing to even something as highborn as reading and writing, Big Bro made it his mission to teach Lise all of these things.

Even that one time with what Big Bro called her 'heart.' It was strangely satisfying to know about that part of her body. Lise never considered herself a curious person, but Big Bro just taught her in a way that made her feel excited about something. Far from the boring sewing classes back at the orphanage, Rouge framed things in an engaging way. Every word he said was told in a certain way that she just found it exhilarating to listen to him.

"Perhaps Cell Theory?"

Even his ramblings were a curiosity to listen to. There was something magnetic to his knowing tone that just made Lise want to listen to her every word. Every time Rouge taught her something, whether it was about smithing, Seigelcraft, or any other subject that he seemed to have knowledge about, the young girl couldn't help but listen with rapt attention, trying her hardest to absorb everything her big brother said to her.

"Do I even know how to make gunpowder?"

Rouge said something about a 'scientific method' to her once as well. That every problem should be approached with an 'open mind' and a 'healthy dose of skepticism.' While Lise couldn't exactly understand the true meaning of the phrase, she could read him well enough to know that he was talking about doubting anything that she didn't know enough about. 'Question everything' as Rouge did say to her once.

"Might as well... Experiments though...."

Lise turned her back to her rambling brother as she mulled over her thoughts, the bed slightly creaking at the shift of its load. Questions... the one thing that she had too many of.

What was Big Bro planning? What was he thinking about? What did his words mean? While she was sure that he would answer all of her questions, there was still one thing that she was sure her brother won't ever tell the truth about. She knew that it was bad; that she should simply trust him, but Lise still hoped that her new brother would soothe her fears.

"For Lise..."

She felt her thoughts drift as her tired body sank deeper into the bed's cushions, an intrepid smile on her face as she heard her brother walk out of her earshot. While it was 'healthy,' as Big Bro would say it, to have questions, would it matter? She still trusted him with her life. Rouge fed her, protected her...

Loved her...

Like she was his own flesh and blood. It would be pointless to think about whether or not Big Bro would eventually lose his mind. At the end of the day, Lise knew that he still had her best interests at heart.

And so did Lise to her Big Bro.

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