Talk Nerdy to Me

Chapter 31: Little Girl Gone

Summary:

Victoria's text messages begin to get desperate, and Ra develops a plan to meet her without Chris' help.

Notes:

CW on this chapter, descriptions of kidnapping and violence, and mentioning of childhood SA with no details.

Chapter Text

Vacation at the onsen house flew by quicker than anyone would have wanted. Ra worked diligently on her paintings, completing the one of IN fast asleep in his bed, his hand curled cutely up against his face. Sans the embarrassing rat's nest his hair had made, replaced with just bits of the grey blanket that surrounded his shoulders.

She had started the drawings for the other three paintings, wanting them to look like they belonged as a set. If one were to lay all four out, they would all synchronize into the story she was telling. A date with Innie, with IN, with Baby Bread, and then... with Jeongin. In Ra's mind, the boys were diamonds, cut from rough ones, each facet differing from the last. She would only be able to show four sides of them each, at least for now.

Ra worked in the garden most of the time, chatting idly with whoever happened to be out there. IN himself occasionally came and peeked at the works, though he seemed to have decided not to do so after seeing the sketch of him mostly-naked with only a microphone and his own hand covering "the important bits." Somehow seeing your own face so absolutely bare for the world...

Ra had quickly developed a routine, heading inside to let paint dry in the evenings, fixing some dinner or other she'd gotten good at making for the boys, and then vanishing into her room to lay another layer of paint down. It was a fifty-fifty chance whether she actually ate any of the food she'd cooked.

"Ra," Chris said, leaning up against the door on Friday night. "Did you eat any of this before coming in here?"

She waved her hand. "I don't remember. I'm almost done with this wash, though, then I can take a break. The paint will streak weird if I don't finish."

He waited in the door for her to finish, patience in every line. When she looked up, she was startled to find him still standing there.

"Are you planning on finishing all four by tomorrow night?" he asked, holding his hand out toward her.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "But I want enough done that I can pace myself. Waiting on it to dry is the longest part."

"You've hardly taken a minute for yourself since we got here," he said quietly, tilting his head to the side. She still hadn't taken his hand, so he dropped it to his side. "Are you okay?"

Ra glanced down at her phone. She knew she should tell him about the disquiet she was feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her withdrawal from the others, from him, had been somewhat intentional, in part because of the teasing earlier in the week.

Victoria's texts had become more and more desperate as the week had drawn on. Ra felt like she was letting the other woman down, knowing she could not get to her before the plane landed in Sydney on Monday morning. It was causing Ra no end of distress. She knew she could tell Chris, and he'd immediately jump into action. He wouldn't sit this one out if he knew.

Ra... Ra had been helping people leave her father's cult since before she knew what that even meant. And she wanted to do it again. She was feeling out of her depth with the boys, useless, protected in a gilded cage with little freedom to go anywhere.

Worthless.

In spite of her relationship with Chris growing, she wanted to have a purpose.

She followed Chris out into the kitchen, where some of the others were scattered around the great room in various activities for the evening. IN and Seungmin were watching a new movie on the couch. Changbin was trying a new hobby, knitting, his legs thrown over the arm of a chair, yarn tangled around his fingers and needles, his phone replaying the same two or three steps. Han and Felix were playing Go.