Chapter Text
Masha was just chilling in their room, listening to some cool indie rock music they found on Mewtube. A piece made from a not very well known band from right here in Gravesfield.
“Masha, sweetie, there are some friends of yours looking for you at the door.” Her mom shouted into her room from wherever in the house she was.
“ Coming mom !” they shouted right back. Who would it be at this time in the morning? And without even giving them a heads up text? That probably meant that whoever it is was looking for some annoying favor from them.
They turned the corner towards the open door and- Oh!
“Hi, you two. What… What exactly are you doing here?” In front of them were standing Luz and Gree- Vee was her name. Two teens Masha didn’t exactly end off on a good note with.
“Hey Masha!” Luz greeted warmly, with Vee saying nothing and looking a lot more bashful. “We’re here to talk to you. Well, Vee is. I’m here for moral support. May we come in?”
The bashful girl turned to the peppy teen by her side, mortification all across her face.
“ You didn’t need to put it that way. ” she complained through gritted teeth. Masha had a feeling they weren’t supposed to have heard that.
Maybe they should just try and help change the subject.
“So, Luz, you seem much better than the last time we talked back at school. Solved whatever was weighing you down?” Luz was looking much better than that time, or even at Halloween. Her clothes were in a much nicer state and her hair was better kept, now bunched up in a small ponytail. And most importantly, she didn’t look like she had stared death in the eyes any more.
“Ah, yes, that moment. Hehehehehehe…” Now it was Luz’s turn to look sheepish, complete with an awkward laugh “Yeah, I was going through some tough times back then… But nothing a good pep talk from one’s friends can’t solve.”
Masha continued: “I actually thought about introducing the two of you to each other because I thought you were similar and it would help Luz, but… I didn’t count on you already knowing each other.”
Seemingly spurred by a mysterious force, Vee finally decided to start talking: “ Hahahahahahahaha , what a coincidence that was! Me and Luz, being so similar, y-yeah ! A-And knowing each o-other before this!” That got her an elbow to the arm, courtesy of Luz.
“Vee, focus. You are the one who wanted to come here.”
Vee took a deep breath, staying silent for a few seconds, trying to calm herself down.
“Sorry. Is-Is there anywhere we can go where we won’t be heard? It’s… embarrassing.” The girl with the green hair asked.
Masha hadn’t known Vee for long, but even so she had the amazing ability to get Masha confused, and this time was no different. What would a girl she barely talked to want from her that was that embarrassing? But still not embarrassing enough that she invited her admittedly close seeming friend Luz with her. An apology for yesterday?
…actually, if Vee was half as shy as Masha thought she was, that was probably it.
“Well, we can talk in my room, if we really need to.” Their curiosity had been piqued the moment they met the girl, and perhaps now they’d finally get some answers. Or at least get to know her more. “It’s just me and my folks in the house, and they aren’t too keen about invading my privacy.”
So now, there they were, Masha sitting on the bed, while Luz and Vee sat on desk chairs, Vee sitting normally and Luz with the back of the chair to her front.
“I-I wanted to apologize,” Vee began, with both Luz and Masha observing her. “Not just for what happened yesterday. B-But that too. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that. In truth, I do really want to be… friends with you, bu-but I was scared.”
So it was about yesterday! “Consider it water under the bridge, girl. But trust me, I don’t bite. Nothing to be afraid of. We non-binary are pretty chill folks.” To make their point, they pointed a finger at themself and gave a smile.
Vee smiled weakly, and even blushed a little. “That’s not the issue. It’s nothing to do with you, it’s- it’s me. I-I was scared that you would find out something about me that I want to keep hidden. And I didn’t want to try and talk to you again while still lying to your face.”
Oh? She was lying to Masha? Now their curiosity was really piqued. “Go on.”
“I-I-I-I-I-” She looked towards Luz expectantly.
“C’mon Vee, you can do this! You said to me that you know in your heart that we can trust them.” Luz even did a small fist pump to encourage the other girl.
“Haaaangh...” The green haired girl gave a gulp. “The Luz you knew, the one you met at Reality Check Summer Camp. That wasn’t the real Luz. That wasn’t her.” She pointed to the brown haired girl at her side, who gave a small wave. “That was me.”
Even more confusion emanated from Masha “...Huh?”
“And what I look like now? This isn’t even my real form. I’m… not like you, Luz or the other people of this realm. I’m not human.”
“What are you talking about?” What was she talking about? How could anyone not be human? “You look pretty human to m-”
Then Masha witnessed something impossible.
The entirety of Vee’s body started changing, clothes and all, with the small exception of the open zipper lilac jacket she was wearing on top of the rest of her clothes, though she quickly took that off.
Brown skin melted into green and cream scales. The bushy hair seemed to retract, and the lighter parts of it changed color into the same navy-blue tone that the darker parts were. Legs elongated and merged into one scalie snake-like tail, with what looked like some sort of fin sticking out the tip. Sharp-pointed claws could be seen growing from the now rounder fingers. Inside the mouth, one could see two small fangs poking out of the bottom. The eyes gained a bluish tint, but otherwise remained unchanged.
Masha couldn’t believe what they just saw.
“....ok, go on.” Were the only words that came to mind.
And so the two girls explained everything to Masha. Mostly related to general information of the Boiling Isles, Vee’s identity as a basilisk, abilities and past, with a bit of Luz’s adventures in the Demon Realm sprinkled in here and there.
The other human in the room listened attentively. They had plenty of questions about other worlds, shapeshifting demons, and mostly, magic, but couldn’t seem to get them out at all, so dumbfounded they were about what they just saw and what they were listening to.
Luz and the demon actually lived together, that’s what they said, no? Wait, had Luz said they found a way for humans to do magic? So witches were an actual thing, and unlike what the people of old thought, they weren’t human women able to do magic, but a full on different species from another world! Were basilisks able to shapeshift into anything ? How’d a basilisk’s powers work? Was there any explanation other than simply ‘magic’? How’d magic even work!?
What they thought was just the demon being ‘shy’ suddenly felt like an understatement, considering the new fact that the demon had been born and raised inside a lab, probably using some sort of non-natural scientific- or more likely, magical- means since apparently the species used to be extinct . Then for the first 13 years of its life it was kept in cages and experimented on, and that had been the entire reason that species was brought back .
And even after escaping, the demon’s only choice was to pretend to be someone it wasn’t and something it wasn’t, because this universe had no such things as magic or demons or any other species that can talk other than humans.
The best case scenario is having to hide who she was from anyone that might be scared of her true form and abilities. Which on Earth is pretty much every single sentient being .
“...and that’s the short version of the story.” The basilisk’s face, while very different from any human Masha had ever seen, still showed its very human-like emotions loud and clear. It looked scared.
Terrified, even.
Barely holding in its fear, only kept from breaking by the trust it knew it had from the girl besides it.
A moment passed.
Two.
Three.
Five, eight, ten.
What now? The demon was just staring at their face, its large eyes almost boring a hole into the human before her. That… wasn’t something she could do, was it?
“Ok,” The other human in the room finally said after what seemed to be an eternity of silence fitted into two minutes according to the clock on the wall. Even Luz, who had been so confident when all of them entered their room, showed some nervousness on her face right now. “What do you have to say for all this, Masha?”
Oh.
The basilisk and Luz were awaiting their response. Masha had kept completely silent during the explanation, just taking it all in.
“Why… Why tell me all this?” It’s true, they could have kept completely silent about all this, and Masha would be none the wiser. Still keeping that nagging feeling in their brain, but pretty unlikely to suspect magical basilisks from another dimension.
The demon, after another deep breath, was the one that responded this time: “It was something I needed to do. Having to hide from you and the rest of Cabin 7 was… excruciating. I knew that if I pretended to just be ‘Vee the human’ you guys would figure something was up, having already known the ‘Luz’ of Reality Check Camp.
I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore. I’m- I’m prepared to never talk with you again. I’ll just… ignore you if I see you around the neighborhood. And I’m sorry for dumping all this on you.”
“N-n-no. You don’t need to d-do that. I d-don’t want to cut t-t-ties with you like that.” That took way more effort to say than they wished it did. Masha was gripping their bedsheets in a deathgrip. Their palms were all sweaty. And… was their body shaking? “I-I-I don’t care what y-you are.”
“You don’t have to lie to me!” shouted the basilisk “I can see how scared you are! You- you think I’m frightening. Disgusting…”
“N-N-No, that’s not true .” Ok, maybe they should try and keep their voice down… which they weren’t sure if they could.
Then, maybe they could just tell the unvarnished truth about what they thought of it- no, not it. Her. Vee.
“Ok, I guess it’s a little true. I-I won’t lie and say I’m not s-scared to my bones here. That I’m not terrified that apparently one of my friends is actually some horrif- some weird looking shapeshifting creature from another realm.”
Vee’s head drooped at their hurtful words.
“B-but, even though all my instincts are telling me to run away from the dangerous looking demon in front of me, I know that they are wrong. I know you aren’t dangerous, Vee. I’m not going to run. I don’t want to stop being your friend.”
Her head lifted up.
“I’m j-j-just going to need to take some time to get used to you again. S-s-sorry for this hassle.”
“A-and you’re not mad that I lied to you during summer camp?”
While Masha did want to respond, their heart was feeling like it would pop out of their chest “...I’m just going to grab a glass of water before we talk more, ok? Give me five minutes.” With that, Masha bolted from the room.
A glass of water later, they had shut themselves in the bathroom to calm down. They had to get their emotions under control. It wasn’t fair to Vee, who had to muster all her courage to come here and reveal her greatest secret to Masha, all while still clearly being scared of what Masha’s reaction might be.
They deserved to talk with someone who wasn’t freaking out.
They couldn’t believe demons and magic were real . That the existence of a whole other world was more than just science fiction. That the cuckoo Jacob Hopkins was right .
…Well, that might be giving too much of a point to that menace. Masha just heard that they didn’t come from Mars, and they were pretty sure demons didn’t have time machines. And if they did, they probably weren’t powered by human teeth.
Masha couldn’t help but giggle at their thoughts about the former Gravesfield Historical Society manager.
Hey! It was working! Their hands stopped shaking, and their heartbeat seemed to have slowed down a bit.
Now that Masha could picture Vee in their mind without going into a frenzy, she honestly looked… kinda cute? The big eyes, goofy mouth, and noodly body kinda gave her a huggable feel.
Ok, they now felt ready to go back!
They just passed a second time by the kitchen to grab some more water glasses for the girls (Did basilisks drink water? Probably, they were pretty sure they saw Vee drink a cup before.) before making their way to the room. The girls seemed to have started talking during their absence.
“- course it was going to end up like this. Masha looked terrified. They hate me. Just like everyone else.” Vee’s voice said.
“Like everyone else… like mom, like me, like Eda, like King, like Amity, Hunter, Willow and Gus…?” Masha didn’t know those names, but by the sarcasm in Luz’s voice they were probably people who didn’t hate Vee.
“Yeah, but those were witches used to Demon Realm stuff. Or you! Or your mom who thought I was wearing a costume at first!”
A silent moment passed.
“Ok, I guess your mom figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t a costume. Don’t give me that look, Luz! But still, Masha-”
“Masha just said they wanted to keep being your friend. Don’t be that hard on yourself.”
“What if they were just lying to protect my feelings?”
Ok, this had gone on long enough.
“I’d say if I were lying to protect your feelings that would probably mean I care for you, right?”
The basilisk’s head snapped towards the person entering the room, two full glasses of water in their hand, which they then handed over to the others.
“Well, what did you guys want to talk about again?”
Vee made a face that seemed to have a combination of fear, sadness and embarrassment all at once.
“Oh yeah!” Masha continued, remembering the question asked right before they opted to leave the room. “I’m not mad at all with you, Vee. I can kinda get why you’d be hiding as someone else considering… Well, everything. How do you do it?”
The basilisk’s face quickly switched to one of confusion: “Do what?”
“Shapeshifting, of course? How does it feel to change your body on a whim? There are so many humans who’d love to be able to do what you do!”
“I… don’t know. It’s just… something my species can do, I think? I just… think of the form I want to take, focus my magic and take it. Like so.”
In the blink of an eye her body once again shifted, this time her final form being the old Luz disguise she used to use, complete with well-groomed short brown hair, a hairclip and the blue unadorned jacket she was always seen using back then, quite in contrast to the brown, seemingly college branded one the real Luz was wearing right beside her.
“Awww, we look like twins!” The human girl gave a big smile at her doppleganger/friend/sister.
“Thank you, Masha.” The demon-turned-human, now some slight redness in her cheeks, told them.
“For what? I didn’t do anything special.”
“For accepting me. And wanting to keep being… friends. And not being hurt that I lied. That’s special.”
“Girl, being accepted is like, human rights 101. Everyone’s supposed to have that. If you think it’s supposed to be something special you need to earn, then I’ve got bad news for you.”
And then she gave them the confused stare again. The girl can’t seriously be doubting them on this .
“Well, I’m not hum-”
“Oh, shut up. You know what I mean. That doesn’t matter. You still deserve to be loved!”
“Just trust them, Vee.” The ponytailed girl said, starting to get a bit annoyed at her cohort’s constant putting herself down “Please, I don’t know many other ways of telling you the exact same thing.”
“...Ok, sorry. Just, thanks, guys.”
Vee then transformed back to her demon self, took both her arms and grabbed the other two people in the room into a hug. Luz instantly reciprocated, and after a second of surprise, so did Masha.
“Huh, you’re pretty warm, Vee.” the older teen commented.
“Umm, thanks?” the demon perplexedly responded.
“No, I mean… You have scales and a snake tail and everything, I thought you’d be cold-blooded.”
“Oh. Well, no, basilisks are warm-blooded. We’re demons from the Demon Realm after all, not Human Realm reptiles. I’d be… pretty sluggish at this time of year in Connecticut if I were cold-blooded.”
“Hmm, and you’re so soft despite the scales. Mind staying like this a bit more?” Masha had already closed their eyes and was fully enjoying the moment by then.
“Umm, no, not at all. I don’t mind.” Vee was now fully blushing, her entire face gone red, though that fact went unnoticed by Masha.
“Yay, group hug!” And then Luz crushed the moment into tiny specs of dust by squeezing the other two a bit too tightly, which only earned her a glare from the basilisk.
After the other two managed to pry off Luz, the chat continued:
“We definitely gotta tell the rest of Cabin 7 about you. You know David would flip out !”
“I know… But I’m not a cryptid.” That last part the basilisk mumbled out, “But him and Clara flipping out is what I’m worried about.”
“C’mon, you know him as well as I do, he’d say this is the most awesome thing in the world.”
“I remember he couldn’t stop talking about wanting to meet a Yeti, a Jackalope or a Sea Serpent during camp…”
“Wait! Do you think you could shapeshift into those things? We could surprise both him and Clara with that!”
“I think… In theory, yes? I’ve never tried to shapeshift into something that doesn’t exist, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to. And you think they wouldn’t tattle on me once they find out what I am?”
“Not a chance, they’d be too stoked about having a demon pal for that!”
The last person in the room butted in: “You should really introduce me to your other friends, Vee!”
“Weren’t you scared of them the last time I met them?”
“Well, back then I thought they were random judgy teenagers, now I know they are your friends! It’s different!” Luz argued with a pout.
“Hey,” Masha began, “I can’t say anything bad about another weirdo wanting to join our weird crew. If the girl wants to, I’d say invite her.”
“Oh, if you want a weird crew, I have just the witches to introduce you to.” Luz’s smile was now beaming. “A wise witch once taught me that us weirdos have to stick together, after all.”
Masha just remembered something: “Oh yeah, you did say that there were witches in that Demon Realm of yours. Wait… Those kids you were hanging out with during Halloween, Luz. Were those the witches?”
“Yep. Willow, Gus, Hunter, and of course, Amity.” Luz’s smile became even wider at the mention of that last name.
“Amity is Luz’s girlfriend,” Vee whispered to Masha, explaining the situation. “Actually, witches don’t look all that different to humans other than the pointy ears… and the ability to do magic, of course.”
“I’d love to fully meet them someday, Luz.” Then, they turned towards Vee to ask: “So, can I see about scheduling a hangout between the four… the five of us?” they asked, wiggling their phone in their hands.
“I guess I was planning on having this conversation with them too at some point, so… Actually,” Masha thought Vee looked a lot more confident in that moment “Let me text them. They do also have my phone number, after all, even though they think it’s Luz’s.”
That was great. Masha liked to see Vee confident and taking charge of stuff. They were also happy that they finally got the answers they wanted about the mystery of Luz and ‘Green’.
It even turned out that they had been right on many things! Yes, they had met Green before, and Luz had felt so different because she was a different person.
Though at that time they wouldn’t have guessed that the reason for all that weirdness was actual demons.
They were surprisingly fine with that idea, though.
Over a week had passed since that fateful day when Vee spilled her heart to one of the most important people in her life, and things seemed to be looking up for Vee.
The two secret keepers managed to find a time to hang out with the other two friends, and somehow convince them to meet up in a dark corner of the nearby Gravesfield Woods.
Things there went surprisingly well, at least after the first moment of pranking the two that Masha managed to convince Vee to do. Clara and David were pretty understanding after they had everything explained to them, and were even pretty amused by the prank itself!
With Vee back in her human disguise, the group of friends went out to the cinema to watch that animated movie with the blue skinned elf brothers looking for their missing father, Sideward . Vee was always amused with all the weird ways humans portrayed magic in fiction, and now she could even talk about that with her friends. The day ended in the four going out for a pizza dinner, and just chatting the night away.
And now, Vee was in uniform, getting ready for her first part-time job.
With a pair of jeans, brown boots, ears morphed into more human looking ones underneath her hair, and a green shirt with the words “G.H.S. Staff” printed on it, she was ready for her first day as Assistant Junior Curator for the Gravesfield Historical Society, right under the current Junior Curator, Masha… Which were both very fancy titles for ‘two kids that would do whatever odd jobs the manager demanded of them’.
Vee had been sure that Masha was the new manager after Jacob got booted from the position, but their only response to this was: “Big wigs at city hall giving a manager position to a 16 year old? Even with this being such a small exhibit, there’s no chance at all.”
Turns out the actual new manager was a very hands off woman that pretty much barely ever showed up to the building, and was fine letting the two teenagers do most of the physical work and just coordinate remotely… Which was fine in Masha’s book, since it gave them free reign on the exhibits setup, as long as they followed the theme proposed by the manager.
One thing Vee was unsure was how she even managed to land this job. Sure, it was a part time job, but she was a 14 year old, and one with no ID card at that.
Masha, the one who had gotten her this job, just winked at her and said they had their ways. That either meant that no actual documentation was required and all it took was Masha’s recommendation, or…
Yeah, knowing them it was likely that.
Hopefully.
It was during the end of one of these middle of the week days that Vee was sweeping the floor, lost in thoughts.
She’d been trying for weeks to gather her courage to ask Masha out, but never quite managed to get a word about it out. Usually Vee wouldn’t dwell on her romantic feelings for that long, but after Luz came back announcing to the world her intent to go out on a human world date with Amity during the weekend, Vee’s mind wouldn’t stop going back to her co-worker.
At that moment she wished she was more like Luz or one of those anime protagonists who can never discern anything about their own crushes or romances.
Though Vee supposed she didn’t really know anything about Masha’s interest in herself, or lack thereof…
Vee knew the only option she had if she ever wanted to quell that doubt was to just ask them out, but… ugh, confrontation was not her strong suit.
And unlike the last big thing she wanted to reveal to Masha, it wasn’t exactly a possible life or death situation, so she wasn’t under as much pressure from herself to come to a decision. Not that Vee felt any better about possibly simply being friendzoned instead of locked up in a cage like a wild animal, but… at least she wasn’t at risk of being locked up in a cage like a wild animal.
At least being silent this time wasn’t something that was tearing herself about inside, so… she could deal with waiting a bit longer, hoping the enby would pick up on her feelings and maybe ask her out themself…
Though again, Vee had no clue if they were simply unaware of her feelings or actually knew, didn’t reciprocate but also didn’t want to break their friend’s heart. And if they were unaware, would they ever find out on their own?
Not being able to read people well was hard .
“Hey, you finished with the cleaning already? I’m done with the last visitors for the day, so if you’re finished we can leave together.” The tour guide/front desk person popped in to ask her.
“Oh, I’m almost done here, Masha!” Vee responded. The time really passed by quickly when she got distracted.
All she had to do was gather up all the dust she sweeped into the dustpan, then into the trash, and… done!
With Vee’s tasks finished, Masha and Vee grabbed their bags from behind the front desk and locked up the building.
“We still have some time before I think my parents are going to make a fuss about me coming back late. Wanna go grab a snack or something?” Masha proposed, as calm as their usual self.
“That sounds lovely, Masha. You always know how to make a girl happy.”
Oh Titan, did Vee really say that out loud? That was too sappy for her tastes.
“What are friends for, am I right?”
“Yep, hahahahaha. Friends!” Vee could feel the warmth concentrating in her cheeks. Oh no, she was blushing, wasn’t she? Please let Masha not be looking at her. Good, they seemed to be checking something on their phone.
“There’s this smoothie place I know about three blocks away, it should still be open at this point in the afternoon. How about it?”
“Y-Y-Yep, I’d be down for that.” C’mon Vee, don’t start stammering now! Keep your cool, keep your cool .
The two friends traveled through the mostly empty Gravesfield streets. The sun was already setting, and the air was starting to get chillier.
Vee could see the fallen autumn leaves blowing in the wind. Pretty soon, she'd likely see snow for the first time in her life. While snow certainly existed in the Demon Realm, it only really snowed in high places like the Titan’s Knee, where Vee had never been to.
Her month or so spent in the Demon Realm in hiding after the castle escape also ended up in her not seeing much of the Isles’ natural phenomena. Though she sadly had the displeasure of having to escape the boiling rain.
“So, how’s life been going? Bickering with your sister a lot? As an only child, I don’t envy you one bit.”
“Bickering with my… huh?” The closest things Vee had to sisters were all still on the Boiling Isles, and she really didn’t care for most of them, other than-
“I’m talking about Luz. You are living with the Nocedas, and you two do share a room, no?”
Their ideas of her home life were sweet, even if not entirely accurate “Yes, but… I’m more of a… long term guest than a family member.”
“Really?” Masha looked at her suspiciously, “Why do I have a feeling that if I asked Camila or Luz they would disagree with you?”
That was not what the demon was expecting the conversation to veer into. And she had more important things to think through at the moment “A-Anyway… I don’t bicker that much with Luz, either way. Sure, she’s sometimes annoying with her lack of social tact and her obsessions, but… she’s a fine roommate.”
“Yep, sounds to me like you’re on your way to becoming fine sisters.” Masha responded with a laugh in their voice.
Vee was pretty sure she got even more red than before: “Can we please just talk about something else?”
“You know, you look pretty in the sunset.”
And there went the last few specs of her face that were still not red “ What!? ” Ok, Vee hadn’t known her voice could go that high.
“I mean, the shade of green of your hair goes great with the shade of green of the G.H.S. shirt, and they both look pretty in the orange of the sunset. That’s just factually aesthetically pleasing.”
“I- Um- Uhh- thanks.” She didn’t know how to recover from being a blushing mess after being dealt that mortal blow.
Wait. They had got to have been teasing her with this line. That line really just sounded like something right out of a romantic novel!
So… So they had to know about her crush. They had to. And if they were calling Vee pretty… Did that mean that it was mutual? Could it be that her stray thoughts and daydreams about them were actually true?
She was waiting for a move from them to officially start this relationship, but… knowing they actually knew about her feelings made her feel… more confident. Feel that… maybe, just maybe, she could actually ask them out on a date.
“H-H-Hey, M-M-M-Masha.” Wow, in her mind Vee thought this would be so much smoother than it’s already going. With renewed doubt in herself, Vee closed her eyes, steeled herself and continued: “W-W-Would our hangout at the s-smoothie place be, like, a-a-a-a d-”
Just. Get. That. Last. Word. Out. Please. “D-d-d-d- A date?”
Did she do it? Did she ask her out? The past five seconds had just happened and they were already a blur in Vee’s mind.
She opened one eye… only to see the older teen holding a hand to their chin, apparently in deep thought.
“A date? Huh, I don’t know, I never thought about it as a date. Why would it be a date? Unless… wait! Do you like me in a romantic way?”
What?
What??
What??
They didn’t know???
Just dig a grave for her right then and there, Vee was ready to bury herself into the ground in embarrassment.
“Actually… Do I like you in a romantic way?”
They’re having to ponder this? Oh no, that probably means a rejection coming her way. Why did time seem to be going on so slow? Vee didn’t know if they could take this anymore.
Just get it done, break her hear-
“Oh goddess, I think I do .”
Vee could use a bucket full of water right about now. Both to cool her head down and to hide her head inside of.
“I guess it’s a date, then.”
“ HOW ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT ALL THIS? ” Vee’s mood managed to do a full 180 from sadness based embarrassment into lividness based embarrassment. Her face was already fully red in any case.
“It’s just a date, no need to get so worked out about it.”
“It’s- just- a- ARGH, why??”
“Maybe we should go get that smoothie before continuing this conversation?” they asked with a worried smile on their face.
“YES THAT’S A WONDERFUL IDEA LET’S GO!” She could definitely use a calm-me-down right now.
“And if you could find it in yourself to stop screaming before we get there it would probably make other people less concerned.”
“I’LL TRY TO, THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN!”
What the heck was going on with Vee’s life anymore? Sure, she was pretty certain romantic troubles were normal human fare, but… this?
We’re all humans that oblivious to their own crushes? Luz, Masha, and even Camila, according to a couple of stories she told about when she first met Luz’s father Manuel.
Vee’s banana-blueberry smoothie had managed to bring her mood down from livid to just extremely miffed at the person sitting in front of them, cheerfully slurping a carrot-pumpkin-sweetened smoothie.
“C’mon, don’t look so sour, Vee! Unless… your smoothie isn’t sour, is it?” They asked Vee.
“No, I’m just mad at you.”
“Hey, I never meant to make you feel bad, you know that?”
“Yeah, and that just makes me angrier. You helped me reconnect with the gang. You helped me get a job at the same place you work , despite me not being legally able to hold one. You didn’t bat an eye at the romantic lines I let escape. And you said that incredibly corny romantic line to me back then.
I thought you knew of my crush, or at least had a crush back!”
“And I do! I just…” An embarrassed expression adorned their face, coupled with the old scratching of the back of the noggin “Didn’t consciously know it until you asked me out.”
“How? How is it possible to not know you like someone?”
Masha gave that one a shrug “No idea. I guess I just don’t think about romances that much. I’m more of a historical fiction kind of pal.” A wink was sent in Vee’s direction, which didn’t make her pout any less. “If it makes you feel any better, this isn’t the worst case of me being oblivious. My last boyfriend was similarly mad at me when he found out I didn’t know we were dating.”
“You… You dated someone without knowing?” Vee was just… shocked. That there sounded like something out of a bad book, but there they were, admitting that it happened to them.
“I mean, I also go watch movies, eat out and have sleepovers with my friends. And we never really kissed or did anything more… untoward.” They said while doing a rather vulgar gesture with their hands. “Though the immense amount of compliments he gave me and all the hand holding really should have tipped me off.”
Nope, Vee still couldn’t get the possibility of this situation into her head.
“I… Ok then. So, if I want to do something romantic with you, I have to be direct. I’ll keep that in mind.” Being so open about her feelings might be a challenge for the kind of person Vee was, but… she was willing to try to avoid any more misunderstandings.
…cool. So they were officially on a date. What did people do on a date that they didn’t do in a normal get-together?
Oh, no, Masha was staring at her.
Oh no, Vee was staring at Masha staring at her.
“I stand by what I said to you earlier. You definitely look pretty.”
Oh, Vee guessed she should respond to their compliment.
“Thanks, you… err, you have beautiful eyes?” Vee, why do you gotta be so awkward in everything?
If they had noticed her awkwardness, they didn’t show it, since they responded soon after:
“Aww, thanks, Vee! But they’re nothing next to your eyes. They are so unique!”
Luckily after that the conversation steered towards more mundane topics, which Vee could handle much better. Current sports teams, Masha’s plans for a new exhibition concerning the early 1900s, some random facts Vee learned about biological evolution from the library, wondering what Clara and David were doing for the holidays, and whether or not David was finally getting rid of his flip-flops when it started snowing.
By the time the two finished their smoothies, it was already fully dark outside. The night was as chilly as expected for a late autumn night, but luckily the two had remembered to pack something for the cold, with Masha having a dark blue jacket and Vee having grabbed an orange sweater from Luz’s old clothes.
Vee wasn’t entirely used to wearing actual clothes instead of shapeshifting them onto her, but clothes made out of herself didn’t really help to protect her body from the lowering temperatures. Basilisk scales were a bit more heat proof than regular human skin, but not enough to go around technically naked in the winter.
“So, one question for you.” Masha asked her after they had left the store “Are we, or are we not dating right now?”
“I… don’t know? You’re the human with previous relationship experience here.” What Vee knew about relationships were thanks to romantic movies (which she knew should be taken with a grain of salt) and the stories Luz would tell about her time spent with Amity. Apparently, they had officially started dating after a… “tunnel of love mishap”, as she called it.
Vee and Masha certainly hadn’t been through anything as grand as something like that.
Despite them being the one to ask the question, Masha was quick to respond: “Then I guess it just depends on if we want to or not. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”
Still as direct as ever. It made Vee so embarrassed, but so happy all at once. “I- Yes, yes I would very much like that. Would- would you like to be my… my… uh, what’s the word for a non binary partner?”
Vee had read up on a bunch of knowledge on LGBTQ+ subjects, thanks to living in the same room as a bisexual girl, and in hopes this day would come, but… she seemed to have a glaring omission in her studies.
“Call me your enbyfriend, then. Or just partner works. A good tip for if you date any other nonbinary folks is, just ask them.”
That was fair, Vee guessed. So, it was official. That felt… a bit more like she was closing a deal and a bit less romantic than she hoped it would be, but-
“Want a kiss on the lips for goodbye?”
“Umm… Ahem… I… Maybe we can take things a little bit slower?” She didn’t know if she’d be able to keep her disguised form after a kiss. Her heart couldn’t take it.
“I was teasing you, Vee. You still look great with a red tint.” Of course Vee was blushing again. When would she not be? “What about letting me accompany you back home, then?” They offered one of their hands to her.
“That… that’s something I think I can handle.”
And so, the newly minted couple walked off in the moonlight towards the Noceda house, already planning their next date.
In truth, not that much had changed. Other than a bit more physical intimacy, they were still two people who just liked spending time together, talking about their varied interests, one who worked to help her friend to delivering the best old Gravesfield experience to tourists, the other who was fascinated about their friend’s shapeshifting powers and what stories she could provide about the Realm she had come from.
Vee’s past was something she wanted to forget, and the present of the last few weeks had shaken her mood more than a rollercoaster, but…
At least her future was looking pretty stable!