Chapter Text
Luz had been at the library looking through old records, trying to find signs of anything magical that could possibly help her and her friends build a portal back to the Boiling Isles when, suddenly, a voice behind her made her jump.
"Hey, Luz!"
It was… one of Vee's camp friends? Oh, what was the name again?! It was on the tip of her tongue! Something like… ugh, she totally forgot the name!!
It was the goth one with the tooth gap, looking at her with a great smile and a sort of… bashfulness?
"Oh, hey… you!" Luz answered, dumbly.
Oh, what are you supposed to do when you forget someone's name but you can't ask them their name because they're supposed to be real close friends with your secret Basilisk impersonator?
"Where have you been, girl? It's been so long!"
The goth took Luz into an enthusiastic hug, which she returned awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah, I'm so sorry. I've been really busy, I didn't mean to ditch you but I've been working on a… project and it's really important and it takes up a lot of my time and…"
"Yeah yeah, no! I totally get it, it's fine! We need to hang out again when you're free, tho."
Luz nodded with fake excitement, looking desperately for a way out of this conversation.
"Oh, did you change your hair?" The goth kept talking. "It's pretty. I mean, your haircut before was also pretty but this one is good, too."
Luz blushed and looked away.
"Oh yeah, I'm growing it out and I stopped straightening it. Going all-naturalle."
She laughed awkwardly.
"Nice," the goth purred in a way that made Luz feel very uncomfortable.
"Your hair is also different."
"Oh yeah! I've been going through a lot while you've been gone! I'm starting to use they/them pronouns now!"
"Wow!" Luz smiled, genuinely happy and supportive of this stranger. "That's good! Good for you! Are you… still using the same name?"
Please tell me your name. Please tell me your name. Please tell me your name.
"Oh no, yeah. I'm still using the same name. It's just the pronouns for now."
Fuck.
The stranger got closer to Luz, too close. Close enough that she was starting to feel like this was not a normal interaction. Luz had never been flirted with before Amity but she knew enough to notice red flags.
"I know you said you're busy but-"
"Yeah, sorry. I am. I'm really busy, I have to look at these books and I promised my girlfriend -"
"Oh. Girlfriend."
The disappointment in their face and voice was clear. It could not have been more obvious if she had tried. Luz felt a little guilty.
"Yeah, girlfriend. Her name's Amity."
"How long has that been going on? You never mentioned a girlfriend when we were at camp."
"Yeah, well, it's still new but… it's been going really well and we're both really happy so…"
"That's sweet," they smiled sadly. "I wish I had that."
"You probably will someday."
Something told Luz that they definitely would have that soon.
"Thank you, I'll see around I guess."
"Yeah, see you around! Nice catching up with you."
They waved at each other as the goth exited the library. Luz let out a sigh of relief. She'd handled it pretty well, all things considered. When she got home, she was going to talk to Vee.
A few hours later, she walked into the kitchen to find the Basilisk in her natural form, helping Camila make dinner.
"Hey, Vee. You'll never guess who I ran into today."
"Who?" Vee didn't pay much attention as she kept chopping onions. Apparently, Basilisks don't cry as easily as humans, which let her always on onion chopping duty.
"Your friend from camp. The goth with the tooth gap?"
"MASHA?!"
Vee got so startled she almost dropped the knife and cut her own tail by accident. Camila caught it just in time, thankfully.
Basilisks didn't really blush, but Luz could see there was definitely something on her friend's face.
"Oh, did she say anything to you? Does she miss me?"
"Masha is using they/them pronouns right now, actually," Luz clarified before doing anything else.
"Oh, okay. And what else? How are they?"
"Oh, they're fine. But I get the feeling they really miss you."
"They do?!" Vee looked somewhere between hopeful and incredulous.
"Yeah," Luz looked at her softly. "They talked to me like I was you and it was obvious how much they miss you. And I know you miss them, too."
Vee sighed in defeat.
"Yeah, I do. But I can't hang out with them again."
"What?! Why not?!"
"Because they thought I was you when I met them!"
"Then show up in your human form and pretend you're meeting them for the first time, what's the big deal?"
"I… I'm scared, Luz. What if they find out and they don't like me anymore?"
"Vee, baby," Camila looked at her two daughters, leaving the pot she'd been stirring to hold her youngest child in her arms for an instant.
"We accepted you and we love you. The whole Basilisk thing is complicated but, if this Masha is a true friend to you, I'm sure they'll understand."
"And also, how would they even find out? Come on, you're a great actor."
Vee giggled.
"Thanks, I love you guys too. I'll think about it."
Months and months passed since that day.
They found a way back to the Boiling Isles, they defeated Belos and found a compromise with The Collector. They had a new portal to go back and forth with.
Vee was now hanging out with Masha and her other camp friends on a regular basis, by introducing herself with her new and unique human disguise. Things were going well, for now.
This particular day, they'd been laying on Masha's bed as the goth painted their friend's nails a fancy and shiny shade of emerald. Vee felt giddy, getting all dolled up and pretty and being so close to this person that she was very obviously drawn towards.
"So anyways, my boss got mad at me because I kept making jokes while talking about the history of the witch hunters and he said my humor was inappropriate," Masha scoffed. "But you know me, I wasn't gonna just sit there and take it."
"Of course not, you're very brave," Vee said, looking at her nails to avoid Masha's eyes. "I love that about you."
They were both too busy hiding their own blush to notice the other person blushing.
"Thank you! So I just told him that -"
At that moment, Vee's cellphone rang inside her bag, which was hanging from the doorknob.
"Oh, can you get that for me, Mash? I don't wanna ruin your hard work."
"Sure, no prob."
They got up, grabbed the phone and put it on speaker.
"VEE!" a squeaky voice emerged from the cellphone.
"Hi, Luz, what's up?" Vee replied, while she blew air into her nails.
"I NEED YOUR HELP! I FORGOT TO DO MY BIOLOGY HOMEWORK AND MOM'S NOT ANSWERING!"
"Oh my tit- I mean, goodness… Luz, calm down, ask Hunter. I'm busy."
"I already asked him and he won't help me! You need to get over here!"
"Listen, I can't really use my hands right now but," she blew into her nails again. "I'll be home in less than an hour. Hang in there."
"Ay, me salvaste la vida. Te amo, hermanita."
As much as Luz could bother her, hearing her say that warmed her heart more than she would ever admit.
"También te amo, estúpida."
The phone call ended and Masha chuckled.
"That was cute."
"Yeah, well. You know sisters, right?"
"It's weird, Luz never mentioned a sister while we were at camp."
"I don't like it when people talk about me behind my back. I'm a pretty private person, sooo…"
Technically true.
Masha got up and left the phone inside Vee's bag again. Then, as they came back to bed, they shook their head. Embarrassed and laughing at themselves.
"It's so stupid but… can I tell you a secret?"
"Sure," Vee suppressed some guilt about her friend sharing secrets with her when she couldn't do the same.
"I used to have a big crush on Luz a while back."
That made her want to shatter every single bottle of nail polish in the room and go home just to eat Luz's homework. But she sucked it up.
"Oh really?" She said through gritted teeth.
"It was before I knew she had a girlfriend," Masha reassured. "Amity's a lovely person and I don't wanna get into any drama. I don't even like her anymore, it was so long ago."
"When?"
"While we were at camp, and for a little bit after that. Back then, I felt like we really connected," Masha seemed nostalgic for an instant. "But then, she stopped hanging out with us and she was ignoring us and blowing us off and she was almost like a completely different person! It was like I didn't really know her!"
Vee stared at them open mouthed. They had a crush on Luz back at camp?! This couldn't be, Luz didn't go to camp, she was at the Boiling Isles! Vee went to camp in her stead… but Masha didn't know that…
MASHA USED TO HAVE A CRUSH ON HER?!
"You don't say…"
"Yeah, when we were at camp, she was so sweet and a little shy but also very empathetic and cute… kinda like you, really."
Vee's face went scarlet. They had no idea what was going on and she was at a loss for good explanations.
"But then she started acting like… I don't know, she's still a nice person but she's not as much of a… kindred spirit, know what I mean?"
Vee nodded dumbly, unable to say anything else.
"Oh well, wasn't meant to be, I guess. Back to the market," Masha shrugged it off.
"Do you like anyone new?" Vee had the courage to ask.
"MMM, I don't know," suddenly, the human smirked in a sort of flirtatious and sassy way. "Why do you care so much? Hmm?"
"Uh… uh… well, I, um…"
Masha giggled.
"I'm just messing with you, you're so easy to mess with! It's funny and adorable."
UGH, why?!
"How about you, Vee? You got any crushes?"
"Oh, well…" she cleared her throat. "There's this person who is just… incredible."
"Mhmm?"
"They're smart and funny and they have the prettiest hair and the best sense of fashion!"
"Oh yeah? Do I know them?"
"Mmm… maybe?"
"Tell me more!"
"They have this confidence and bravery that I've never been able to have and I wish I could be like them and love myself like that."
"Oh, Vee…" Masha tried to lay a hand on their shoulder.
"They… they trust me and they tell me everything because they feel safe around me and they share their secrets with me all the time," Vee sighed. "I wish I could return the favor. I wish I could be honest with them."
"Why aren't you?"
"It's… hard to trust people…" the Basilisk in disguise hid behind her hair. "When you've been hurt before and you think they're gonna reject you…"
"You think this incredible person that you like so much would do that?"
"Why wouldn't they? The real me is not… she's not… the real me is not someone they'd want to… be with."
"How do you know if you haven't asked them?"
Vee took a moment to consider. She'd just gone from thinking Masha had had a crush on her sister to finding out that they had actually had a crush on her. It had been too much information at once and now… to entertain the idea that her and Masha could be a reality and not just a shameful, secret dream…
"I'll try to ask them."
"Good! You should! I'm sure they'll say yes, you're a very lovable person."
Vee looked at Masha like they had invented love as a concept. She tried to touch her nails, only to find that they were still wet.
"Ugh, these take forever to dry!"
Masha laughed.
"Here, I'll help."
Then, without asking, Masha took Vee's hands and started blowing air into her nails as strongly as they could. Their mouth got really close to her fingers but never fully touched them.
For an instant, Vee closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine Masha kissing her hands. That idea really appealed to her, even though she didn't know why.
Maybe, there was hope for them. Maybe, one day she would be honest.