Work Text:
“Vee, can I ask you something?” Gus says as he helps her wash the dishes.
One week ago, Luz appeared on their doorstep with four witches at her side, Gus included. He was sobbing when they first met, but of all the witches now living in the house, Gus has adjusted the quickest. Which is probably something to do with Gus’ somewhat adorable obsession with everything related to humans and their realm.
“Sure,” Vee mumbles, but she fails to stop her tail twitching with nerves. Even though Gus has been nothing but kind to her, she still can’t help but worry when around witches, probably because the witches she knew for most of her life worked for the Emperor’s Coven and stared at her through the bars of her prison. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering… You’re a Basilisk, right?” As Vee gives him a pointed look, he laughs awkwardly. “Sorry, that was a stupid question. I mean, I know you can shapeshift, but… is it just Luz you can do?” When she opens her mouth to ask how he knows that she impersonated Luz, Gus adds, “Oh, Luz told me you’ve been living in her place.”
Vee nods, putting down the cup she was washing and rubbing her hands dry with a dishcloth. “If I’ve got enough magic, I can make myself look and sound like anyone.”
“That’s so cool!” Gus says, his eyes seeming to sparkle with enthusiasm. “Can you do me?”
“I can, yeah. But let’s finish the dishes first. Then I’ll show you.”
“Awesome!” Gus says, and he begins washing the dishes twice as fast.
---
A few minutes later, Vee focuses hard and transforms into Gus Porter for the first time. Gus gasps as a perfect copy of himself materializes in front of him, and his eyes widen in shock when Vee speaks, matching his voice perfectly too.
“Oh my Titan, this is amazing!” he says. As he stares at her, admiring her flawless disguise, a mischievous smile crosses Gus’ face. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” And he turns his head and calls, “Mrs. Noceda, can you come here, please?!”
And then, to Vee’s confusion, Gus grins and crawls under the table.
“What are you doing?” Vee asks.
“You’re super good at this, so I wanted to test you a bit. Can we see if Camila can tell us apart?”
Vee raises her eyebrows, a little worried about pranking the woman who took her in. But she knows that Camila wouldn’t be mad, and it sounds like fun. So, with a sigh, she says, “Okay, fine…”
“You can just call me Camila, you know,” Camila says as she walks into the room. And then she freezes, staring at Not-Gus.
Vee smiles, trying to mimic Gus’ expression, and waves in a way she saw him do the other day. “H-Hi. Sorry, Camilia, I don’t mean to keep calling you—”
As a delightful smile appears on her face, Camila chuckles and says, “Hello, Vee.”
Startled by Camila’s words, Vee reverts to her normal form. “How did you know?”
“We spend so much time together. I know all your little quirks and habits. And it turns out that, ever since I first learned you can shapeshift, I’ve been getting better and better at seeing through your disguises, mija.”
Vee smiles, delighted by how much Camila knows about her; for the first time in her life, she really has a parent who cares about her. But at the same time, she wonders if Camila really can see through any of her disguises, or if this time was just a fluke. Either way, she gets an idea.
---
And so begins Vee’s attempt to trick Camila with her disguises.
Over the next few days, she shapeshifts into each of their new houseguests, but Camila always notices that the person is in fact Vee. She even tries becoming Luz again, and despite the fact she lived as Luz for months without Camila noticing… Camila spots the trick instantly.
The same thing happens when she pretends to be a delivery person, or the mailman—each time, Camila just chuckles and calls her ‘Vee’ even when her acting is impeccable.
After several more failed attempts, Vee begins to wonder if she will ever fool Camila again with her shapeshifting. She has never met anyone who can see through a Basilisk’s disguises as easily as Camila.
Then again… Vee thinks about if Camila could detect another Basilisk in disguise, and it occurs to her that she probably couldn’t. This is because Camila Noceda can’t see through any disguise. It’s a skill, sure, but one specially focused on Vee.
It’s because I’m her daughter, Vee realizes, a smile forming on her face. And that isn’t an assumption—Camila called herself Vee’s mom just the other day. Camila can always detect Vee because she’s her mother.
So, it turns out that she can’t use her shapeshifting powers to prank Camila, but she doesn’t care. Not when the reason why makes her giddy with happiness.