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“Masha?” Vee’s tiny voice cut through the silence of the night. “Masha?” She nudged the other teenager.
“Mrgh.” Masha turned over, opening their bleary eyes. “What is it?”
“Can I…” Vee hesitated.
“Whaddya want, dude?”
“I want… um…”
There was a rustle at the top of the other bunk bed. “Oh my god Vee, just tell ’em you wanna cuddle!”
“Colin!” Vee squealed, burying her face in her hands.
Masha grinned, shifting backwards slightly. “Is he right?”
“Yeah.” Vee whimpered, “Sorry, it’s just- I’m still not used to this. Not used to you guys knowing what I am.”
Masha patted the bed next to themself. “C’mere.”
Vee crawled into Masha’s lower bunk. The human draped the blanket over her, letting her bury her face in the crook of their neck. “Thanks.”
Masha smiled, as Vee’s breath warmed their skin. “You’re welcome. And… and you don’t have to worry.”
“Yeah, man. Even if you’re some freaky basilisk or whatever, you’re still our friend.”
Colin looked down at the other young man. “Oh, Tom, you’re up too?”
“Hard not to be with you guys talking so much.”
Vee shifted against Masha. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine, Vee.” Tom muttered, turning over and closing his eyes.
Vee purred when Masha’s arms wrapped around her. Their breath ruffled her hair as they spoke. “You know, you’re actually kinda cute when you purr.”
“Mnngh, no I’m not.” Vee protested, even as she nuzzled further into Masha. “I’m a horrifying giant snake-monster from another world.”
“Sure you are, bud.” Masha stroked Vee’s back. “Sure y’are.”
The next day, the Reality Check Camp counselors had sent the campers into the surrounding woods for a scavenger hunt. “Masha…” Tom groaned, picking brambles out of his sneakers, “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”
“Course I am!” Masha casually punched a mosquito. “Now where’s Vee?”
A snake dropped out of a nearby treetop, turning into a human and landing on the ground. “Nothing in there.” She stood up, wobbling on her feet. “Woah.. stood up too fast.”
“Oh, yeah.” Colin chuckled, while Vee leaned against a tree to catch her balance. “You good?”
“Just fine. Anyway, Masha, where should we go next?”
“Why don’t you turn into a bird and get a good view for us?” Masha asked, pointing up into the sky.
Vee blanched. “But that’s cheating! And… and besides, I don’t have enough magic on me right now.”
Masha sighed sympathetically. “Okay. I should have some of those tarot cards you like back at the cabin.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. In the meantime, maybe we should split up.”
Colin tilted his head. “You sure about that?”
“Course I am! If we split up, we can cover more ground.”
“Actually, that does make sense. And I don’t think there’s any rule against it…” Vee smiled. “Let’s go for it!”
Ten minutes later, Vee was whimpering as she picked her way through the woods. “Okay… not lost. Definitely, totally not lost.” She walked headfirst into a tree that was as hard as rock. “Huh?” She put her hand on the bark. “It’s… it’s like it’s fossilized.” She jogged past it, touching every tree in her path. All of them had the same strange condition- as though they’d all been turned to stone.
Eventually, she came to a small clearing in the woods, surrounded on all sides by gray, rock-like trees. “O… kay… Weird.” She walked forward, hands balled in front of her chest. “This is-” She yelped when the ground became liquid underfoot, and she fell in.
Vee was huddled in one of the outhouses, sobbing and holding her mouth. When she pulled her hand away, it had a small scratch of fresh blood mixed in with her tears. “No!” She backed away, breaths huffing. She stood up and, again, reluctantly looked at herself in the mirror.
She was still disguised as Luz, but her fangs were growing. She had no precedent for when or if they would stop. They were an inch long and razor-sharp; pointed like daggers. Her hands gripped the edge of the dirty sink. “Please…” Her knees wobbled. Her breath hitched. “Please, make it stop. I don’t… I don’t want this.”
The center of the floor rippled, and a second Vee popped out mid-yelp. She too was disguised as Luz, but she lacked the first one’s fangs. “What the-”
Both Vees turned around. “No… no freaking way. You’re- y- you’re me!” The fanged one pointed at her counterpart, fingers trembling.
“Sure looks like it. And here I thought this was just a hallucination from being in a public outhouse too long.”
Fang-Vee grabbed her other self by the shoulders, pleading with her. “You don’t have fangs! Please, please tell me how to get rid of them!”
Vee put a gentle hand on her other self’s cheek. “Tell Masha.”
“W-what? But I- I can’t-”
The fangless young girl shushed the other basilisk. “Masha’s more accepting than you think. Same with Tom and Colin.”
The long-toothed girl’s breath loudly hitched. “What if they’re not?”
Vee sighed. “Then if worse comes to worst, you can flee. Maybe start a new life. But I swear, you won’t have to.”
“Promise?” Her voice broke like dropped glass.
“I promise.” She squeezed her past self’s shoulders. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to next week.”
“O… okay.” Vee watched as her future self disappeared into the rippling floor.
There was a knock on the outhouse door, followed by Masha’s voice. “Luz! You alright in there?!”
Vee gasped. “Uh, y-yeah! Just… um…” Her mind raced, trying to think of something less embarrassing. “On my period!”
“Oh.” Masha’s voice was suddenly quieter. “I’ll uh, I’ll be going then. D’you need me to run by the infirmary and get you some tampons?”
“Um…” Vee touched the side of her fang, sucking in a breath. “Actually…” She unlocked the door. “Could you come in?”
Masha gave a tiny squeak. “Wha- okay, but… why?”
“Because I’m…” Vee took a deep breath. “I’m not actually on my period. Please, come in, but don’t freak out. I’m begging you.”
“Okay, Luz. I won’t. I promise.” Masha opened the door and walked in. By the time they closed the door behind themself, Vee was covering her mouth with her hand. “What’s wrong? Is it puke?”
“No, it’s…” Vee trailed off. Unable to say anything more, she slowly lowered her hand.
Masha gasped. “Oh Goddess, Luz, what’s wrong with your teeth?!” They grabbed the girl’s face in their hands.
“I’m… I’m not Luz. My real name is Vee. An- and I’m-”
“Luz- I mean, Vee.” Masha squeezed her shoulders. “You’re hyperventilating. Just breathe, and then for the love of Goddess, tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Vee took a deep breath. “I’m actually a shapeshifting basilisk from another dimension where the emperor brought my species back to life and experimented on us and I escaped and I came here and Luz’s mom was there and now I’m here and please don’t tell anybody I don’t want to be imprisoned again!”
Masha’s face had gone pale. “No… fucking… way. You’re a basilisk?! Like, you can turn people to stone with your eyes? I’m guessing you can turn it off, though, but still!”
“Uh…” Vee’s pupils dilated slightly. “I don’t… I don’t have stone-eyes. But seriously, how are you not freaking out about this?!”
Masha shrugged. “Let’s just say there’s a reason my parents sent me to a behavioral reform camp. Also, I may or may not be a total scaly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means… um…” Masha blushed. “It means I’d love to see your true form.”
“Oh.” Vee blinked. “Okay. If you say so.” She shifted into her natural basilisk form. Her fangs were still there, still uncomfortably long, but something about Masha’s presence made them feel that much less burdensome.
“Wow.” Masha gasped out, their eyes shining with pure admiration. “You’re so pretty!”
“I am? Pretty? Me?”
“Yeah.” Masha reached back, gently petting Vee’s soft mane of ocean-blue hair. “Real pretty. Anyway, I packed some nail clippers. Big ones, too. Maybe we could use those?”
“Um…” Vee’s claws clenched and unclenched themselves. “I guess we could try. But what about Tom and Colin?”
Masha put their warm, flesh-covered hand on Vee’s cold and scaly cheek. “I’m sure they’ll accept you too. Those two know what it’s like to be treated as ‘other’ just because of things they can’t control. And if they don’t accept you… well…” They pounded their fist into their open palm.
Vee squeaked. “Masha! You- would you really fight people for me?”
“Maybe. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
A tiny smile crossed over Vee’s face. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”
Masha led Vee to Cabin 7 while she, disguised as Luz once more, lifted up the collar of her shirt to hide her fangs. “It’s okay, everyone!” They yelled at the staring counselors and campers alike, “She’s just got a little nosebleed! Nothing to worry about!” They wrapped one arm around Vee, pushing her to go slightly faster. “Come on, ‘Luz’, let’s go quick.”
“Thank you.” Vee muttered, just as they entered the cabin.
Tom and Colin looked up from the desk in the cabin, where they were poring over some papers. “Luz, what happened to you?!” Colin demanded, rushing over to his friends.
Masha’s eyes went wide. “No, don’t-!”
Colin yanked down Vee’s shirt without thinking, revealing her fangs.
“Uh…” Vee’s eyes darted in all directions, while every nerve in her brain flashed with worst-case scenarios and half-baked contingency plans.
“Dude, that is awesome!”
“Yeah!” Tom agreed, smiling. “Where’d you get those?”
“Um- um- uh- hey!” Vee slapped Colin’s hand away when he tried to pull on her fang.
“It’s so lifelike!”
“That’s because…” Vee let out a high-pitched whining sound. “...it is real. I’m not human.”
Colin narrowed his eyes. “What?”
Masha got in front of Vee, staring dead-on at Colin and Tom. “You two… please, just keep an open mind.”
“I knew it!” Colin pumped his fist. “Reptilians are real and they’re cute!”
“Cute?”
Masha chuckled, “Yeah, she is pretty adorable. I’ll explain everything while I take care of her fangs. Okay, Vee?”
Tom cocked his head. “Vee?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s my real name. Not Luz. I- I think that’s someone else.”
Colin grabbed a pillow, the closest object, and brandished it like a weapon. “Did you kill her?! Did you eat her to take her form like a Slitheen?!”
“What?! No! She’s- look, it’s a long story, but I swear whoever Luz is, she’s fine! Probably! I- I wouldn’t hurt her! I don’t wanna hurt anybody! I just want to exist!”
“Luz! I mean, Vee!” Tom squeezed her shoulders. “It’s okay. I promise, we’ll listen. Let’s just… let’s just get your fangs done.”
Vee nodded, tentatively smiling. “Okay.” She allowed Masha to lead her over to the chair by the desk. “Oh, you guys were learning about taxes? That’s so cool!”
Colin glanced over at Tom. “Y’know, in hindsight we probably should’ve realized she was from another dimension or something when she reacted that way to learning about mortgages.”
Masha retrieved their nail clippers. “Okay, Tom, Colin, I need you two to hold Vee down while I clip her fangs.”
“Wait, hold me down?” Vee’s voice cracked slightly.
Masha patted the disguised basilisk’s head. “Only as a precaution. I promise, I’ll try not to hurt you. But, well, I don’t know how this is gonna go.”
“Um.” Vee nervously crossed one leg over the other. “Okay. Tom? Colin? I think I’m ready.”
“Okay.” Tom acknowledged. He and Colin walked over to Vee, each holding her down by a different shoulder.
Colin knelt down to make eye contact with Vee. “It’s gonna be okay, bud. Maybe just close your eyes.”
Vee did as he suggested. “Thanks.”
“Alright.” Masha knelt in front of Vee, holding the clippers in front of her. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” Vee let out a tiny whimper when she felt the metal pincers squeeze the top of her fang. “I’m okay.” She focused on the feeling of Tom and Colin squeezing her shoulders, the sounds of everyone’s voices as Masha relayed what Vee had told them of her past. Despite the occasional sting, she felt safe all throughout.
“Okay, finished!” Masha held up a napkin, with Vee’s fangs on top. “Wanna see?”
Vee lifted up her hand to feel at where the fangs had been. All that remained was a pair of teeth no longer than usual. “Y- yeah, sure.”
Masha held up a handheld mirror, letting Vee see her face. It looked exactly as it’d looked yesterday- identical to the first human she’d ever seen, and without fangs.
She stifled a sob. “Thank you.”