Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of a metalcore band is blasting through the black speaker on the nightstand, bouncing throughout the walls of Masha’s bedroom with its heavy melodic guitar riffs, a soft yet growl tone from the female vocalist, and punchy drum rhythms.

Vee Noceda is sitting on the edge of a bed with a black duvet cover that has a large spider web imprint in the center along with some leaves gently falling.

And right now, she is the most relaxed she has ever been in her entire life.

Because right beside her is her enbyfriend, Masha DeLisle.

They have a calm, nonchalant smile on their face, bobbing their head to what they would call a soothing song.

And Vee just stares at them, admiring them with a loving gaze. 

Their gothic casual dress with a set of black platform boots…

Their shiny, sparkling piercings littering their earlobes…

And their beautiful face glamorously lathered with their black lipstick and gorgeous highlights of their eyeliner.

Vee lets out a contented sigh.

It has been four months since they started dating, and Vee can’t believe she managed to score so hard with Masha.

They were chill, funny, and surprisingly hot and flirty.

She always had some sort of feelings for Masha.

Even back when she was disguised as Luz, something was bubbling inside her stomach, fluttering uncontrollably and warmly.

But Vee brushed past it, thinking that it was normal to feel that way or sick.

However, it came back with full force once she met Masha again at the Gravesfield Historical Society.

And gosh, they were so cool and so hot, and she just wanted to hang out with them.

But Vee was scared.

She was scared about showing her real self, the basilisk hiding underneath her human form.

Not only that, but she hasn’t told them that she was the one who took Luz’s place in summer camp.

She was frightened by how they would react.

Shocked?

Disgusted?

Betrayed?

There were so many possibilities that made her anxiety spiral out of control.

In fact, when she finally told Masha about everything, Vee thought she lost them.

Masha just stood still, in disbelief, and said nothing for at least 30 seconds. 

Then, Masha said that they needed some time to process this.

Vee understood and gave them some space.

But she couldn’t help but feel like their friendship was broken.

All because she lied and she was a fake.

But to Vee’s surprise, Masha came back to Noceda’s home and revealed that they knew that something was up and they didn’t hold a grudge against her. 

In fact, they wanted to learn more about her kind and magic, being an enthusiast of witches and demons.

Vee smiled widely, happy that they were able to pick up where they started.

And then, later that night, Vee told her Cabin 7 friends.

Jess and Robbie were just as confused and shocked, but they eventually came around.

So yeah… everything turned out okay.

That was until Masha asked Vee out just a few weeks into school.

Vee couldn’t believe it.

Masha felt the same way about her.

But she was scared, mainly because who would want to be attracted to a horrid monster that sucks the magic out of witches back in the old days?

But Masha didn’t care about any of that, insisting that they loved everything about her, including her basilisk part.

Also, they have a thing with monsters, which made Vee blush lightly at the suggestive comment.

So Vee agrees to go out with them, and she has been the happiest ever since.

But there is something that Vee has been thinking about doing for a while.

Of course, they have traded each other’s kisses, whether it is on the cheeks, forehead, or fingers.

But they have never had their first kiss.

Maybe it is because Vee is a little scared and intimidated by it.

So, out of all the people, Vee ended up asking Luz about her feelings on kissing Masha because she has Amity, whom she has been dating for almost six months.

It was super awkward because Luz kept teasing her in the beginning, and Vee almost walked out of the room.

However, Luz came around and gave her a soft, encouraging pep talk, explaining that the kiss is not going to be perfect and that is okay.

She just needs to find the right moment and whenever she feels ready to initiate it.

Taking that with her and dating for a few months, Vee feels ready to have her first kiss with her enbyfriend.

Only if Masha is ready for it, too.

“Hey, Vee…”

Vee feels her thoughts shaken off when she hears the soft, suave voice of her partner, interlocking their fingers together.

“Yes?” Vee whispers, glancing at them.

“You good? You’re a little quiet over there,” Masha says, raising one brow.

“O-Oh, y-yeah. Just thinking…” Vee answers, squeezing their conjoined hands.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Vee nervously bites her bottom lip.

She can’t just say that she has been about kissing them and their perfect lips.

That sounds weird and creepy.

So instead, she tells them something that she is grateful for.

“Us… A-And how lucky I am to be your girlfriend,” Vee confesses, her cheeks pink.

“Aww, Vee…” Masha brings their interlinked hands and kisses her knuckles softly. “I’m so lucky to be your partner as well.”

Vee’s heart blooms with warmth. However, she can’t help but playfully scoff. “Softie…”

“Hey, look at me. I am still mysterious and edgy and dark,” Masha defends, waving at their gothic makeup. “While you are my adorable, cinnamon bun snek.”

“Stop…” Vee whines, avoiding eye contact to hide her blushing face.

“But that’s what you are! And you can’t change my mind,” Masha continues, grabbing Vee’s cheeks and peppering her face with soft kisses.

Vee lets out a surprised yelp, laughing uncontrollably and placing her hands on top of Masha’s. “Ah! Okay, okay. I get it!”

Masha chuckles at their girlfriend’s reaction, putting a halt to their burst of kisses.

Once she has contained her laughter, Vee slowly opens her eyes, and her smile falls apart.
 
She is very close to Masha.

Very, very close.

Both of their faces are mere inches apart, getting a pretty close-up of their gorgeous dark brown irises, glowing from the lighting of the lamp.

Vee starts biting her lips hard, swallowing a nervous gulp when she feels their breath tickling her lips.

She absolutely doesn’t want to move where she is.

And it looks like Masha isn’t either, glancing at her lips with their mouth agape.

Slowly, Masha starts leaning in towards her, stopping midway to check on their girlfriend.

Vee feels her heart pumping hard against her chest, her hand clenching on Masha’s forearm.

They want it…

They want it too…

She flutters her eyes and reciprocates by moving closer to them.

She moves closer and closer and…

“Wait…” Masha gently stops Vee by placing their hands on her chest, effectively stopping the kiss.

Vee’s heart breaks a little bit, looking down to stare at her hands.

“S-Sorry, I s-should’ve asked…” Vee murmurs, understanding if her enbyfriend is not ready yet.

“No, Vi-Vi,” Masha softly cups Vee’s cheeks, stained with their black lipstick, and tilts her head to stare at her golden irises. “I wanna kiss you. But I wanna kiss the real you…”

Vee’s pupils expand, her heart racing. “I-I… Are y-you sure?”

Masha nods confidently, biting their lip in excitement. “I’m very sure…”

Vee almost debates on not transforming into her basilisk form. 

But the way Masha is looking at her right now…

They have a hint of nervousness underneath. But on the surface above, Masha is showing genuine love and care.

So, with a shy nod, Vee closes her eyes and slowly transforms.

Her beige skin shifts into a green scale texture, her casual yellow dress melts into her snake-like body with her tail resting on the floor.

Once her transformation has reached to her blonde hair, replaced with her sloped ears and a tuft of blue hair on the top, Vee opens her eyes back and gazes at Masha with a nervous look.

But Masha simply throws her a reassuring smile, showing off their cute grin with a tooth gap.

“Perfect…” Masha whispers and finally closes the distance between them, pressing their lips against Vee’s.

It is a simple press, a simple kiss.

Yet, Vee can feel her body exploding with warmth, fireworks popping with each passing second as she lets her eyes flutter shut.

Their lips connect perfectly, and they feel so warm and soft.

After what feels like hours for them, Vee and Masha slowly pull away and end the kiss with a small smooch sound.

Vee’s eyes drift open and once again, stares into Masha’s brown pools, gazing deep and deep with a love-sick smile.

“That was uhm…” Masha whispers, licking their lips.

“Nice…” Vee simply replies.

Masha chuckles lightly, nodding and smiling like a dork. “Hell yeah, it was.”

Then, Vee and Masha burst into a small fit of laughter, awkwardly chuckling at the aftermath of their first kiss.

Once their soft giggles have calmed down, Vee nervously asks, “C-Can I kiss you again?”

Masha nods eagerly, biting on their bottom lip with excitement, “Please do.”

Vee licks her lips in anticipation and slowly leans forward, collapsing into Masha’s warm mouth and kissing softly.

Masha lets out a low hum, and their arms reach around Vee’s neck, pulling them slightly close.

In return, Vee slowly wraps her tail around Masha’s waist and pulls them even closer, a constrictor instinct from the basilisk herself.

Masha lets out a shaky gasp, breaking the kiss.

Vee immediately loosens her grasp on Masha, her eyes wide with worry that she’s making them uncomfortable. “Sorry, is that too much?”

“N-No!” Masha blurts out, grabbing onto the tail with a light red hue on their cheeks. “I-I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“O-Okay…” Vee murmurs, nodding shyly.

Her tail returns to slowly circling around Masha’s waist in a firm, comfortable grip.

Masha bats their eyelashes towards Vee and pulls her into a warm, deep kiss, arms wrapping around her neck.

Since she doesn’t know what to do with her hands, Vee gently cups their partner’s cheeks and strokes the side with her thumb, humming softly.

The young couple completely ignores the rest of the world.

The heavy metal music, the cars driving by, and the neighbors next door are all completely forgotten.

Instead, they are inside their own little world as they embrace each other and relish their soft kisses.

And Vee has never been happier to be kissing her beautiful enby.

There is a slight awkwardness in the atmosphere and sloppiness in their movements.

But that is okay for Vee and Masha.

They are both learning this together.

Chapter Text

Vee is anxiously staring out the lightly tinted, scratched bus window, wringing her hands.

Standing in the far distance is the old building of Gravesfield High School with its burgundy brick walls slowly chipping, bluish gray roof slopes, and two grand pillars offering support to the roof and acting as an entrance.

Besides the flag pole is the school entrance sign with its respectable name and a message at the top, saying: “Welcome Back Students!”

And Vee is very nervous.

But why is she nervous?

She has gone to this school plenty of times.

Why is this time any different?

Well, that is because she is coming in as a new student.

The previous times, Vee was still disguised as Luz, who was still in the Demon Realm.

She took over her role while Luz figured out a way to make a portal to the Human Realm and then briefly took over again so that she could kick Belos's butt and save the Boiling Isles.

She is no longer coming in as Luz Noceda this time.

She’s coming in as Victoria ‘Vee’ Noceda, the daughter of Camila Noceda and the sister of Luz Noceda.

Just saying that fills Vee’s heart with warmth.

She finally has a new face and a new identity that she is comfortable with.

Not only that, but she is getting another fresh start.

And so, after talking with the school and taking some placement exams, her Mama finally manages to enroll Vee to Gravesfield High, starting the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The counselor suggests that date as it is a time when everyone is still settling in and returning to their classes from the break.

So technically, this is like her first day of school.

Maybe that is why she is nervous.

She is going in as her own person, someone whom she carefully molded.

And she really wants to make a good first impression.

She doesn’t want to mess this up.

“Hey, you okay?”

The voice on her left promptly cuts off Vee’s thoughts.

The disguised basilisk slowly shifts her gaze to Luz, sitting beside her with a small smile.

“Y-Yeah, I’m just nervous,” Vee replies, nodding in reassurance.

“Hermana, you’re going to do great,” Luz encourages, grabbing her hand and lightly squeezing it. “You don’t have to be fancy or loud or anything like that. Just be you. Don’t be me or Mama, just be Vee Noceda.”

Vee stares at her cheerful and energetic sister.

That same warm feeling stirs in her stomach at that word.

Sister…

It has been a long time since she could confidently call someone her sibling, besides Tres and Ivy.

So, with a puff of her chest, Vee throws her a confident, yet shy nod. “O-Okay, thanks Luz.”

“No problem!” Luz’s lips curl into a teasing grin. “And hey, let’s hope you get a class with Masha~”

“Luz, stop!” Vee whines in embarrassment, covering her blushing face. “It is way too early for this!”

“It’s never too early for teasing, hehe!” Luz lets out a menacing chuckle.

Before Luz can tease her sister any further, the school bus slowly stops beside the curb and the sound of the air gushing is heard.

The driver pulls in the handle to open the door and the student slowly start standing up, a small line forming to exit the bus.

“You ready?” Luz asks in a low voice.

Vee takes one more deep breath and lets it go, nodding, “Yeah.”

Once the last of the students have trickle out, Vee and Luz slowly stand up and make their way out of the bus.

Vee’s brown boots come into contact with the pavement and slowly start walking towards the school itself, following her sister.

She looks around her surroundings to see a bunch of teens hanging out near the front entrance.

There are a bunch of cliques talking among themselves: the popular girls, the emo kids, the geeks, the nerds, the Brobecks, etc.

She doesn’t see her Cabin 7 friends, Jess and Robbie, nor does she see Masha.

Maybe they are somewhere inside the school or further away.

But for right now, that is not her focus.

Since it is around 7:20 in the morning, Vee has enough time to pick up her class schedule and locker number before the first bell rings.

She is hoping that she will meet them at lunch.

Vee grips tightly onto the handles of her backpack and ignores how cluttered it is, now walking beside Luz.

After brushing past some students on their way, the two sisters finally enter the high school.

Thankfully, it is less clustered here than outside, but there are still some teens hanging out in their respective lockers.

“I’ll be waiting for you here, Vee!” Luz chirps, leaning back on a wall and checking out her locker.

Vee nods and walks towards the left of the building, where the front office is, pulling the door open.

She walks up to the lady at the desk and shyly explains that she is a new student here and that her counselor said to talk to her for her schedule.

After waiting for a few minutes, the nice lady comes back with a colored piece of paper.

“Thank you…” Vee says with a smile after the woman passes her schedule.

As she is leaving the office, the basilisk silently reads her schedule:

1st Block - Advanced Spanish

2nd Block - Algebra II

3rd Block - English II

4th Block - Art I

5th Block - Chemistry Lab

Lunch B

6th Block - World History

7th Block - Gym

Not only that, but her locker number and combination are right below, Locker 223.

Vee lets out a soft sigh.

She is hoping she has at least one of her friends in her classes.

“Soooo, whatcha got?” Luz asks, completely ignoring personal space as she peeks through Vee’s shoulder. “Oh! Hey! I have you in Spanish.” 

“Wait, really?”

“Yep! English, too!” Luz beams, lightly nudging her sister with her elbow. “Let’s see if all those fanfics come into play!”

Vee snorts playfully. “Yeah right, Luz.”

“Hey! I have you known that I am one of the OG Good Witch Azura writers!” Luz declares, a proud smudge on her face.

Before Vee can banter with her sister, a loud bell is echoed throughout the halls of the school, indicating the first bell of the day.

Vee already knows the layout of this school, so she won’t get lost when it comes to her new classes.

But still, she slowly follows Luz to the second floor and continues walking straight to where all the elective classes are held.

After turning a right corner, Vee sees the Spanish class in the distance and shyly enters. 

She takes a good look at the interior as she hasn’t particularly visited this one yet.

The inside is filled with colorful Spanish decorations with a picado banner glued to the end of the walls and the word ‘¡Bienvenidos!’ large and proud, pasted on the back.

Vee really appreciates that it’s not your boring, typical classroom, so it makes her feel a little calm.

In addition, the desks are arranged into four rows, with a single line for each one.

She watches Luz, already familiar with her schedule, walking all the way to the last desk near the window, where the blinds are fully open and a little bit of yellow sunlight hitting her.

“Ah. You must be Victoria, right?”

Vee turns around and notices her teacher standing up from his desk.

He looks around in his late 40s and has that same tan-skinned tone that Luz has, but a tad shade darker. He has a friendly smile, along with a well-trimmed beard and a little bit of gray hair taking over.

“Y-Yes,” Vee doesn’t know what else to say other than to nod at the teacher shyly.

“Welcome, welcome. I’m Mr. Campos,” He quickly introduces himself with a soft Spanish accent in his tongue. “Please. Take a seat.”

With another quiet nod, Vee carefully navigates around the classroom and obviously settles beside the desk next to her sister since no one is there.

“Oh! Hello! You must be the new kid! I’m Luz, nice to meet ya!” Luz greets with a cheer, sticking out a hand for her to shake.

“Stop it, Luz…” Vee blushes in embarrassment, hearing her sister chuckling.

But she still has a small smile on her lips.

After the last few students have find their usual seating, Mr. Campos softly closes the door and says hello to his class with a tired smile. “Bienvenidos a todos! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving break. Now, before we get started for today, we have a new student joining us. Could you please stand up and introduce yourself?”

Vee blinks, freezing on the spot.

She knew that she was bound to do something like this.

She even practiced introducing herself in the mirror last night so she didn’t look dumb or a stuttering mess.

But that has now gone out of the window as she doesn’t like being put on the spot, let alone introducing herself to a whole crowd of students.

Her eyes briefly dart around everyone in the classroom, and then she finally lands upon Luz’s, silently pleading for her help.

Thankfully, since she can tell that Vee is stuck, Luz offers her support by mouth-whispering with a warm smile, “You got this. Just be you, Vee…”

Vee nods frantically and takes another deep breath, letting it go. “O-Okay…”

She slowly stands up and finds everyone staring back at her with either non-existent interest or a bored expression.

She clears her throat and speaks out loud with a slight tremble in her voice, holding onto her arm. “H-Hi, I’m Victoria. Victoria Noceda. I uhm, have been living here in Gravesfield for a few months and I-I love this town so far. S-So uhm, yeah. N-Nice to meet you all. O-Oh, please call me Vee.”

With a shaky nod, Vee hastily sits back down as soon as she’s done introducing herself, feeling her heart pounding fast against her chest.

She decides to ignore the faint whispers of the other students, presumably gossiping about another Noceda in the family tree.

Instead, she pulls out her Spanish textbook from her backpack along with a journal and a pencil, placing them on her desk.

As the teacher presents the agenda for today, Vee silently starts doing her breathing exercise to calm herself down, taking deep breaths in and out.

That was nerve-wrecking…

Then, hearing a chair squeaking nearby, Vee’s yellow eyes manage to capture someone sliding a folded piece of paper on her desk. 

She immediately looks at Luz, and her sister throws her a small wave, going back to flipping pages of her textbook.

Vee slowly unfolds the paper with caution and she realizes that Luz wrote her a nice, supportive message:

you’re doing great, Vee ^-^

love ya!

from your older sister, xx

Right next to that is a cute doodle of Vee herself in her basilisk form.

Vee frowns, but not out of sadness, out of sincerity and love.

She is so glad she has Luz to support her on her first day, especially today.

Although there has been some debate on who the ‘older’ sister is,

At Luz’s age, yes, Vee is technically the younger sister, as her birthday, the day Camila found her, is before Luz’s.

However, at a basilisk’s age, she might be a hundred years old, maybe even older.

So that’s why Vee likes to joke around that she is actually the older one.

With that in mind, Vee quickly writes something down along with her best attempt at doodling Stringbean, her palisman.

She smiles at her lovely yet cheeky response:

Thanks, Luz. Love you too.

Also, I’m the older sister 😤

She chuckles to herself.

Then, when Mr. Campos has his back turned, Vee leans over a little bit to slide the paper back to Luz.

She quietly watches Luz’s reaction as she unfolds the paper and…

She lets out a soft, offended gasp, looking back at Vee to whisper out, “I am the older sister!”

Vee holds back a loud chuckle, her lips curling into a tight smile as she goes back to writing notes.

After trading some more messages from Luz and splitting into teams to further practice their Spanish, the school bell rings again, ending the first class of the day.

“What’s your second block again?” Luz asks once they have exited the classroom.

“Uhm, Algebra II,” Vee replies, taking out her schedule. “With Ms. Martinez.”

“Oh! She’s a good teacher. I had her last year,” Luz says with a smile, walking backwards as she shouts at her sister. “See you in English, Vee! Love you and make good choices!”

Vee waves her goodbye with a small smile and quickly goes downstairs to input her code into her locker.

She puts away her Spanish textbook and takes out her Algebra II.

Not only that, but Vee saves the paper where she and Luz pass each other during Spanish, pinning it on the door.

She gazes at it with one more smile and softly closes her locker, walking straight ahead to her second class.

Once she arrives there, Vee slowly enters and soon realizes that she has no one in this class.

Even when she finds an empty seat to sit down and waits for a bit, she doesn’t see a familiar face come through the door, which is fine.

The good news is that her teacher doesn’t make her introduce herself.

Ms. Martinez briefly greets the class and she is already in lecture mode.

Vee inhales softly and takes out all the necessities for the class: her textbook, a brand new textbook, and some colorful highlights because she likes to make her notes pop a little.

This class is a little bit boring as she has already gone through this lesson, which is Matrix equations.

Still, Vee writes down all the notes, and the rest of the class period is spent practicing some questions from the textbook.

Vee manages to solve all of the questions in under fifteen minutes, which impresses Ms. Martinez.

Sooner or later, the bell is already ringing again and Vee is standing up, holding all of her books in her chest.

She quickly exchanges anything she needs for her English class and shuts her locker, walking through the cluttered mess of students.

Vee makes sure to keep her head down so she doesn’t have a slight panic attack when dealing with crowds.

Not only that, but she catches some students looking at her with a disdainful expression whenever she walks by.

But she ignores them and eventually, she makes it to her English class with Mr. Sandoval.

And lo and behold, Luz is right there in class, sitting in the middle of the last row and eagerly waving at Vee, which gives her a small smile.

However, there isn’t any desk available near Luz, so Vee has to sit down in the far corner.

She is nowhere near Luz, but she is just glad that someone she knows is here.

After reading a few pages of their required book, Mr. Sandoval announces that everyone is going to be in groups of two or three and that the rest of the semester will solely be focused on group projects, presentations, and activities.

And as soon as he says that everyone can pick their own partner, Vee immediately speedwalks towards Luz and drags a desk right beside her before anyone can choose her.

Luz looks at her sister with an unsurprised expression, smirking.

But at the same time, there is a quiet understanding as the two sisters choose each other as partners.

After finishing their assignments for the day, they end up spending the next few minutes bantering and talking amongst themselves, with Luz once again going into teasing mode when she mentions Masha again, causing Vee’s cheeks to glow with a red hue.

However, it sadly comes to an end as the bells ring again.

Vee says her goodbyes to Luz and heads to her Art class, which is not that far from her Writing class.

She calmly enters and takes her seat, already getting used to the familiar rhythm of her school classes.

Again, Vee doesn’t see any of her friends here in this class.

But, she does end up spotting a familiar face sitting near the windows, the blonde girl with the pink streak from the last block.

She is pretty sure her name is Clara, having met her a couple of times as Luz.

But she doesn’t have to know that.

So, for the first time, Vee takes the initiative of talking to someone, something to break her out of her comfort zone.

Clara is somewhat guarded at first.

But soon, Vee quietly engages with her in a couple of conversations, and they start chatting throughout the whole period while drawing a fruit still life.

So yeah, Clara is a cool person underneath, just a little blunt at times.

The bell rings again and Vee leaves the art classroom, not without saying goodbye to her possibly new friend.

She is hoping she’ll get to see Clara again in one of her classes.

Vee quickly drops off her stuff inside her locker and grabs whatever she needs for Biology.

She climbs upstairs and walks all the way to the end of the school, where all the labs are stationed. 

On her way there, Vee spots Jess and Robbie heading downstairs.

She shouts out their names and eagerly waves at them, both returning the gesture by waving back.

She smiles brightly and continues searching for her class.

Once she has found Lab 223, Vee enters and notices that there are no regular desks.

Instead, there are about six huge tables with a black surface and wooden finish around them in two rows, accompanied by several lab equipment on the countertop behind the tables.

She scans her surroundings to find somewhere to sit and…

Her breath trembles with her eyes wide open, frozen in the doorway.

It is Masha.

The enby she met at summer camp.

The enby she met at the Historical Society.

And her crush…

They are sitting at the table in the far corner, inspecting their pretty non-binary nails with a bored expression.

Then, Masha slowly lifts their head and makes eye contact with Vee, just as wide as hers.

With a smile, Vee offers a small wave and slowly walks towards them, moving a chair to sit next to them, already finding her spot.

“Well, if it isn’t the new girl in town,” The enby places their chin on the palm of their head, a swoon expression with a smug smile. “The name Masha. What’s yours, cutie?”

Vee blushes, like full-on blushing, the one where her face pretty much resembles a fresh tomato.

“I-I uhm…” She stammers, turning away so she can hide her red cheeks. But she is absolutely failing at that.

The soft, cute chuckle that Masha releases has Vee’s blush growing a little, darting her eyes sideways. 

“Just messing with ya, Vee,” Masha grins, lightly pushing the basilisk with their body. “I was wondering if we’d get a class together.”

“Y-Yeah. So far, I only have Luz in two of my classes.”

“Boo, that sucks. Can I see your other ones?”

Vee pulls out her schedule and shows it to Masha, quietly reading it.

“Oh, hey. We share the same lunch,” Masha comments with a happy grin.

“Wait, really?”

“Yep! Along with Jess and Robbie and Luz. We’re getting the whole Cabin 7 gang back together!” Masha cheers. “And I think you have Jess and Robbie on World History.”

Vee gasps lightly. “R-Really?”

“Yep! But uhm…” Masha’s tone falters, passing back the schedule with an awkward grin. “I don’t have you in your other classes. So yeah…”

“Oh, that’s okay…” Vee murmurs, trying to hide her disappointment. “B-But hey, at least I have you here.”

“Yeah…” Masha whispers.

The noisy chattering of the students from inside the lab and outside the hallways is gone.

It is quiet for Vee and Masha, staring at each other for a moment, entering and beginning their own little world together.

Vee swallows a gulp, nervously biting her bottom lip.

She can’t stop staring at Masha.

There is just something about their warm brown pools that she wants to explore and feel their soft, rosy lips on her—

The loud slam of the classroom door shutting is what makes Vee and Masha snap out of their stupor.

Vee clears her throat and begins pulling out her supplies, avoiding eye contact with Masha.

She still has that light blush on her face, slowly fading away.

On top of that, she glances at Masha and notices that they also have a red shade dusting off their cheeks.

Even throughout their whole lecture and lab activities, there is an awkward tension between the two, with stuttering words and becoming a blushing mess when they frequently touch each other’s fingers.

But for Vee, she smiles internally.

After a long talk with Luz and a moment of denial, she knows for a fact that Masha might have a crush on her.

Keyword: Might.

Even though they have stated that they are pansexual, Vee can’t help but feel a little cautious about telling her real feelings about them, mainly because of her basilisk side.

They already know that she is a basilisk and that there is magic on the other side.

But will they like all of her, even if she is a basilisk, which are known to be a dangerous and endangered species in the Boiling Isles?

Vee shakes off her negative thoughts and focuses on the task at hand.

She still has time to ask them out, and hopefully, she can tell them how she really feels very soon.

After what feels like thirty minutes with Masha, when in reality it was fifty, the bell rings again; some students have their sixth period, while others have lunch B.

Vee and Masha fall on the latter as they quickly pack up and exit the lab together, walking downstairs.

She realizes that her and Masha’s locker placement is just across from each other, which makes it very easy to stay in touch.

Once they are done, Vee and Masha walk in unison towards the cafeteria, which is all the way to the back of the school.

Vee tries her best to ignore the swarm of people coming in and out of classes in the hallway.

But she feels Masha holding her hand, lightly squeezing it.

Vee gives her a small smile and focuses on Masha’s presence, finding it an anchor for the very hectic day.

Soon, Vee and Masha reach the double doors of the cafeteria, and there is an abundance of students sitting at the tables, as well as a long line to pick up their lunch for today.

She notices that Jess and Robbie are already walking away with their batch of food, stepping outside to sit on one of the empty tables there.

The good news is that her Mama packed up a simple PB&J sandwich for both her and Luz with a special bread made from magic, courtesy of Willow herself.

So she can skip the line for today.

However, the bad news is that Masha is the only one who hasn’t gotten their food.

She does what any good friend will do.

“Hey, I can wait for you if you want…” Vee offers.

Masha blinks, surprised. “You sure? It’s gonna take a while.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Vee nods in reassurance. “I will wait for you.”

Masha stares at Vee for a little while before shrugging their shoulders and slowly walking backwards. “Alright, be right back.”

With another nod, Vee finds a lonely corner seat on one of the tables near the line and sits down, patiently waiting for Masha.

While she waits for them, Vee looks around the rather large cafeteria in search of Luz.

She now knows that Luz has the same lunch period as her friends, but after a minute of searching around, she can’t seem to find her sister anywhere.

Vee frowns deeply, eyebrows raised in worry.

…Maybe she is outside?

Six minutes have passed by and Masha finally has their lunch in hand, walking up to Vee with a tired grin.

With a smile, Vee and Masha walk outside to find the rest of the Cabin 7 buddies.

And it doesn’t take them that long as they are hanging out in the very back, sitting down at a circular table that is big enough to hold more than six people.

Masha gently places their plate on the table and takes a seat, greeting everyone with Jess on their left and Vee on their right.

As Vee pulls out her lunchbox, she is still looking around for Luz.

“Hey, have you guys seen Luz?” Vee asks, slowly sitting down once she can’t find her again.

The group mutters a negative response, shaking their heads.

“I had her in my last block,” Robbie offers, biting on his sandwich. “But she was gone before I knew it.”

Vee hums lowly, a worried expression on her face.

She lets out a defeated sigh and takes a bite out of her sandwich, slowly chewing on it and feeling a smooth ray of magic filling her up.

It is not until she feels Masha tapping her forearm, prompting her to look at them.

“Look…” Masha whispers, nodding towards something.

With a raised brow, Vee turns her head around and her eyes light up in recognition.

In the far distance, Luz is sitting on the grassy ground, slowly chewing on her PB&J with her back against a tall, lonely tree.

She is just there, all alone.

And Vee doesn’t like that.

So she is gonna change that.

“Do you guys mind if I bring Luz here?” Vee whispers to the group. “I-I know she is a little awkward with you guys, but I just don’t want her to be alone.”

Masha, Jess, and Robbie stare at each other for a few moments.

Almost as if they are communicating telepathically, they all agree with everyone nodding.

“Hey, I don’t mind her,” Masha is the first one to speak, taking a quick sip of their juice. “She’s kind of a badass, not gonna lie.”

“Yeah, I second that…” Robbie adds on.

“I still need to talk to her about my fanfiction!” Jess exclaims, jittering with excitement.

“Thanks guys,” Vee murmurs, smiling brightly at her friends. “Be right back!”

The basilisk walks away from her group and approaches her sister, avoiding all the students' backpacks and other people who are passing by.

“Luz!” Vee shouts out once she is only a few feet away.

Luz jumps briefly and lifts her head to look at who is calling her, locking eyes with Vee, surprised.

“Vee?!” Luz beams, standing up from her place. “I-I didn’t know you had this lunch?”

“Uhm, you never asked?” Vee says, tilting her head in confusion.

“Oh, y-yeah. R-Right…” Luz awkwardly chuckles, fidgeting with her fingers.

Both of Vee’s brow creases, purely in concern due to how weird she is acting.

But she is brushing past that.

“How come you’re sitting here?” Vee simply asks in a gentle tone.

“O-Oh, uhm. I don’t know. J-Just become my spot,” Luz replies, shrugging her shoulders. “‘Cause you know, no friends.” 

She lets out a self-deprecating chuckle.

A quiet silence surrounds the two sisters, with Vee silently staring at Luz, who has her head bowed down.

“Well, you have me…” Vee murmurs after a long pause, walking closer to Luz. “And you can always hang out with me, you know?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Vee,” Luz relents, shuffling her legs nervously. “I don’t want to make things weird with your friends.”

“Luz, they all said that they don’t mind you,” Vee softly encourages.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Vee nods softly with a smile. “Sit with me, Luz. Please.”

Luz stares at Vee for possibly a long time.

She can tell that Luz doesn’t believe that this is happening.

She can’t blame her.

She has been isolated for a long time, with no friends to talk to.

Maybe it is time to show Luz that she has people who care about her and want to be with her.

Eventually, Luz nods slowly, whispering, “O-Okay…”

Vee lets out a relieved sigh, glad she can convince her sister not to be alone again.

After grabbing her lunch, Vee slowly walks back to her group with a reluctant Luz following her, still clearly nervous.

“And I’m back!” Vee announces, happily taking her place beside Masha.

“U-Uhm, h-hi everyone…” Luz grins awkwardly, waving and slowly sitting down next to her sister.

The Cabin group welcomes Luz with open arms, offering their own greetings.

“Yo…” Robbie greets.

“Hi, Luz…” Masha softly says.

“Luz! I have a question!” Jess asks instantly, striking up a conversation with the new member. “By any chance, is your AO4 username TheGoodWitchLuzura?”

“O-Oh, uhm. Y-Yeah.”

“Oh, nice! Your fics are so good!”

“Aw, thank you. What’s your username?”

“Oh, MxSinster74,” Jess answers with a proud smirk.

Luz pauses, her mouth open, as if she had intentions of biting that delicious sandwich. Instead, she drops her food and yells out, “Wait, what?!?!?”

“Luz, shh…” Vee says, gesturing with her hands to use her inner level voice.

“Oh! Sorry,” Luz awkwardly chuckles and bows her head, whispering, “Wait, what?”

Jess laughs softly and continues talking fanfiction with her sister, talking about how they have been reading her work and that they are an OG for following Luz’s fics.

Vee smiles, looking around the table and admiring her group of friends (and her crush).

Not only that, but she hasn’t seen this side of Luz in a while, getting so excited and bonding with someone.

She lets out another small sigh and enjoys her sandwich, having a conversation with Masha about bands and what they are listening to.

It is at this moment that Vee knows maybe this school year might not be bad after all…

Chapter Text

Vee Noceda wanders around the packed mall by herself, a calm expression on her face.

It is a very busy day with the loud chattering of teens, kids, and adults, going about their day and hanging out with their friends/families.

The smell of the food court wafts through the right side of the mall, with the dishes clashing together in the kitchen.

And a radio-friendly pop song that sounds like it belongs in a JCPenney commercial is blasting through the mall’s speakers.

All of these sounds are a little overwhelming for Vee.

But thankfully, she brings her noise-canceling earbuds to minimize her surroundings while also being able to hear someone calling just in case.

Last week was her sister’s 16th birthday, and Luz wanted to celebrate it with her friends, aka the Hexsquad.

However, everyone was busy the following days with Willow, Gus, Hunter occupied with roller-derby practice, and Amity studying for her exams.

So, after many exchanges in the group chat, they were able to arrange their hangout on Saturday.

Luz wanted to check out the new bowling range that just opened inside the mall, and Vee thought for sure that she was not going to be invited.

After all, she wasn’t part of the Hexsquad until she officially entered Hexside High School and was adopted into the Noceda Family.

But Luz dragged her along, stating that she was just as part of the Hexsquad as everyone else.

That almost made Vee cry.

And so, arriving there, the Hexsquad had an intense bowling match with Amity and Hunter competing for first place.

Meanwhile, Vee almost ended up in last place, mainly because she was inexperienced with bowling.

However, she had a little bit of help from Amity and Luz themselves, bumping her right into second-to-last place.

Still, she had a lot of fun with her friends and joined in with Gus on messing around with Hunter to drop him a place behind, which they succeeded in, and Amity was declared the winner.

After twelve rounds of blood, sweat, and tears, Luz led the Hexsquard on exploring the mall, checking out what’s in store for them.

As a group, they went to a couple of places like the Lego Store, Inno Good Shop, and Spencer’s, where Luz stumbled upon the very back of it.

And Vee was traumatized, let’s just put it that way.

After that, Luz and Amity broke away to enter through a shop called BoxLunch, selling off items from the Good Witch Azura franchise.

Not only that, but Hunter, Willow, and Gus all collectively entered a store exclusive for sportswear and utility, perfect for roller derby equipment.

Vee wasn’t really interested in either store, so she decided to break away from the group.

Willow even offered that she could stay with her and the boys instead of Luz and Amity, who are probably teasing and sweet-talking to each other.

But Vee reassured her and thanked her for the offer.

In reality, she needed some time alone.

So, Vee explores the rest of the mall by herself, looking around to see if there is a store that piques her interest.

All of a sudden, she feels her body warming under her skin, probably because there are many people here and close to her.

So, Vee shrugs off her light brown cardigan and holds it in her arms, showing off the rest of her outfit.

She dresses up in a short-sleeve orange and white raglan tee tucked in with a pair of high-waisted light blue jeans, and some white sneakers that have seen better days.

It is a comfortable yet cute outfit for her.

She’s not trying to impress anyone.

If she looks good in it, then that is enough for her.

After walking for a little bit and averting eye contact with other school classmates, Vee lights up when she sees a Hot Topic in the far corner, with Claire’s right across from it.

The placement of these two vastly different stores, one bright purple/pink and the other brooding black, is kind of funny for Vee, as if it is done on purpose.

But the reason why Hot Topic catches her hazel eyes is that she usually buys band tees from there, even though it is artists or music she has never heard of, just liking it for the aesthetic of her outfits.

However, Vee is hoping to find some shirts from this band called Sleep Token.

She really got into them last month when she heard one of their songs on her Spotify recommendation.

It’s really weird because she discovered that they are mainly an alternative metal band, coming from a girl who listens to indie pop/rock.

She doesn’t mind listening to the heavier songs, but it’s not really her cup of tea.

But she absolutely loves the softer songs that the band has released.

Not only that, but a new album dropped last week.

She hasn’t gone around to listen to the whole thing, only hearing the singles.

So they might be selling some merchandise to promote the release of the album.

And speaking of promoting, right next to the front entrance is a large banner hanging vertically with the new album cover in the center, celebrating its launch and the merch that they have inside.

Vee breathes in deeply and releases it, walking towards the store with timid steps.

She hasn’t been to Hot Topic in a long time, and she is hoping that there are not that many people here since it is a small interior.

And luck is on her side as Vee anxiously enters the shop and finds a handful of people, about four to five customers, with a cashier in place.

Vee lets out a relieved sigh and gets a good look at the store.

It just screams out 2000s Emo with the speakers 100% playing a My Chemical Romance song, painted black walls with white linings, merchandise that an emo kid will rock out, bracelets, eyeliner, you name it.

Vee squeezes past the people, and the tall bracelet stands to make her way to the back corner.

There, a whole wall is dedicated to band tees with the sides tucking in a couple of hoodies hanging.

The bottom half of the wall is each individual shirt stacked on top of each other on a white cubby, while the top half is rows upon rows of the tees themselves slipped inside a clear plastic display to show off the whole design.

And there are a lot of band shirts, ranging from pop punk, K-pop, emo, indie, metal, hip-hop, etc.

Vee looks around the metal section of the shirt, and her eyes light up when she finds six shirts dedicated to the band Sleep Token.

She ignores the first two, as it is from the new album. She hasn’t heard it yet, and she’ll feel like a fake fan if she wears them.

However, she gasps softly once she glances at the last shirt.

In the center of the black shirt is a graphic print of anatomical faded red heart gently lying down on a bed of light blue roses with a whitish gray ribbon tied around the middle of the heart, the band’s name on the one side and the other is the title is her favorite song, “The Love You Want.”

Vee stares intensely at the shirt for a few seconds, possibly a few hours.

She is absolutely getting that shirt.

Vee walks up to the specific cubby and shifts through the sizes. However, she lets out an annoyed groan, a frown appearing on her face.

The stack only has a large and extra-large, and that’s it.

Look, she really loves this shop, but it is frustrating that they never have her size here, which is small.

She always ends up buying it online and has to pay extra for the shippin—

“Everything alright here?”

Her sour thoughts are quickly interrupted by a soft, suave voice.

Vee anxiously turns around to see who walked up to her and…

Her breath hitches.

Standing in front of them is probably the hottest person she has ever seen in her entire life.

Looking around the same age as her and just an inch taller, they have a medium tan complexion on their skin with a cute pixie haircut, and their hair color is dark black. They have warm brown eyes, and their face is gently applied with a touch of makeup, a dark lipstick, and their black eyeliner, creating a sharp wing.

There are three piercings on both of their ears, two silver cuffs on the left and another cuff on the right with earrings on, showing off a shiny metal Cross attached to the loose hoops.

Everything about their face, down to the faded scar on the upper lid of their eye, is so pretty, and Vee hasn’t even talked about their outfit.

‘Cause gosh, they really pull it off.

They are wearing a faded Black Sabbath band tee that is tucked inside their black mini skirt that goes right up to their thighs, a black, simple belt is wrapped around their waist with a chain hanging and clipped onto the hoops of the belt, fishnet tights that overlaps with some knee length socks, and finally, they wear a black platform Converse as footwear.

Hanging around their neck is a black Hot Topic lanyard littered with a bunch of pins, ranging from dark gothic imagery to funny memes to the pansexual and nonbinary pride flag, with their employee card.

Vee carefully reads the neat black Sharpie handwriting: Masha (they/them).

“Masha…” Vee softly whispers, getting a taste of their name. It is then that she realizes that she is staring a little too long at them.

“O-Oh! Oh my gosh, I-I’m sorry! I’m staring at you!” Vee stutters, blushing in embarrassment (and from Masha themselves). “S-Sorry if I’m making you feel uncomfortable and…”

Masha lets out a (cute) giggle, waving them off. “No, you’re good. But if I’m being honest, I don't really mind if it is coming from someone cute like you. So I’m flattered.” They shrug their shoulders nonchalantly. 

“O-Oh…” Vee squeaks internally.

They called me cute.

They called me cute!

Oh my gosh, please end me…

Why are they flirting with me?

And why are they so cute and hot?

“So what brings you here?” Masha asks curiously, hands behind their back and their head tilted.

“O-Oh, uhm…” Vee shakes her head to brush off the lingering thoughts and replies shyly. “I was wondering if you have this shirt in a size small?”

She gingerly pulls out the shirt from the cubby and presents it to Masha.

“Ooooo…” Masha voices out, gently grabbing the shirt from her hands.

Vee can’t feel her breathing stumble a bit.

Their fingers lightly brush with each other, causing a warm, electric wave to spread throughout Vee’s body.

Masha rechecks the shirt stack and notices the problem right quick, checking the other cubbies as well.

“Hmm, let me go check if we have some in the back, okay?”

Vee nods in understanding and watches Masha slowly walking away to the other side of the room, pushing the back door solely for employees.

She exhales a slow breath and subconsciously checks herself in the body mirror nearby.

She quickly removes her earbuds and returns them to the case.

Both the music and the people chatting are not that loud here, so she is able to handle this.

Vee quickly fixes her appearance by smoothing out her blonde hair neatly and wiping off any creases on her shirt.

She doesn’t know why she is doing this.

Actually, she does, and it has something to do with Masha.

About a minute has passed by, and Vee is just awkwardly standing there, her hands wringing nervously and her worry increasing with each second.

Of course, Vee is patiently waiting for Masha to return for her shirt.

…And them.

No, I mean!

Eventually, the back door swings wide open, and Masha comes out of it, walking towards Vee and…

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find your size…” They apologize in a remorseful manner, folding the shirt neatly and placing it back.

“O-Oh... Okay, that's alright. Thanks,” Vee murmurs, slowly walking away.

She tried very hard to hide the disappointment in her voice, but she couldn’t.

She really wanted that shirt, and not only that, she wasted Masha’s time.

Well, guess she has to order it onlin—

“Actually, wait!”

Vee halts in place when she hears Masha shouting at her, turning her body around and staring at them with a confused look.

“I haven’t checked the display,” Masha grins, cocking an eyebrow.

Before Vee can even question them, Masha stands on their tiptoes, and their arm reaches across to retrieve the display holding the shirt.

They slowly pull out the shirt and check the size. “Yep! Size small. Here you go.”

Vee blinks, in shock, not expecting this act of kindness.

She hesitantly reaches for the shirt and grabs it, unfolding the fabric to see the graphic print for herself.

“I… A-Are you sure you can do that?” Vee asks, concerned that they might get into trouble.

Masha smacks their lips. “Of course, I can do that. What are they going to do? Fire me?” They reply cheekily, setting the now-empty display back in place.

Vee lets out a short, bright laugh, biting her bottom lip to control her heartbeat, running fast. “I uhm… Thank you.” She chuckles awkwardly.

“It’s no problem,” Masha says, throwing her a sweet, friendly smile. “If you want, you wanna get another shirt? We have a deal where you buy two and you get one for free. What do you think?”

Vee giggles and nods shyly. “I-I think I’ll do that.”

“Alright! Now, in my humble opinion, which is accurate, I think this shirt will look cute on you,” Masha comments, unfolding a second Sleep Token shirt and letting it drape across her torso. “What do you think?”

“U-Uhm…” Vee stammers briefly because, once again, Masha calls her cute. But she furiously blinks out her gay panic and checks herself out in the mirror.

This particular shirt is a little long, but she believes it is still a small size. This time, the graphic print is a dark wood log with four butterflies attached to it, colored in a grayscale texture. The band name is at the top, and the logo is sitting right beside it. It is colored in bright red, along with some strange symbols underneath the wood.

She has no idea what that says, but it looks kind of cool on her.

“Y-Yeah, it looks cool. I’ll take it…” Vee shyly whispers, brushing a golden lock behind her ear.

“Good choice,” Masha nods smugly, wagging their eyebrows, which makes Vee chuckle again, softly this time.

Vee takes the shirt with her and places it with her cardigan sweater, hanging on her forearm.

“So uhm… Are you going to choose the last for me?” Vee teases with a raised eyebrow, bold yet still has that bashful self underneath her tone.

“Maybe, maybe not…” Masha coos, shrugging their shoulders and staring at Vee with a cheeky grin.

It is silent for a couple of seconds, with the two young teens having an unprompted staring contest.

However, Vee is the one who loses as she suddenly giggles, covering her mouth with her hand.

Masha joins in as they lightly chuckle at the unexpected contest, although smirking to themselves as they won. “No, you go ahead and pick the next one.”

Once Vee has calmed down from her laughter, she checks out the other shirts offered here.

There is no other artist or band shirt that is her favorite here, so she is searching for one that catches her eye.

After skimming for a while, one manages to catch Vee’s attention as she pulls it out of the cubby and unfolds the shirt, revealing a Sublime in a warm orange and yellow tie-dye tee with the band’s ironic sun logo in the center.

“Hmm. I didn’t peg you as a Sublime girl.” Masha comments, amused.

“No, I just like the design…” Vee replies, taking the shirt with her.

“Ah, okay. Yeah, you’ll definitely rock in that shirt.”

Vee glances into Masha’s gaze and quickly avoids eye contact, a light blush on her cheeks. “T-Thanks…”

Vee briefly darts her eyes again towards Masha without tilting her head and notices that they have a small, soft smile tugging on their lips.

She clears her throat and nervously grips the clothing resting on her arm. “Okay, I think that will be it.”

“Alright, let me ring that up for you.”

Vee nods and follows right behind Masha to the front of the store, carefully shrugging at the customers who are looking around.

The enby walks around the counter while Vee stands in front of them, the first in line, carefully places the decided shirts.

“Can I get a phone number or email?” Masha asks, turning on the cheap, old computer.

“Uhm, eight, six, zero…” Vee proceeds to tell them the rest of her phone number while Masha inputs it into the computer.

“...Is it Vee?”

“Y-Yep! That’s me,” Vee awkwardly chuckles.

Masha hums thoughtfully, curious. “Never heard a name like that…”

“Uhm, it’s actually short for Victoria. M-My real name.”

About four to five seconds have passed, and Vee’s eyes open wide, realizing what she just said.

“I uhm… Don’t know why I told you that.” Vee lets out an awkward chuckle, scratching the back of her neck. “W-Well, now you know.”

Masha laughs softly, scanning one of the shirts and removing the security tag. “Well, I like it…”

“U-Uhm, which one?”

“Both,” Masha replied instantly. “Both are cute.”

Vee’s face suddenly turns into a blazing hot blush, trying her absolute best to hide it by looking at an interesting item on the side. “U-Uhm, thanks.”

That is all Vee can say.

She is too flustered.

And why do they have to be so nonchalant and flirty and cute and ho—

“Is this your favorite song from them?” Masha asks in a soft voice, unfolding the shirt that Vee wanted.

“Huh? Oh, uhm. Yeah. I started listening to them like two weeks ago,” Vee replied shyly, shaking off her (gay!) thoughts.

“Oh my goddess, I love this band so much,” Masha says, stuffing the tee inside a bag. “I went to see one of their concerts.”

Vee’s mouth agape, leaning in with interest. “Really?”

“Yep! Watched them in New York two years ago. And they were really fucking good.” Then, Masha’s eyes light up in realization. “Shit, sorry. I’m not supposed to curse. Have to stay professional or whatever.”

Vee shakes her hand fondly, lightly chuckling. “No, it’s okay.”

After Masha has scanned the last shirt, Vee pulls out her small wallet from her back pocket.

“Alright, so since you have a third shirt deal, your total will be $55.08. Cash or card?”

“Card,” Vee answers, her arm extending to pass the said object to them.

“Hey, have you listened to the new album?” Masha inquires, inserting the card inside the card reader.

“O-Oh, uhm. N-No, I haven’t yet…” Vee shakes her head bashfully.

“You should listen to it…” Masha simply responds with a small grin. “I think you’ll like it.”

The machine slowly prints out the receipt, and Masha yanks it out.

However, instead of giving it to Vee right away, the enby grabs a Sharpie from a nearby cup and twists the cap open, writing something down on the paper.

Vee’s brows slightly draw back in confusion, wondering what the enby is doing.

She can’t get a good look at what they are putting down as the large computer blocks it, but she is both interested and nervous.

Then, Masha returns the black cap to its place and passes the receipt and her card back to Vee.

“Let me know what you think,” Masha says in a low voice.

Now Vee is even confused, throwing them a cocked head-tilted.

That isn’t until she takes a glimpse of the receipt and…

She squeaks under her breath. Her lungs stop working, and a soft, lingering breath escapes from her lips.

Her eyes glow up, pupils faintly shrinking into a tiny speck.

At the top of the paper is their pretty, neat handwriting with their phone number and a special message solely for her:

(XXX) XXX-XXXX

text me sometime, cutie 🖤

At this point, Vee can’t speak, just a puff of air as if her throat is closed shut, her voice cords unresponsive.

So, Vee settles with an enthusiastic head nod, clutching the receipt to her chest and quickly grabbing the bag.

“Y-Yeah, I will…” Vee finally speaks up, but her voice trembles with excitement and nervousness. “B-Bye.”

She promptly leaves the store in rushed steps and faintly hears Masha saying goodbye, her heart beating at 200 bpm.

Vee is trying very hard not to let out a loud girl squeak.

She is in the middle of a packed mall, nowhere near private.

So she decides to chew on their bottom lip very hard, her body dripping in excitement.

They gave me their number!

Oh my god, they gave me their number!

I must be dreaming.

Quickly, Vee pinches herself hard on her forearm and lets out a soft, pained yelp.

Yep…

This is real life…

Oh my gosh…

Can’t believe that happe—

“Vee! I’ve been looking for you forever!”

Suddenly, Vee feels her whole body jerking forward and back, slowly realizing that Luz is shaking her by the shoulders.

“A-Ah! L-Luz, s-stop it!” Vee stammers.

Luz finally releases her grip on her sister, leaving Vee dizzy. “Sorry! It’s just I couldn’t find you and then I got worried and you weren’t replying to my text and…”

She stops her rambling, lifting an eyebrow. “Wait… Vee, why are you blushing?”

Vee blinks, feeling a huge sweat patch under her armpits. “H-Huh? O-Oh! I uhm… It’s hot in h-here so I-I took off my j-jacket.”

“Vee, I know that look~” Luz sings out, her lips turning into a knowing smirk. “So who’s the lucky girl? Or guy?”

“They, Luz…” Vee corrects immediately.

Then her eye protrudes out of her skull, gnawing on her bottom lip as she basically confessed.

“Oooooo and they’re a they! Tell me! Are they hot? Cute? Sexy?” Luz gasps exaggeratedly, clutching onto Vee’s forearm. “Wait! Did you get their number?”

Vee stays silent for a couple of seconds, debating whether to tell her sister.

But she gives in and nods her head excitedly and shyly, with her teeth staying exactly where they are on her bottom lip, showing Luz the receipt.

Luz gasps loudly again. “Oh my gosh, Hermana! You got yourself an enbyfriend~”

“Stop, Luz…” Vee whines. “W-We just started talking.”

“Yeah, but you wanna date them, no?” Luz inquires, raising one brow and smiling.

“…Maybe,” Vee whispers, shrugging with a light blush coloring her cheeks.

Luz chuckles softly and nudges her arm against her sister’s encouragingly. “You should go for it, Vee.”

Vee’s lips curl into a small smile, staring at Luz with grateful eyes. “T-Thanks, Luz. I-I will text them tonight.”

“That’s my sister,” Luz compliments. “Enough chattering! Everyone’s waiting for you at Ice and Fire.”

She grabs Vee by the hand and drags her to the other side, letting out a surprised yelp from the strong grip.

But Vee rolls her eyes playfully and lets herself be pulled by her sister.

She enjoys her ice cream with the Hexsquad gang by her side.

But she is not focused on the conversation Luz just sparked up.

The one thing she has on her mind right now is the cute, hot, and flirty enby she just met in Hot Topic.

And she can’t wait to text them.

Chapter Text

Vee sighs tiredly with a hand pressed against her forehead, flipping through the pages upon pages of intricate formulas.

She is trying really hard to resist the urge to close her eyes, rubbing them to wake her up.

This Friday is her Geometry midterm exam, and she is exhausted as heck.

Of course, she knows that she got this in the bag.

But a certain someone with a cute tooth-gap grin and an attractive gothic outfit has been texting her throughout the leisure of Trigonometry.

So yeah, she is super behind on that lesson and has absolutely no idea how to solve these questions.

Thankfully, Vee has Amity in that class, and she has gained access to her notebook, which is full of detailed notes in her pretty handwriting.

She owns Amity big time.

Maybe Vee can tell some cheesy, embarrassing story about Luz that will make her laugh out loud.

Or maybe she can give Amity a custom bookmark that will definitely have her girlfriend somewhere as a cute doodl—

She flinches when a loud and jarring ringtone abruptly cuts off her favorite song.

Her brows raise in confusion, looking at the phone number on display:

Unknown Number

Gravesfield Police Dept.

Vee’s stomach drops with an uncertain dread, staring at her screen for far too long as the call drags on and on.

Just why is the police calling me?

Did I do something wrong?

Don’t think I’ve done anything that will alert them.

She almost lets the call ring out, probably contacting the wrong number.

But something inside of her is telling her to answer it.

She doesn’t know why, but she has this gut feeling that someone she knows is in trouble.

Swallowing a nervous gulp, Vee releases her tight grip on the pencil and picks up her phone, tapping the green button.

“H-Hello?” Vee answers, her tone unsure.

“Hey Vee! Hermana!” Luz chirps with a somewhat forced cheerfulness, followed by awkward laughter. “H-How’s it going?”

…Oh no.

“Luz, what did you do?” Vee asks slowly, cutting to the chase.

“O-Oh, uhm… Nothing! I just need you to uhm…” Luz trails off, mumbling under her breath.

“Luz, what did you do?” Vee repeats, her tone firmer this time, slowly standing from her seat in worry.

“U-Uhm… U-U-Uhm…” 

Vee hears Luz shifting on the other side of the call, and then she takes a huge breath in and…

“Ineedyoutopickmeupfromjail!” Luz blurts out.

Vee’s eyes are now wide open, facepalming and groaning. “Luz! W-What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Y-Yes! I am okay and I-I promise I’ll explain everything later!” Luz exclaims, her bright tone is replaced with one of nervousness. “I just need you to come over here!”

Vee doesn’t respond immediately, still in disbelief with her mouth agape and staring into the far distance.

She lets out a tired sigh. “I’m calling Mama.”

“No!” Luz panics, shouting into the phone line. “No, d-don’t tell Mama. I just need you. Only you, okay? Please.”

“Luz, I-I…” Vee stumbles, still at a loss for words.

“Please, Vee. D-Don’t tell her.” Luz pleads, her voice trembling.

Vee stays silent with her eyes shut.

Obviously, the right thing to do is to call their mother, a responsible adult who is able to handle this situation.

But Camila is working really late right now.

And as much as Vee wants to dial her number, she doesn’t want to bother her this late.

Not only that, but she remembers the time when Luz bailed her out one time.

It wasn’t anything serious like this.

But Vee remembered going to a party with Masha and their Cabin 7 friends.

And maybe some alcohol was involved there, and maybe Masha and her got a little carried away.

But nothing too far happened, just some make-outs and a couple of hickeys on her neck, to which Vee panicked the next morning and desperately tried to cover it up.

She didn’t want her mother to see that, and so, that morning, she planned to cover it up with heavy makeup.

However, Luz found out.

Vee immediately spilled the beans because she is a terrible liar and couldn’t come up with anything.

But Luz kept this between them and promised not to tell Mama.

And Vee was thankful that Luz didn’t continue her teasing because it was super, super embarrassing and awkward to talk about this.

So maybe it is time she bails her sister out.

Vee lets out a frustrated sigh, biting her bottom lip. “Okay, fine. I won’t call her.”

Luz sighs in relief. “Oh my gosh, Vee. T-Thank you.”

“Thank me when I pick you up. What station?” Vee inquires.

“I-I’m at the police station near Walmart.”

“…The one at Saw Mill road?”

“Yes! T-That one!”

“Okay, I’m coming for you. J-Just hang on.”

“Okay. Be careful, Vee. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Vee says her goodbyes to Luz and hastily unplugs her charger from her phone.

She doesn’t really care about her attire as she is wearing a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a white tank top.

However, she quickly throws on a light gray hoodie, knowing how cold it can get late at night.

After stuffing her wallet inside her hoodie pocket, Vee rushes downstairs barefoot and puts on her white sneakers, grabbing the car keys while she is at it.

She swiftly locks the house and walks to her and Luz’s old blue Toyota, which Eda gracefully gifted, with rushed steps.

Vee enters the vehicle and turns on the engine, inputting the address into her phone.

It is a good fifteen-minute drive, so Luz won’t have to wait that long.

She carefully reverses the car until she is on the road, shifting the stick into drive.

Vee has her hands gripping tightly on the wheel, her index finger tapping anxiously.

She lets her thoughts drift for a while.

Just what did Luz do to end up in the police station?

That is certainly a long way from the mall where she was currently at in the last few hours.

All she said was that she is picking up some gifts for someone, maybe for Amity.

And that is all Vee knows.

Did something happen in there?

Did someone attack her?

Or was she defending someone?

…Did she steal something?

Something Vee learned about her sister is that Luz tends to make impulsive decisions.

So every one of those is a possibility.

Vee lets out a quivering breath and shakes off those lingering thoughts, focusing on the road ahead of her.

She is really worried about Luz.

She claims she is okay, but Vee needs to see her sister herself. Then she can chew her out and possibly tell Mama after that.

After ten minutes of nothing but tense quietness except for the faint song of the radio, Vee finally passes by Walmart and sees the police station from afar.

Every parking light is fully bright, a white glow that shines upon the department in the evening, on a dark blue sky.

Vee lets out another anxious sigh, feeling her nerves growing and growing the closer she gets.

She slowly enters the parking lot, searching around for an empty spot.

She ends up driving towards the left side of the department, which is a visitor parking area.

There aren’t that many cars parked here, so Vee quickly finds a spot and lazily parks with the tires on the white lines.

She doesn’t care.

She just needs to see her sister.

Vee turns off the car and exits the vehicle, walking towards the front entrance at a hurried pace.

The light breeze from the night brushes past Vee, causing her to hug herself for warmth and shuddering out a cold breath.

Even though she is wearing a hoodie, she can feel the strong wind entering underneath the fabric, attacking her covered skin.

She lets another shivering breath as she arrives at the front entrance, pulling the doors to enter.

And oh my gosh…

Somewhat, the interior of the police station is even colder than the outside, immediately seeping into her hoodie.

Vee wraps her arms around her waist to gain any little warmth for her body, grunting softly as she closes her eyes from the bright fluorescent lights.

After she blinks away the intense brightness, Vee realizes that she is awkwardly standing in what appears to be the waiting area with rows of stairs settled in the center and on the walls.

Straight ahead of her is the reception desk,  where a woman who is no older than thirty or forty is typing away on the computer, unaware of Vee’s sudden presence.

Thankfully, and just like the parking lot, it is quiet and nearly empty except for one male sitting in the waiting room, filing out some paperwork, and two officers nearby, talking amongst themselves.

It seems that they haven’t noticed her announcement, which is a good thing.

Vee swallows another nervous gulp and walks towards the desk, smelling the faint hint of disinfectant products and the fresh odor of the paper in the air.

The lady notices Vee coming toward her and puts on a friendly yet tired demeanor. “Hello, how may I help you?”

“Hi, I’m h-here to pick up someone.”

“And who are you picking up?” 

“Luz Noceda.”

“Relation?” The lady asks, turning to type something on her computer.

“U-Uhm, she’s my sister. Our mom is still busy with work, s-so I came.” Vee replies nervously, wringing her hands.

“May I see your ID?” 

Vee nods and pulls out her wallet, passing her learner’s permit license to the woman.

In return, the lady passes out a release form that states that whoever is picking up Luz Noceda must be an appropriate guardian for the individual, which she is.

Vee quickly signs her signature on the bottom, and the lady gives her license back to her, picking up her office phone and pressing it to her ear.

“Go ahead and take a seat. We will be right with you shortly.”

Vee throws a understanding nod and sits down somewhere near the front.

She doesn’t know how long she has been waiting, picking at her hoodie strings and fidgeting with her sleeves.

It could have been minutes or hours.

That is, until a deep, gravelly voice calls her name. “Vee Noceda?”

Vee immediately stands from her seat and sees a tired police officer who is around his 40s coming out of the left hallway with a hand on his hip.

“Y-Yeah. T-That’s me,” Vee nods frantically, walking closer towards him. “I-Is she…”

“Don’t worry. She’s fine. She’s holding up in the back,” The office reassures, waving a hand off. “Follow me.”

With another nod, Vee slowly walks beside the officer, stepping into a hallway with reinforced steel doors on both sides.

She has never been inside a police station, and even though the area is clean and pristine, Vee feels anything but stuck, closed off, and solitary.

And it is making her slightly uncomfortable and nervous.

But she pushes past her to see her sister.

“C-Can I ask what Luz did?” Vee questions carefully, wobbly in her voice.

“Well, I believe she was caught shoplifting,” The cop answers, sighing wearily. “Stealing a $70 bracelet from BoxLunch.”

Vee groans softly and closes her eyes in remorse, whispering her sister’s name under her breath.

Out of all the things Vee had imagined, stealing was right under the bottom tier.

It was still a possibility, but she was still surprised by this.

“I-Is my sister in trouble?” Vee asks the very question she has been dreading.

“No, she’s not,” the officer reassures. “She was being cooperative, and she owned up to it. She will be getting off with a warning.”

Vee lets out a relieved sigh, her hand to her chest. “Thank god…”

“But,” He continues, adding in with his firm voice. “If she does something like this again, we won’t hold back. Luz will get a juvenile record, got it?”

“Y-Yes, sir…” Vee nods quickly.

“Alright, she’s right here.”

Vee looks ahead and sees a steel door that has a different color than the others, a maroon shade instead of a plain gray. At the top is a sticker that says, “C-8: Holding Cell,” and in the center is a rectangular plastic window that gives a glimpse inside the room.

Vee is about to peek inside the interior to see Luz herself, but the officer speaks up again.

“You signed the release form, correct?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Good, her personal belongings will be at the front,” He informs. “After that, you girls are free to go.”

“Okay, t-thank you.”

The police officer replies with a quiet hum and speaks into his radio to tell someone to open that holding cell while he walks away.

Vee waits anxiously, flinching when she hears an ear-piercing buzzing sound along with the noise of the door unlocking.

It slowly opens outward, and Vee’s breath trembles.

Her sister, Luz, is sitting on what has to be the most uncomfortable position ever, a single green mat with no pillows or bedsheet on the floor, and a small window above her. Right across from the bed, to the left, is a stainless steel toilet and sink.

And that is it.

It has to be one of the most isolated places Vee has ever seen, and she has only been here for five seconds.

She doesn’t know how long Luz has stayed here, but she feels really bad for her being stuck inside here instead of an office.

And speaking of Luz, she has her knees tucked inside her chest with her face down and her arms wrapped around her legs tightly.

Well, that is until she notices the door opening and the presence of someone, lifting her head to reveal red-stained cheeks and tear-filled eyes.

Luz’s eyes light up, and she quickly wipes away her tears with her or Eda’s letterman jacket, slowly standing up with wobbly legs.

“H-Hey…” Luz whispers with an awkward smile, fidgeting with her fingers.

Vee doesn’t say anything for a while, staring at Luz with an intense stare, one that says she is in huge trouble.

She sees Luz’s expression slowly faltering, closing her eyes to brace herself for the yelling.

But Vee doesn’t yell or shout or scream in frustration and anger. 

Instead, Vee speedwalks across the room and wraps her arms around her sister in worry, hugging very, very tight.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…” Vee murmurs with a shaky voice, her eyes watery. “You have no idea how scared I was, Luz.”

“I d-didn’t mean to, Vee. I-I’m sor—”

“Stop. J-Just stop and hug me…” Vee interrupts firmly, squeezing tightly.

Slowly, she feels Luz hugging her back, placing her chin on her shoulder, and mumbling sorry one last time.

Vee just lets out another shaky sigh and closes her eyes, a single tear escaping her eyelids.

They both stay there for a moment, stuck in a tight embrace, out of worry and out of love.

Eventually, Vee ends the hug as she backs away, wiping her tears. “You have a lot of talking to do…” She states, her voice still on the firmer side.

Luz nods quickly, understanding.

“Okay, let’s go home.”

After grabbing the confiscated items, Vee and Luz exit the police station and head towards the car, with the latter following her sister.

Arriving there and unlocking the car, Vee takes her place in the driver’s seat while Luz sits on the passenger side.

Vee turns on the engine and slowly drives out of the parking lot, turning left, which leads her to the main road.

It is a tense, awkward silence between the two sisters.

The only other sound present in this uneasy atmosphere is the sound of the engine, the light crunching of the wheel rumbling on the road, and the low volume of the music playing on the radio.

Vee has both hands on the 10 and 2 o’clock positions of the wheel, gripping somewhat tightly, out of frustration rather than worry.

Meanwhile, she can see in the corner of her eye that Luz glances at her every now and then, going back to staring at her hands.

Vee doesn’t once glance at Luz, opting to stay focused on the road ahead and continue driving home.

Not only that, but she also opted to stay silent, letting her know that even though she was worried for her, she is still rightfully mad.

However, Luz has other plans as her hand slowly reaches the volume bar and turns up the radio, a cheesy pop song blasting through the speakers.

Good luck, babe (Well, good luck)

Well, good luck, babe (Well, good luck)

You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling

Vee slowly turns her head to look at Luz, who is lightly bopping her head to the song and staring at the window.

A beat happens then…

Vee shuts off the radio, effectively turning off the song, the pure silence returning once again.

She catches a frown etched on Luz’s lips.

But like Vee has stated, she’s still mad at Luz.

“…So are you gonna tell me what happened?” Vee asks with a flat tone, finally cutting off the uncomfortable silence.

“I-I…” Luz lets out a tired sigh, her head down in shame. “I-It was d-dumb and stupid…”

Vee glances at her sister with her brow creased with worry. “I thought you got hurt, Luz. O-Or worse, something bad might’ve happened to you.”

Luz stays silent, fidgeting with the buttons of her jacket.

Still, Vee continues as she remarks bluntly, “But no. You were caught stealing a $70 bracelet.”

Another pause from Vee as Luz hasn’t said a word, her lips formed into a tight line.

“Did you not have enough money, Luz?” Vee inquires. “I would’ve given you something over you stealing and risking a criminal record. You’re very lucky it was just a warning.”

Again, Luz hasn’t uttered anything, not one sound or one word.

Vee inhales sharply through her nose and puts on the right signal, pulling over to the side of the road.

She harshly shifts the gear stick into park and releases her hands from the steering wheel, landing on her thighs.

“Luz, please. Just say something. Anything,” Vee pleads, her voice softer and filled with a hint of hurt. “If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. Just… Just say that.”

Another quiet silence stretches out in the car.

Vee, ever so slowly, turns her head to look at her sister.

Luz is avoiding eye contact with her as she still has her head bowed down, filled with guilt and regret.

And yet, she hasn’t said anything.

Vee lets out another weary sigh and is about to shift the car into drive.

However…

“I wanted to give her something special…” Luz mutters softly. “A-Amity, it's her birthday next week.”

Vee immediately stops what she is doing, her hand paused on the gear stick as she tilts her head towards her sister, listening intently.

“B-But the bad news is that I was on a budget because my check came in short yesterday,” Luz continues, her voice soft and shaky. “Still, I purchased things that I think Amity will love. I brought her a cute moon necklace and a super, super gay book.”

Vee never once interrupts her sister, leaning her body towards Luz.

“O-On my way to BoxLunch, I-I saw this beautiful collector’s edition bracelet that Hecate wore in Azura 2: The Betrayanning, Amity’s favorite movie. B-But I didn’t have enough money a-and I thought that Amity would hate me because she has been dying to get that bracelet. Not only that, but it was going to be gone by this Friday and my next paycheck is not until next week.”

A long pause happens.

“So I stole it…” Luz whispers in a voice so low that it is barely audible to the ear, her voice cracking at the end.

Vee’s heart aches when she hears the vulnerability in Luz’s tone and body, making herself small by hugging herself tight.

“As you can tell, I didn’t get that far…” Luz chuckles softly, self-deprecating in a way. 

Then, Luz finally turns to look directly into her sister's eyes, tears beginning to drain out of her eyelids. “…I-I am so sorry, Vee. I’m sorry for scaring you a-and… I-I’m just sorry.”

Luz groans to herself and tucks her legs inside her chest, face resting on her arm as she sobs quietly.

Vee is stunned, letting her mind digest what Luz has explained.

Sure, she tends to make abrupt decisions, and she doesn’t think before she speaks.

But Vee knew that Luz didn’t just steal something impulsively. 

She knew that there had to be a reason for her to steal something valuable at a cost, and now knowing that Luz stole the bracelet for Amity is something she will do.

“Why would you think that Amity will hate you?” Vee questions carefully after the long pause.

“I-I don’t know…” Luz replied instantly, shaking her head. “Maybe it is because we’ve been dating for three weeks a-and if I don’t get her this or be perfect, then I wouldn’t be enough for her. Maybe she will break up with me.”

“Luz, I guarantee you that Amity will not break up over thi—”

“But she will, Vee! She will! Who would want to date a criminal who stole something just to impress her girlfriend?! Amity will hate me and she will break up with me on the spot!” Luz explodes, her voice out of pent-up frustration and guilt over the word hate. “Just say it, Vee. Say that I am a bad person.”

“No, Luz. I’m not going to say—”

“Say it!” Luz screams directly in Vee’s face, harshly interrupting her.

Vee flinches back, not expecting that.

The silence is much louder here, so much so that a needle dropping will not break the tension.

Luz’s anger slowly crumbles into one of regret, her bottom lip quivering. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

She lets out a low whimper and shields her face with her hands, continuing to cry within her palms.

Vee doesn’t say anything for about two seconds until she inhales a deep breath and whispers out softly, “Luz, look at me. Please.”

For a while, Luz doesn’t budge from her position.

But eventually, she inhales deeply and quickly wipes her tears away, turning slowly to stare at Vee.

Her face now looks redder due to the previous tears that have been shed, sending a pang through Vee’s heart.

But Vee brushes it away to comfort her sister.

“You are not a bad person, Luz,” Vee states firmly. 

But then Luz vigorously shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut, looking away in shame as if she doesn’t deserve to hear the truth.

“No, no.” Vee unbuckles her seatbelt and kneels on her seat, forcing Luz to look at her by gripping her shoulders. “I need you to hear this, okay?”

For the longest time, Luz has had her eyes glued shut with a tremble on her face.

But then, she slowly opens her eyelids to reveal her vulnerable brown orbs, blinking rapidly due to the oncoming wave of tears breaking.

“You are not a bad person…” Vee repeats, dragging out each word slowly. “Yes, you made a stupid decision, but even good people make bad choices. It doesn’t mean you are bad, it just makes you more human.”

Luz finally makes direct eye contact with Vee.

It is still watery with tears, but there is a glimpse of hopefulness underneath, slowly growing as Vee continues on her speech.

“You own up to your mistakes, you admit what you did was wrong, and that you learn from it. That is what makes you good, Luz,” Vee finishes.

The silence comes back, but this time is filled with reassurance rather than tension.

Then, Luz speaks up in a low, quivering voice, “Y-You really think that?”

“I know it, Luz…” Vee whispers back.

After staring at her sister for a while, Vee immediately engages her sister in a tight hug.

Luz reciprocates by hugging her sister back, continuing to let out soft sobs on Vee’s shoulder.

Vee decides to ignore how uncomfortable her position is and comforts Luz, lightly stroking her curls and whispering reassuring words.

The two sisters continue to hold each other, the tone shifting from stillness to reassurance under a minute.

Eventually, Luz’s tears calm down, and she slowly pulls away. “T-Thank you, Vee…” She hiccups in between her sobs.

“You’re welcome, Hermana,” Vee murmurs back, smiling softly, and helps out by cleaning away all the tears.

They stare at each other for a few seconds until Vee’s nose curls in recoil as she can smell the lingering scent of Luz’s sweaty hair, covered with her orange beanie.

“You need to take a shower, dude,” Vee remarks, covering her nose. “You reek…”

“What? No, I don’t,” Luz then takes a whiff of her armpits and gags audibly. “Blegh! Okay, yeah, I do…”

Vee chuckles softly, shifting the gear into drive. “Told ya…”

Soon, Vee returns to the road and begins driving home, turning on the radio for her sister.

It is a different song but it still has Luz lightly bopping her head to it.

The sisters don't speak a word, but they don’t need to. The air has been cleared out, and the atmosphere is more comfortable rather than tense.

After five minutes, Vee pulls up to their house’s driveway and notices that her Mama’s car is not there.

Oh, Luz is so lucky.

Vee thinks to herself once she parks the car and turns it off.

They both exit the vehicle, with Luz slowly following Vee to the front door.

She unlocks with a jaded motion and opens it, letting Luz enter the house first, who mumbles a small thank you.

Vee steps inside and locks the door behind, sighing exhausted at the weight of the day and lateness.

She drops off the keys and takes off her shoes, with Luz heading upstairs.

However, Luz stops at the first step and turns around to look at Vee.

“Thank you for getting me. I-I owe you a lot,” Luz says in a small voice, smiling.

“Well, not really. I say we are even…” Vee replies.

Luz throws her a confused look and walks closer to her. “How?”

“Uhm, remember the time when you found out that uhm…” Vee stutters, blushing lightly. “W-When Masha and I, you know…”

Luz blinks, still confused on what she isn’t trying to say.

Vee groans in embarrassment and points towards her neck, a gesture that Luz is hoping to get.

And Luz does as she lights up in realization. “Oh! You mean the hickeys?”

Vee waves her hands around to lower her volume. “A-Ah yes. T-That.”

“I mean, it is not really the same thing, you know?” Luz comments, shrugging her shoulders.

“I know. But you cover for me and I cover for you,” Vee offers. “Not telling a word to Mama. Unless she finds out, then you are definitely telling her, you got it?”

“Yeah, I get it…” Luz chuckles softly, a genuine smile upon her lips, with her eyes slightly creased. “Thanks, Vee. You’ve the best sister I could’ve asked for.”

Vee’s bottom lip trembles slightly, almost on the verge of tears, after hearing that.

But she inhales deeply and smiles back, “I could say the same to you.”

Again, they stare at each other for a few more minutes.

Well, that is, until Vee speaks up after the silence, “Okay, now go take that shower.”

Luz groans, whining. “Do I have to? Can I just take it in the morning?”

“Luz, you’re stinking up the house, dude!”

“No, I’m not! You’re exaggerating!”

Vee sighs deeply. “Luz, if you take a shower right now, then you won’t have to deal with my punishments for scaring me.”

“Shower here I come!” Luz rushes upstairs to her room and gathers all her clothes, making her way to the restroom.

Vee chuckles softly, shaking her head fondly at her sister’s bubbly antics.

Sure, Luz has made some stupid mistakes.

But in the end, Vee and Luz will always have each other, and they are sisters at heart.

Chapter Text

There is something off with this Hunter guy.

Vee doesn’t know why, but every time she looks at the blonde and somewhat tall person, she gets the chills and an uncomfortable twist in her stomach.

Not only that, but she can’t help but feel like there is something familiar about him.

It is like she has met him before. 

But she can't quite place it.

It has been a couple of days since Luz and her friends settled in the Nocedas’ house, and Vee is slowly getting to know the Hexsquad.

The first ones she really interacts with are Willow and Amity, since they are sleeping in the same room as her, aka Luz’s room.

Not only is Willow such a sweet and kind person, but she is also patient with everyone and will offer any help if somebody is in trouble.

Still, Vee can’t help but feel like Willow is hiding her own doubts and issues.

She even offers to talk about the last few days just to let it out.

But Willow brushes it off and says she is feeling fine, to which Vee will not push her if she doesn’t want to talk about it.

She can tell that she is hiding the burden inside her, which is not good.

She will talk to her later on.

Next up is Amity, who is also a cool and caring person, although she can’t help but see her flinch every time she transforms into her basilisk form, which Vee doesn’t blame. 

She has heard from Luz that a Greater Basilisk attacked one day in Hexside, and Amity, along with Willow and Gus, were the victims.

Based on the descriptions Luz remembered, Vee knows for a fact that it was Number One.

She wasn’t too fond of One, always acted with hatred towards the other basilisks, and her.

So, she makes sure to limit her basilisk form around them.

However, Vee knows for a fact that something is going on between Luz and Amity.

She has seen the lingering touches, the way they gaze into each other’s eyes, how Amity kept laughing at Luz’s ridiculous jokes, and how close they are.

Vee is starting to think that Luz and Amity are a little more than just friends.

Well, that theory is confirmed to be true when she accidentally walks in on Luz and Amity passionately making out one day.

Let’s just say, Vee wants to erase that part of her memory.

But she freaking knew it, so she patted herself on the back.

Gus is pretty cool to hang out with, although he is a bit too energetic for her taste. 

But she doesn’t blame him.

He is the youngest out of all the Hexsquad, and he is slowly figuring out all the ins and outs of the Human Realm, which excites him.

That only brings her to Luz and Hunter.

She hasn’t had too many interactions with Luz yet.

They had one conversation about Vee’s position here, and she was worried that she was going to get kicked out.

But Luz reassured her that this is her house and she’d love to have her as a sister.

That almost made Vee cry.

But the past few days, Luz has been very quiet and reserved.

She tried talking to Luz, asking if everything was okay, if she needed anything, or if she wanted a distraction.

But Luz either waved her off with a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes, or straight up just ignored her, or pretended she didn’t hear her.

Vee backs off, and by that time, Luz is already going to school.

She knows she absolutely loathes Gravefields High.

In fact, Vee remembers when Luz asked her to cover for her on the first day back, but that plan horribly backfired as Camila immediately found out it was Vee disguised as Luz.

Still, she can’t help but worry about Luz.

Finally, this brings her to Hunter.

Every time Hunter comes into the room, she feels very intimidated by him.

The way he moves is almost imposing, with correct, straight posture and a serious face.

She doesn’t think she has seen him laugh; if he were to let out a small chuckle, it would have come out as forced, almost as if he weren’t used to it.

However, Vee can tell that Luz has a strong relationship with Hunter, almost acting like a brother to her.

She remembers going to the restroom one night, and she saw Luz and Hunter in the backyard of the house.

They were talking about some stuff, but Vee didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation.

So Vee is guessing that Hunter means a lot to the rest of the gang.

But still, she is keeping both eyes open on Hunter if he ever does something to her or Luz’s friends…

With Camila working late and Luz coming back from school, Vee decides to make dinner for the Hexsquad.

She knows a few recipes from Camila, as she taught her when Luz was still in the Demon Realm.

She has taught her empanadas, sancocho, mangú, and a whole bunch of traditional Dominican Republic foods.

But for right now, spaghetti sounds really good for the six of them.

It is delicious, and the best part is that it doesn’t break the bank.

So, Vee slowly cooks up all the ingredients needed for spaghetti.

She had a little bit of help from Gus and Willow, which made the kitchen quite a mess with the cheese grater.

But after some gentle guidance, they are finally able to finish making the spaghetti, and Vee serves everybody, including herself.

It is a somewhat peaceful dinner, with everyone talking to one another and having small conversations.

It is definitely an improvement from last week’s.

Another failed attempt at building a portal that soured the mood of the Hexsquad, leaving a quiet, still atmosphere throughout the whole dinner.

It was super uncomfortable for Vee as she tried to make small talk with Willow, Luz, and Amity.

But it didn’t work.

So, Vee is happy that today’s dinner is peaceful and filled with warmth.

“Thank you, Vee,” Amity says with a warm smile, standing up as the basilisk gently picks up the finished plate from her. “Are you sure you don‘t need any help?”

“No, no. I got it, Amity. You go ahead and be with your girlfriend~” Vee sings teasingly.

“Stop…” Amity whines, tucking the collar of her Azura shirt to cover up the light blush on her cheeks. “B-But you read my mind.”

Vee chuckles lightly as she watches Amity leave the kitchen and enter the living room.

She slithers up to the sink and dumps all the dirty plates with a huff.

Letting out a long sigh, she turns on the faucet and grabs the first plate that was nearby and…

“I can help…”

Vee’s heart stops when she hears that voice, gripping onto the plate a little too tightly.

It is Hunter’s.

It is a soft tone with a hint of uncertainty underneath.

Yet it makes Vee’s body briefly tense up whenever she feels his presence.

She nervously turns around and notices Hunter right behind her.

He is standing a little too close for her liking, wringing his hands anxiously.

“I-I uhm…” Vee mutters.

To be honest, she is thinking of declining his offer.

Scratch that, she is going to decline that offer.

She may be tired from all the cooking, especially standing up for a long period of time.

But she can definitely handle some dishes on her own.

Still, she doesn’t want to come across as rude or anything, even if her body is alerting her.

So, Vee takes a deep breath and musters up her best gentle tone to politely decline his offer.

“You don’t uh, I think I got i—”

“Please?”

Hunter cuts her off as he speaks up in a small voice, staring at the ground now.

That makes Vee hold her tongue, stopping what she is about to say.

The way he is looking at her with a small glint in his eyes…

He looks like a lost puppy, right in front of her, unaware of his surroundings.

But Vee kind of knows what Hunter is trying to do. 

He is trying to make himself more useful around the house.

Vee has seen it, going to the store with her Mama, tackling a small job to help pay the bills, and washing the dishes almost constantly.

So yeah, Vee gets that feeling with Hunter here, rubbing it off against his shoulders.

She doesn’t know why he does that, but she doesn’t want to seem like a jerk if this is what he is into.

With a shaky sigh, Vee nods warily. “S-Sure, uhm. You can help me dry.”

She pulls out a red towel rag from under the sink and places it on the dish rack, resuming to scrub the white plate with the sponge.

“Thanks…” Hunter mumbles, standing right beside her.

“Mhm-mm…” Vee lets out a low hum, completely avoiding eye contact with the blonde as she focuses on the dishes on hand.

The next few minutes are what have to be one of the most uncomfortable silences Vee has ever been in.

That is expected cause she hasn’t had a full conversation with Hunter, as he is a bit awkward to talk to.

Hunter tries to initiate the conversation with small topics, you know, just to give some small talk.

Of course, Vee always responds to him and his questions, but it doesn’t lead to anything, forming a long, dragged-out silence.

She really tries to talk with him, but it just isn’t working out.

But the good part is that they work simultaneously.

Vee washes off any particles or food smeared on the dish, and she passes it along to Hunter, inspecting and cleaning off the water.

So they make a pretty good team in the end.

But it still doesn’t stop the uncomfortable twist in her stomach, the chill crawling up her arms just from his presence alone.

Vee looks down and notices that they are almost done with the batch of dishes, only needing the pot and utilities.

The quicker they get this done, the quicker she can hop out of here and ignore Hunter for the rest of the da—

“Hey, Vee?”

The basilisk’s thoughts are interrupted by the soft calling of her name from Hunter.

His tone, it sounds hesitant and almost regretful.

“Yeah?” She replies, carefully scrubbing a knife from the backend.

“T-There’s something I need to tell you…” Hunter utters, placing a clean plate on the rack.

At this point, she has resisted the urge to glance at him because something about his face really amplifies the chills.

But she can’t help it.

She can’t help but quickly turn her head around and…

Her brows crease in worry.

Hunter has a very nervous expression on his face, his lip trembling and swallowing.

Vee clears her throat and bites her bottom lip, passing along the kitchen knife. “Uhm, sure. What’s u—”

However, the knife slips from her hands, and the blade slices onto Hunter's forearm, effectively cutting him, the sharp object falling on the floor.

Hunter lets out a pained grunt, clutching the wound.

“Hunter! S-Shoot!” Vee exclaims, trying to hide the panic in her voice. “O-Oh my Titan, I am so sorry.”

“N-No, it’s okay…” Hunter says with a steady voice.

“I should’ve been more careful, dude!” Vee mutters, grabbing the cloth that Hunter was using to dry the dishes. “Here, can I see it?”

“Oh, no. I’m okay! R-Really,” Hunter blurts out with an awkward smile, hiding his arm by curling into himself.

Vee lifts an eyebrow, confused about why he is being weird all of a sudden. “Hunter, I just want to make sure the cut isn’t serious or anything like that. Here…”

Vee gently grabs his left arm and inspects the wound.

Luckily, the wound isn’t life-threatening, just a light gash with a bit of blood present.

Vee sighs in relief and quickly dabs the cloth on the arm to clean up the blood. “Thank Titan. Let me give you some bandages and then…”

Her sentence drags out as she squints her eyes at a familiar symbol on Hunter’s right wrist.

An old, dirty bandage is coming off his skin, and it is exposing…

A fearful, shaky gasp escapes from her mouth. 

Her pupils shrink in fear as she releases her grasp on Hunter’s arm, dropping the cloth from her hand.

Her yellow irises stare at the very thing that is going to cause a panic attack.

There is the Emperor Coven sigil on his right waist, damaged with a faint yellow scar.

No…

He is with… Belos?

What is he doing here?

Why is he in our house?

Slowly and with a tremble, Vee lifts her head to glance at Hunter again.

Nothing out of the ordinary except for the fear in his eyes.

His dark magenta eyes look so familiar to Vee.

Why does he look so famili—

Number Five felt someone tackling her to the ground.

“Ahh!” She was now on her back and saw…

Her eyes went wide when a red light pointed right at her.

It was the Golden Guard with his mechanical staff pointing right at her.

He is staring down with his dark, magenta eyes underneath his golden mask, filled with hostility.

“N-No, please!” She put her hands up in defense and cried out, begging. “D-Don’t h-hurt me! P-Please! P-Please!”

Vee shrieks fearfully when she feels that unwelcome memory flashing before her eyes.

She immediately pushes herself away from Hunter, and her back hits the kitchen counter.

Not only that, but she unconsciously transforms her body into her new human disguise, the one she showcased to everyone last week. 

But she has her white patches intact on her warm beige skin.

She is staring intensely at him, breathing heavily.

“Y-You’re him…” Vee whispers with a slight tremble, her whole body shaking. “You’re the Golden Guard.”

Hunter’s eyes go wide in panic, stepping a little closer to her with a hand to reach her. “Vee, I-I can explain…”

“Don’t.” Vee hisses darkly, pushing herself closer to the counter and shaking her head slowly. “Don’t you dare come closer.”

Hunter flinches hard. But he nods in understanding, and he slowly steps back from Vee, clenching onto his arm with a tight grip.

As she stares at him coldly, Vee hears the rushed footsteps of someone coming into the kitchen.

It is Luz and Amity, both with worried expressions on their face.

“Are you guys okay? I heard screaming,” Luz is the first one to ask, a high level of concern.

“H-He is the Golden Guard, Luz!” Vee shouts rasply, pointing at the traitor right in front of her. “H-He worked with B-Belos!”

Luz lets out a shaky breath and glances at Hunter, both of them have their eyes wide in worry and dread.

Then, Luz takes a huge breath and slowly walks close to the scared basilisk, hands up to calm her down. “Vee, you have to listen to me, okay?”

“What is he doing here, Luz?!” Vee hisses, completely ignoring Luz. “Why is he in this house?!”

“Hunter is not part of the Emperor Coven.” Luz defends. “He’s not working with Belos anymore, okay?”

“He hurt Three and Four…” Vee utters with a deep frown. “He hurt them…”

“Vee, I didn’t hurt them. I swea—”

“Liar! I-I saw you. You were in their cages a-and you h-hurt them.” Vee interrupts with bared teeth, voice cracking with a choked sob.

It is quiet for a moment.

But for Vee, it felt like hours of a staring contest with Hunter, and the weight of the situation is heavy.

“Get out…” Vee whispers under her breath.

It is barely audible from the muted atmosphere, but judging by everyone's reaction of their eyes lighting up, it is clearly heard.

“Get. Out. Now!” Vee speaks up louder, pointing at the door. 

Luz continues her pleading, reaching out. “Vee, no. He’s not the Golden Guard anymore!” 

“I don't care! I want him out of the house!” Vee yells again, staring directly at Hunter, and her voice is filled with hate.

“Vee, stop it! H-He’s my friend!”

“He is a monster!”

“No, he is not!”

“Yes, he is!”

The tension is rising higher and higher, and Vee feels her chest growing with rage and frustration.

She is about to yell at him one more time.

However, a choked sob is what makes Vee stop her shouting.

Hunter’s whole body is shaking, covering his mouth with his hand as tears slowly escape through his eyes.

“Y-You’re right, Vee…” He chokes, making eye contact with the hurt basilisk. “I am a monster.”

Vee’s expression hasn’t changed at all.

She has a hard glare with her fist balled in anger.

There is something inside of her that feels bad for calling Hunter a monster.

But she doesn’t care.

He deserves it.

And he is one.

“Hunter, no…” Luz whispers.

Then, in a flash, Hunter sprints out of the kitchen as he silently cries to himself.

“No! Hunter, wait!” Luz exclaims, reaching out towards the blonde boy.

But he is gone.

Luz groans in frustration and rakes her curls, chasing after Hunter.

Vee lets go of a shaky breath she doesn’t know she is holding, closing her eyes.

She can feel her anger slowly simmering down now that Hunter is out of the picture.

But she still feels exhausted and anxious and shaken about that confrontation.

With a nervous swallow, Vee quickly picks up the knife and cloth from the floor and tosses it inside the sink, sighing with her hands on the sink’s edge.

She is debating about finishing the dishes.

But she is tired, and she isn’t in the right headspace to continue them.

So with that in mind, Vee promptly leaves the kitchen and hugs herself, carefully pasting a shocked Amity.

She mindlessly climbs upstairs with a deep frown and walks across the hallway with hushed steps, entering the girl’s room.

She slams the door shut, and she starts breathing heavily.

Vee clutches onto her chest with her hand, feeling her heartbeat racing faster.

Not only that, but she can feel her skin shifting across her body.

She looks at her trembling hands and notices that her skin alternates between her green scales and her smooth human skin, never sticking to one.

She knows what is happening.

She feels a panic attack slowly building inside, as her skin always does that whenever she has one.

Vee immediately starts doing her breathing exercises.

She takes deep breaths and holds for four and out for four.

But she can’t help it.

She can’t help but reminisce about what happened just seconds ago, making it harder to concentrate on her breathing, which has now become erratic and shaky.

She holds her breath for four beats…

Hunter…

And out for four beats.

He hurt my siblings…

“Take her and run!” 

“What?! No! I am not l-leaving you behind!”

“Just take her, okay? I’ll buy you some time. J-Just go!”

Vee yelps and falls to the floor with a thud, her body fully transformed into her basilisk self.

She slowly backs up and feels either Amity or Willow’s beds hitting against, blocking her and making her feel more isolated.

She is struggling to breathe correctly, exhaling heavily and raggedly.

Vee closes her eyes and tries to control her breathing.

But she can’t.

And she is unsuccessful.

She heard Four scream out. 

Looking back, she saw her on the ground, trapped in a big electric net that was shocking her. 

“No!” Number Five yelled out, running back to her. 

“No! Run!”

“W-What? No! Not without you!” 

“It’s okay! I’ll be fine on my own, okay? Just run!”

Five stood where she was, looking at Four and then the scouts running from a distance. 

She had no choice, and she wasn’t going to make it in time. 

Looking up, she could see that the scouts were going closer and closer.

“I-I’m s-sorry…” She mumbled out as she ran away, tears brewing in her eyes.

Vee covers her ears hard, squeezing her eyes shut.

“S-Stop…” She mumbles to no one but herself. “Stop.”

Warden Wrath scoffed. “...Pity.”

He nodded to the guard to the right. The scout pulled out a long rod with an electric tip. 

She put up her arms to cover herself, but it was no use.

She yelled out a scream as she felt a hard shock throughout her whole body.

It went on for a few seconds until she felt the pulsing stop, collapsing to the floor. 

“...Again.” 

And she screamed…

“Stop! Make this stop!” Vee screams out, crying and feeling the tears splashing out. “P-Please!”

A whole blur of horrific memories enters her vision, and blood-curdling screams of pain echo throughout her eardrums.

It is overwhelming her.

She shuts her eyes very tightly and she ignores them.

But they won’t go away.

They stick close and use her like a flea to a dog.

And they will never, ever go aw—

She pleaded for her life.

She knew the Golden Guard was not going to let her go, but she still begged.

She saw the red light increasing in brightness.

“No! P-Please! I-I’m s-sorry!”

She closed her eyes.

This was it.

This was where she died—

However, she heard the Golden Guard’s staff powering down.

Vee gasps lightly and flutters her eyes open, feeling another memory entering through her vision.

But this time, she lets it play before her.

She cautiously opened her eyes and saw their whole body shaking.

Not only that, she saw the dark magenta eyes from beneath the mask.

They were watery, and there was a hint of fear and hesitancy.

Then she heard the Golden Guard groan and removed the staff from her face.

Her eyes went wide, staring at the Golden Guard pacing around.

“Go!” He shouted.

But Number Five stood there.

She didn’t move from the ground due to shock.

“Go! Before I change my mind!”

In a matter of seconds, Number Five frantically stood up from the ground and slithered her way to the steep hill, making her escape.

Vee lets out trembling breaths after seeing that memory.

The Golden Guard…

Hunter…

He helped me?

That was him?

W-Why?

Vee shakes her thoughts away and focuses on her breathing, taking advantage as she no longer hears the voices from her past.

It takes quite a bit for her to steady her breathing.

But a couple of minutes pass by, and she lets go of her last deep breath.

She sighs in relief, feeling herself more at ease.

But still, the panic attack is lingering inside of her.

Vee quickly transforms into her human being and tucks her legs into her chest, silently crying to herself as she presses her face on her knees.

She remembers him very well.

At first, Vee thought that her mind was playing tricks on her.

But she remembers all too well.

Hunter saved her…

And she called him a monster.

Heck, she even accused him of hurting Three and Four.

She never once saw him pulling out an electric rod and hurting them.

He was just standing there, from afar, watching them suffer in cages.

He did nothing.

But isn’t that just as bad?

Maybe that’s why she screamed at him.

She wanted someone to blame, to put all the anger and all the pain they caused her.

But she messed up.

She needed to talk to Hunter again, apologize to him, and thank him for helping her escape.

But she can’t.

She can’t see him right now.

Just one look at his face and…

She will see it.

All the pain she is reminded of and all the scars she suffered.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to see him.

Just not yet.

She knows she needs to apologize to him, but she needs time to process everything.

She just hopes that Hunter is willing to talk with her.

Vee wipes her tears away and stays where she is, staring at something from afar with a distant look.

The attack left her even more exhausted and tired.

But she doesn’t move one bit.

She feels her body stuck and rejecting her, unresponsive as she wants to go to sleep on her bed.

So she lets herself close her eyes there and ignores the world for now, exhaling shaky breath through her nose.

She will talk with Hunter once she is ready.

She just hopes she is not too late.

Chapter Text

Vee Noceda is probably in one of the happiest places she has ever been.

She is on a date with her hot and beautiful and stunning enbyfriend, Masha.

And they are having a wonderful time.

They went to the David Buster that just opened in the mall and played an absurd amount of games, like air hockey, Marvin Kart DX, pool (which Vee absolutely sucked at, but she had a feeling Masha let her win), etc.

Not only that, but Vee might have bugged Masha to win her a cute snake plushie that has these beautiful green scales and a cartoonish design, stuck in the claw machine and alone.

It took a couple of tries, along with a couple of encouraging kisses (Maybe a little too many), but Masha finally managed to win the plushie for her.

Vee squealed in delight and hugged it tight.

As promised, she then sneaked Masha into the gender neutral restroom and engaged them in a make-out session.

Right now, Vee and Masha are walking hand in hand, exploring the mall and entering some of the stores that pique their interest.

So yeah, she is having a good time, and she doesn’t want it to end.

However, there is just one tiny thing that is slightly ruining her date.

Vee feels like someone was watching her throughout the date.

And she immediately knows who it is as she glances to the side and sees…

Vee can’t help but let out an audible groan, her shoulder slumping down.

Peeking and hiding behind a wall is none other than Jacob Hopkins, failing to be unnoticeable as she gets a clean view of his outfit: a maroon polo shirt that says “Supplies” in the right breast pocket and khaki pants.

And he is stalking her…

…Again.

This is the third time this week, and it is making Vee very uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Jacob doesn’t dare come closer to her and does absolutely nothing.

But he is watching her, waiting for that perfect moment to capture evidence of her true basilisk self.

And all Vee has to say is an adult man stalking a fifteen-year-old girl who is trying to enjoy her date with her enbyfriend and goes to high school is super, super weird.

“You okay, Vi-Vi?”

Vee’s thoughts trail off when she feels a light squeeze on her hand, their soft voice providing a gentle lullaby to her distant behavior.

“Hmm? Oh, I uh…” Vee stammers, avoiding eye contact.

She hasn’t told anybody about the stalking situation, believing that he will stop eventually.

But he didn’t.

She tries to formulate her words, and she is about to speak to them, however…

“Hey!” Masha calls out, voice booming.

Vee looks up and winces internally, realizing that Masha has now noticed the person who is watching them. 

Jacob freezes on the spot, glancing behind him to see if they are talking to someone else.

“Yeah, you! Get out of here!”

Jacob lets out a short yelp and whips his head side to side, looking like a cartoon character as he walks behind a tall plant in the corner.

Masha just stares at Jacob with a deadpan look, along with Vee, a hint of embarrassment underneath.

“Dude, I can still see you!” Masha yells out, clearly seeing his body through the plant and trying their best to hide their anger.

“No, you don’t!” Jacob shouts back, having the gall to clap back.

“That’s it,” Masha murmurs and strides forward towards Jacob with seething eyes.

Jacob lets out a short, girly scream and bolts out of there, exiting through the double doors.

“Yeah, that’s right! You better run!” Masha huffs out, walking back to their girlfriend. “Has he been watching us the whole time?”

“M-Maybe, I don’t know…” Vee murmurs, hugging herself.

Vee glances up to their partner’s warm brown eyes, underneath is a clear trace of worry peeking out as they notice her demeanor.

Then, Masha steps forward and wraps her arms around Vee’s, holding her in reassurance. “Hey, what’s going on?” They ask softly, whispering. 

Vee finally lifts her head up and holds it in place, gazing deep inside Masha’s concerned irises.

“You can talk to me about anything…” Masha adds. “Only if you want to.”

“I know. It’s just…” Vee takes a deep breath and lets it go, staring at the shiny white floor when she reveals, “Jacob has been watching me for a while…”

Masha blinks, shocked with a spark of anger underneath. “What?”

“Y-Yeah, this is probably the third time I caught him.”

“The third time?” Masha repeats, failing to hide their anger within their tone. “I swear to Goddess, if he even dares touch or hurt you, I am going to conjure up Satan himself t—”

“No, no, no, no!” Vee interrupts quickly, waving her hands. “He hasn’t done anything. He just watches me. Staring at me.”

She grunts uncomfortably, fidgeting with her hands nervously.

“Well, that is just as, if not worse. Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Masha asks.

“I-I thought he was going to stop…” Vee answers, her voice is gloomy and resentful. “But, I guess not.”

She lets out a small, self-deprecating chuckle.

She should have known better.

Of course, he is not going to stop until he gets information about her, revealing magic and creatures from within.

It is quiet for a moment, clearly unable to talk about the situation that has unfolded on Vee.

But then, Masha finally speaks up with a cocky grin and nudges Vee with their shoulder, “Hey, I have an idea.”

With creased eyebrows, Vee looks at her enbyfriend with an intrigued expression, a little bit of uncertainty on top of it.

“I have a plan to get Jacob off your back,” Masha says confidently, a determined smile on their lips. “But I need to know if you’re in or not, and if you ever feel uncomfortable, then we stop, okay?”

Vee is a little unsure about this.

She doesn’t want to be put in a position where it will hurt her enbyfriend.

That and what if the plan fails and Jacob doesn’t learn his lesson?

But at the same time, Vee is absolutely done with this crazy lunatic.

Not only that, but she has heard from Luz that he has been stalking the rest of the Hexsquad gang, particularly Amity and Gus.

Perhaps it is time to put him back in his place.

With a puff of her chest, Vee throws them a quick nod and agrees, “O-Okay, what’s the plan?”

Their lips tug into a grin and lean into Vee’s ear, which is part of her hair, and whisper out the plan.

Vee squeaks and her face becomes a light blush from Masha’s breath tickling her sensitive ears.

But her eyes slowly light up as she listens to the plan Masha has been brewing up in their mind.

Oh yeah, this could work.

With a few tweaks to the plan, Vee and Masha end up staying in the mall for a while, soon realizing that Jacob is working at a store where they sell office supplies and furniture.

He is finally back from his break, standing near the cash register with a bored expression, eyes droopy, and on the cusp of sleeping.

Right across the wide front entrance is a pretty fountain shooting out gushes of water.

That is their designation for Mission V: Stop the Snek Stalker.

And yes, Masha called it that, which Vee rolled her eyes at.

But she secretly loves it.

Anyways, the reason why they pick this location is because there is a police officer enjoying his lunch at a table nearby, and it is a good distance for Jacob to see Vee herself.

Vee takes a deep breath in and out, calming herself as she gets ready for step one of Mission V.

The young couple stops near a wooden bench at the water fountain, and the enby turns around to grasp Vee’s hands softly.

“You ready?” Masha asks, murmuring.

Vee exhales in one last breath, nodding with a determined look. “Yes…”

“Okay. You got this, baby,” Masha encourages, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Just this kiss alone gives Vee a confident boost.

Masha clears their throat and speaks out a little too loud, enough for a certain someone can hear them. “Ugh, I think I drank too much water! Imma go to the bathroom real quick, Vee!”

“Okay! Go ahead, Masha! I’ll wait right here!” Vee speaks just as loudly as her enbyfriend.

Then, Masha proceeds to kiss her one last time, making a loud smooch sound from their mouth and walking backwards. “Love you, baby! Keep my seat nice and warm!”

“I will!” Vee calls out.

As they are walking away, Masha throws Vee two thumbs up with a small smile, mouth-whispering, “You got this…”

Vee nods and takes a seat on the beach, peacefully watching the fountain.

She knows for a fact that Masha is quickly making their way to hide behind a small Auntie Annie’s that is not too far from the fountain and the cop.

And with that, step one of Mission V is complete.

Now here comes step two.

After staring at the water floating out from the hoses of the fountain, Vee turns her head around carefully and notices that Jacob is not at the cash register anymore.

Instead, Jacob is once again attempting to hide himself in a garage bin, lifting his head to peek at the basilisk with a skeptical look and the top of his head.

Vee cringes, resisting an eyeroll as he absolutely sucks at hiding.

But she continues with the plan, pretending not to notice Jacob.

With a quick breath, Vee smoothes out her orange hoodie and dusts off some dirt around her knee area.

Then, she slowly shifts to where only her tail is protruding from her backside.

But she is acting like the slip-up is involuntary, an accident, as she finishes wiping herself down.

She then pulls out her phone and opens up SlayTok, scrolling past some funny videos until…

She doesn’t have to wait that long as Jacob appears out of nowhere, taking off the garage bin disguise.

“A-ha! I knew it!” He yells, pointing an accusing finger at her. “No wonder you look so familiar, you foul beast!”

Vee can’t help but flinch in fear, arm curling towards her body.

But she must put up a convincing performance, even though she is slightly scared, which makes it more real. 

She swiftly turns her head around and yelps when she sees her tail sticking out of the middle space of the bench, quickly shifting it away.

Vee suddenly stands up and slowly backs away from him, clutching her plushie to her chest tightly. “W-What do you want?” She stutters, fear dripping in her voice.

“Oh, I know what you are planning…” Jacob said with malicious spit, following her with close steps. “You are planning to eat that girl, huh?”

“E-Excuse me?” Vee mutters, clearly offended that Jacob is blatantly misgendering her partner.

“Oh yes. That Masha girl,” Jacob scoffs. “Even if I don’t like her and she took my job, you’re still a threat to the human race, and I am here to save it.”

“T-They are not a girl!” Vee defends, an enraged look on her face, and her voice cracking with rage. “They are non-binary and they are my enbyfriend!”

“She, they, whatever! I am not gonna let that happen!” Jacob exclaims, seizing her wrist.

“H-Hey! Let go of me!” Vee yelps, trying to free herself from his somewhat strong grip.

“Oh no, you’re not getting away this time,” Jacob spits, squeezing her tighter.

She yelps, dropping the plushie to try to free her wrist with her other hand.

She is breathing very heavily and feeling her heart bumping faster, anxiety creeping up.

This is the point of the plan where they both didn’t know how far Jacob would go.

For all she knows, he can just drag her out of the mall and experiment on her right now, and Vee is sensing a panic attack slowly forming inside her.

But thankfully, she hears her enbyfriend gasping out loud, watching the scene unfolding before them.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Masha turns their head so that their voice is loud enough to grab the cop's attention. “Officer! This man is stalking my girlfriend and he touched her breast!”

The police officer lifts his head suddenly and sees the commotion going on between a young teen and an adult.

Jacob immediately removes his grip from Vee, eyes wide in fear and sweating profusely.

He lets out an exhausted sigh, facepalming. “Not this guy again…”

The cop stands up and puts on his hat, walking towards Vee and Masha.

“Is this true?” He asks Vee with a deep, gravelly voice.

Vee shyly nods and steps behind Masha, picking up her snake plushie and holding it on her chest.

“W-Wh-What! I didn’t touch her t-there! She’s a shape-shifting snake! You need to arrest her!”

“Yep. He’s gone crazy again,” The cop mutters to himself, approaching him. “Put your hands behind your back.”

“W-What? N-No! You have to listen to me!” Jacob pleads as the officer wraps a set of handcuffs around his wrist, writhing. “She is using her human disguise and she is going to steal our teeth!”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, man,” The cop mutters, arresting him.

Vee lets out a huge breath, which she didn’t know she was holding, as she watches the police officer slowly taking a whiny Jacob out of the mall.

“Hey, you okay?”

Vee turns around and sees Masha staring at her with worried eyes, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Y-Yeah…” She nods, reassuring them by placing her hand on top of theirs.

“Great. Now, give me five, girl!”

Vee smiles brightly and gives her enbyfriend a high-five.

“Yeah! Mission V success!” Masha cheers, pumping their fist in the air.

Vee covers her soft chuckles with her hand, staring at them. “You do realize that he didn’t touch t-there, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I know. But he deserves it after calling me a girl, am I right?” Masha asks with a sly smirk.

Vee snorts playfully, nodding along. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Then, Vee presses her lips into Masha’s, a gentle kiss that evokes one of gratefulness.

She leans back and whispers, “Thank you…”

“I got you, Vi-Vi,” Masha responds, planting another soft, short kiss on their girlfriend’s lips. “Come on, let’s celebrate with some ice cream. What do you think?”

Vee nods eagerly, wrapping her arm around Masha’s. “Lead the way.”

Slowly, the young couple walks towards the other side of the mall, brushing past the few people hanging out.

Vee finally lets out a soft sigh, squeezing Masha’s hand in comfort.

She can finally breathe without feeling like someone is watching her.

And she is happy that Jacob won’t be a problem anymore.

Chapter Text

Sometime in the future, Vee and Masha are slowly growing their family…

Vee lets out a weary sigh as she lazily parks the car in the driveway, rubbing her fatigued eyes.

Not only was today an exhausting day at the Vet Clinic, but it looks like she’s going back to working late shifts again.

Jessica, one of her coworkers, is currently on vacation, so Vee has volunteered to take over her position until she comes back.

Thankfully, Vee only has to work very late during the weekends, but these shifts are physically more demanding than her own.

And it is slowly leaving her more drained at the end of the day.

But no matter, it is currently 1:05 in the morning, and she is done with work.

Not only that, but she managed to request a day off tomorrow so she can finally sleep in late and have some quality time with her family.

Exhaling one last breath, Vee grabs her purse and slowly exits the car, locking it.

She makes her way to the small, quaint house right in front of her.

It is a simple two-story home that is suitable for everyone, in a quiet, friendly part of Gravesfield that is not too far from her Mama’s.

Vee climbs up the wooden porch that is splattered with children’s toys, such as LeGot blocks, tiny dinosaur figures, lizards, etc.

She quietly unlocks the front door and enters the house with silent steps, quickly taking off her white sneakers.

She is being extra mindful right now because it is the middle of the night, and she doesn’t want to wake up Masha and…

A loud gasp is heard in the living room to her right. “Mama’s here!”

Her disguised ears perk up, and her heart bursts with joy and warmth as she hears her son shuffling nearby, disturbing the quiet house with his excited steps.

“Jupe?” Vee softly calls out, dropping her purse on a nearby table.

She watches her son sprinting out of the living room and letting out another big gasp, his eyes light up with delight, one hazel and one blue.

Vee smiles brightly as she stares at her six-year-old son.

He has grown so much over the past few months, reaching up to Vee’s thighs, and his short, dark brown hair is growing messier and more tousled, with stands standing upwards, presumably from the nap.

He is wearing his favorite light blue shorts filled with random dinosaurs all around and wearing her orange and yellow striped sweater Vee wore in high school, way too big on him, with his hands tucked inside the sleeves, and finally, some mismatched socks.

“Mama!” Jupe yells cheerfully, arms raised high and jumping on the spot.

Vee chuckles lightly, ignoring how tired she is, as she picks up her son efficiently and hugs him tightly. “Oh, snugglebug!”

However, she hears Jupe letting out a small ‘hmpf!’ sound, leaning back to see him crossing his arms in annoyance.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Vee asks softly, sliding back his bed hair.

“I want Mama!” Jupe grumbles, pouting deeply, which is the cutest thing Vee has ever seen from him.

Vee chuckles gently. “Baby, I’m right here–”

“No! The real Mama!” Jupe interrupts, facing away and pretending not to know her.

Vee playfully rolls her eyes and slowly transforms her dirty, fur-covered light blue scrubs into her basilisk body, her human face replacing it with her real one.

She has grown a lot taller over the years, but she hasn’t fully evolved into what a Greater Basilisk should be, not standing over three or four feet.

Guess that is one of the perks of being a Lesser Basilisk.

“Mama!” Jupe lights up in joy and hugs around her scaly neck, snuggling further. “I miss you…”

Vee smiles warmly and squeezes even tighter, whispering in his ear, “I miss you too, Snugglebug.”

Then, her blue-tufted ears lift up once again, hearing softer footsteps coming from the living room.

Vee beams, already knowing who it is.

She slowly opens her eyes to her beautiful spouse leaning against the doorway with a tired expression, grinning at the sight.

They are wearing an oversized band tee that exposes their left bare shoulder slightly slipped down, some comfortable black shorts, and the cherry on top is a pretty silver ring with a white sapphire in the center on their finger.

“Hey…” Masha murmurs.

“Hey…” Vee whispers, throwing them a cheeky smile. “Not gonna give your wife a kiss?”

Masha lets out a soft snort, slowly walking toward her. “Oh, I’m gonna give you more than just a kiss.”

“Masha…” Vee warns through closed teeth, darting her eyes toward their son.

The enby rolls their eyes and chuckles lightly, closing the distance to press their lips together.

Vee and Masha pepper each other with gentle kisses, each one filled with warmth, love, and longing.

Eventually, Vee ends the soft make-out with a smooch sound and presses their forehead together, gazing into their warm brown pools. No words are spoken or communicated as they find comfort and enjoyment from their presence alone.

However, Jupe quickly interrupts their loving gaze as he wiggles around in Vee’s arms, excited.

“Hey! I want kisses!” He demands, waving his arms.

Vee and Masha giggle at their son’s reaction. 

“Of course! One kiss from Mama.” Vee plants a big kiss on Jupe’s forehead. “Mwah!”

“And one kiss from Ren-Ren.” Instead of one simple kiss, Masha grabs Jule’s face and decides to pepper him with an attack of kisses.

High-pitched laughter reaches across the walls of the house as Jupe bats away Ren-Ren’s raid of kisses, each one tickling him. “S-Stop!”

Masha stops what they are doing and chuckles out loud, Vee joining along with them. “Goddess, he was such a menace today…”

“Oh, is that so?” Vee asks curiously, looking at Jupe with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, tried my best to get him asleep, but he insisted on waiting for you.”

“Hey, that’s true. It’s way past your bedtime, mister,” Vee lightly scolds, tapping on his nose.

“B-But I wanted to see you! A-And I’m not…” Jupe's sentence trails off as he lets out a big yawn and rubs his eyes with his (cute) tiny hand. “...T-Tifed.”

“Mijo, you’re yawning. Come on, let’s get you tucked into your bed.”

“Noooooo!” Jupe whines, clinging to Vee by tucking his head further into her neck. 

“Jupes, you need sleep,” Masha remarks tiredly, a hand to their hip. “We’re not going to have this discussion anymore.”

Jupe whines again, voice muffled underneath Vee’s neck.

Then, he slowly leans back to look between both of his parents. “C-Can I please sleep with you and Ren-Ren?”

Vee’s eyes go wide, but not in shock, but in surprise. “Oh…”

“Please…” Jupe whispers, frowning.

He usually pulls the ‘Puppy-eye’ stunt that, for some reason, Vee and Masha are too hard to resist.

It doesn’t look like he is using it here.

He really wants to sleep with his parents, which flutters Vee’s heart.

She glances at Masha and finds out they are also staring at her with raised brows and very prominent bags under their eyes.

They are just as tired as she is.

“I mean, he’s not gonna sleep anytime soon, so…” Vee comments, shrugging.

Masha lets out a drained sigh, rubbing their eyes. “Okay, Jupe. You can sleep with us…” They reply weakly.

“Yay!” Jupe cheers, lightly stimming his arms in the air.

Vee can’t help but lightly chuckle at her son and his cute stimming. “Alright, buddy. Do you take your bath?” She asks as she briefly switches into her human form to climb upstairs.

“Yes, Ren-Ren helped me!”

“And do you brush your teeth?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Now, let’s change this sweater real quick,” Vee immediately transforms into her basilisk self and slithers to the right side of the long hallway, entering Jupe’s room.

“B-But I wanna keep it,” Jupe mutters, his hands fidgeting on the sweater’s hem.

“Baby, you’re gonna be sweating,” Vee reasons, gently placing him on the floor. 

Jupe whines lowly, still gripping onto it.

“Hey, how about this? You can wear it all day tomorrow, okay?” Vee offers, bending over slightly to be at eye level with her kid. “I just want you to get some good night's rest.”

Jupe stays quiet for a few seconds, staring at the emotionally attached fabric he has grown into.

“Okay, Mama,” Jupe nods slowly, releasing his grip.

Vee exhales softly and takes off the sweater from him.

She makes her way to Jupe’s dresser in the corner of the room and shifts through the several shirts stored in there.

“Mama?” 

“Yes, bug?”

“C-Can Ava come tomorrow?” Jupe asks nervously.

Vee lets out a soft laugh, a warm smile on her face at the mention of her niece, as she pulls out a red shirt that has a graphic print of Gojira.

Vee knows that he is too young to watch Gojira smashing buildings and killing innocent people.

Instead, she lets him watch the lighthearted one where the monsters just fight each other, and goofy moments ensue.

So Jupe will be fine.

“Ava might be busy with her schoolwork, mijo,” Vee replies, slowly putting on the shirt for him. “But I’ll call Luz tomorrow, okay?”

“O-Okay. I miss her…”

“I know, Snugglebug. She’d be very happy when she sees you again,” Vee says, racking Jupe’s hair with her nails. “Now, ready to go to bed?”

Jupe lets out a soft hum and nods eagerly.

“Alright, let’s go…” 

Vee hoists Jupe up again with a grunt, already used to the rhythm as her arm supports his bottom, and he wraps his small arms around her neck.

Jupe gently places his head on Vee’s scaly shoulder and closes his eyes, napping.

She slowly turns around to see Masha leaning against the doorway again, staring at her with a small smile.

“What?” Vee mumbles, slithering towards them.

“Nothing, just… You are a great mom,” Masha nudges her shoulder, exposing their cute tooth gap with a sly grin.

Vee chuckles, blushing lightly. “And you are a great Ren-Ren,” She utters, pushing Masha back with her shoulder.

They share a short giggle among themselves until Vee lets out a long yawn, a chain reaction in itself as it spreads to Masha and Jupe.

“Okay, okay. This Mama needs her sleep!” Vee exclaims softly. “And so do you both.”

After leaving their son’s room, Vee and Masha walk towards the last door of the hallway, and they step inside their own bedroom.

A king-sized bed is pressed against the wall along with a gray headboard behind it, placed in the center of the room.

The bedding itself is just a soft red comforter along with three black pillows with crimson highlights at the edges.

She knows that it is plain, and the bed screams out Masha more than Vee.

But she doesn’t really care.

A bed is a bed.

And right now, she needs her precious sleep.

Vee gently lays Jupe down in the middle of the mattress while Masha crawls under the bedsheets, draping the blanket to cover both them and their son.

She awkwardly climbs onto the bed since she is still a basilisk. However, Vee manages to find a comfortable position and scoots closer to Jupe, carefully tucking him in.

“You comfy, Jupe?”

“Mhm-mm…” He lets out a satisfied, drowsy hum, nodding slowly. “Love you, Mama. Love you, Ren-Ren.”

With a smile, Vee softly kisses his forehead while Masha kisses his hair, moving closer.

“We love you, too…” Masha whispers, lightly stroking his messy hair.

Then, within seconds, Jupe is knocked out cold, entering the realm of sleep and snoring softly.

Vee smiles, watching her son sleep, studying his facial features.

His warm beige skin tone…

His small brown freckles on both his cheeks…

The faded scar on his chin…

Vee lets out a long sigh.

But this is not one of weariness; it is one of happiness and fulfillment and love.

Slowly, Vee trails her tail across Masha and Jupe, and she wraps it around her spouse’s waist.

She brings all of them closer to the point where Vee is now face-to-face with Masha and Jupe on her chest.

“Comfy?” Vee questions, checking in with a playful raised brow.

Masha just grins happily. “Oh, yes. Very.”

Throwing back a warm smile, Vee reaches across to plant a single kiss on their lips.

It is long and lingering…

Vee pulls away from the gentle peck and nuzzles into her pillows, finding a comfortable position.

“Love you, Masha…”

“Love you too, Vee…”

With that, Vee sighs softly when she feels her bones super relaxed and her body at ease, letting her sleep overtake her quickly.

It’s moments like these that make Vee happy.

Happy to have her family together, in a warm and safe place.

And no matter how hard or difficult or stressful things can be, she wouldn’t change this loving feeling.

Not one bit…

Chapter Text

“And done!” Vee exclaims, closing her textbook.

Since some of her teachers assign her schoolwork during Spring Break, the basilisk decides to get a head start on all of her assignments to get them out of the way.

It took a couple of hours to complete them all in one go, which left Vee drained for the day.

But she is finally done, and she is planning on taking a quick nap to get some precious sleep.

She lets out a sigh and stretches her tired bones, humming when they pop satisfyingly.

So, Vee quickly tucks her papers inside her backpack and zips it up with glee.

She glances to the side and notices that Luz is still in the same place in her bed. 

She’s lying down on her stomach with her phone in hand, giggling like a schoolgirl, and her legs kicking in the air.

Vee rolls her eyes.

There is no doubt she is talking to Amity, so she lets her be.

She is about to switch into her human form to climb up the ladder to her bed.

But she shivers to herself, feeling her skin very cold.

It has gotten cold in this room for the past few hours, and her blanket is not going to do the trick.

But her eyes light up when she notices that the sun is shining brightly today, its yellow rays casting through the window.

“Yes!” Vee says to herself, quickly grabbing her blanket from her bed and slithering downstairs to the living room.

Right across the green couch is a window covered in a red curtain with golden highlights at the top.

That is the perfect spot for her sunbathing.

Vee draws the curtains open, and a huge ray of sunshine is aimed towards her body.

She hums with delight when she feels it warming her cold skin.

She unlocks the latches from the window and pushes it upward, letting the fresh air enter through and the warm sunlight in.

Then, she gently spreads the blanket on the floor and makes herself at home as she circles around the soft fabric.

After finding a comfortable spot, Vee lies down and twists her body into a perfect spiral.

She inhales softly and tucks herself tightly, feeling the warm sunbeam basking her whole body.

This is perfect, Vee tells herself, sleeping soundly and letting out gentle snores.

“Hey, Vee!”

Luz appears out of nowhere to scare her sister, holding onto the bunk bed’s edge with a cheeky smile.

However, she blinks because the top bed is empty, her blanket gone.

Vee is not there.

“Vee?” Luz softly calls out, exiting her room.

She slowly walks down the stairs and checks the kitchen by peeking inside.

Her sister is nowhere to be found.

“Vee, I swear if you are hiding and planning on scaring me, then I am going to ruin your…”

Luz lets out a loud gasp, her hands on her cheeks.

She spots a certain basilisk in the living room, sunbasking on the floor and curling up like a cute cat.

“Oh, my Titan! So cute!” Luz chirps excitedly, squeaking.

Vee groans drowsily, mumbling, “Luz, please keep it down. Trying to sleep.”

“Oh! Okay, okay. Sorry!” Luz apologizes, whispering. “This is so cute…”

After staring at her sister for a while, Luz pulls out her phone and takes a picture of Vee sunbathing.

Or more like taking a butt load of pictures cause of how adorable her sister is.

“Oh, they are going to love this,” Luz murmurs, opening her messages.

She sends the photo to both the Hexsquad and the Cabin 7 gang, typing out:

TheGoodWitchLuzura: this is so cutee!!! 😁

Luz giggles lightly, watching all her friends’ collected reactions to how cute Vee is.

But she is secretly awaiting Masha’s reaction cause Luz promised them to let them know when Vee sunbathes.

And speaking of Masha, Luz sees Masha’s text in her other group chat, smiling brightly.

MonsterMasha: oh my goddess…

However, Luz’s expression drops into confusion when she reads the last message.

MonsterMasha: on my way

“What? What do you mean by that, Mash–”

Three soft knocks are heard through the front door.

Not only that, but Luz hears a ding from her phone again.

She looks at her messages and notices that Masha has DM'd her.

Masha: please open the door, Luz

Masha: it’s me.

“Mmm… Luz, can you get that?” Vee murmurs, stirring slightly.

“U-Uhm, yeah,” Luz is baffled, walking towards the door and opening it.

A flustered Masha is standing right in front of her, gasping for air and their hands on their thighs.

“W-Where is she?” Masha asks, their body tired and sweaty, but their eyes full of excitement. “I ran as soon as I saw that photo.”

“Living room?” Luz replies, confused. “How did you…?”

“Pretty sure I’ve broken a lot of sprinting records.” Masha pants out, rushing inside the house to see…

Masha lightly gasps. “Oh my goddess! How can my girlfriend get any cuter?!”

“Masha, stop…” Vee whines in embarrassment, voice muffled.

“What? Not excited to see me?”

“No, I am. But…” Vee lets out a big yawn, which Masha squeals cause it resembles one of a cat. “Too tired.”

“Can I join?” Masha asks with a smirk.

Vee slowly opens one eye, looking at her excited enbyfriend. “Sure,” She responds softly, scooting slightly to make space for them.

“Yes!” Masha whispers to themselves, walking towards their girlfriend and lying beside her with their back against her chest.

Masha hums softly when they feel Vee’s tail wrapping around their waist, snuggling themselves further and closing their eyes in bliss.

“Can I join?!” Luz asks with excitement.

“No,” Vee replies flatly. “Masha only.”

Luz whines in frustration, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Then, Stringbean pops out of her shirt, and her eyes sparkle when she sees Vee basking in the sun.

She hisses, asking, [Can I join?]

Vee opens one eye again and nods. “Oh yeah. You can join.”

Stringbean hisses in delight, flying over there and settling on top of Vee’s tail.

“W-Wh-What? Hey! She’s not your enbyfriend?!?”

“Masha and snakes only…” Vee reframes bluntly.

“What?!? How could you, Stringbean? I thought we were friends!”

[Sorry, not sorry] Stringbean hisses sassy, snoring softly.

Luz groans loudly.

Vee rolls her eyes at her sister and shifts slightly. “You could join me on the couch, Luz.”

“Hmm, not the same thing…” Luz frowns, flopping dramatically onto the couch. “But meh, I’ll take it.”

Chapter Text

Hanging out at one of the outdoor tables are Vee and Luz Noceda, sitting next to each other and slowly munching on their food, which their mother had packed the day before.

They start off their lunch with a pleasant mood as Vee listens to Luz animatedly retelling her adventure in the Demon Realm last week.

Judging by her excitement, it looks like she is getting to the good part where she, Eda, and King finally catch Tibbles once and for all.

However, that is soon interrupted when Clara joins them and takes a seat across from the two sisters, letting out a frustrated grunt and slamming down her lunch plate.

Vee is caught off guard and whips her head to throw the former cheerleader a concerned eyebrow.

It even makes Luz stop talking due to the sudden change in mood. “Whoa, girl. You good?” She asks with an awkward chuckle.

Clara sighs heavily, her palm lying on her cheek. “Practice is cancelled. Again.”

“Wait, what?!” Luz exclaims, hands on the table in shock.

“What? Are you sure, Clara?” Vee asks, voice soft and maintained, but still stunned.

“Yep. Coach announced it last block,” Clara mutters, absentmindedly picking at the depressing spinach salad with her spoon. “Because guess what, the boy’s varsity team is using the field today. Who would have thought?” 

“Oh, what the heck?!” Luz groans out loud, arms crossed. “That’s the second time this week!”

“Yeah, that’s not fair. We have our playoffs in two weeks.” Vee argues.

“That’s what I said to Coach, but she said it’s out of her hands.” Clara lets out a defeated sigh, taking a bite of her pizza, which doesn't taste that bad.

What was once a peaceful atmosphere turns into a tense silence when the unexpected news is dropped, causing Clara and Luz to be in a sour mood.

Vee’s lips tug into a small frown when she glances between her sister and her long-time friend.

Yes, she is mad that the boys are using the field again, which is totally unfair to the girls’ team.

But she doesn’t really care about that.

She cares more about her two teammates.

There are still a lot of things that Clara and Luz need to improve on, and they really need practice time to brush up on some of their skills.

Then, Vee’s eyes light up with a small glow in her irises, and her eyebrows raise.

She has an idea.

“Hey, how about we have a practice of our own?” Vee suggests, shrugging.

Luz’s gloomy expression immediately lights up, softly gasping. “You mean like a DIY practice session? 

“Yeah, something like that. There is a baseball field near our home, and we can use that,” Vee explains to Clara, facing her. “We have some extra equipment, and we can practice by ourselves. That way, we will be good enough by the time we have our next practice.”

“Oooo, I like it!” Luz chirps, lightly punching her sister’s arm. “Count me in!”

Vee smiles at her sister, glad she has approved of this impromptu meeting.

“What do you think, Clara?”

Clara has a thoughtful look on her face, humming softly.

She is quiet for a good while, long enough that Vee is about to tell her that it is okay if she can’t make it.

But Clara’s expression quickly turns one into determination, her posture straight, along with a confident grin. “You know what? Yeah, let’s do this. Let’s show those boys that we mean business.”

“Yes!” Luz pumps her fist in the air, shouting. “Okay! I’m bringing all the snacks and candies! What’s your favorite candy, Clara? Oh, also, can we borrow your speaker, Vee?”

“Wait, wait, Luz,” Vee says, calming her excited sister by lightly tapping on her forearm. “Let’s hold off the snacks for now and talk about what we do need and the time.”

“Oh! Right. Sorry,” Luz apologizes, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. “Got a little excited there, haha.”

“It’s okay, Luz. So, does Saturday sound good with everybody?”

Clara and Luz nod in agreement, with the latter nodding eagerly.

“10 AM?” Vee asks.

“Yes, 10 AM sharp,” Clara agrees, darting her eyes at the Latina teen. “You hear that, Luz?”

“U-Uhm, y-yeah. For sure! Pfft! I’ll be there!” Then, Luz slowly leads towards Vee to whisper with gritted teeth. “I am so gonna be late…”

“What was that?” Clara asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing!” Luz screams, awkwardly chuckling.

“Hmm, that’s what I thought.” Clara grins playfully, sipping on her milk and finishing her food.

Suddenly, the bell rings, signifying the end of lunch.

“Oh shoot. Don’t wanna be late for Algebra again,” Clara says with a rushed tone, already equipping her backpack. “We texted later on?”

“You got it, Clara,” Vee replies while Luz nods quietly.

“Okay, see you guys.”

With that, the three girls slowly throw away their lunch in the trash and walk their separate ways to class.

However, before Luz goes upstairs to her destination, she lightly taps on Vee’s shoulder. 

“I have one request.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“Can I bring Stringbean?” Luz asks, the said palisman peeking out of the collar of her purple striped shirt.

Vee rolls her eyes fondly. ”Yes, you can bring her.”

“Yay,” Luz cheers quietly, lightly rubbing her palisman’s head.

Saturday has finally rolled by, and Vee is currently driving towards Clara’s house, the bright morning sun doing her job by casting down a blazing luminescent light to the world below.

Since she knows it is going to be a very hot day, Vee reminds Clara and Luz to dress appropriately for the sun last night.

The basilisk has put together her outfit for today, wearing a pink oversized band tee she borrowed (more like stole) from Masha with a knot tied in the back, some black biker shorts that are comfortable and flexible for running, her baseball cleats that are still brand new, and finally her earrings her enbyfriend gifted to her for her birthday.

It is a casual, gym-like outfit that Vee likes, perfect for their DIY practice session.

On the passenger seat, trying her hardest to stifle a yawn, is her sister, Luz.

Luz’s clothes are athletic and chaotic themselves: a sleeveless athletic purple tank with a black sports bra underneath, black shorts with white linings, and black leggings underneath it, her dirty bright baseball cleats slowly wearing off, and for accessories, she wears fingerless batting gloves and a bunch of wristbands on both arms.

Luz groans annoyingly, hiding what has to be her fourth yawn. “Ugh, this is too early for me…”

“Luz, we wake up at six every day for school,” Vee deadpans, turning left.

“I meant on Saturday!” Luz defends, resting her head on the door. “By this time, I’m still sleeping in my cozy, cozy bed…”

Vee glances at her sister and notices that she is fighting to keep her eyes open, shaking her shoulder. “Hey, don’t go to sleep, dude.”

“I’m awake, I’m awake! Well, barely…” Luz mutters, sitting up straight and rubbing her eyes.

Vee chuckles softly and slowly arrives at her destination, with Clara’s house in the distance.

It is a simple white two-story house with a driveway on the right and a front porch taking up the left side.

As soon as Vee shifts the gear stick into park, Clara is seen walking out of the front door and down the porch’s steps.

Clara is wearing a white loose athletic crop-top, black athletic leggings, clean and pristine white sneakers, and a hot pink sports cap tucked into her hair.

She is holding a coffee cup in one hand and a tote bag hoop on her right arm, storing all the electrolyte drinks, a big jug of water, and cooling towels just as they discussed.

The blonde throws a small wave towards her friend and climbs inside the old Toyoda Corolla.

“Hi, guys,” Clara greets calmly, adjusting herself in the backseat.

“Hi, Clara,” Vee quickly looks behind her friend with a smile, switching back to driving.

“Morning…” Luz mumbles out.

“Whoa. Too early for you, Luz?” Clara replies with a smirk, noticing her slumped behavior.

“Haha, very funny…” Luz deadpans.

Clara softly chuckles to herself. “Here, you want some coffee?” She offers, extending her arm to showcase her cup of joe.

Luz silently stares at the paper cup. “Does it have milk?”

“No, just plain coffee.”

Luz lets out a disgusted grunt, her tongue sticking out. “…Sure, why not? If it gets me kicking.”

“Uhm, I don’t think that is a good idea…” Vee chimes in.

“Why’s that?” Clara asks, already passing her cup to Luz.

“Remember that one time where Luz and I were hanging out with the Hexsquad at the cafe in the plaza. Yeah, Luz accidentally drank some coffee from Amity’s cup, and I don’t know how but she managed to get on the roof—”

“Uh, she’s already drinking it,” Clara interrupts, staring at Luz gulping down the hot drink. “Hey, don’t drink the whole thing!”

“Luz! What the hey?” Vee lightly scolds, her eyes still on the road.

“Vee, cálmete. It’s just coffee. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Woo! Let’s get this practice on a roll!” Luz shouts with a burst of newfound energy, excitedly skipping through the unlocked door of the baseball field. “Ah, I’m gonna make those boys PAY for cancelling practice!”

“Yep, told ya it was a bad idea,” Vee says to Clara, both entering through with bags in their arms.

“Yep,” Clara replies, popping the ‘p.’ “Noted.”

Vee chuckles lightly.

This baseball arena is a lot smaller than an official stadium, as it is used as a practice ground for baseball teams, with one medium-sized set of bleachers on one side holding about four rows and a large black practice net for pitching.

And right now, it is lonely with the absence of people.

Well, not anymore, as Vee and Clara walk into the dugout section located across from the bleachers and drop the bags on the silver seats, with Luz placing her bag of snacks.

“Okay, so first off, make sure you put on a lot of sunscreen,” Vee declares, pulling out the said object from her bag and tossing it to Clara. “It is hot!”

“Pfft, this girl doesn’t need no sunscreen. I’m already tanned as it is, baby,” Luz chirps, a sassy hand on her hip, and making jazz hands on her skin.

“You can still get a sunburn, Luz,” Clara shoots back flatly, applying the lotion on her neck, arms, and face.

Luz throws Clara the stink eye with her arms crossed.

“Just looking out for you…” Clara says, passing her the sunscreen.

Luz whines, but eventually, she takes the sunscreen from Clara’s hands and slowly puts it on.

The three girls step on the baseball field itself with its fake grassy pasture and red dirt, respectively, where the four bases are.

“Okay!” Vee announces, getting into a leader mode with a somewhat loud voice, but still soft. “You guys know the routine! We are going to jog around the field, then do some stretches. Understand?”

Clara nods, giggling. “Got it, Ms. Coach Noceda.”

“Stop…” Vee blushes, embarrassed.

“What? You’re sounding like Coach Ramirez. That’s all I’m saying!”

“No, Coach Ramirez will be like…”

Vee quickly transforms her body into her baseball coach, with a stern expression on her face.

“Everybody, line up! Light jog, everybody!” Vee demands, her voice changing into her coach with an exaggerated tone. “And you better not slow down, Clara!”

Clara scoffs offensively and lightly pushes Vee, chuckling. “Shut up!”

Vee snorts softly and switches back into her human form, with Luz laughing out loud.

After letting Luz connect the Bluetooth speaker to play some 80s workout music, Vee, Clara, Luz, and Stringbean line up near the catcher's base and get into a running position.

“Ready?” Vee asks, glancing at her teammates.

Clara simply nods. “Yep, ready.”

“Wait, do you say two laps?” Luz questions, having a shit-eating grin.

“No, I say one Luz.”

“Three?”

“Luz!”

“Okay! Fine, fine. One it is!” Luz yells out.

With that, they initiate their light jogging around the whole field with Stringbean flying around, hanging nearby with Luz.

They begin the first session of their given exercises, which they do in their afternoon practice.

Vee, Clara, and Luz easily jog around the field without breaking a sweat and at a good pace.

However, Luz insists on doing another lap around by herself cause it is too easy, according to her.

Vee lets her do another one since she is still in her caffeinated mode. But she suggests lightly jogging it to conserve her energy. Not only that, but she notices that Luz was basically sprinting the whole time on her first lap.

With one lap done (and two for Luz), the girls move into the next step of their usual exercises by doing some stretches, working on their calves, upper body strength, and shoulders.

Vee counts out loud for Clara and Luz to help them out, all while Maniac is playing in the background, which is very fitting.

After nothing but thirty minutes of intense stretches, Vee gives Clara and Luz a well-deserved five-minute water break to let them cool down, settling inside the dugout and sitting on the 

Vee lets out a satisfying sigh once she chugs down half of the cold water from her stainless steel drinkware. “How are we feeling?” She asks with a tired huff, glancing at Clara and Luz, who are also breathing very heavily.

“Woof, that is… That is one way to wake up…” Clara pants, wiping off the building up sweat on her forehead.

“Yeah, I can feel my muscles screaming at me…” Luz says, gasping for air. “But that ain't gotta stop me!”

“Yep, same here…” Clara agrees with a quick nod, passing down cooling towels for Luz and Vee.

“That’s the spirit!” Vee cheers out, resuming drinking a lot of water.

After the five minutes are up, Vee prepares all the necessary gear for the upcoming drills: extra bats, gloves, helmets, extra baseballs, etc.

The first run is the classic hitting drill, which involves swinging the baseball inside the black net.

Vee, Clara, and Luz each have ten minutes to swing a couple of hits and take turns once they are done with their session.

Vee notices that Clara is accurately knocking out the baseballs with clean precision; each blow is a strong hit, and it is easily her best skill.

However, Luz is a different story.

She also hits the baseballs accurately with a strong stroke. But it is not always consistent, and she tends to fumble every now and then.

With some guidance from her and Clara, Luz is slightly improving on her batting. But she still needs some practice.

As for Vee, she is hitting some good strikes with every swing, but they are inaccurate at times.

Thankfully, Clara is there to help out with how to accurately hit it most of the time.

After finishing that and another quick break, everyone finally gets onto the baseball field and starts a pseudo-game with the three of them.

“You ready, Luz?” Vee yells out in front of her, feet firmly placed on the pitcher position.

“Ready!” Luz chirps, waving the red baseball bat enthusiastically and stepping inside the left-handed batter’s box.

“Ready, Clara?” Vee shouts out from behind.

The former blonde cheerleader adjusts her cap and quietly cracks her neck, standing on the right side of the field with a gloved hand.

“Ready,” Clara shouts back, nodding sharply.

Vee nods quickly at Clara and takes a deep breath, facing forward towards her sister, who is in position with her bat ready to strike.

She throws the ball with a vigorous motion, coming towards Luz with high velocity.

Luz immediately swings her bat with force, but she misses the ball as it hits the black net behind her sister, taking the role of a catcher.

Luz huffs in annoyance, relaxing the tension on her shoulder and back into the battering position.

“Strike one,” Vee says, pulling out another ball from the black pouch beside her feet, which is holding about five extra baseballs to practice with.

She readies herself by getting into position with the ball firmly closed on her gloved hand and her right hand gripping it.

Then, with a quick nod to Luz, Vee throws the ball at her, and her sister misses it again—A swing and a miss.

Luz grunts out loud, frustrated and clutching the ball hard. “Ugh! Titan-dammit!”

“It’s okay, Luz. It’s okay…” Vee reassures, grabbing another ball. “This is why we are practicing. Just concentrate and focus.”

“Concentrate and focus, Luz… Concentrate and focus…” Luz whispers under her breath, repeating it as if it is a mantra.

Then, she takes a deep breath in and out, closing her eyes to steady herself as she slowly swings the bat in her hands.

Luz slowly opens her eyes and throws Vee a quick nod, getting into a battering position.

With that, Vee throws towards Luz with a hard thrust and…

Crack!

Luz finally hits the ball with a clean, strong hit as it is heading towards the sky in an upward arc.

“Go, Luz! Run!” Vee calls out, looking for the ball with a gloved hand raised to the sky.

Immediately, Luz completely forgets the bat and drops it, running as fast as she can.

A great strength of Luz is that she is absolutely killer at running, already passing first base in four and a half seconds.

However, Clara quickly spots the ball coming towards her and slowly backs up to estimate the positioning of where it is falling with her glove raised high, ignoring the glaring and annoying sun. 

When she finally catches the ball, Clara swiftly throws it across to Vee, who is all the way to where third base is.

It is a clean throw, which Vee is proud of since she has trouble pitching the ball.

Vee runs towards the flying ball and hastily grabs it with her glove.

Letting out a yelp, Luz dramatically slides across the floor, and her fingers barely touch the dirt-covered white base, just in time for Vee to touch her glove onto her side rib.
 
Luz sighs contentedly, laughing cheerfully. “Ha! Woah! I’m safe!” She exclaims, breathing heavily and pumping her fist in celebration.

Vee chuckles lightly and offers her a hand, helping her sister stand up from the ground. “That was a nice hit, Luz…”

“Yep, I second that,” Clara remarks with a free hand on her hip, impressed.

“Aww, are you guys finally proud of me?” Luz asks cheekily.

“Yes!” Vee replies cheerfully.

“Yes, Luz. So, so proud of you,” Clara responds sassily.

“Hey! Don’t sass me!” Luz exclaims.

A pause enters and then…

The three girls chuckle with one another after the intentional awkward silence.

After that, they all decide to rerun the game, with Luz still being in the left-handed box to practice her batting.

So far, she is able to strike the ball more than two or three times and has made it to second base clean.

She almost makes it to third base on one playthrough, but she is immediately out as soon as Clara touches her glove containing the ball on Luz.

After three games, Luz takes the role of Clara as the Right Fielder, while the blonde switches to the batter.

Clara warms up by slowly swinging the bat, her feet firmly on the right-handed box this time.

“You ready, Clara?” Vee asks, tossing the ball in the air nonchalantly.

Releasing one last breath, Clara throws Vee a quick nod, staring at her with fierce determination.

With a nod, Vee gets into pitcher position and swiftly throws the ball to Clara, fastly and hastily.

With a firm grip on the handle, Clara swings the bat with great control, and she strikes the ball on her first time, heading in the air with fast velocity.

Clara promptly drops the bat and starts running as fast as she can to first base, ignoring Vee and Luz trying to catch the ball.

The ball falls to the fake grassy ground, and Vee grabs it in time to touch Clara, who is going to take a shot at sprinting towards second base.

Clara groans in frustration. “Should’ve stayed in first base…”

“Like I said to Luz, this is why we are practicing. We all make mistakes, especially good athletes. But we will learn from them, showing us what we need to improve on.” Vee smiles softly.

Clara is speechless. “Damn, Vee. Who are you, Yo-Duh?”

“Hey! I’m giving you an inspirational speech! You know, to encourage you?”

Clara chuckles lightly. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I got it. But thanks for that, though.”

Vee gives the blonde an encouraging nod. “No problem. Let’s do another run!”

All the girls return to the same position in the field, and Clara slowly gets herself ready, stretching briefly and warming up her arms to swing the bat.

With a confirmed nod, Vee hurls the ball at Clara, and she misses it as it passes the strong swing, strike one.

But Clara doesn’t let that slip-up get into her head and stay focused and calm, paying attention to the upcoming pitch from Vee.

Clara grips the handle firmly and takes a deep breath. Her face hasn’t changed from her sheer determination.

Four or five seconds have passed and Vee hurls the ball again and…

Crack!

The bat connects with the ball with a powerful blow, a harsh sound echoing throughout the field and soaring high in the air.

Luz gasps loudly, grabbing her cheeks. “Oh my Titan! That’s a homerun!”

“Go, Clara! Go!” Vee calls out excitedly.

With a smile, Clara flings the bat carelessly and jogs around all three bases, watching the ball falling out of the field.

Then, by the time she passes home plate, Clara lets out a yelp when she feels Vee and Luz hoisting her up, placing her on their shoulders.

“And the crowd goes wild!” Vee announces, swaying Clara slightly while Luz mimics a loud cheer from her mouth.

“What are you guys doing? Put me down!” She giggles, grinning.

“Clara! Clara! Clara!” Vee and Luz chant together.

Clara rolls her eyes playfully and relishes the sweet moment with a smile. 

They keep celebrating as if they won a real game, chanting over and over again.

By the time Vee and Luz safely place Clara on the ground, the three girls exchange their fits of giggles, lightening the bright mood and ending a great practice with a bang—

Crack!

…

…

…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

They freeze.

With wide eyes, Vee, Clara and Luz slowly turn around and notice that the ball has finally made its stop, 

Well, more like it has struck the windshield, a spider-web crack on the impacted area of the window on Vee and Luz’s Toyoda Corolla, beeping loudly.

Everyone stares at the sight in silence.

For a while, no words are exchanged between the girls, shocked and stunned.

But eventually, Luz finally speaks up in a small voice, “Do you think Mama will believe us if we say that was already there?”

“I highly doubt she will believe us…” Vee remarks.

“Welp…”

“I’m sorry…” That is all Clara can mutter, regret in her voice.

“Nah, don’t worry, Clara. I bet Mattholomule can fix that. So you’re good,” Luz reassures with a soft smile. “Now! Should we celebrate with some ice cream? It is on me!”

Clara and Vee agree, nodding eagerly.

After a quick water break and exchanging casual clothes, the gang slowly stores everything away in the car, and Vee cautiously drives Luz and Clara to a well-known ice cream shop in the plaza of Gravesfield.

Vee smiles softly, glad that today’s practice went super smooth and well with a great amount of improvement from both Luz and Clara.

So yeah, they deserve the ice cream.

Fast forward to two weeks later, and the Gravesfield Girls’ Team won the playoffs, and the boys' varsity team lost the day after.

All thanks to Vee, Luz, and Clara, who carried the whole team.

Chapter Text

Inspired by the song, Getaway Car by Alex Warren.

The bright evening moonlight stares down at the lonely high school on the outskirts of Gravesfield, the streetlight illuminates with its yellow hue, offering the moon a little bit of help.

On the opposite side, the interior of the school is completely pitch black, barren, with no students nor staff present.

It is quiet as it should be with everyone gone for the day and the weekend right around the corner.

However, there is one window in one of the classrooms that is slightly open, and a light breeze is brushing inside the classroom.

That once peaceful silence is shortly interrupted by the sound of someone pushing one of the classroom windows open.

Soon, a teen girl by the name of Luz Noceda carefully climbs through the window and lands on the ground with a soft grunt, being on the lookout.

Following the Latina is none other than her sister, Vee Noceda.

“Luz, this is a terrible idea,” Vee says in a hushed whisper, her boots coming into contact with the floor.

“Relax, Hermana!” Luz waves her sister off, confident. “The classroom is not that far from here. We’ll get it and we’ll be gone before we know it!”

Vee groans. “Still, I hate it. You got your disguise?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Luz chirps brightly, pulling out a concealment stone necklace from her letterman jacket and showing it off in an Animal Crossing way.

She puts on the necklace, and a blue illusion cloud surrounds her, a small poof sound echoing.

The disguise chosen is a character named Rhoda from an Azura Next-Gen fanfic she has been reading and loving ever since.

Her appearance changes into that of a witch around her age with the same warm, tanned skin. 

However, she is now sporting short, messy white hair with slight curls at the edges, golden eyes, black square glasses, and pointy ears.

The outfit is a sort of rendition of the Hexside school uniform: a gray tunic with a yellow top trimmed and overlaying the tunic, a dark gray belt wrapped around the waist that is the same color as the sleeves and highlights, ripped yellow leggings, and finally, white sneakers with a red heart at the sides for footwear.

When asked why she didn’t choose Azura, Luz simply stated that the guards who are patrolling around the closed area might know the titular character, or their daughters.

Vee highly doubts that the guards, or if they have any kids, know anything about The Good Witch Azura, but whatever floats her boat.

Slowly, Vee begins to transform her body into her disguise, which is a beloved character from a TV show she and Masha watched and finished last week.

She shifts into Cassandra, or Cas, a nickname she prefers to be called, a character she absolutely adores and relates to.

She is a witch, the same age as her and with the same pointy ears as everyone in the Demon Realm.

Her warm beige skin changes into a light porcelain color, with her basilisk eyes changing into deep blue ones.

Her blonde and muted blue hair transforms into a rich blue color with a hint of silver at the roots, lightly touching her shoulders.

As for the outfit, Vee ditches the magical school uniform in favor of a casual look Cas wears in the first episode: a green zip-up hoodie, a black shirt with a red butterfly design tucked into a thigh-length skirt, black leggings, and white sneakers.

“You ready?” Luz asks in a low voice once she notices that her sister is done with her transformation.

Vee takes a deep breath and releases it, nodding slowly. “Yep. You?”

“Heck yeah, I am,” Luz smirks proudly, carefully opening the classroom door. “Alright, now follow me.”

“And be quiet!” Vee adds on, hissing.

“Yeah, yeah. I will.”

With their disguises intact, Luz slowly unlocks the door and peeks her head out, looking side to side. “Okay, we’re clear.”

Vee nods and slowly follows her sister out of the classroom and into the dark halls of the school.

“Psst, Stringbean! You can come out…” Luz whispers to her palisman.

The purple snakeshifter flies out of her shirt and hisses happily at her owner, curling around her neck and providing a soft blue luminance light from her spherical orb on her tail.

“Thanks, girl,” Luz says, giving her head scratches with her finger.

Stringbean purrs with delight, hissing. [I got you!]

“So what class is it again?” Vee asks in a whisper, glancing back with every quiet step they take.

“Oh, Ms. McKenzie.”

“Wait, your history teacher?”

“Yep!” Luz replies, popping the ‘p.’

“Again, Luz. She took your phone away?” Vee questions with a tired stare.

“Well, not really…”

“…You told me it was your phone.”

“Yeah, uhm. I may have lied,” Luz replies with a high tone, showing off an awkward grin.

“Luz! What the heck?” Vee hisses.

”Look, I’m sorry! It’s just… embarrassing.”

Vee lets out a small, frustrated grunt. “Dude, I’m your sister. You have to—no, need to tell me all the embarrassing things.”

“Yeah, but this is different.”

“Well is it any different when you were texting the wrong group chat about Amity’s—”

“Ssh! Don’t say that out loud!” Luz hisses, waving her hands.

“No one’s here, Luz.”

“Stringbean’s here and she doesn’t know that!” Luz points out.

Stringbean hisses, a deadpan look on her face. [Actually, I do.]

Vee has a cheeky grin on her face, looking at her sister. “Told you.”

“Well, she doesn’t know the time when you and Masha were making out in the Historical Society, and then someo—”

“Ahh! Okay! Okay! I get it!” Vee blurts out, waving her hands around with a light blush.

Stringbean hisses again. [I don’t know that.]

“Oh my gosh, I am telling you once we get home!” Luz exclaims, patting her smol head.

“You better not!”

“I am!”

“You better…” Vee lets out a small gasp, eyes wide open.

She sees a flashlight shining in the far distance, along with the heavy steps of the boots echoing down the empty halls.

The guard slowly walks towards where they are positioned, the light growing brighter and brighter the closer he walks.

“Luz, we gotta hide!” Vee hushes as she looks around for a hiding spot, panicking.

“Ah! U-Uhm, uh… Oh! In here!” Luz says, opening a nearby janitor’s door.

Vee and Luz quickly rush inside the closet and shut it just in time when the guard turns the corner.

Even in the dark, Vee is keenly aware of how close she is to Luz as she is uncomfortably touching cheek to cheek with her.

Not only that, but the broom behind her slowly falls on her back, making a small noise.

But she stays very, very quiet, covering her heavy breaths with her hand.

Vee and Luz stare at the bottom slit of the door, watching the light glowing bright as the guard walks past them.

He is whistling a tune from his oldies station and is completely oblivious of the two girls in the closet.

The guard soon heads in another direction, the white light disappearing and out of sight.

However, Vee and Luz keep their mouths shut for a couple of minutes until the coast is clear.

Once they hear nothing but their silent breath, the two sisters both sigh in relief, almost getting caught.

Then, Vee lets out a high-pitched yelp when she feels Luz moving in her spot, unknowingly poking her…

“Ah! Luz, that’s my boob!”

“Oh, shoot! Sorry!”

“I-It’s fine! Just, ugh. Out of all the places, Luz…” Vee complains, struggling to find her personal space. “I feel like I’m playing Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

“Okay, first of all, I didn’t know this was a small closet!” Luz defends. “And secondly, ew! I’m not kissing my sister.”

“Okay! We’re losing focus!” Vee says, rubbing her forehead. “Let’s just go get whatever it is you’re gonna get and leave, okay?”

“Yep, loud and clear!”

With that in mind, Vee slowly opens the door, and they both exit the janitor’s closet, catching their breath due to the lack of air inside.

“T-Titan, this is reminding me of Summer Camp…” Vee murmurs, looking back as she follows Luz, heading straight ahead.

“…Wait, you played Seven Minutes in Heaven with Masha?” Luz asks with a cheeky smirk, glancing back at her.

“What? Oh, no, no, no. N-Nothing like that happened,” Vee replies, a light blush on her pale cheeks. “W-We sneaked out to the lake one day and the guard almost caught us.”

“Wait, really? Whoa! Your first taste of rebellionism.” Luz chirps, ruffling her sister’s hair with a bit of force.

“H-Hey! Stop that!” Vee bats away Luz’s attack, chuckling softly. “Y-You’re not off the hook yet, Luz. What exactly are we stealing?”

Luz stops her annoying antics toward her sister and looks away in embarrassment. “J-Just trust me, okay? It’s important. Well, to me.”

Vee stares at her sister and shakes her head tiredly, sighing. “Titan give me strength…”

They continue walking with quiet steps throughout the dark hallway for a couple of minutes, now passing by the college course classroom.

“104, 104, 104…” Luz whispers under her breath, searching for the said classroom. “104, 104. A-ha! There it is!”

At the end of the hallway is a door with the number E-104 on the side, along with the teacher’s name.

Vee and Luz quickly approach the door and the basilisk realizes something.

“Uh, Luz? It’s locked,” Vee remarks, juggling on the handle and indicating that it is indeed locked.

“Not anymore!” Luz beams with a grin, pulling out a small black paperclip from her hair.

“I don’t think that is going to work…”

Vee’s sentence trails off when she suddenly smells a new addition of magic in the air, sniffing softly.

It is then that she learns that the paperclip is some sort of magical object from the Boiling Isles.

With a head tilt, Vee watches Luz stick the clip inside the lock with a concentrated look, her tongue poking by the corner of her mouth.

Then, by a miracle, the door softly clicks, and Luz twists the handle, unlocking it with ease and skill.

“How did you…” Vee asks, amazed and confused.

“Perks with being the Owl Lady, Hermana,” Luz winks, wagging her eyebrows smugly.

Vee rolls her eyes, chuckling. “Whatever, dude.”

The sisters both slowly enter the dim, clean classroom with all the chairs stacked on one side of the room and the floor mopped.

However, Luz doesn’t pay attention to any of that as she walks towards the teacher’s desk in the corner of the classroom.

There is an old desktop computer along with a pencil cup holder, keyboard, and all the necessities a teacher needs for the class.

The desk has a locked compartment in the center, which will unlock the two drawers on its left side.

Luz uses the paperclip to unlock the desk with quick precision and opens the middle section, immediately grabbing the handle for the last drawer and pulling it open.

Vee takes a good look inside at what Luz is tackling all this time, and the reason why she drags her along in this ‘sneaky’ mission is…

She has her mouth agape, staring. “Luz, are you kidding me?”

The Latina teen pulls out the confiscated item.

It is her old sketchbook that she has had for three years, filled with doodles of her OCs and random cute animals, with a bunch of paper stacked evenly inside the book.

“What? I told you it was important!” Luz exclaims, squeezing it in her chest like it is a newborn baby.

Vee sighs tiredly, facepalming. “Please tell me we didn’t come all the way here for your Amity doodles?”

Luz stays silent for a moment, eyes wide. “...Maybe.” She grins awkwardly, laughing nervously. 

Vee throws her sister the skank eye, grunting.

“But no. It is actually because of this…”

Luz flips through the pages upon pages covered with her rough sketching and clean drawing until she stops somewhere in the middle, pulling out a small candy wrapper that is crinkled and worn out.

“I saved this from our first date…” Luz begins to explain, staring at it with a loving gaze. “Amity gave it to me as a joke because she was too lazy to throw it in the trash next to me. But I thought it was a perfect token to remember my first date with her. So, I kept it, and I’ve been carrying it ever since.”

Luz brings the wrapper and neatly tucks it inside a handmade pocket in her sketchbook with little doodles of her and Amity in the center and small hearts.

Vee’s face turns one of understanding, her brows creased in sympathy.

“So yeah. Sorry, I didn’t tell you earlier, Vee.”

“No, no, no. It’s okay, Luz,” Vee reassures. “I would have been on the hunt if I lost the movie ticket from my first date. So I get you.”

Luz sighs in relief, nudging her shoulder with her sister. “I’m glad you came along.”

“Just here to keep my sister out of trouble,” Vee says, nudging her back playfully. “And speaking of trouble, we gotta bounce before the guards catch us.”

Luz chuckles softly. “Yes, ma’am.” She salutes, quickly putting away her sketchbook in her drawstring bag.

They promptly leave the classroom, with Luz locking it back in place with the paperclip, slowly making their way out.

However…

“Hey!”

Vee and Luz are blinded by a bright white light on their faces.

They both freeze with eyes wide in panic.

There are two guards up on the second floor, looking down at them from the stairs.

“What are you girls doing here?” A female guard asks, voice inhibiting one of command.

“U-Uhm…”

That is all Vee could say or stammer, her body frozen with dread and fear.

It is a tense atmosphere with the two sisters having a staredown with the guards. 

There is complete silence for five seconds until…

“I can’t go back to jail!” Luz shouts out, proceeding to run in the opposite direction and dragging a shunned Vee.

“What, wa—” Vee yelps out, her legs finally unfrozen so she can sprint as fast as she can, right behind Luz.

“Hey! Stop running!”

The guards chase after the two trespassers, fast and rushed footsteps echoing throughout what was once a quiet, empty hallway.

“Help me out, girl…” Luz whispers to Stringbean.

She hisses with a nod. [You got it!]

The snake shifter transforms into an all black power noodle for stealth and cover, dashing towards the guards in the air.

Vee looks behind and watches Stringbean trip the left guard by striking him on his knee, falling face-first to the ground.

As for the other guard, Stringbean spins her whole body around the woman’s face at a fast pace, making her body float in the air for a brief second, and almost looking like a mini tornado forming.

Then, as she is done intensely spinning, the guard falls to the ground with a dizzy and dazed look, bright yellow stars appearing near her head.

“Thanks, girl. I own ya!” Luz says as Stringbean returns on her neck.

Stringbean hisses. [No problem. How about you tell me what happened with Masha and Vee, and then we call it even?]

“Alright, bet!”

“No! No, bet! You are not telling her that!” Vee argues, her breath heavy from all the running.

They turn to a corner and halt in their tracks, noticing another pair of flashlights in the far distance, guards running where they are.

Vee lets out a small yelp, looking around her surroundings to see where they can hide.

Her eyes light up when she notices the hallway to the left of them has an emergency exit at the very end.

This is great for their little situation going on here because Stringbean is their getaway car, and they need access to the outside.

However, the bad news is that it is going to trigger an alarm.

But who cares?

They are already caught.

“Luz!” Vee calls out, pointing at the double doors.

She lightly gasps, locking eye contact with her sister for a brief moment.

Nodding at the same time, Vee and Luz dash towards their only exit and push open the doors, leaving the school and running towards the grassy field of the soccer practice.

A high-pitched fire alarm immediately goes off throughout the school, with Vee covering her ears due to how sensitive they are.

After getting halfway through the field, Luz calls Stringbean again, and the palisman transitions into her staff form, ready to fly in the air.

“Are you ready, Vee?”

“No, no. I’m not ready.”

“Too late! Here we go!”

Vee lets out a frightened yelp when she feels Luz interlocking her left arm, and then, without a warning, they rocket toward the night sky without mounting onto Stringbean.

The basilisk is screaming out loud and clutching on Luz’s forearm tightly, going higher and higher at impossible speeds.

By the time they float past the weightless clouds, Luz slows down for a minute, giving them enough time to mount on the staff properly.

Vee frantically takes her seat on Stringbean, tightly wrapping her arms around Luz’s stomach.

“Don’t ever do that again, Luz!” Vee groans, her whole body shaking with adrenaline and dread. “Oh my Titan, I’m gonna pass out.”

“Relax, Vee!” Luz yells back, slowly guiding the staff towards the surface. “I do this all the time. We are fin—”

“Luz, watch out!” Vee shouts in panic.

“Huh?”

The clouds disappear with a poof, and Luz is unknowingly heading towards a tall church with a huge bell at the top, inches away from hitting it.

The two sisters let out a scream in unison.

Snapping out of it, Luz moves out of the way just in time to avoid colliding headfirst into the bell, her clothes lightly grazing the side of the building.

The screams die down, and Luz and Vee fall in silence.

It is quiet for a moment, only the sound of the light breeze hitting against them as they fly in the air, still frozen with their mouths agape.

“…Luz.”

“Yeah?”

“I am never flying with you.”

Luz rolls her eyes, taking off her concealment stone and returning to her regular attire. “Okay, there was a small hiccup in the road. We’re fine.”

“Small hiccup?! I’m still shaking, dude!” Vee exclaims, shifting into her human form because it is very hard to sit on the staff with her basilisk form. “And we got caught!”

“…But on the bright side, we managed to get what we came for. So, mission success?” Luz questions with an awkward grin, offering a fist bump towards her sister.

Vee stares at the fist for a while before letting out a tired sigh, connecting the fist bump. “Mission success.”

With that, Luz returns to focusing on steering Stringbean, gliding across the small town of Gravesfield.

Meanwhile, Vee gently places her head down on her sister’s back, recovering from all the running and adrenaline from rushing through the air.

“…Hey, what do you mean you can’t go back to jail?” Vee asks quietly, breaking the brief silence.

“Hmm? Oh! No, no, no, I was just quoting a movie!” Luz chuckles brightly. “You know, Monsters Academy?”

Vee blinks, unmoving. “…Huh?”

“Wait, you haven’t seen that movie?” Luz asks in a shocked tone, glancing at her sister.

Vee shakes her head, replying with a silent no.

“Oh my Titan, you need to watch it! Also, Monsters, Co.! Oh, wait, technically, Academy is a prequel to Co. but you can watch whichever movie you want.”

“Hmm, I’ll watch it someday. J-Just focus on the road,” Vee replies politely, shutting her eyes for a bit.

There is another silence once again, but it is more of a comfortable silence rather than a tense one.

However…

“So you wanna hear what happened with Masha and Vee, Stringbean?”

Stringbean replies telepathically to both Luz and Vee. [Uhm, yes!]

Vee groans in embarrassment, hiding her blushing face in Luz’s letterman jacket. “I’m never going to get out of this.”