AN: So, remember, how I said I was going to take a break? Yeah, it wasn't quite as big a break as I thought. That said, we're jumping around a bit in the timeline here; this chapter takes place several weeks after the last, which in turn takes place a couple months after the first. Also, the next installment will probably jump back a bit; this likely won't be the only time I do that, so I apologize in advance for any confusion.

Oh, and I should probably mention that for this AU, Vee's standard human disguise is the same as the one she gains in Thanks to Them.

Vee:
Hey, could you come over? There's something I want to tell you.

Masha:
Can u not just tell me over phone?

Vee:
Face to face is probably best, it's… rather personal…

Masha:
K, omw

Masha stared at her text log one last time before looking up at the door of the Noceda household. Was this it? Were things really about to got the way she thought they might? She shook her head; there wasn't any way to know for sure until she got on with it, so she may as well do that.

After ringing the doorbell, there was a few seconds wait before it opened. "Oh, hello Masha," said Mrs. Noceda.

"Good afternoon Camila," responded Masha. "Um… Vee said she wanted to talk with me about something?"

Camila gave a small nod. "So they're actually going through with it, huh?" she muttered to herself.

"Sorry, what?"

Camila shook her head. "Oh, nothing." Stepping aside, she added "They're upstairs." Masha made her way past her friends' mother. "Oh, and…"

Masha turned around at the foot of the stairs. "Yeah?"

Camila sighed. "Just… please try to keep an open mind?"

"Uh, okay?" Why did that sound a lot more ominous then it should have?

Luz and Vee were sitting on the latter's bed when they perked up as they heard the chime of the doorbell. "Sounds like she's here," said Luz. When here words were met by nothing but silence she turned to her adopted sister, who was fidgeting nervously. "You okay?"

"I-I'm just… not so sure this is a good idea…" Vee replied.

"But… weren't you the one who wanted to do this?"

"I know, but… just… what if she freaks out, or starts telling everyone, or-"

"Listen," Luz grabbed her shoulder, "do you trust her?" Vee nodded. "Do you want to tell her?" Another, more hesitant nod. "Then there's your answer!"

"B-but what if-"

"Tell you what," Luz interrupted before she could spiral further. "If things go poorly, I'll… I don't know, get you an ice cream or something."

"I… don't think that would help though…"

"Maybe, but it won't not help."

"…True…"

Luz pointed downwards. "By the way, your spots are showing."

Vee's eyes leapt down to her hands, and the whitish specks of her natural form darkened to match the rest of her skin. "Thanks." A soft rapping drew their attention to the door. "C-come in," Vee choked out.

The door opened and Masha stepped through. "Hey girls!"

"Hey!"

"…Hi…"

Masha frowned at Vee's less-than-enthusiastic response. "So, uh… I hear you have a secret or something to tell me?"

Seeing that Vee wasn't quite in a state to answer, Luz said "Well, technically Vee does; I'm just here for moral support."

Vee gave a small nod. "Yeah, uh… the thing is, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now, and it's… kind of a big deal."

Masha glanced away for a second. "Actually, there's something I want to tell you too…" She looked back up. "But you go first."

"Are you sure? I mean, mine's kind of… a lot."

Masha waved a hand dismissively. "Eh, mine is too." She grabbed the chair next to Vee's desk and sat down "Besides, you were the one who called me."

"Well, if you're sure…" Vee look at Luz, who smiled encouragingly. "Okay, here it goes," she muttered, taking a deep breath. "You see, I haven't really been… entirely honest with you."

Masha raised an eyebrow "About?"

"About who…" Vee started fiddling with her fingers "Or, I guess, what I really am."

"Oh… So this isn't some kind of… uh…" Masha trailed off.

Vee raised an eyebrow. "'Some kind of…'"

Masha shook her head, hoping no one noticed her faint blush. "Nothing, never mind! I guess just uh… who, or what, are you really then?"

"Well that's… complicated." Vee suddenly found herself very interested in the floor. And the ceiling. And pretty much anything that wasn't Masha's eyes. "You see, I'm not entirely from around here."

"Okay?" Masha tilted her head.

"And well… I'm also not entirely… I mean, I'm not actually…" Vee sighed. Titan, why was saying this so hard. Okay well actually, she knew why, but that didn't help anything right now.

Masha frowned. Vee was clearly having trouble spitting it out. Maybe she should say something to help ease the tension.

Vee's breath hitched, and Luz rested a hand on her shoulder in support. "The thing is, I'm really-"

"A member of a shape-shifting race of lizard folk?" Masha finished for her.

Vee blinked.

Luz blinked.

Masha gave an innocent grin.

Vee slowly turned her head to Luz, who gave a confused look and a small shrug. She then looked back to Masha. "…How- How did you..?"

The goth shrugged "I mean it was pretty obvious. I figured it out practically the first day."

"R-really?"

"Yep!" The grin on Masha's face only grew.

A silence filled the room. A few seconds later it was broken by Vee saying "And… you're fine with that?"

Masha waved dismissively. "Eh, I can live with it."

Well. That went easier than they thought it would be. "Huh… Ya know… this… really isn't how I imagined this going."

"Well good, I like to be unpredictable." Masha leaned forward. "Though in all honesty, how did you imagine this going?"

"I- I really don't know honestly." After a moment, Vee chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. "Heh. He heh."

"Heh" Luz joined in.

Masha joined in.

Vee dropped her disguise.

Masha's eyes bulged. "HOLY FUCK!" she screamed, reeling backwards. Apparently she forgot she was on a chair, leading to predictable results as well as worried gasps from her friends.

From below them came a muffled cry of "LANGUAGE!"

Masha spent a few seconds blinking at the ceiling before instinctively grabbing the hand offered to her.

The cold, clawed, scaly hand.

Using it to climb to her feet, she followed the arm up to the body it was attached to with her eyes, taking in the scene of Vee's true form. She let out a nervous laugh. "That's, uh… wow, that was a very convincing effect, heh…" She looked between the two sisters' faces. Upon not finding not a trace of humor, her own smile dropped. "Oh my god, this isn't a joke, is it?"

"A jo-" Luz trailed off. "…Oooohhhh…" She shared a look with Vee and chuckled nervously. "Yeeeaaaahhh, no."

"Oh." Masha pulled her seat back up. "Oh, okay…" She raised a shaky finger to Vee. "S-so… shape-shifting lizard person?"

Vee bit her lip. "…Basilisk, actually."

"Huh." Her finger moved to Luz. "And you're a…"

Luz shook her head. "Oh no, I'm just a normal human. Well, not normal, but…" She waved her hand. "Eh, you know what I mean."

"Oh… wow, this is just… wow…" Masha closed her eyes and took both a seat and a deep breath. Her eyes then snapped open and looked at the two intensely. "Tell me everything!"

"Okay, well," Vee started, "it starts in a place called the Boiling Isles…"

One telling of everything later;

"And after that I managed to convince Mom letting her tag along to camp would be a good way to teach her about the Human Realm, and… well, you pretty much know the rest," Luz finished.

"…Yeah, that's… quite a story." Masha said, still somewhat shocked by all this. "So, uh… Does anyone else know about this?"

"No, not yet," Vee answered.

"We want to tell the rest of the crew eventually, but thought it best to start small," Luz elaborated.

"Okay, well… thanks, I guess for trusting me with this, um," Masha took a deep breath. "I think I need to go home now and uh… yeah…"

As she shakily pulled herself up Luz said "Hold on, wasn't there something you wanted to tell us?"

Masha paused. "Um… You know what, it- it's not important, I'll uh… I'll tell you after I've had a chance to process…" she gestured to Vee's true form, "…this."

"Yeah, I'd say that's fair enough," Vee agreed.

Masha approached the door but then stopped as something occurred to her. "Wait a second…" she whirled around, "does this mean that my nutjob of a boss is actually right?"

"Oh, yeah… him…" Vee scratched her head. "No not really."

Masha let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god," she said quietly as she left.

As the two were left alone, Luz elbowed Vee. "See, what'd I tell you? And here you were all worried over nothing."

"I-it wasn't nothing!" Vee protested. "…But yeah, I'm… actually really glad to get that off my chest."

"…So, when do you want to tell the rest of the gang?"

Vee looked down. "I… don't know if I'm quite ready for that yet… We should at least give Masha a chance to process first."

"If that's what you want…" Luz's contemplative look gave way to a wide grin. "By the way, you owe me an ice cream."

Vee's head shot back up. "THAT WASN'T THE DEAL!" She bit her lip. "…But fine."

Luz looked at the door. "So do you think we should have told her the rest?"

"Eh…" Vee took on a thoughtful expression. "Maybe, but… that's not really our secret to tell, is it?"

"True… but we should probably still give her a heads up at some point…"

"That is a good point…"

Masha walked down the stairs in a daze. Or at least, it was a daze until she heard a voice say "Talk went well I take it?"

Moving their gaze over to the voice, she saw Mrs. Noceda looking up from her book. "Oh, yeah, it went fine." Her gaze moved back up the stairs. "It just… wasn't what I was expecting, that's all."

Camila nodded. "I can imagine." She placed a bookmark in her book and closed it.

Masha took a seat on the nearest available chair. The pair sat in silence for a moment before she said "So… Basilisk."

"Yup."

"Huh." Yeah, no, apparently she still wasn't over it. "Neat."

"I'm glad you're taking this well. They could use someone else on their side."

"Oh yeah, no, I'm fine with it, it's just…" She sighed. "Honestly, I'm rather surprised they'd trust me with something like that." She chuckled. "Kinda puts things in perspective, to be honest…" she muttered.

"Hm?"

Masha dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "Oh, nothing." She stood up. "But you know what, I think I'm gonna go home now; try and convince myself that this isn't all some crazy dream."

"Okay." Camila opened her book back up. "Stay safe."

"You too," Masha said, walking out the door.

Reaching the sidewalk, Masha spared one last glance back before continuing on her way. She sighed; what a day. So apparently her best friend was actually an inter-dimensional, shape-shifting, magic-eating demon. And wasn't that something she'd never have guessed she could say. Although, this whole thing has certainly given her something to think about.

Because if the two could trust her with something like this… well, let's just say a lot of their insecurities felt really silly right about now. Though really, one earth-shattering revelation was enough for one day, they could wait a bit longer before coming out.

AN:
Vee: I have to confess something, you see I'm-

Masha: Actually an inter-dimensional runaway who managed to escape the experiments run on her by a corrupt regime led by a tyrant who's also secretly a centuries-old genocidal manic?

V: Uhhhhh…

M: jk, lol

Well, there you are, hope you guys enjoyed. And remember how last time I said the next chapter would take a while? Well this time I actually mean it; based off the amount of plot points I want to hit, it looks like it might be another big one. Plus, I have one or two proof-of-concept ideas that I might write down first. In fact, I already have the first chapter of one mostly finished, so expect that sometime soon.

In the meantime (and I meant to mention this last time but oh well) I started a series of shorts taking place in this AU, so if you're looking for content more along the lines of slice-of-life stuff (which might actually be more accurate to why I originally came up with this AU, funnily enough) go ahead and check that out.

Now, that said, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to continue this. This is both due to motivation issues (as in, I'm not sure how long the motivation I currently have will last), and the fact that I'm mostly just making this up as I go along (currently I have 4 installments fully outlined and another few more general ideas, but after that who knows). Therefore, I would like to put out a request for anyone who's interested in co-authoring with me to send a message, because I have doubts on my ability to see this through on my own.