As they walked back home, Vee could already begin to feel a knot of nervousness beginning to form deep inside her stomach. She was happy that Camila and Luz were back in the human world safe and sound, but now that they were back it was bringing with it a whole host of other worries to the front of her mind. Primarily, whether they would be happy with the state that she had left the house in, or whether Camila still wanted her to stay around. The second one was quickly pushed back down, Vee wasn't ready to ask that question again. Instead she stayed as close as she could to Camila and Luz, trying to balance the intense feeling of needing to be near them while also trying to not be overly clingy.
Thankfully Camila didn't get a chance to notice Vee's odd behaviour as she was too interested in finding out more about Masha. "So what is this I hear about you two sharing pictures." She asked, though Vee was too distracted to notice the humorous tone in her voice.
"She showed me her special secret pictures," Mashe replied, doing their best to imply every inappropriate insinuation that they could manage as they wrapped their arm around Vee's shoulders and helped direct the distracted basilisk along the overgrown path. Vee couldn't stop herself from leaning into the contact. "She wasn't wearing anything at all."
That was not the way that Vee had in mind for properly introducing Masha to Camila. "I showed her my basilisk form," she clarified, wishing Masha didn't seize every opportunity to embarrass her. Though a small part of her was thankful for the distraction, even if Masha seemed determined to make Vee blush as much as possible.
"Does your basilisk form wear clothes?" Masha retorted with a mischievous smirk and Vee could only splutter out a response.
"Alright, that's enough, you two," Camila stepped in, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "It's nice to know that Vee had someone watching out for her while Luz and I were trapped in another world."
"Another realm, not another world," Luz interjected.
"Is there a distinction?" Masha's curiosity piqued.
Luz hesitated, her brow furrowing. "Honestly, I'm not sure," she admitted, her honesty shining through. "They just feel like different things."
Thankfully their discussion ended as the Noceda residence came into view, and with it also came the return to Vee's worries. She hadn't had a chance to clean the kitchen since she had left earlier that day, so the sink still had a few days worth of plates and cutlery piled up in the sink, and wasn't just the cleaning that worried her. Vee knew that at some point the others were going to ask about the story she had conjured up to explain away their absences, and she was not looking forward to admitting that she didn't have the imagination of Luz or the practicality of Camila in her stories. Hopefully Camila would be able to explain away her mess, but that did little to make Vee feel better.
"It's good to be home," Camila sighed as she gently took hold of the door handle with a smile. Luz and Camila were the first to step inside, and Vee couldn't help pausing at the doorway alongside Masha, unsure if she should go inside as well. Masha, naturally, didn't give her much of an option and just gently pushed her inside as well.
"I'm genuinely surprised that the house is clean," Luz sounding slightly impressed, "I would've thought you would have had at least a house party or two."
"I was trying to keep a low profile," Vee admitted hesitantly, wringing her hands a little as she wished she could run upstairs and hide under Luz' bunk beds. However Masha's presence beside her meant that she couldn't just leave the room. "So I made sure that no one came over. Sorry for not finishing the washing up this morning."
"You've done a fantastic job keeping everything clean, Vee," Camile replied, unconcerned with the small amount of cleaning left to do. "A few dishes isn't a mess. Besides, we've made far more of a mess in the past, you remember that time you and I tried to make Albondigas. That red wine went everywhere."
"I wanted to know what wine tasted like," Vee admitted with a blush, "I didn't mean to drop it."
"So what have you been up to these past few weeks?" Luz asked as she opened the fridge, closing the door soon after with a disappointed roll of her eyes. Stringbean looked equally disappointed as they peaked out of Luz's hair and saw the lack of food. "I'm guessing not much grocery shopping."
"I didn't want to spend too much of Camila's money," Vee nervously responded, trying her best to now fret at the questions they were asking. She knew that they weren't trying to make it feel like an interrogation, but that didn't stop her worrying that she was going to answer one of them incorrectly. "So I just kept to what was already in the pantry or fridge, there was plenty as it was just me. I didn't really know when you were coming back so I didn't want to worry about buying extra. Apart from that, I haven't really been doing much."
"I hope you didn't spend the entire time watching television," Camila muttered as she began writing out a list of what they needed to buy for food over the next week. "At least you spent time socialising with Masha."
"Not really, Vee's been a bit of a shut-in," Masha added as they pushed Vee to sit down at the table. "I think I messaged her a dozen times before I managed to convince her to actually leave the house."
"Well you were messaging 'Luz' who was meant to be away, so I wasn't able to respond to it," Vee tried to explain, "until you just showed up and demanded to meet Luz."
"Aww, did you go out with Masha pretending to be me?" Luz teased.
"Nah, she took on her other much cuter human form," Masha replied with a laugh, and Vee couldn't stop herself from blushing strongly at Masha calling her cute.
"You could've borrowed my face if you wanted," Luz of course immediately flipped her eyelids inside out and stuck her tongue out at Vee, who shoved her away.
"I told everyone that you and Camila were overseas, so it would've been strange to see either of you here." Vee pointed out with a huff, glaring at Luz. She kept to herself how much she wished that she could have borrowed Luz's form so that she could meet with her only friends, but that level of bitterness just didn't seem right when Luz and Camila were so happy to be back. "If i went out as you, then Camila's work would've expected her back as well."
"I'm sure they would not have minded if I stayed on leave a bit longer," Camila said passively as she returned her focus back to the notepad in front of her, a long list of groceries already forming.
"Speaking of work, I really need to head off," Masha suddenly interjected as they looked down at their phone. "I really don't want to be late for my evening shift, again." They gave Vee a quick hug, an act that earnt an adorable squeak out of the basilisk. Vee couldn't help leaning into it a little, hoping that she wasn't coming across as being too uncomfortably eager to be close to Masha. The warmth felt so nice and she didn't want to leave it. "Um, Vee?"
Vee jerked her head up to see Masha giving her a questioning look and gestured to their arm. Vee looked blinked in surprise to see that both of her hands were holding Masha's arm in a crushing grip stopping them from leaving, she quickly released her hold and stepped back. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Vee tried to apologise, feeling more than a little mortified, wondering what was wrong with her.
"It's fine, I'd stay if I didn't have to go!" Masha laughed before giving a proper farewell and leaving.
"Someone has a crush," Luz teased, nudging Vee as soon as the front door shut behind Masha.
"I'm not going to deny it," Vee's blush intensified but she made no attempt to disagree with Luz. She had to admit that what she felt for Masha was certainly going beyond being merely friendly, but she also knew that anything further would be an absolute minefield. She was happy that Masha had accepted her basilisk form so easily, but that had only been in photos where she had specifically modified her form to be as approachable as possible and Vee just wasn't confident enough that the same would be true if Masha had to actually see Vee's true basilisk form in person.
"Then you should ask them out, we both know they were crushing on you in the past." Luz pointed out with a smirk.
"I was wearing your face last time, not this one. I'm not fully sure how she feels about this version of my face, or my basilisk form," Vee reminded Luz with an eye roll. Luz shot her a look of sarcastic disbelief in response. "Look, I get that you're trying to help, but I don't really want help just yet."
"That's okay, I'll drop it," Luz held up her hands in mock surrender. "So, apart from Masha, what else have you been doing while we were gone?"
"Not much. I told you, I couldn't really go outside." Vee sighed as she opened the pantry and pulled out the hot chocolate, hoping that Camila wouldn't take away her one remaining vice. "So I just cleaned up here and waited. I wanted to make sure I was home when you returned, so of course the one time I leave is exactly when you came back."
"You didn't need to wait for us," Camila gently pointed out as she pulled her attention away from the list in front of her and focused on Vee. "We didn't want you to just stay cooped up in here."
"I didn't really want to go outside," Vee shrugged as she filled up a mug with milk and put it in the microwave, setting it for exactly fifty-three seconds. In truth Vee had stayed inside and away from everyone more because she was too paralysed by worry to want to go outside and deal with anything else, but she didn't really want to ruin the first night celebrating Luz and Camila's return by throwing her problems on them. So she instead tried to change the subject to a safer topic. "Anyway, it is getting late. So how about we skip going food shopping and just order some take out?"
"I have been looking forward to some pizza," Luz less than helpfully interrupted.
"I can order it if you want, I think I still remember both of your favourites," Vee pulled out her phone and was soon tapping away at the app. "You okay if I use your card, Camila?"
"Go for it, after everything that has happened I am too tired to really want to cook," Camila agreed.
"I want extra garlic bread," Luz called out as she headed to the hallway stairs, heading back to her bedroom. "Call me when it's here. I'm going to call Amity. No listening in!"
"Got it, not like I'd want to listen to that," Vee muttered to herself as she tapped away at her phone for a little while longer before nodding to herself. She looked over at Camila. "Okay it should be here in half an hour. Which gives me time for hot chocolate?"
"How many of those have you had?" Camila asked with a small frown as she watched Vee throw three heaped spoonfuls of chocolate powder into the warm mug of milk and furiously stir it.
"Probably would be better if you don't ask," Vee replied, before returning to furiously stirring it to get all of the powder properly mixed in. Happy that the drink was finally properly mixed, there was nothing worse than getting a mouthful of powder in the middle of your drink, she carried it over to the dining table and prepared to consume concentrated happiness. "Also we might need to buy more."
"We really do need to start limiting your access to that," Camila sighed, but didn't make any move to actually stop Vee from consuming the drink. Instead she just sat down beside Vee at the dining table. "Has everything else been okay?"
"It's been fine," Vee lied, taking a long sip of her hot chocolate and wishing that it still tasted good. A small part of her did want to be honest and finally take the chance to vent to the only one she knew that would properly listen to her, but she also felt bad at the idea of pushing her problems onto Camila.
"Vee, it's okay if you want to talk about anything. I know that us leaving you and going to the Boiling Isles with so little warning was not kind to you." Camila gently told her, reaching out a hand and putting it on Vee's own.
"You needed to go help your daughter and save her friends. I knew that you needed to go as soon as that portal opened." Vee admitted, doing her best to dance around the more negative feelings that it had left her with. She knew that logically Camila had to go, but emotions didn't always care about what was logically true. "So, it's okay. It had to happen. I accept that."
"You're also my daughter, and I wish I had been able to also stay and help you as well," Camila quietly told Vee, rubbing her hand. "It felt wrong to just force you to stay here and try to keep everything running on your own."
"I wasn't forced to stay here," Vee pointed out with a sigh, she could feel her eyes getting damp but she quickly blinked it away, "there is no universe in which I followed you to the Isles. I didn't want to go, so I didn't. I know it's selfish, but I didn't want to risk myself saving a realm that never saved me. I know it is wrong, but I wasn't a good enough person to look past it."
"Hey, it's okay mija," Camila moved closer and pulled Vee into a proper hug, letting Vee bury her face into her neck. "Never feel bad that you didn't join us, there is nothing wrong with looking after yourself. I didn't even want Luz to go over there and face that creature, I was happy that you stayed here. It was nice to know that only one of my daughters was going to risk themselves, and it was a comfort to know that at least you were safe."
"Am I safe?' Vee mumbled to herself, remembering that even in the human realm there were still those that could hurt her. Jacob still lived in town afterall and Vee knew that it was almost inevitable that he would track her down eventually.
"Of course you're safe, I will always protect you," Camila reminded her, pointedly not commenting on how tightly Vee was clinging to her.
"I'm sick of being too weak to protect myself." Vee couldn't stop herself from complaining
"You're not weak, you're a brave and strong daughter of mine." Camila told her, tightening her hug just a little more.
"Not as much as Luz is," Vee muttered bitterly.
"You shouldn't compare yourself to your sister, you're both your own self."
"Luz was at least brave enough to be brave," Vee growled angrily, pulling away from Camila's hug and pretending to take another sip of her drink as she glared a hole into the table. "I hid inside, while Luz saved the boiling Isles."
"I almost wish that she didn't," Camila sighed, her eyes now locked onto the stairway that Luz had just wanted up.
"What do you mean?" Vee frowned, "Why would you not want her to help?"
"Luz died on the isles," Camila replied, a taste of bitterness in her voice. "She was lucky to come back. I love her, I respect her, but what she did over there was reckless and everything very nearly ended because of that. I know she was doing it for the right reasons, but that doesn't change how I feel about it. I don't want her to know that I am unhappy about what she did to save us, but believe me I am. So don't for a second think that I am unhappy that you actually kept yourself safe."
"She died?" Vee pulled away, her mouth agape. "What do you mean Luz died?"
"Belos was powerful, and Eda refuses to give me the full story." Camila took a deep breath. "But I heard enough to know that without the titan, I would have permanently lost her that night."
"Oh," Vee swallowed nervously as she looked over at Camila, grimacing as she saw the exhausted expression on their face. An awkward silence fell between them as Vee got stuck on Camila's words, unable to truly understand what had happened on the Boiling Isles while also being thankful that she was able to stay away from it.
The silence likely would have stretched on into the night, if it wasn't for the sudden knocking from the front door pulling them both back to quickly sat up, Camila didn't seem to notice quite as quickly until the second round of knocking begging for attention. "I guess the pizza is here," Camila muttered.
Vee felt a tugging on her arm, and turned to see Camila give her a rather amused look before gesturing to Vee's tight grip. With an embarrassed smile Vee let go of Camila, allowing the older woman to go to the door and fetch their pizza.
Dinner was an uneasy experience for Vee, the others were in a good mood and she didn't want to be the reason to bring the mood down. So she mostly just sat silently nibbling at a slice of pizza and trying her best to avoid engaging in any small talk with the others. Camila did seem to sense her unease and made a few attempts to bring her into their discussion, but Vee just gave a few non-committal responses that would drive away any real discussion. The only one truly unaware of the tension was Luz, who continued to chatter away about someone called King. Vee could gleam that they were someone that had somehow both earnt the respect of Camila and Luz, while also being apparently adorable, her curiosity was at its peak but her mood stopped her from actually asking any questions. She also recognised that Camila and Luz likely had more than a few questions that they wanted to throw her way, but they were both polite enough to recognise that she wasn't up for any of it that evening. Being left out of the conversation did make her feel more than a little remote from Camila and Luz, however she was thankful for the emotional wall to hide behind while she worked on sorting her own mind out.
Stringbean seemed to not be anywhere near as hesitant as the others, floating over the Vee and snatching a few bites from her slice of pizza before she could be stopped, Vee of course grabbed Stringbean and gave the flying menace a scratch under her chin. From what she saw with the others, it wasn't that common for witches to allow others to bind with their palisman. So she genuinely felt appreciated that Luz let her mess around with Stringbean without commenting. It was also absolutely adorable when Stringbean shifted her ears so that they looked as fluffy as Vee's own. There was a certain irony in Luz's familiar being so eager to take on Vee's form, after Vee had spent so long taking on Luz's form and her own preference to avoid her own. It was also very flattering.
Soon it was time to turn in for the night and Vee found herself sitting in bed waiting for sleep to take her, something that she knew was going to take a very long time to actually happen that evening. Her mind was just too worked up about her weird behaviour earlier that day, first with her possessiveness of Masha, and then the way she had clung to Camila. She was in a bad mood, frustrated that she couldn't just be a normal daughter for Camila and instead had to be this awkward creature that demanded so much attention from them. Vee knew that they had been through a lot, and yet she couldn't stop herself demanding their attention whenever she could.
As Vee laid back in bed, she tried to ignore the pale white glow coming from the bed beneath her that was the unmistakable sign that Luz was still tapping away at her phone. The fact that Luz was awake didn't bother Vee, no the real issue was that Luz was there at all. She didn't like admitting it to herself, but when Luz and Camila were away she really only ever thought about Camila's return, and it felt wrong that she kept on seeing Luz as some sort of afterthought. She knew that Luz deserved to live with those that cared for them, and Vee was not sure that the same could be said for the basilisk in the room. However, that didn't make the intrusive and selfish thoughts go away.
She knew that it was wrong but all she really cared about was that Camila was back, Luz was just a nice addition for the most part to her. However just because she knew that her thoughts were wrong, didn't mean that she had anyway to actually fix it. Not to mention the fact that it just felt difficult to keep on sharing Camila, so it was a constant battle to remind herself that Luz deserved to spend time with Camila. There was also a very quiet part of herself that reminded her that Luz was more worthy of Camila's time, after all she was her real daughter.
"Are you still awake, Vee?" Luz's sudden voice interrupted Vee's spiralling thoughts.
"Yeah, I haven't been able to sleep yet," Vee replied as she leant over the edge of the bed to see Luz on her back in her own bed, looking up at her.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Luz asked, a note of concern slipping into her voice. "Was I keeping you awake?"
"Not you. I just have a lot of thoughts," Vee muttered, leaning back from the edge and staring into the ceiling. She could hear Luz shuffling around in her bed, before letting out a yelp as she saw Luz standing on the ladder at the foot of the bed. She quickly shuffled back and sat up, still getting used to sleeping in her human form. Her magic reserves were still too low to justify wasting on switching form to just making sleep easier.
"Is everything okay, Vee?" Luz asked gently as she sat on the side of the bed with her legs dangling off the edge.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" Vee shot back, her voice wavering a little as she tried to pretend that her heart wasn't beating far too quickly from her earlier worries. "You just came back from the Isles today after taking on a demi-god. Camila said that a lot of things happened over there. So forget about me for a minute, are you okay?"
"It was a lot at the time, but having the power of a god flowing through your veins does a lot to take away the stress," Luz shrugged as if what she said wasn't a completely insane statement. "Mom and I also got to spend a week relaxing in the Boiling Isles while they worked on getting the portal working again. If you asked me a week ago, maybe I would have had a different answer, but I am feeling a lot better now. Everyone is safe, my friends have families that care about them, and Belos is actually gone."
"That doesn't mean that you didn't come out of it unscathed," Vee frowned as she remembered Camila talking about Luz's sacrifice. "Just because you're physically okay, doesn't mean that you don't still need to heal."
"I'm not saying you are wrong, and things weren't really all that great after the adrenaline faded, but after Eda and mom were a lot of help to pull me back onto the right path." Luz told her quietly, "Mom and I have already talked about what I need going forward, so you don't need to worry about it. This mama was ready for trauma."
"That's good to hear, I think?" Vee fidgeted nervously, hoping that Luz would not ask any more questions and let them both just pretend that everything was okay between them. However her efforts to pretend that everything was okay didn't work as Luz gave Vee a troubled look.
"Okay you clearly have something else on your mind, what's up?" Luz smirked as she climbed up onto the bed and sat beside Vee. "I know that a lot has happened over these past few months, so it's okay if you need to just talk things out with me or mom."
Vee was tempted to just spill everything to Luz, but she couldn't get past the feeling that she was nothing more than an irritation that they had to deal with. Besides, in comparison to what Camila and Luz went through, was she really in a position to complain that she was just feeling a little unhappy about what she was. "It's not that big of a deal, it's just something I'm trying to work out. I don't need to bug you or Camila about it."
"When did you go back to calling mom 'Camila'?" Luz asked, her frown becoming more pronounced. "You seemed to be getting comfortable calling her that before we left for the Isles. Did something happen?"
Vee didn't say anything, instead choosing to turn away from Luz. It was a while before she finally gained enough confidence to say anything, but Luz didn't rush her. Instead she just gently reached out and took Vee's hand, giving it a gentle pat and keeping her eyes fixed on Vee.
"Luz, are you actually okay with me being here?" Vee asked hesitantly. "I know you said that you were, and you've given me no reason to think otherwise, but you could have changed your mind." Vee paused, reconsidering how to phrase the next part. "I mean, I know you said that you were, but are you actually okay with me being here as your sister? Even though I'm not from this world. Believe me, I completely understand if you're having second thoughts about it all, now that you don't have an apocalypse distracting you."
"Nothing has changed Vee, not for me or for our mom." Luz told her quietly, sliding closer and putting an arm around Vee's shoulders and pulling her closer. "I'm not going to pretend that I wasn't worried about the Isles and that it distracted me, but that didn't mean that I wasn't being honest with you. I want you as my sister, and mom wants you as her daughter. That is not something that is ever going to change."
"I know that you believe that now," Vee mutters, "I'm just not sure if it will always be true."
"What could possibly change what we have?" Luz challenged.
Vee sighed, she didn't want to just throw all of her problems onto Luz. Her sister deserved to have a nice calming return and Vee's problems were her own to deal with. "Don't worry about it, I know things are fine. I just sometimes get stuck worrying about things that won't happen."
Luz didn't look convinced, "Vee, if you ever need to talk, I'm here to listen." Luz promised.
"I know you are," Vee smiled weakly as she let herself lean against Luz, enjoying the rare embrace. "I promise I'll talk to you or Camila if I need it."
"Me or mom", Luz corrected pointedly.
"...I promise I'll talk to you or mom," Vee relented with a smile. Despite her own worries about what she was, it was still nice to be reminded that Luz wanted her in the family. At least for now.
"Was that so hard," Luz teased before letting out a loud yawn. "Yeah, sleep would be a good idea right about now." After a quick hug good night to Vee, Luz returned to her own bed.
Soon enough the quiet sounds of Luz's snores filled the room and Vee found herself staring at the roof above knowing that her own attempts to get to sleep were still a far way away. It wasn't the snoring that was keeping her awake, if anything the quiet reminder that she was no longer alone in a world that didn't accept her kind was a comfort. No, it was the reminder that Luz and Camila both still saw her as a part of their family, despite the fact that they were so very different to Vee. She had spent so much of her life trying to play the role of the perfect daughter for Camila that she was struggling to really see behind it and who she actually was. In the past she had been happy to push away her stranger parts and be what Camila wanted, she had thought that she could just pretend to be a human for the rest of her life and forget that she ever was a basilisk.
However that day had just reminded her of exactly why she couldn't do that. She had growled at someone coming near her nest, and she was only just starting to realise that she saw Camila's house as a nest to protect. If she was so blind as to not notice how possessive she had been over Camila, then she knew that she was going to be blind to anything else she did, and that scared her. She was losing control of herself and not even noticing. What if basilisks did more than just want to be near those they cared about, what if she actually didn't care at all and just wanted the magic that was bubbling beneath their skins?
She wasn't sure that Luz or Camila really understood what she was, and what Basilisks were created to do. The idea that they would allow a magical parasite to stay in their home just didn't feel right, though their reassurance that she was wanted did a lot to dull that worry. However with her magic reserves running so low she was worried that even that may change. What if she ran out of magic and Camila saw what she actually looked like, spiked fangs and all? What if her worst fears came true and she fully lost control of herself in her hunger? Amity had told her about what happened with number one, would the same happen to her?
Vee jerked up, breathing heavily as she tried to stop the thoughts from surrounding her. Logically she knew that Luz and Camila were perfectly safe around her as they didn't have any magic for her to take away, but that didn't stop the irrational fears from latching onto her and reminding her that she was a magic sucking parasite, It shouldn't have mattered, but it somehow still did and Vee didn't like it. She just wanted to be normal, she just wanted to not be weird, and yet here she was curled up in her false human form trying to not make a sound.
However, just as she was working herself into a panic, she saw Stringbean float into view, her head slightly tilted to one side as if curious. Vee tried to quietly shoo her away, but Stringbean instead flew right up to her and curled up on Vee's chest and settled down with her head against Vee's cheek. Vee carefully put her hands on the snake-like palisman, gently running her human form's hands along Stringbean's scales, before she carefully pulled them closer and into a proper hug. The magical warmth between them felt blissful and soon Vee felt a quietness settling over her. There were still worries in her mind, but they were but a dull quiet that was easily forgotten as she carefully petted the transforming snake in her hands.
Vee was very thankful that Stringbean was offering her sage advice on the importance of snake snuggles in the face of impending doom.