Work Text:
For Vee, one of the benefits about being a shapeshifter was that she could look like whatever she wanted. However, one of the downsides was that she could look like whatever she wanted.
Put more simply: Vee had no idea what she should look like.
When she had been impersonating Luz, for instance, she stuck to that same hoodie and shorts combo that her sister seemed so fond of. That? That was nice and easy for her to deal with. Put on the same face, the same outfit, the same voice, and she was golden.
(She still apologized frequently to Luz about the whole 'stealing your life' debacle, though. Not exactly one of her proudest moments.)
Now, though, Vee was her own person. Veronica "Vee" Noceda was a true, legitimate, legally existing person. When Vee looked at her drivers license, she saw her own face staring back at her, that stupid half-smile she tried. It was her face, and it was her information on there. According to her license, Veronica Noceda was 5'6", 140lbs, did not have corrective lenses or other restrictions when it came to driving, was an organ donor, and so on.
The real Vee, though, looked nothing like that. She was a demon. She had scales and a tail and stubby little arms and claws and sharp teeth and a tiny little nose and all sorts of very inhuman attributes. Not something that would look good on that crummy drivers license. (Plus that would just be a pain to explain to whatever cop would eventually pull her over because the pig needed to fill their ticket quota for the month.)
When Vee was out and about exploring Gravesfield and the rest of the somewhat okay state of Connecticut, she tended to stick to that look that appeared on her license.
Today, though, she was feeling adventurous.
Vee stood in front of her/Luz's bedroom mirror, analyzing her appearance like she was looking at a cell under a microscope. The basilisk tilted her head this way and that, making faces and sticking out her tongue and pulling on her ears and squishing her cheeks. What did she want to look like? It was in her nature to change, but what was she supposed to change into?
Then, she got a gift from the idea gods: what if she made herself just a little more basilisk-y? Sure, she had walked around with her true ears hidden under her mop of hair, and her eyes would look inhuman, but those were child's play. The ears could be explained away as funky accessories, and the eyes? Those were contacts, duh.
No, she wanted to be more bold. Looking down at her hands, Vee slowly shifted her fingers, lengthening out the nails until they more resembled her natural claws. Ooh, that felt good. Grabbing a random pen off the dresser, she found she still had decent fine motor control. Drawing a smiley face in the palm of her hand, she felt a smile crack on her face.
Dropping the pen, she continued to think. How else could she spit in the eye of what a human should look like? What if she... walked around with her tail out? That would be ballsy. She'd seen some fursuiters and the like walk around with their clip-on tails (or however those were attached), so it wasn't like she would be the only person in the state able to shake her non-existent tail feather. (She had tail fins, thank you very much.)
Vee looked herself over. Maybe she could sneak in one more basilisk part. She already had the tail, the eyes, the ears, the claws, so what was left? Then, she thought back to the day that she had met Luz. The day when she revealed who she truly was to Camila and was accepted for it. On that day, when she was in that odd half-Luz state, she had those splotches on her skin, where her scale pigmentation had leaked through. She could implement that into her Human 2.0 form.
Closing her eyes, Vee finalized the shift. When she opened them again, she smiled. This was perfect.
Taking a deep breath, Vee headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Luz and Camila were busy getting ready for their days. As the basilisk took the steps two at a time, she felt her heartrate go crazy. What would they think? Would they love it, like it, hate it? She didn't have to wait long for her answer, though.
"Woah, Vee!" Luz practically shouted, spluttering her hot chocolate all over her hoodie. "You look sick! All the normies are gonna be so jealous."
Camila, meanwhile, just smiled over the lip of her coffee mug, taking a sip and nodding. "Very bold, mija. I like it."
Vee smiled back. "Thanks, guys."
Camila chuckled. "Now, Vee, if anyone gives you any flak for your new look, I want you to tell me about it, alright?"
"And tell me so I can go beat them up!" Luz added.
"Luz, I don't need you beating anyone up for me," Vee said. "I don't even think you have that in you."
"I have that in me," Luz countered. "I can just imagine that the bully is Belos and that my fist is the Belos-Destroyer glyph."
Camila blinked. "Mija, I don't think a schoolyard bully is on the same level of badness as Belos."
"Luz, Mami, I'll be fine," Vee said. "Really. If anyone does talk bad about my appearance, I can just scare 'em with the real me."
Luz didn't seem to buy into that. "Eh, the real you is actually very cute."
"You're obviously biased," Vee countered. "I can be incredibly terrifying if I want to be."
"Ahh yes, very terrifying," Luz said. "I have nightmares about pudgy tummies and squishy cheeks and -"
"Luz, just say your sister is terrifying so we can all leave," Camila interrupted. "I've got work in 30 minutes and you two have school in 15."
Luz huffed. "Fine. You are scary in your true form. In some circumstances and under proper lighting conditions."
"Thank you," Vee said with a smile. "Now come on, I don't want to miss homeroom."