Viper and Cassandra

35. Hold My Hand

"V, honey, go for a walk. You've been in here all day."

Viper looked down from the top of the ladder at Aziraphale while placing the a dusty old tome on the shelf in front of her, "Yeah, okay." She said with a shrug, sliding down the ladder and earning a disapproving look from the angel beside her.

"Be back in an hour, love."

"Mkay." She said, grabbing her sunglasses from the counter and strolling out of the store, casting a glare toward the bell that sounded over her head as she left. She had walked to St. James Park almost blindly, deciding to visit the ducks. She sat on a bench and stared at the pond, her mind almost lost in a fog.

She jumped when a deep, gentle Scottish tenor spoke from beside her, "Bit early to be out of school, eh lass?

She looked at the elderly man sitting beside her, "Oh, I don't go to school."

"Homeschool, then?"

"Um, yeah, sure, you could call it that."

The elderly man laughed, "You shouldn't worry so much about what people think, Viper. After all, I don't make mistakes."

Viper focused in her thoughts, finally, and stared at the man beside her.

"Close your mouth, lass, you'll catch flies."

Viper's jaw clicked closed, "What are you doing down here? What if someone catches on?"

The man laughed again, a deep hearty laugh full of youth despite his appearance, "Humans are good at not noticin' what's right in front of their faces. It's how I get away with a vacation."

Viper tilted her head to the side a bit, "You can take vacations?"

The man sighed, "I'm afraid the time is drawing close, little one."

She looked back out to the lake and sighed, "Is it going to work, Old Man?"

The elderly man looked down at her with an amused look, "Old Man?"

"Well, you are old."

The man laughed and leaned back against the bench, "Believe, Viper, and all things are possible."

"You don't know, do you?"

The man remained silent.

"It's all in the choices we make isn't it? Everything is."

He smiled at her and offered his hand, "You still have some time before you need to head back to your papa's shop, shall we go for a walk?"

She slipped her hand, marked with the tattoo, inside his and they stood up. As they walked down the path, the snake purred and Viper laid her head on his shoulder.