New Roots

The 5’9”, fair skinned woman made her way down the teenage crowded street with an overload of books cradled in her arms. The pile was stacked so high her line of sight in front of her was completely blocked, and was forced to maneuver around people with her peripheral vision. Being an Angel made navigation easier than it looked as all of her senses were heightened to a supernatural level, though that didn’t make the people move out of her way any faster than she wanted them to. In fact their ignorance was beginning to agitate the usually level headed woman to the point she was could go off on them at any moment –and at one point she almost did. Due to her age Dina had experienced a wide range of stupidity in humans. Everything from the simplest gesture –such as knocking over a priceless vase- to ones that left a more permanent mark on human history such as conquering cities in the pursuit of victory and power. Though she would willingly admit they had come a long way from their primitive ancestors, the mortals still never ceased to amaze her when it came to their decisions. On most occasions it wasn’t difficult for her to forgive their mistakes and even understood the patience needed when dealing with the young creatures, nonetheless even angels had their faults and sometimes Dina even felt the need to put them in their place every once in a while. Granted she still held a lot of love for the lesser beings, but that didn’t allow the angel to condone their lack of judgment when not one but three showed little to no concern when bumping into her hard enough to knock the books right out of her arms, with one even having the audacity to tell her to watch where she was going. If only they knew it was her that taught the human race the very words they used to berate her, maybe then they’d choose them wisely.

When she finally made it to her car she let out a sigh of relief, feeling the stress that had begun to build up wash away and set her books on the trunk so she could fish for her keys in her purse. After a minute of shuffling through wads of unused tissues and various styled pens –the angel always felt a small sense of enjoyment from collecting useful things to stash into her purse in the pursuit of always being prepared for anything- she found her keys and unlocked the passenger side door. She gently placed her books into the seat and, unexpectedly, strapped them in with the seat belt. The books weren’t priceless but they belonged to the University and Dina wasn’t prepared to spend the time or money replacing the already hard to find copies. It was almost customary for her to protect her possessions from her erratic driving habits. Satisfied they were strapped in securely she walked around the car and slid into the driver’s seat and without hesitation started the engine. When the car turned on she adjusted the radio to her liking and when flipping through the stations noticed the time. ”Crap.” she said, not one to curse in less than serious situations. Though if she didn’t get moving now she would have more reason to spout out foul words when the Dean scolded her for being late to their meeting. Without putting much thought into it she put the car into reverse, or what she thought to be, and pressed lightly on the gas pedal with her head turned around only to move forward instead of back. The sound of metal against metal brought Dina’s attention to the white limo in front of her, the feeling of dread washing over her at the realization of what she had done. ”Shit…” she said, feeling the word suited the situation perfectly.

Before she could even get out of the car her door opened and an unfamiliar voice made his presence known. There was no physical damage to the woman, not that a simple car accident could inflict any real trauma to her. The sentiment was warming and she could definitively sense the genuine concern in his voice. Once she could get past the initial shock she looked over at the person she assumed she had hit, their eyes met, and instantly she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. Rather than stress over the damages done to his car his first concern was her safety and yet, it was actually unnecessary for him to do so. Dina was quite durable though clumsy at times, this little incident being the result of that, and though she was actually quite thankful he wasn't blowing things out of proportion like most humans did; she was more worried about the cars than her safety.

She was however concerned for his but at first glance didn't notice any injuries, sighing mentally for the semi-good luck. "Yes, I'm fine. Unfortunately I can't say the same about your car." She said as she took his hand, her British accent making it clear she wasn't originally from the South. While stepping out of the car a distinctive smell tickled the fine hairs in her nose, making her want to reach up and scratch it. It wasn’t as foreign as the man himself though it wasn’t a species she ran into very often either. Shifters were a rare breed, or so the Werewolves made it their mission to make it that way, and because of that Dina expressed a deep desire to protect the endangered species. From the start of their existence Dina had always been fascinated with the species, even taking it upon herself to teach some of the first avian oriented shifters how to fly. Of course Dina wouldn’t go out of her way to help those that didn’t want it but to those that did she was more than happy to share her knowledge and experience. ”Are you okay? I am so, so sorry about that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.” She raised her hand and pulled her dark brown bangs away from her forehead as she looked at him with a pained expression. She felt her cheeks become hot with embarrassment and anger. She was defiantly going to be late now.

His concern was flattering but was beginning to becoming overwhelming as well. She didn't know how to tell him she was alright other than the words themselves, and even those didn't seem to ease his troubled mind. A small chuckle pushed its way out as he went on about the first aid kit. Dina always found mortal behavior to be peculiar when they became nervous or wrapped up in their own bubble of worry, often times forgetting not everything in the world is as delicate as them. Their fragile lives demanded them to be cautious and to constantly be alert or else perish. For a celestial being like Dina the feeling was unfamiliar and bizarre, yet amusing. It was this that spurred her curiosity over the humans yet thousands of years later and they still surprised her. She had to admit however, he was cute when he worried.

"Dina. And technically it was I who bumped into you. So really, the pleasure is mine." And like clockwork her cheeks started to burn hot as the blood rushed to her skin. She extended her hand to accept his greeting, his hands soft and warm against her slightly chilled one. Dina always ran a few degrees cooler than her brother and constantly complained of being cold, and along with a tattoo covering every inch of her back keeping a hoodie around at all times was a must.

She looked over at the damages to the car, assessing what she’ll have to end up paying to fix them. Even for an Angel money wasn’t something that could just come right out of a top hat –though Dina understood the reference but could never figure out how the magician would sprout a bunny from one- and though her tenure at the University brought her a reasonable sized income; most of her funds went to her research. Dina left Roman in search of her insurance card, climbing into the car through the driver seat and leaning over into the glove compartment. Once she found it she grabbed the card but dropped it onto the floor of the car, forcing her to bend down even further and hoist her butt up in the air. When she sprouted back up she climbed out and returned back to his side. ”Here’s my insurance card and here is…” she trailed off as she searched through her purse for a pen and paper, easily finding a pen but no paper. Finally she managed to find an old business card she was given by the University with her profession and field of study along with her name and number. ”My other card.” She dropped the pen back into her purse as she held out the card with a smile.