It was days like these when Nina wondered why she cared so much. The sky was cloudy and you could see the rain in them, threatening to fall at any moment. Not only that but it was unseasonably cold. These weather conditions didn't make real life too enjoyable, and it made a Quidditch practice that no one wanted to be at even worse. Nina herself hated practicing when the weather was lousy like this, and she knew her team felt the same way as well. Who wouldn't?

But again... she was who she was. And Nina Yvonne Morales was not a quitter. She would not cancel this practice even if it snowed, or a hoard of Dementors appeared. It was so close to the semi-finals, so to speak, that Nina could almost taste victory. They would destroy Ravenclaw, naturally, and whoever won the Hufflepuff/Slytherin game. She - her team - was so determined that they would do whatever it took to won. While she obviously had her own selfish reasons for wanting to win, she also wanted it because her team deserved it. They were good. Really good.

And with those thoughts in mind, Nina trekked out to the Pitch, adorned in her most shredded practice robes, tight black undergarments that her mama had gotten her in a Muggle shop (Under-Armour, perhaps?), and spelled goggles that she carried in a bag with her other gear that would allow her to see, despite the impending rainy conditions. She reached the locker rooms, ignoring the several light rain drops she had felt on the way down. Putting her stuff on a bench she ran over the latest strategy she was preparing to implement this practice. Something she hoped would guarantee their victory against Ravenclaw.

But the sight of a boy - not just any boy, but the Ravenclaw Captain - made her lose her train of thought. Nina considered herself a fairly friendly person, and attempted a smile when she saw him. She knew Dagan fairly well, what with having classes with him and the like. But him being here made her a bit, well, paranoid. And it had nothing to do with his good decent looks.

"Please, please tell me you're not here to practice," she said, her voice on edge though not in a rude way. Nina had no problem with Dagan, and more often than not considered them friends. But she had no idea why he was here, though she could speculate. Maybe she would be lucky, though, and find out that Ravenclaw had all ready practiced; but Gryffindor was screwed if they had booked the Pitch for practice at the same time.

"Practice went well." Dagan said, wincing as he slipped off his Quidditch robes, looking down on his side to see a nice bruise forming. He had been a little too overzealous in one of the plays he had planned for practice and got nailed in the side by a bludger as he was shouting at his sister. He probably deserved it, but the sting was there nevertheless. Dagan wouldn't go to the medical wing either as he saw injury related Quidditch mistakes as ways to learn. As long as he could suit up for the next practice or game, he'd deal.

As he was wrapping his side with some of his spare muggle athletic tape, Nina Morales who happened to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain -- his next opponent stepped into the room. Clearly the team had a practice next. It didn't change the fact that he wasn't in the mood to converse with the enemy. "Practice? No we got that knocked out early." He said, gritting his teeth as he tightened the bandage. He'd better damned not broken a rib. "And I assume you lot are next? I'd expect that. We'll see how you do." He said grinning, excited for the game to come. "Arielle tells me you lot are in top shape for the championship." He said, arching an eyebrow.

[Sorry, I had to type this with one hand xD]

[No worries! I hope the other hand feels better!]

Having intuition of any kind for Nina was rare, so the remark she made to Dagan next wasn't because she felt something was wrong with him. "You okay?" she asked, arching one eyebrow. The tape he was using gave him away, so to speak. Nina wasn't so competitive that she hoped the competition would be injured, and unable to play. She knew how that would feel if it was her and... it would suck. Royally.

Upon Dagan saying practice was over, Nina exhaled a huge sigh of relief. That was one crisis averted. The next was the rain that had finally decided to fall. She peered out the window closest to her as the green of the Pitch turned an even more vibrant shade of jade. Damnit. She hoped the team was okay with getting wet...

"Arielle tells me you lot are in top shape for the championship."

Dagan's voice snapped her out of gazing forlornly at the window. "Definitely." She grinned now, all teeth. "You guys best be prepared to lose. But don't worry, we won't gloat too much," she said, teasingly. The Nina that everyone knew on the Pitch - confident, almost cocky, competitive and borderline horrifying stayed exactly there. On the Pitch.

And okay, maybe she made appearances in the locker room right before a tense game. Or when someone thought it would be fun to torment a poor First Year who couldn't defend themselves. Or when she was provoked. Even in jest, that bothered her to no end.

"Hope you guys are training hard," she said, her gaze turned to the window again. At least today wasn't the big match... that would really suck.

Dagan finished wrapping his injury as Nina asked if he was alright. "Yeah, yeah I'm good." He replied casually. This sort of thing came with sports, Quidditch especially so. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a touch of magic, which is why Dagan was never worried about it. Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't around to magic any boned into disappearing.

You guys best be prepared to lose. But don't worry, we won't gloat too much,"

"Lose? Us? Perhaps ye haven't gotten wind of my leading style but my players are prepared for anything. Fast and lethal. Well, not lethal. But it sounds good eh?" He said, putting his bat in his bag. "We at Ravenclaw don't lose. We dominate the competition."

"Training hard? Of course. Training easy, relaxed, enjoyably for us is two steps ahead of your hardest. But of course I'm a modest Captain eh? Very modest." He mused. "You look nervous, a little. Try some confidence there Morales." He said with a change of tone. "That's the key to winning y'know. Confidence. Go find yerself some Gryffindor boy, that might help." He said sardonically, the best way Dagan knew how to give advice.

"We dominate the competition."

At the boy's words, Nina snorted. "Ri-ight. You don't have better things to be doing, like studying?" she taunted, her tone a tad mocking though still light.

Nina had no problem with a little bit of mud-slinging and intimidating the competition, provided it was done in jest. The Gryffindor didn't know Dagan well enough to know if he was actually serious. Taking a seat on the bench closest to her, Nina turned her attention to the window. The rain was coming down now, and was making her more angry than anything else. She didn't know why she kept dwelling on it, but she was a bit fearful of one of her teammates getting hurt. She had trained her team to ignore the rain as much as possible, which was great when they had games in it. It was a problem when they didn't act as safely as they could, though.

She scoffed when Dagan began preaching about confidence. "Confidence is, of course,they key to success (and I'll have you know I have plenty). But it can also be the downfall of a team. If you're overconfident, you misjudge the opposing team, and even your own players. That's how accidents, and  losses, happen," she said, the smallest hint of a smirk playing on her lips.

"Go find yerself some Gryffindor boy, that might help.

"That is neither here nor there, Maddox. And I'll have you know I'm doing quite fine in that department, thank you very much," she snapped. This was a bit of a lie, but Dagan didn't need to know that.

"Studying? Merlin's pants, have you ever MET ME?" He laughed at the absurd suggestion. "When in my life have I studied? Oh, what a Ravenclaw I am..." He trailed off, extremely amused.

Dagan looked outside to see that it was pouring. "Damn! I wish it had been raining when my team was out..." He said dwelling on the thought "Better for training you see... I mean, sure someone might get hurt but nothing the Medical ward can't fix up, eh Nina?" He said, thinking that she might be worried about that very issue. Dagan wasn't book smart but he had good intuition with people, and he thoroughly enjoyed picking at people. Though her supposed concern was a little endearing. Sometimes Dagan wished he had compassion and empathy like that. Then he realized he would be a laughable fool. Dominik Wiedman, Dagan's favorite Quidditch Player and idol clearly didn't have those traits. Sure penalties for that man were high, but he was a damned good player.

"Sure Nina, sure." He said, rolling his eyes at her lecture about overconfidence. There was no such thing. Dagan knew his teams boundaries, but he also knew they were the best.

"Quite fine in the boy department eh? Really? Quite fine? With who eh? Kyle Gibson?" Dagan laughed, thinking about the idiot boy. "No, no word says he's in love with Nicola Hames. Perhaps Josh Harcroft? THAT boy is a CATCH!" Dagan exclaimed, putting on his best smile to make the situation even more awkward. Dagan loved awkward situations. He thrived on them. They were just so funny.