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Look for the beauty, hmm? Jadamirei eyed the package in her hands with a raised brow. One of the other Candidates had bribed her- not asked for a favor, but bribed!- her to take this package to the object of his devotion. He'd given her a description of her that would be fitting in a romance song. Raven locks and eyes of a green that would make a polished stone weep for lack of its own shine. She would have rolled her eyes at him if he wasn't so red-faced and sincere.

Canoake was the name, she believed. She'd heard about the girl, through a little conversation with others and through talk with Weyr workers. She'd never met her, however. And there she was. Jadamirei's eye caught on a rather pale-skinned young woman with hair as dark as her own. She was sitting on a rock, looking up at the dragons above. Really, the young Harper Apprentice felt a bit under-dressed approaching the girl. She wore her favorite brown breeches and a plain long-sleeved white top, black hair pulled back with a patternless blue scarf that almost matched her eyes.

She followed the other's gaze up to the dragons. Spinning and twirling as they normally did. New leadership seemed to have all of them more invigorated. Things would change under the leadership of Malkai and her Weyrleader. And soon, Jadamirei would have the chance to Stand. Have the chance to have a dragon of her own and join the wings wheeling in the sky. Her eyes lit with pride and hope and she gripped the package tighter in her hands, approaching the other female.

"Are you... Canoake?" she hoped she had the name pronounced correctly. "If so, I have a gift for you, from an admirer of yours." Jadamirei did not hold out the package, instead waiting for a reply from the other Candidate.

"He didn't tell me what it was, no; but you do have a third option, Canoake. Open it like a normal person would. Unless you'd like me to do it for you." she kept her tone even, almost cheerful at the end. "I like receiving presents." she gave the other woman a quick smile, before setting the present on the rock next to her.

She glanced back up at the dragon, giving the other female small glances from the corner of her eye. How Canoake chose to treat the gift would tell Jada a lot about her. She leaned back slightly, using the rock to hold one of her legs in place. "Do you spend a lot of your free time watching the dragons?"

"At least their hearts are in the right places." she managed to keep her face bland. How exactly was Canoake so entitled as to so casually disregard the hearts of her admirers? And next question, how had she gotten so many admirers? She must admit, the girl gave off the impression of grace, a sort of an aura that struck her as elegant. Something Jadamirei herself did not so much have.

When Canoake started to open the gift, Jadamirei took a single step closer, to watch as the gift was unveiled. The hairband revealed was a gorgeous shade of blue. The shade was rich, and the material obviously expensive. She couldn't hold back the soft sigh. She looked over at the other young woman, and her eyes widened in shock.

The other girl could read the expression likely as surprise that she had been offered such an impressive little trinket, but also there was surprise that the other Candidate could be so callous. She finally gave a smile, deliberately as sweet as she could make it. "Why thank you, Canoake." she was careful to pronounce the other young woman's name correctly. "It would be quite a shame if something so lovely were to go unappreciated." she reached out, lifting it up. "Thank you very much. As for my name, I'm Jadamirei."

Lifting her eyes back to the sky, her face relaxed into something more peaceful, the strain relaxing from the corner of her expressive eyes as she watched a dragon dive and twirl. "I think that is the goal of every Candidate in this Weyr. That one day we'll be dragonriders." That one day we will protect our loved ones from Thread. "I find it admirable that you have such firm determination."

Jadamirei's eyes widened and she looked at Canoake with a look of shock on her face, the pale skin turning a bright red at her bluntness. Rather then stammer, she remained quiet until the blush faded from her skin. By this time Canoake had slipped off the rock and was moving around her. "I do like the color blue." she said with a smile, proud of her unreadable voice- even if her face were an open book.

Something about the other Candidate was slightly intimidating, and Jada responded by tilting her chin up a bit instinctively as though to challenge her before her own head tilted back down into a more submissive position and she watched Canoake through her lashes. "Determination comes in many forms, and there are many goals in life that one could have. Someone told me once, that 'Purpose is fluid as Dragonflight, always shifting in the wind to accommodate necessity.'"

Who had said that? She couldn't really remember. It might have been her father. "I believe a person needs to take life one step at a time. Impetuosity can be as much a curse as a blessing." Like her own decision to come to the Weyr. It had been both curse and blessing. She was discovering hard work, and here she was also discovering herself. "Plans are good, but nothing is set in stone. Especially not with dragons. We don't make their choices for them!"

What was wrong with letting the heart rule over the mind? Jada felt her brow furrow as Canoake spoke of something that ran almost contrary to her own feelings on the matter. She always let her heart be her guide. If you did what you thought was right, wouldn't it all turn out in the end? She bit her lip, watching Canoake carefully through lowered lashes. Releasing it, she was looking at the other Candidate attentively before the young woman turned back around to her.

The strongest minds to attract them? "Well, I certainly thought my mind was strong." she said faintly. "And..." she looked like a kitchen boy? She glanced down her body, eyes uncertain again. She worked hard to try and stay looking her best, even if she didn't dress fancy. Especially since she had come to the Weyr, her clothes had become more serviceable than decorative. She felt her lips turn down in a small frown and then looked back at Canoake. Her turn to ask a question. "Will you at least let the poor boy," the unfortunate lad was likely waiting impatiently for news of Canoake's response, "who gave you the hairpiece know that his gift was received?"

This woman, this girl, in front of her was very cold. How disappointing. Still, maybe Canoake didn't realize the impact of her cruelty? However beautiful the other girl was in the face, that mind of hers was awfully twisted. She felt her lower chin start to jut out in a belligerent, upset expression and caught it before it could be completed.

No, she wouldn't share that emotion with Canoake. "I will need to get back to him eventually. He was very excited about the gift's reception." He'd been saving up for it for a long time, he'd said. But a shy enough lad he'd been that he was unwilling to approach the object of his devotion himself.

Intelligent boy, and lucky. It would devastate him to know the truth.

Then Canoake said something that made Jada smile, eyes lightening. See, Canoake did have something good about her, a generosity? That meant that perhaps she was not so cold of heart as she had come to seem based on the conversation they'd had so far. "I have a few dresses if you'd like to see them? I'm not completely left without anything feminine..." her voice trailed off. Nothing she had would really compare to even the outfit that Canoake was wearing at the moment. Her outfits were all simple, nothing that truly popped. "What kind of patterns do you make?"

Oh, that was clever, and she wouldn't have to feel like a liar when she told the adoring lad his present had been well-received. "I must admit I find it quite lovely." she agreed, looking over the blue hair piece again. Too bad it hadn't been a gift for her; the fact would always taint it in some way. It would not, however, stop her from using it at some point. She wasn't that much the goody-goody.

"I've no skill for Weaver Craft." Jada grinned at Canoake, opening up as the other Candidate did. "In fact, I can barely mend anything without poking myself in the fingers. I'm afraid I'll be horrible at it when it comes time to mend riding leathers. Do they give lessons on that sort of thing as Weyrlings?" Maybe the other girl would know? "And some of my gowns have been taken in some to fit better, but specifically tailored to me, only one." they were hand-me-downs, she believed. Excepting the blue dress, which her mother had procured custom-made for her as a 'Good luck' before Jada left for Telgar Weyr.