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Rowan accepted his camera from the teacher and looked the device over, getting acquainted with the buttons and what they did. He had been pretty excited to learn about the field trip the herbalism class was taking. Since he was still trying to learn about different plants and all the tricks needed to make them thrive, it would be a big help to see them in their natural environment. The whole process of how much water and sun they needed was a bit exhausting to keep up with, though Rowan liked to think they were slowly getting the trick of it.

None of their plants had died in the last week, at least.

Since they were going to be spreading out to find things to take pictures of, and the teacher couldn't keep an eye on every single one of them all at once, Mr. Datura started pairing all the freshlings together in a buddy system. They were to keep their buddy within line of sight at all times, and were not to separate from each other. If you were caught without your buddy, it would affect your grade.

The threat of a docked grade firmly in mind, Rowan moved forward to stand by his appointed buddy, an Imp he believed, if his memory served correctly, was named Leif. They'd never really talked before, but Rowan had never been a casual chit-chatter anyway. He tried to size them up, wondering what they would be like as a partner and if he was going to have to trail a hyperactive spazz happy to be set free in the woods.

He politely nodded as a greeting, then held up his camera and tilted his head towards an interest-looking section of plants off to their left. "Do you want to start over there?"

Rowan eyed the camera, headed tilted slightly and eyebrow cocked upward, but he didn't comment. He supposed if he had a nice camera he'd have brought it too. The ability for unlimited pictures he could choose the ones he liked best would have been a useful advantage. Well, if nothing else he could always ask Leif to take a picture of something in iffy lighting, so that way he didn't waste any shots on something that was too poorly lit to capture properly.

Leif's greeting reminded him that yes, manners were a thing, and he was probably being very curt. If any of his elders from home were around, he'd get a soft smack to the back of the head and told to behave properly. Rowan suppressed a sigh, keeping his face perfectly smooth throughout his entire internal monologue (which really only lasted a second or two) so that his expression wouldn't betray his inner thoughts.

He schooled a (he hoped) politely friendly smile on his face. His efforts were probably aided by the fact that Leif wasn't looking directly at him. "Likewise, I'm sure." He led the way over to the spot he had indicated, looking down at the plants that had initially caught his eye. He couldn't identify it, but it had pretty, lacy leaves and what looked to be a few optimistic buds. Rowan raised his camera to snap his first picture.

Rowan nodded, and couldn't help reaching out a hand to delicately trace the leaves and buds. "I've never seen one like this before, so I don't know what it'll look like." He sighed a bit regretfully, though if he had a picture he could always try to look it up based on the leaf shape. He'd been learning how to do that, and it was pretty difficult. Several plants had very similar-looking leaves at first glance.

"I like to grow plants that have pretty scents, to use in skin moisturizers," he explained. "I'm still learning which ones are good to use though." Rowan was wearing one of his favorites today, rosemary. It had such a nice strong scent, and the plant itself was very easy to look after. Not everyone might like the scent though, so it was good to have a variety to use.

Rowan looked up in surprise and blinked, staring a little, then came back to himself with a bit of a start and looked over in the direction Leif had indicated. He wasn't completely sure which plant the Imp was pointing to, since there were several clustered about.

Meanwhile his mind was still recovering from his surprise. He really hadn't expected his partner to know much about plants. Okay, in hindsight that was probably really rude of him to assume. He might have also come off as a bit condescending. He couldn't be sure, but it was something he did often enough that he wasn't willing to rule it out. He felt a slight flush spreading across his cheeks. If there was one thing the studious and serious Nixie could be said to value, it was someone who was knowledgeable. And this was the kind of knowledge he would greatly like to know more of.

"Ah, w-would you be willing to show me where it is exactly," Rowan asked diffidently, mentally cringing a little at his stutter and flushing a bit more.

Rowan nodded at the explanation, moving around the plant with his camera to his face while he found the best source of light, then snapped a picture. "I don't know how to bring plants from other places to grow. I'm still just learning how to keep potted plants alive." He offered a shy smile (an actual, not-just-being-polite, purely genuine smile, the rarest of all Rowan smiles), and added, "It's kind of relaxing when I get it right."

He hoped that by taking pictures for now he'd have more plants to identify and eventually try to grow in the future. His dorm was only so big anyway, though there was plenty of shelving space. "How about we try that direction next," Rowan suggested, pointing to an area looked to be a bit shrub-y, but still accessible.

Rowan had a slightly easier time of things than Leif, having no fur to get snagged by reaching branches, though they weren't immune from scratches and made sure to be accordingly careful with their own tail. "A couple different things. I got this herb set at a garden shop, cause it looked super interesting." They frowned a little. "Either the kit wasn't very good or the instructions that came with it were bad, cause after all the plants started growing they began wilting and dying. The only plant I still have from that set is my mint plant." It was a hardy thing that had patiently put up with Rowan's beginner attempts, and one of his favorites.

"I got lavender and rosemary too, cause I wanted to try growing stuff with stronger smells. I made sure to ask more questions this time though," they added, not wanting to be thought of as careless enough to make the same mistakes twice! And speaking of careless, Leif's question reminded Rowan that this was a school trip and that they still had a task at hand! Much as they would have loved to continue talking about plants (the word succulent was new to them and they would have loved to ask some questions), they should probably focus a bit more for now and resume conversation at another time. Rowan looked about for something interesting and their eyes lit upon a very pretty vine. At least they assumed it was a vine, but it seemed less inclined to climbing up as it did in spreading. The leaves were a very pretty green though, and were especially bright with the sunlight hitting them. It was as bright as Leif's fur!

"That one looks interesting," Rowan said, pointing and slowly drifting over for a closer look.

Rowan nodded, with just a tinge of regret on their face. Being such a perfectionist it would have been nice to be able to successfully grow all those different plants on their first try. They would just have to make sure their next attempts succeeded, that was all.

Rowan took a picture of the vine as well, to keep for themself. It was pretty and kind of fluffy-looking, and might be fun to try to grow if they found out what it was. Speaking of... "Do you- Do you think maybe your dad might be willing to teach me some extra stuff," they asked, voice quieter than usual and short tail wiggling a little in uncharacteristic shyness. If anything was true about Rowan, it was that they hated to seem less than the best. They would rather prefer to struggle and find the answers on their own, rather than stoop to admitting that they might need help. While Rowan was fascinated with plants, they'd always been reluctant to approach the teacher outside of class for any advice, wanting to do things on their own. Asking for help was something quite new to them. Maybe it was Leif. The freshling was shy, but it wasn't like talking to a ghost or something. He was knowledgeable, without assuming what Rowan knew, and shared the knowledge without talking down or spouting off like a list that was memorized without knowing what the things he was saying actually meant. It was strange, but the antisocial Nixie found themself warming up a bit to the Imp, and wasn't the least sure about what social protocols dictated came next. They just knew it was nice talking to Leif, and that it would be nice to also learn some more about plants and how to care for them.