A Gift of Beauty by octopus_fool

[octopus_fool]

B2MeM Prompt, Card and Number: B14 – Ecthelion (Card 81 - Five Books, Five Characters), Lotus (Card 25 - Botany)
Format: Ficlet
Genre: Humor
Rating: General
Warnings: none
Characters: Ecthelion, Glorfindel
Pairings: Ecthelion/Glorfindel but can also be read as friendship
Creator’s Notes (optional): none
Summary: Ecthelion has the perfect idea for a midsummer gift for Glorfindel. Unfortunately, his botanical knowledge is limited...

Also on AO3.

Ecthelion was the first to admit that his interest in plants was limited to very few flowers. He did not know how often he had had to endure gentle teasing for his disinterest in the topic from Glorfindel in their hours together. And although Glorfindel kept suggesting to plant things in the fountains, Ecthelion felt rather disinclined to do so. It would only mean the fountains would have to be cleaned out more often.

So if Glorfindel had not kept him waiting so long while attending to some urgent business, Ecthelion would never have leafed through the flyer lying in Glorfindel’s hallway.

Sant-i-Gelais – Flowers, Plants and Seeds

Towards the bottom of the list with the plants and seeds they were offering was a word that caught Ecthelion’s attention. It took him back to the gardens and fountains of Tirion. Memories of elegant pink and white flowers rising from ponds appeared before his eyes. Taking a piece of parchment and a pencil from his pocket, Ecthelion jotted down the address on the flyer.

He had been wondering what gift he could get Glorfindel for midsummer and this was the perfect idea.

That evening, Ecthelion wrote a letter, ordering a hundred lotus plants for the fountains.

 

Three days later, a cart arrived at Ecthelion’s house and a brown-haired elf started unloading pots into the courtyard. Ecthelion went outside and stared at the small yellow flowers.

“Excuse me, I think there has been a mistake. I ordered lotus plants.”

The elf looked at him uncomprehendingly. “Yes, one hundred lotus plants. That’s what these are.”

“But… in Valinor, they were beautiful pink and white flowers which grew in water. These… are not that.”

“Oh, you were thinking of lotos. I can see why you would prefer those, but I’m afraid there is no way of getting those anywhere in the hidden valley. I have to admit I was wondering why anyone would order one hundred lotus plants, usually people only want a few of them to plant them between other things to attract bees.”

The elf scratched the back of his neck and looked unhappily at the plants he had already unloaded. “Do you want to return the order?”

Ecthelion sighed and shook his head. “No, I ordered it after all and you’ve already gone through all this effort. I’ll figure out what to do with them.”

 

That evening, Glorfindel visited Ecthelion unexpectedly.

“What are all those plants doing in your courtyard? I thought you weren’t interested in gardening?”

“I wanted to surprise you on midsummer by planting lotos into the fountains.”

Glorfindel burst into laughter. “And you ordered lotus instead!”

“Yes. Apparently, there are no lotos plants in Gondolin.”

Glorfindel nearly doubled over from laughing so hard.

“You know, this is probably an even better midsummer gift,” he gasped eventually.

 

Glorfindel planted the lotus plants around his house. Whenever Ecthelion visited, Glorfindel made sure to point them out to him.

“Look at how beautiful the lotus are in bloom today!”


Author's Note:
While there are simply several different plants that are refered to as "lotus" in English, other languages differenciate between "lotus" and "lotos". I went with the latter version in this, since I believe it makes it funnier.

 

Comments

[mirkyking]

It is the thought that counts! 😉

[octopus_fool]

True, and even better if one can get a laugh out of it too!

[kayleearafinwiel]

Awww, 'Theli and Glorfi :)

Donut: *examines lotus flowers and preens octofish friend happily* Flowers FISH :) *loves water flowers*

He says Ecthelion can give him all the flower fish if Glorfi doesn't want them :) and he will share with Octofish friend!

[octopus_fool]

:)

*enjoys preening and the shared flower fish*

Psst, Donut, I think 'Theli might have some real fish somewhere in those fountains! But don't tell him you have it from me! ;)

[kayleearafinwiel]

Donut: *promises not to tell 'Theli, and looks for real fish to share with Octofish friend*

*Donut would be particularly interested if they were those big goldfish like he's seen in fountains before, though octofish friend would have to help him catch them, since they'd be too big for Donut to manage by himself*

(Koi, Donut? *giggles* It would be just like Ecthelion to have some of those...)

[octopus_fool]

Yes, Donut, they are those big, shiny, expensive koi... I'm sure Ecthelion will be really happy to share them with you... ;)
*sneaks towards fountains*

[zdenka]

Oops! :D Interesting, I didn't know there were different kinds of flowers called lotus either.

[octopus_fool]

I probably wouldn't know it either if I hadn't had a botany professor who loved pointing out that lotus =/= lotos in German. :D
And when I saw the prompt, the plot bunny popped up fully formed.

[elwendell]

Poor Ech. knows as much about flowers as I do. At least he got to plant them somewhere. :D

[octopus_fool]

I'm sure he has enough humor to live through Glorfindel's teasing. And yeah, better than having the plants end up as cow fodder. :D

[erulissedances]

You can't fault the gift, only the giver. But this was so well-intentioned, and will still brighten their days.

- Erulisse (one L)

[octopus_fool]

It will, and I'm sure Glorfindel loves telling the story at banquettes (even though everyone has already heard it fifty times... ;) ).

[nialoke]

This was adorable and funny and I love it. Also, I would totally have made the same mistake as Glorfindel - I had no idea there was more than one "lotus" plant!

(Also, now I'm wondering - was his house already called "House of the Golden Flower" before this, or only after? ;))