im such a sucker for “hobbits know the language of flowers” courtship headcanons with thorin accidentally insulting or propositioning bilbo via bouquet BUT! i ALSO love the idea that thorin, realizing he’s falling hard and fast for bilbo, wants to court him but doesn’t want to follow traditional dwarven methods, partly because he knows bilbo won’t know them and partly as a way to show his respect for bilbo after spending most of the journey being grumpy and insulting towards him. but thorin and the rest of the company know so little about hobbit culture, with a single lucky exception: hobbits love flowers and often use them in courtship rituals. fantastic! except some dwarf or other (im thinking either a well meaning but confused bofur or a bored and mischievous fili and kili) is under the impression that hobbits all know the symbolic meanings of flowers, and make bouquets to say specific things—and avoid any negative blooms. cue the company scrambling to figure out flower language while on the road with just about zero resources, lead by an increasingly more stressed out thorin trying to craft the perfect bouquet. trouble is, flower language is more of an older hobbit tradition, and these days is mostly practiced by the real botanists of the bunch. bilbo, who loves a pretty flower but has never watered one in his life, knows nothing about it, and would be happy as a clam to receive a simple wildflower from thorin. if only the dwarf weren’t so frazzled with everything and could spare some time to share even a small private moment with the poor hobbit
