― QUENTIN ADLER WAS BORN into a family of traitors. His family had never had much. Even as a child, he remembered having to wear his brother's old clothes and complaining every time that he found a hole in it. Every time, his mother would smile, run his hands through his hair and tell him that it was just a phase for their family and that it would change with time. As a child, he'd never understood that his mother had a plan. All that he cared about was that he didn't have the same clothes or shoes that his friends did. He didn't understand much the day that he watched his mother get dragged off into the streets by royal, guards for conspiring against the crown.
Never would he have thought that his mother and father had been working with the goddess of Death to take over the kingdom and while, her plans were thwarted by Odin, Quentin's family still paid the price. His parents were executed and Quentin and his brother were spared from the same fate on account of their age. They were taken as servants by the royal family and conditioned to believe that pity was being taken on them.
Quentin hadn't seen his family in years. He hadn't had anything to care about and his days were a blur of cleaning tables and dusty floors. Over the years, he'd built an indifference to the things around him. He was numb to his emotions and he drew away from the people around him. He kept his head down and kept his nose out of other people's business as he'd learned that was the only way to survive in the position that he'd found himself. Quentin let himself get lost in the books that Thor gave him, letting himself believe that he was in another world. One where he could have a better life.
Until news of Loki's departure to Midgard made its way around and the man was brought was brought back in chains as a prisoner of the throne. Quentin was assigned to take care of him and he found himself developing sympathy for the man who'd been dealt a bad hand in the world. At first, Loki was hostile and mischievous, just as Quentin expected but as he started to accept that perhaps, his fate was to rot in his cage, he changed. He talked to Quentin as if he was a real person and asked him about his day. Soon, Quentin found himself looking forward to the days that he got to see the god of mischief and he even brought a book along, to read to Loki who claimed to like the sound of his voice.
Theirs was animperfect love between two imperfect people. But perhaps their love was the redemption that they both secretly sought.
— ⎰ NOTES.⎱ ― I love both my boys so much. They're going to be very soft and I really don't have a lot of plans but I can imagine Loki with his head in Quentin's lap as he's reading to him and Quentin's doing his best to keep from stroking his hair and tries to pretend that he's not staring.
