Tony strolls into the living room and pauses at the sight in front of him. Loki is asleep on one of the uncomfortable decorator sofas, and Thor looks as if he wants to scoop his brother in his arms. He always was rather physical with his affection, even platonically.

Loki's sleep cycle is extremely erratic, most likely as a result of having no sort of stimulation to help him regulate his circadian rhythm. "Might I mention, sir, that your circadian rhythm is rather lacking as well?" Jarvis had snarked.

Thor glances worriedly at Loki's furrowed brow. "He does not seem to be resting well,"

Loki shifts slightly in his sleep, and Tony feels sympathy despite himself. He knows nightmares all too well.

Turning away from Loki to avoid thinking about it, Tony's gaze lands on a set of suspiciously empty shelves. "Wasn't there stuff there?"

"I apologize, Friend Stark. Loki is most fond of books."

"What's he doing, ripping them up?" Considering Loki's treatment of mugs...

"He appears to be collecting them, sir, and is treating them quite well." Jarvis interjects smoothly. "I could instruct him to return them, but the chances of him listening are-"

"Do you require them back?" Thor stands up as if to retrieve them, no doubt wanting to take advantage of Tony's hospitality.

"No, I haven't touched them in-"

"Five years, three months and four days, sir." Jarvis answers.

"Exactly." Tony honestly has no idea which books he even owns. They were fancy, leather bound volumes that were mostly for aesthetic, but Tony doesn't need a bookshelf to advertise the fact he's a genius.

Glancing back at Loki, Tony sees that the man's green eyes are open and directed at the stream of sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Jarvis has noted that Loki actively avoids the ocean view, preferring to look at objects inside the house.

Thor tries to get Loki to eat again, but Loki's still completely reliant on the IV bags.

"We've got to improve your musical tastes, too." Tony quips. Loki almost seemed affronted the first time he heard Tony's music choices, and clearly prefers classical pieces. He'd made flicking motions with his hand, as if attempting to banish AC/DC from existence.

Loki watches silently at Tony fetches another IV bag and hooks it up.

"We're going to make a Black Sabbath fan out of you, buddy. You're already halfway there." Tony gestures to the old t-shirt Loki's wearing, though he doubts Loki's aware the logo is promoting a band he hates.

"Lies."

Tony freezes. The voice definitely wasn't Thor's- throaty and hoarse rather than booming.

"Loki..." Thor's clearly at a loss for words.

Loki repeats "lies" without acknowledging Thor. His accent is somehow different from Thor's and sounds inexplicably British.

"Lies?" Tony asks. Is Loki remembering a dream about lies, or is he convinced everything around him is a hallucination, that he's never left the void?

He's not actually responding to Tony's jibe about music, is he?

"He is infamous for his lies." Thor explains without taking his eyes off his brother. "Loki, we are not lying. I swear, I am as real as you are."

Thor grips Loki's hand tightly. Loki looks down at their hands and back up at Thor, before turning away, leaving Thor still looking ridiculously hopeful.

I was considering posting an April Fools chapter as I did years ago. This isn't one, but I liked it regardless, and Loki might think the whole world is some cruel joke his mind is playing on him (thankfully, being out of the void isn't an April Fools joke for Loki)