Mischief on Midgard

Reconcile

Loki woke up slowly... and immediately wished that he hadn't woken up. Every single inch of his body ached. Not just externally, but internally as well. His head was pounding with the worst migraine he'd ever had. His heart felt like it was seizing. His lungs burned with every inhale. It felt like his body was in the process of shutting down but healing at the same time.

Hel's, but it hurt.

Why was he in so much pain...? It took a moment, but Loki was able to remember his attempt to remove that damnable disk. Loki lifted his hand, ignoring his limb's heavy shaking, and placed his hand on his bare neck. His bare neck. A low groan of relief escaped his throat. It was gone. Gone. He was free.

Just the thought gave him enough encouragement to open his eyes, only to wince. Bright sunlight was streaming into the room from a nearby window. Loki groaned softly, squinting and looking toward the offending window. He frowned a moment later. The window... no, the view, was almost hauntingly familiar. As Loki forced himself onto one elbow, he realized that he was in his room. Well, that is the say that he was in the room he used to inhabit when he called the Avenger's Tower his 'home.'

Loki looked around slowly and saw that it was... remarkably untouched for a room that he hadn't seen in years. Mind you, Loki had never been one for personal belongings, and that had been true for his time living with the Avengers. Oh, there was his private computer, a few favored books on the mid-sized bookshelf on the wall. There was no need for a music player, CD or otherwise. Jarvis had all the music released on Earth available to him, and that, in turn, gave Loki access to whatever he might want to listen to at any given moment.

But there was one thing that stood out, beyond the fact that there was no dust. A little plastic tree that Tony had given him one Christmas as a way to, well, brighten up the room. Loki had wanted to throw it out from day one but had been afraid to do so. It might have been seen as an insult, and he'd... he'd wanted them to like him, not give them a reason to kick him out.

"Ah, sir. I see that you are awake. If you could remain still for a moment, I will check your vitals," there was a short pause, and Loki blinked at the ceiling in confusion. A female voice? What? "Good. Your vitals are stable. Congratulations on your rapid recovery, sir. It was believed that you'd be unconscious for a longer period."

"You're not Jarvis," Loki said with a frown. Not only was the voice different, but it was bland. Somewhat lacking in humor. Jarvis' usual dry humor was nowhere to be found in this voice, so it wasn't like Jarvis had simply opted to change what he sounded like. "Who are you?"

"My name is F.R.I.D.A.Y., sir," the voice said with a little more cheer in her voice. Not much, but enough for him to relax a little. "That's an acronym for Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth. And you are Loki. It is... pleasing to meet you."

"It's... good to meet you as well," Loki said with a groan as he rolled onto his side and pushed himself into a sitting position.

He blinked down at himself, and it took him a few moments to realize he was dressed in a set of white pajamas. Well... he wasn't about to ask who on Earth had dressed him. A little bit embarrassing that. As he pushed himself to his feet, he winced. Every joint in his body ached something fierce. Gods above, he felt like an old man! He rubbed his hands against his back, shifting this way and that. There was an audible crackle and pop. He hissed softly.

Yeah, that hadn't really helped. Loki made his way gingerly over to the chest of drawers next to the wall and opened one of the drawers. He let out a weak chuckle at the sight of all his old clothes.

"Tony hasn't been cleaning up around here, has he?" he asked with a bemused huff.

"After the Avengers Initiative was tabled, Mr. Stark locked up all the rooms that were previously occupied by the various members of the Avengers," Friday said. "He has stated multiple times that he'll clean up the rooms, but he has never done so."