Chapter Text
Reader pulled into their parking space at home after a trip from the store. Checking their phone, they saw a message from their friend confirming the time and the address of the party she was throwing. 7:00pm, less than 20 minutes away, great! She had mentioned there were going to be several people there. Most of them were new people, or angels and makers looking to get to know humans better. It’ll be nice to get out of the house for the evening anyway.
Reader popped out of their vehicle with their groceries in hand. Some of the items were things needed for the house. But mostly it was snacks for the Horsemen whenever they decided to visit. The plan was to drop off the food, get ready for the party, and then snag the special brownies they made for the party.
Noise coming from their kitchen left them frozen in place. Though upon listening closely, Reader relaxed upon hearing familiar bickering from familiar voices. They peeked into the kitchen with a grin. “Hey guys! What are all of you doing here?”
“Stealing your food!” Strife chimes.
“Of course you are.” They rolled their eyes with a huff. “I really wish you guys would let me know you’re coming over. I could at least make dinner or something.”
“We ate those pastries you left on the counter.” Fury mentioned.
“What?” A small sense of dread began to rise. “What pastries?”
"Those chocolate treats you had prepared in the kitchen were delicious." War gave Reader an apologetic smile. "Apologies, but we finished off both of the trays." Oh no.
"Wait- you ate all of the brownies I had on the counter?"
"See? Told you that was what they're called" Strife chimed smugly.
Fury rolled her eyes. "If you did not want them to be eaten you shouldn't have left them in the open."
Shock kept Reader frozen for a moment, unsure of what to say.
"Did you happen to be saving those for something?" Death rumbled upon seeing the trepidation on their face. He raised a brow with crossed arms- sending a judgmental look towards his siblings.
"Hey! Don't try to pin this all on us. You ate just as many." Strife exclaimed, accusatory.
Reader turned to the eldest in shock, "You too?!" The reaper huffed and turned away.
Someone has to tell them. Guess that someone is me. "Guys..." Reader began cautiously. "You might want to stay here for the day." I put so much weed in those brownies! Vulgrim assured me it was ‘the good stuff’.
"And why is that?" Fury asked.
"Those had weed in them. Like a lot." So much. Maybe too much.
"Why did your pastry have a plant in it?" War inquired, brows furrowed.
"No, no..." Reader pressed their fingers to their temples. "It's marijuana. It's a drug." One that you all ate a LOT of!
Strife broke out into a sharp laugh. "Heh Heh…heh... Wait. Are you serious?"
"What kind of drug?" Death squinted, his shoulders tensing.
"What the hell does it do?" Fury growled at the same time, temper rising.
War stepped closer to shield Reader from Fury's quickly boiling tantrum. But it was not without a look of question on his own face as well.
"Okay, guys, chill." They stated. "It's really not that bad. It's good for relaxing." It shouldn’t be that bad. Hopefully it isn’t that bad.
"Oh, well-" They cut Strife off.
"BUT, I’m still going to give you a rundown of what to expect. First time I got high my friends didn't tell me anything and I freaked out." Reader took a deep breath. They’re the Horsemen, this should be fine.
"Okay, it's going to make thinking straight kind of hard and your reflexes won't be as sharp.." Death clutched his forearms briefly. "You might get lost in thought, hyperfocus on random stuff…uh, maybe get really sleepy?" They pause.
“That doesn’t seem that bad.” Strife stated with a shrug.
Fury huffed. "And we need to stay the entire day here because?"
"Because," Reader started again sternly. "I don't know how any of you will react to it, especially with how much you ate." They gestured to the empty pans. "You might not even react at all. But I still want to keep an eye on you just on case."
Death softened his posture with an exasperated sigh. "Is there anything else we should be concerned about?"
Going through the mental checklist in their head, Reader replied, "You'll probably get super hungry at some point. Kind of another side effect." They grinned. "Lucky for you I already bought a bunch of snacks." They lifted their arms to show off the bags they were holding. Reader set them down and sent a quick text to their friend explaining the situation. She was disappointed, but wished them the best of luck. I didn’t really care about the party anyway.
“Since I’m probably the only one who’s going to be sober here, I’ll keep an eye on you guys and make sure you get what you need.” How bad could this be?
"Sounds like a good time." Strife chuckled.
"Be serious, brother." Came War's irate reply.
Everyone moved into the living room out of the cramped kitchen. “Well, make yourselves at home.” Reader chuckled.
About 20 minutes after getting settled in, Strife began with his usual teasing. “You know, for how worried you were earlier this ain’t much. I could probably eat a whole ‘nother tray of those things and be fine!” He laughed.
Reader scoffed lightly. “Yeah, sure. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
He ruffled their hair and flopped back on the couch with a smug expression. Reader combed their it back into place with their fingers, irritated. Fury hummed in agreement while inspecting the nick-nacks in the living room.
“I believe you may have been worried over nothing.” War stated. He was keeping himself occupied with reading the book titles crowding a shelf on the other side of the room.
Readed sighed; a headache was already forming. “Guys, it hasn’t even been an hour yet. Give it time.”
“Precaution is necessary, as is patience.” Death glowered at his siblings from the recliner adjacent from the couch, Strife rolled his eyes in response. Death turned to Reader with less ice in his gaze.
“How long until we know?”
“Maybe about an hour?” Reader hummed. There wasn’t a good estimate on when the Horsemen ate the brownies. Or if it would make a difference considering their inhuman nature. They are the Horsemen of the capital “A” Apocalypse.
Fury groaned, already bored and antsy. “And what would you have us do in the meantime?”
“You still got those board games in the hall?” Strife added, grinning like a shark.
“Absolutely not! You cheat at every single one of those.” She glared indignantly.
“Who me? I would never.”
Last time they were invited to a game night Fury was prepared to murder him over Uno. He kept hitting her with plus cards or skipping her turn. It was clear he wasn’t focused on winning at all. While those two were squabbling, War quietly won the game, and all of her ire was then directed at him. Death declined to play, but had to break it up before they trashed your house. Reader grimaced at the memory. Never again.
“Do you guys want me to put on a movie or something while we wait?” Reader asked. There was a mixed response.
“Hell yeah! Show me something I haven’t watched yet.” Strife exclaimed,; excited to enjoy more of Earth’s media.
“I suppose that will suffice.” War piped up, abandoning the bookshelf to join Strife on the couch.
“Fine. Just put on whatever.” Fury huffed before flopping onto a beanbag.
Reader looked at Death in question who had been silent for the most part.
“Fine.” Good enough.
Reader set up to watch before settling in on the couch between War and Strife. Anxiously, Reader did their best to carefully keep an eye on everyone. This is going to be a long day .