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Will Solace, to the surprise of most campers, loved true crime podcasts. And, so, he had attempted to convert his boyfriend to them.
... It hadn't gone as well as he had wanted.
Nico had enjoyed enough to listen to it with Will, but he was surprised that Nico's morbid nature hadn't interested him in it more.
He learnt why, a few months later, when he found Nico crying in his cabin.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Nico immediately stiffened, "Nothing, it's stupid, I'm fine."
"You can tell me, you know?" He gave him an easy smile.
"It's really not that important..." He insisted.
"If it's important to you, it's important to me."
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
His response was short. "Spoilers."
"Sorry? Have you become the oracle or something?"
Nico laughed, "No." He grabbed the laptop that lay on his bed, a pair of black headphones lying discarded next to it, "Have you heard of The Magnus Archives?"
Will shook his head, "What is it?"
"It's basically a horror podcast, and it starts out as an anthology type thing." Will loved Nico's rambling. "It follows Jonathan Sims, who's the Archivist of the Magnus Institute." He paused before adding, "It's also gay."
Will nodded approvingly, "A very important part of any podcast. But why were you crying?"
Nico looked to the side, "The last episode." His face was flush with embarrassment.
“Should I be concerned?”
“The only one who should be concerned is Jonny.” He thought for a moment, “As in the writer, not the character.”
“They have the same name?”
“Yeah, and it’s fucking annoying.”
“So…” Will started, “Can I listen to this traumatizing podcast?”
Nico nodded excitedly, scrolling back to episode one.
“Test, test, test. Alright…”
"Why is he so British?"
“You should remember that episode, it’s important later on.” Will nodded. He could do that.
He really should’ve started writing things down.
“The coffin. Remember the coffin.”
“Remember Michael Crew, he’s really important. Michael Crew. If you don’t know his last name, things will get confusing. Also Gerard Keay, he also is important. Don’t confuse him with someone called Jared.”
“Worms are important, okay?”
“This episode is very important. The house on Hilltop road is something that you should keep in mind.”
Eight episodes in, and Will was thoroughly confused. He mostly knew what was happening, but he couldn’t see any correlation between any of these things. Every time Nico relistened to an episode, he reacted to mentions of simple things, an inside joke that Will didn’t know.
He liked true crime for gods’ sakes. He liked knowing what was going on.
Nico had burst into laughter when he had told him that.
He’d figure it out.
Maybe.