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Forensic Files. It was one of Daniel’s favorite shows. While the blonde man had changed his ways for good, he still enjoyed the darker themes of life. Even as a teenager Daniel’s interest was trained onto shows like this, it helped him learn the right way to avoid getting caught after helping people ‘ascend’. Nowadays, Daniel enjoyed watching the show out of pure intrigue and curiosity. Perhaps his mind was making him watch the show in order to keep him in line? But nonetheless, he found it interesting. He would admit, he found many of the murderers in these cases quite idiotic. It was abundantly obvious that these people were not careful when it came to their crimes. They left behind evidence, they allowed themselves to be seen, they didn’t eliminate witnesses and they didn’t clean the crime scene effectively! Maybe it was his own past of crimes that made him so irked by these little things, he didn’t really know.
Daniel sat outside in the grass, an earbud in one ear and the other dangling freely. Forensic Files was playing on his phone. He was currently watching an older episode, it was about how a killer got caught because he left his blood at the scene. During the part where the narrator would tell the viewer what the killer was sentenced to, without thinking he blurted out; “This is why you clean up the crime scene, you imbecile!” and he huffed, not realizing that some of the campers were staring at him. Some people just don’t plan things thoroughly. He continued to watch the screen intently, clicking on the next episode play. This one was called ‘Invisible Intruder.’ As the episode began, Daniel felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Neil standing next to him, gazing at his phone with an unreadable face. Daniel paused the video and removed the earbud from his ear. “Yes, Neil?”
“Are you watching Forensic Files?” Neil asked, raising an eyebrow, eyes still trained on the screen. Daniel nodded his head. “Yeah, how did you know?” The young brunette pointed at Daniel’s phone. “Forensic Files has a very distinct look to it. Most episodes are filmed very similarly, old-time camera work, black and white, lots of slow motion. Also, when they show members of the crew or family members talking, they use the same white font against the red and black boxes. Plus, you’ve been mumbling passive aggressively about ‘the killers in this show being idiots.’ I just assumed you were watching some sort of crime show.” He explained, shrugging his shoulders indifferently. “Are you interested in forensic science?” He questioned. “You could say that in high school, I watched this show with my boyfriend quite often, he was a fan of murder mysteries and I grew fond of his show.” He turned back to the screen. “I’ve always found the science of solving murders an interesting subject, especially when you think about how many people got away with murder before we discovered DNA analysis.”
“True. Without the invention of DNA analysis, killers would run free without a care in the world.” Neil echoed, staring off into the distance for a bit before looking at Daniel again. “I have to admit, you don’t seem like the kind of person that would enjoy watching shows about murders, after all, you hate it when Max brings up what you did before becoming a counselor.” Daniel tensed slightly, taking a quick breath and releasing it to keep himself calm. “The circumstances around what I did were different for the one’s in this show. I will admit that some of the episodes do bring up bad memories, however they haven’t lessened my enjoyment of the show.” He told the younger male. Neil nodded his head slowly, he looked to the screen again, then he sat next to Daniel in the grass. “Which episode are you watching now?” Daniel glanced at the title. “Invisible Intruder.” Neil frowned, glancing at Daniel. “You might wanna skip that one, it might bring up some bad memories.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow, looking a little confused. “How so?” He asked. “The episode is about a crazy lady that snapped and killed two of her children.” He stated bluntly, making Daniel’s eyes widen. He imminently switched to a different episode. Now the blonde was left terribly confused. “Why did you warn me about the episode, I thought you hated me?” He questioned, tilting his head and staring at the younger male. Neil’s face remained blank. “Want me to be blunt?” Daniel nodded slowly. “I’m fucking sick of hearing Max bitch about you all the time. After you became friends with Harrison, Max kept me up all night yelling and going on about how you’d ‘turn on him’, how ‘this was all a trick’ and you’d just ‘kill him when you got the chance.’ It got even worse when you and Nikki became friends. Max has been doing nothing but bitching and moaning about you for days, it’s giving me a damn headache!” He exclaimed, voice laced with annoyance and anger. The young brunette rubbed his temples and huffed.
Daniel’s looked like a deer in the headlights after the boy's outburst. “Does this mean that you don’t hate me and you’re not mad about what I did?” Daniel asked carefully, fiddling with his shirt. “I was at first yeah, but now I honestly don’t care. You’ve done nothing but be kind and nice since you came back, yeah I was skeptical at first, I mean, who wouldn’t ,be? But you’ve obviously felt guilty for what you did and you’re trying to fix it. So who am I to hate you for trying to change? That would just be pointless. Besides, Nikki and Harrison trust you, so why wouldn’t I?” Daniel noticed a visible shift in tone when Neil mentioned Harrison. He smirked, but decided not to ask the boy about it as to not embarrass him. “That and Max’s constant bitching has made me desensitized to any anger I felt towards you.” Daniel nodded, looking back at his phone again and frowning. “Do you… want to watch a few episodes together? That way someone else can make fun of the killers in this show with me.”
Neil looked up at Daniel and he shrugged. “Eh, why not. I’m not doing anything today anyway.” Daniel smiled, handing Neil one of his earbuds, popping the other on into his ear and scrolling through a list of Forensic Files episodes. “If I could make a recommendation, I would suggest that we watch ‘Accident or Murder’, It’s a very interesting episode.” Daniel hummed, typing in the title and taping on the video when it popped up. Neil was right, this was an interesting episode! Maybe he should watch crime shows with Neil more often.