Sunflower (or, a Solangelo Spider-Man AU)

Everything You Lose Is A Step You Take (nico lore tbh)

Will had never seen Nico express much. He had seen him smile, laugh, be slightly annoyed, nothing major. But right now, Nico was radiating pure terror. His hands shook, his voice was low, and his eyes darted wildly, not meeting Will's gaze for more than a few seconds. He repeated himself, his voice wavering. "Where did you get this?"

Will was speechless. Based on Nico's reaction to the card, it wasn't good. Will had figured that much anyways, what with the creepy powerfulness of Eris and Hypnos, but it might be worse than he had thought. He wasn't sure what to tell Nico. He couldn't lie in a situation like this, but telling the full truth was risky.

Will swallowed. "A...woman gave it to me," he said. "At a McDonalds. Last night."

Nico's face flickered with distrust. "That's not the full truth, is it?"

Will flinched. He knew he was painfully easy to read, and Nico seemed to have a second nature for discerning when others were lying. "It's...no. But, Nico-"

"Why did she give it to you?" Nico questioned. "Was there anyone with her? Did she say something? What was happening? It says she's your friend on here. She wrote it. Is that true?"

"No! Nico, I don't-" Will tried.

"She was trying to recruit you, right? They all do. They always want new ones. People who are easy to manipulate. That's how- no, no, no..."

"Nico-"

Nico didn't even hear him. He flipped the card over in his shaking hands, over and over, lost in his head. "It's happening again." He mumbled. "I thought I got away. I can't get away. They're everywhere. Why are they everywhere?"

"NICO!" Will said a bit more forcefully, finally snapping Nico out of his spiral. Nico looked up at Will, eyes wide and scared.

Will tried to keep his tone even, despite the fact that he was terrified at Nico's reaction. He didn't even really know what to say. His mind briefly flashed back to a few weeks ago, when Cecil had been convinced that Nico was in the Mafia. Maybe that had been more accurate than Will had thought. No! Don't think that. He didn't even know what the Mansion of Night really WAS. It didn't matter. Right now, he just needed to figure out what was going on with Nico. "This organization, whatever they are, the Mansion of Night," he ventured. "You...know them. Or know about them."

Nico nodded, his eyes darting downwards. "I...do."

"You don't have to tell me how you know." Will said. "If it's hard for you to say, or secret, I get it. I understand having secrets. But if it's really bad...you can't keep it bottled up. And you can trust me. I promise."

Nico looked up at Will, almost examining him. He was silent for almost a minute, then he quietly spoke. "They killed my family."

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Will stared at Nico in utter shock. He didn't know what to say. Sorry? That didn't mean anything. It was shallow. Maybe something like...I understand? But he didn't, not...really. No matter how horrible it seemed, Will needed to know more. So he simply asked: "Why?"

This didn't seem to be the response Nico was expecting, but he didn't seem entirely opposed. He took a deep breath, sat on Will's bed, and began.

"They're...they're this scarily powerful crime organization. Worldwide, I think. And my dad was...a member. My mom wasn't. That was dangerous, him being in love and having kids with a non-member."

Will noticed Nico's use of kids. Plural. He had a sibling? He didn't know that. Well, he supposed he hadn't known any of this.

Nico continued. "My dad tried to make my mom join. Says it would be safer for her. She refused, and they..." Nico choked up.