#nichell

[sadgaywerewolf]

prompt: another installment of Nichell ghost boyfriend AU?

"You lied." 

"Probably." Nico didn’t look up from the iPad. "I suck at this."

"Go left and then down." Mitchell prodded ineffectually at the tablet, pausing as he felt the warmth radiating from Nico’s fingers. He smiled.

"No," Nico frowned, "You don’t swipe down. You never go down.""I don’t know, going down can be a lot of fun if you do it right."

"Are you making a joke? Because I don’t understand."

"It’s, uhm," Mitchell flickered in and out of focus, "Hey look. See?"

"Oh, you’re right." Nico grinned at his game, "I should go down more often. Jason lied."

"Jason knows a lot about going down?" Mitchell bit his lip and tried not laugh.

"You are making a joke," Nico finally looked up to meet Mitchell’s strained face, "I’m going to look up what that means.""You can use google?" Mitchell raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and smiled when Nico grinned at him.

"Shut up. Just because I’m bad at 2048 doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I can use google."

"Well, I can teach you, you know, how to use your tablet."

"You already did, Mitchell. And that’s why you get special privileges." Nico smirked.

"I’m in Elysium, I already- “ 

“You know what I mean. What did I lie about?”

"Huh?" Mitchell blinked, "Oh. Right. You lied."

"About what? Not that I’m doubting you."

"You said I’d get used to it.""Huh?" Nico frowned, "Get used to- oh. Right. Being dead…you’re not used to it?"

"No." Mitchell frowned, "I’m not."

"It’s only been a month or two. You’ll-"

"Get used to it?" Mitchell frowned and reached out to Nico, who in turn raised his hand and settled it over the image of Mitchell’s own. It was routine by now. He sighed at Nico’s touch. It was real, the only thing that was real in death. Warm and comforting and tingling with the feelings of home. 

"Yeah. Everyone does."

"What if I don’t want to?""Mitchell…I’m sorry-"

"No, I know. I know. I just.." Mitchell mustered up a smile again, "I’ll get used to it."

"Mitchell, we’ve talked about this. If you want, I can help you-"

"No. I’m not…ready for that yet. Being a ghost isn’t so bad."

"No, it isn’t." Nico smiled at him and it made Mitchell’s stomach turn. It was a real emotion, not the memory of one. 

"Do you want to visit camp?" Nico looked nervous, "I can take you there. If you want. You can see Lacy, and Piper…and everyone else."

"Maybe later, Nico, thanks. I miss them." Mitchell willed his hand to squeeze Nico’s, and the son of Hades returned the gesture. 

"I guess being with the king of ghosts has its perks." 

Nico laughed and Mitchell felt the tension break. He grinned, “Yeah, sure lover-boy. But only if you help me figure out Thanatos’s stupid gadgets.”

"Any day, my king."

"Ugh," Nico made a face, "Don’t call me that, it sounds…pretentious. I’m only the ghost king around people who make me angry. You don’t make me angry."

"That sounds  like a love confession, coming from you."

"You’d know." Nico nudged his side with his elbow, "Come on, the sun’s coming up, time to go."

Nico closed his eyes as the shadows crept up to engulf the two of them and take them back to the Underworld. Mitchell smiled as he heard Nico sigh with effort, and the only thing he could think was, “Yeah. I would.”

[unprofessionalaseies]

Imagine Mitchell trying to convince Nico or Leo to reenact the Daft Bodies video.

[unprofessionalaseies]

If Mitchell were to recommend a haircut for nico...

(Who is Mitchell Kadar?)

Not gonna lie, contrary to this fic that says otherwise, a haircut would be one of Mitchell's first suggestions on their road to a more self-confident demigod. Hair grows back, so it's fairly safe to experiment with. Mitchell would have a few suggestions, sure, but this whole re-image process is for Nico, so Nico has to be the one to choose what he wants. Mitchell's just there to help him follow through with it.

That said -- and this is more my own personal opinion than Mitchell's 'cause Mitchell's much more fashionable than I am -- I think what they end up going with is an undercut. It matches with Nico's punk-goth style he's going for, and shows off the new piercings he got in the above fic. 

[unprofessionalaseies]

nico and michell and capture the flag

Mitchell and the rest of Aphrodite Cabin had a tried and true method for dealing with Capture the Flag -- stay out of the way, and let those who like to headbutt do so. Unfortunately Cabin 10 was far too big to let them all do that, and being a person who could actually be persuaded to try, Mitchell had been stationed on defense for the Blue Team. 

"So, it's that time of year again?"

Mitchell nearly jumped out of his skin as Nico stepped out from behind a tree. No red or blue armor, just his normal black and leather clothes. Mitchell relaxed his grip on his sword and said with a smile, "I didn't realize you'd come back."

"Yeah, well." Nico shrugged. "Where is everybody?"

An explosion echoed from the other side of the forest. Probably caused by Leo somehow.

"Over there's a safe bet," Mitchell said, nodding his head.

"That the red flag?"

Mitchell shrugged. "Maybe."

"What about you guys?" Nico nodded behind Mitchell. "Over there?"

Mitchell opened his mouth, but closed it just as quickly. There was something about Nico's posture... they way he was walking. It was very calculated. Mitchell smirked, readying his sword and shield. "When did you say you came back, exactly?"

"Just now," Nico said nonchalantly, his hand resting on his Stygian Iron sword at his waist. "I think I'd classify as a neutral party."

"Sweden was neutral party in World War II, but they still helped gather information for the Allies."

The corner of Nico's mouth turned up. "You think I'm a spy for the Red Team?"

"You haven't denied it."

"Oh, let's get this over with." Nico drew his sword and connected with Mitchell's shield.

[unprofessionalaseies]

17

Send me a number and two characters - get a drabble.

17. Blood (x)

"I’m having second thoughts about this."

It wasn’t that Nico didn’t trust Mitchell. Really. He knew how to take a secret to the grave and be brutally honest when it mattered. But being a good confidant had nothing to do with his ability to stick needles into another person’s body so Nico was — justifiably, in his opinion — a little nervous watching Mitchell holding the needle that was supposed to go through his ear in an open flame.

"Oh, really?"

"Hey." Mitchell clicked the lighter closed, and looked Nico in the eye. "If it’s really bugging you, we can stop. But it seems to me you’re just nervous, and need to push through it. I felt the same way when my sisters put mine in. — Oh, keep the ice cube on you ear a bit longer."

Nico rubbed his ear, almost completely having lost feeling in it, and placed the ice cube back over the spot where his piercing was going to be.

"How much does it hurt?" Nico asked.

"Well, speaking from experience," Mitchell soaked a ball of cotton in rubbing alcohol. "It hurts less than getting stabbed in the kidney.”

"Gee, thanks. I feel loads better.”

"You’re going to be fine,” he said, trading Nico’s ice for the cotton swab. “You’re gonna be all tense the whole time and then not even realize it happened ‘cause you’ve been through so much worse it won’t even ping on your radar. Rub that over the front and back of your ear.”

Nico followed Mitchell’s instructions as he gave them. He had to clip his hair back so it wouldn’t get in the way, and Nico felt a little ridiculous, but he really did want to go through with this. Mitchell had been coaching him through controlling his appearance — figuring out what makes him feel better about himself, and stand a little taller. It’s been working out well so far, but recently he’d been feeling like he had to take a bigger step. A more permanent one. Not tattoo permanent, but close. Earrings just felt like the next logical step to confidence.

"Ready?"

"As I’ll ever be."

"Then get into the light." Mitchell gestured over to the lamp they set up next to the nearest Greek-fire torch. Nico pulled over a stool and sat down, leaning his head onto his shoulder so his friend could work easily. 

Mitchell’s gloved fingers brushed against Nico’s skin as he placed the cork under Nico’s ear, and Nico could feel the muscles in his neck relax. A side-effect of Mitchell’s emotion-reading powers was that he synchronized his emotions with other people when he touched them. Weeks of practice made it clear the calm confidence Nico was feeling was actually Mitchell’s, but at the moment he welcomed the artificial emotion. 

He could vaguely feel the tip of the needle pressing against his numb earlobe, but he just stared at the way his sloppily made bed was wrinkled until he felt the sharp pinch. Nico jammed his eyes shut, but it was through before he had time to properly brace himself. An uncomfortable tug through his ear later, Mitchell was removing the cork and placing on the back of the barbell. 

"How was it?" Mitchell asked, dabbing at Nico’s ear with a tissue. There were only a few drops of blood on it, and most of it was from the needle itself.

"Totally worse than getting a kidney stabbed, you liar," Nico said flatly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Mitchell laughed and handed him a mirror. “Sorry about that. What do you think?”

Nico’s ear was red around the silver piercing, but it looked… right there. Like it belonged. Any doubts he’d had before disappeared, and Nico took the barrettes out of his hair, letting it fall down to its regular shaggy length. He frowned, lifting his hair so that he could see his ears again.

"Could we cut my hair too?"

Mitchell shrugged a shoulder, an approving smile on his lips. “Sure thing. But let’s finish piercing that other ear first, yeah?”

"Yeah." Nico smiled, and pinned back the hair on his other side.

[unprofessionalaseies]

Imagine Mitchell using his transformation power to pose as Nico's parent to help Nico get a tattoo.

[unprofessionalaseies]

can you write something with either leo and mitchell or leo and nico or mitchell and nico or any combination of the above geeking out together?

(Who is Mitchell Kadar?)

Leo knocked on the door to the Hades cabin, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He would never admit that this place still creeped him out a bit, but there it was. Nico di Angelo opened the door.

"Is Mitchell here?" Leo asked, standing on tiptoes to try and see over Nico’s head, but found the several inches Nico had grown in the last year and a half couldn’t be triumphed by little 5 foot 6 Leo.

"It’s the fifth," Nico said bluntly, as if that was supposed to explain everything.

"And?"

Nico rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. “Honestly, is your boyfriend or mine? Every month on the fifth he sneaks out of camp to go shopping and wind down. You never noticed?”

"Yeah, well," Leo’s face flushed and his guts twisted. "It’s hard to notice with you guys going on your little ~outings~ so often. How am I supposed to keep track?"

Nico raised his eyebrows. “We meet on the second Tuesday and the third Saturday of each month.”

Leo’s fists clenched in his pockets, his shoulders squared. Just as he was about to say something stupid and probably dangerous, he was cut off.

"Guys! Look what I found!" Mitchell came running toward them, bag slung over his shoulder, and some sort of glossy paper in his hand. His grin slid off his face the closer he came to Leo and Nico, and he looked between them uncertainly. "Is everything okay?"

Mitchell frowned and gave Leo a we’ll-talk-about-this-later look, and Leo’s smile wavered. Leo never looked forward to their talks, but at least he wasn’t going to force the matter at the moment. 

"This is what I was excited about," he said, holding up a comic book.

"Ms. Marvel?"

"Is that anything like Captain Marvel?" Nico asked, frowning. "I’ve heard of it; but I haven’t read anything."

Leo stared at Nico. “You like comics?”

Nico glanced at Mitchell before looking back at Leo and said, “Yes? My sister got me some when I was younger because I found them easier to read.”

"Same here, actually," Mitchell said, grinning again. "My grandpa gave me the comics version of the Bible for Christmas when I was seven."

Leo whistled. “Man, I just read comics ‘cause they’re cool.”

Mitchell laughed. “That too.”

"So what’s cool about Ms. Marvel?"

"She’s Arab-American,” Mitchell said, his blue eyes shining. “And from Jersey, but I’m willing to overlook that.”

Leo shook his head solemnly. “Nobody’s perfect.”

"No, but, like," Mitchell flailed his free hand as he tried to get his words together. "If you told ten year old me that there’d be an Arab-American superhero, I wouldn’t have believed it. I mean, especially after 9/11, you know? I looked through the first issue too, and I was raised in a Christian environment so I don’t know how accurate it is on the religious stuff, but it seems really respectful and—" Mitchell covered his face with his hand as his words failed him, and Leo couldn’t help but smile.

"That sounds great," Nico said. He was smiling at Mitchell too — the kind of smile he usually saved for Hazel. Leo chewed the inside of his lip.

"So are you gonna let us read it or not?" Leo said, yanking the book out of Mitchell’s hand and plopping down on the cabin steps. "I’ll read it out loud so you guys can follow along."

"No way," Nico said, bending over to grab the comic, but Leo kept it out of his reach. "You’ll use silly voices and completely ruin the tone of the comic."

"I wasn’t going to but I sure am now,” Leo grinned.

"Stop it," Mitchell said, taking back the comic. "I’ll read it out loud. You guys can sit on either side of me.”

Nico was already on Mitchell’s other side when Leo said, “I guess that works too.”

" ‘I just want to smell it.' ” Mitchell said, reading Kamala's line off the first panel depicting a very deliciously drawn BLT sandwich. ” 'I’m going to start charging you for...”

[unprofessionalaseies]

imagine lacy being mitchell's wing man for nico

So I kept this in my askbox forEVER ‘cause I thought I might use it as a prompt but that’s looking increasingly less likely. So. HEADCANONS AHOY!

I don’t particularly see Mitchell needing Lacy as a wingman when it comes to Nico. As I explained at the bottom of this post, Mitchell working up the courage to talk to Nico was less about Nico (and Mitchell’s feelings of admiration), and more about Mitchell having the courage to admit such a thing.

Mitchell never had thoughts about dating Nico, and if it were to ever happen it would be because they’ve spent a good long time with each other and the feelings developed naturally. (In my own head, they don’t even realize they’re dating until months after the fact. They both have other primary partners by then.)

But you asked about Lacy, so let’s talk about her.

Lacy tries to be as supportive as she can. Back during Mitchell and Nico’s first meeting, she thought Mitchell had a crush just the same as the rest of her siblings. She tried to console Mitchell after his “rejection” and suggested both ways to move on and win Nico over. She wants her brother to be happy — whoever he might end up with! Though she wasn’t sure whether to believe him when he said that he didn’t actually ask Nico out. She at least understood that he wanted the subject dropped, and didn’t talk about it.

Then Mitchell came running back from a shopping trip with an armful of brochures about sexual minorities — he was so giddy! He couldn’t wait to tell Lacy all about asexuality and come out to her. She needed a crash course on what it meant, and he explained the best he could (he only talked with a couple college students hosting an LGBT event). She didn’t get it right away, but she accepted him. She couldn’t not with how happy having a label made him. 

She stopped asking questions that implied being sexually attracted to people, and they only talked about how cute people were if it were objective. Sometimes she slips up, but she does her best and he appreciates it.

Although I don’t see a situation where she’d need to be a wingman yet, I think Lacy would be a good one! She loses all her timidness when asking questions for other people, so she’d be able to break the ice really easily (in potentially embarrassing ways haha). She’d also listen Mitchell’s input and won’t push if he doesn’t want it.

In the end, she’s just a really supportive sister that Mitchell considers himself lucky to have in his life.