#i've made myself laugh several times during brainstorming

[fictionadventurer]

If you're still doing the three-sentence fairytale retelling thing: how about Bluebeard as a comedy of manners?

SETTING: Parlor in an elegant mansion. A large window overlooks a sunny rose garden.

BLUEBEARD, a young man of somewhere less than thirty, so-named for the cyan tint to his whiskers (it's a long story), stands before the window, speaking to ARTHUR, a man of about his age. A black cat with white paws sits on an armchair.

BLUEBEARD: It's very simple. Aunt Augusta doesn't know I'm married, so she's preparing a wedding for me. Genevieve, the chosen girl, showed up this morning with six bridesmaids. I couldn't send them away, so I've locked them safely away in one of the upstairs rooms.

ARTHUR: And your wife has the key?

BLUEBEARD: She has all the keys. But don't worry, I've already solved that problem. I've told Catherine to never, under any circumstances, open that door.

ARTHUR: [after a stunned silence] You, my friend, are doomed.

[skultrashfics]

I've just had a slight brainstorm and I thought maybe you could make something out of it.. .. Now what would be, IF Mevolent didn't even die in the end of the War, but stayed into hiding until the days of the 21st century... And a certain female sorcerer (Reader) accidentally came upon him at a late night in Dublin's lifeless sidesteets.. She may live, but will never forget.. .. As said, it was just an idea, if you like it, feel free to use it!

This is a really fun idea Chickpea! I may actually want to continue this as a series :) What do you think? Mevolent Shenanigans in the modern-day? 

A change of Heart 

Pairing: Mevolent x Reader (maybe?) Chapter: 1/?  Word Count: 1540 Themes: Night walk, Fighting, Tea (the drinking kind)

It was getting cold as you walked home, you had just left Grecious O’Callahan and Donegan Bane’s home as you had been marathoning nerd movies all day. It had been a perfect way to spend your time off work. You pulled your coat tighter around yourself and buried your chin into your scarf, the air was icy and it felt like it was biting at your face while you walked, maybe you should have taken up their offer of driving you home. But it was a beautiful night, the stars shone vividly in the cloudless sky and the roads were empty, silent and glistening. 

You tunnelled down your usual route, keeping mostly your destination in mind due to the cold. But your head kept looking around at all the sights of the city at night and how beautiful it was in its desolation. You approached the alley behind the bookstore and quickly began to make your way through it, that convenient little shortcut was always one of the landmarks to let you know you were almost home. This made you happily increase your walking speed until you suddenly ran into something tall and firm, it was so firm in fact, that you fell backwards onto the floor. “Ow…”, you mumbled looking up and realising that it was a person. “Oh my goodness I am so sorry!”, immediately you clamoured up to see if the other person was ok. A black hood had fallen from their face and as they straightened up and glanced at you your face froze with fear and your whole body stopped moving. Quickly you laughed and shook your head, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you. Or just stare at you- but it’s funny you kind of look a lot like...”. Your sentence trailed off at the end and you began to feel a chill run down your spine and not just from the cold. This tall man continued to stare at you with piercing eyes- your body was screaming at you to run away as you realised that nobody could possibly ever look so much like another person purely by coincidence. Then softly, he spoke breaking the incredibly long silence, “Yes yes, I am Mevolent. And you just crashed into me quite rudely”. Your body tensed up, “B-but you can’t be… you were killed”, straight away you blasted a fireball at him which he easily knocked away as though it were a fly. You now stood in a defensive position and Mevolent sighed, “Are you really going to try and fight me? You’ll die”. He almost laughed as he said this but you paid no attention as you grabbed an icicle hanging down nearby and threw it straight at his throat. He caught it and crushed it in his hand before throwing that back at you, the tiny pieces of ice hit you square in the face like loads of tiny little needles. During the time it took you to close your eyes and hiss in pain, Mevolent had punched you in the stomach and then hit you across the face. Clenching your jaw you took another swing at him, shooting a fireball in his direction before trying to physically punch him. Fortunately for you, he dodged to the left as you expected and he scowled realising that he couldn’t move very well. He had black tendrils piercing his arms and legs, pinning him there, “Necromancy magic?”, he thought aloud as you kicked him square in the face before turning and running away. You realised you could not stop him and should instead get help. You panted softly wondering where to run as your vision cleared up. Your body ached now, but you realised that he had probably gone easy on you and so you ran through the pain. A swift noise followed you overhead and as you turned to see what it was you saw Mevolent descending from the sky, your shoulders drooped as you realised you were going to die. As Mevolent landed he sighed softly, “Do you live around here?”. You looked at him extraordinarily confused, “What? Why..?”, you replied sharply. He simply pulled his hood back over his head, “You seem to be confused. I am cold and would like a cup of tea. Your magic is very interesting. I also want to talk to somebody other than those worshippers. They can get annoying sometimes”. You had an astounded look on your face, causing him to laugh rather rudely at you, “Come now. Aren’t you cold too?”.

Standing in your kitchen, making tea for Mevolent. You had to repeat that to yourself several times to make sure it was real. You glanced back through the doorway and there he sat, seemingly enthralled while watching the television. Once the kettle had boiled you made the tea reached for the sugar and paused, did he even take sugar in his tea? “No thank you”, you heard come from the living room. Shrugging it off you grabbed both mugs and walked into the room, placing one down in front of Mevolent on a coaster. He picked it up and nursed his cold hands with it. You stood awkwardly staring at him not knowing what to do until he gestured for you to sit. As you sat down he started to talk again, “How can you use elemental magic and necromancy magic? You don’t look like a teenager, what did you choose when you surged?”. It felt very strange that the topic of conversation was on you rather than him, the most feared evil being of your lifetime. “I-Ah…. I never had my surge. It’s been 300 years, and it never came. So I tried to study as much as possible”. Mevolent nodded his head as he thought, “I see. How interesting”, he then took a sip of his tea. “What are you doing here? I mean- how are you alive? I hope I am not being too rude but, well… there was the war and I am very confused”. Mevolent nodded again, “I can see that. I was not killed at that time. It was a mere reflection, but since my enemies had gotten so far I thought that I would let them carry on believing that I was dead. I wanted to see what they would do, I was getting bored with war. To be honest, it took me a long time to show myself before my followers again. And now I just think they are all crazy. They lost too much because of me and now they will do almost anything to get it all back. So I have been killing the particularly troublesome ones, one by one”. You did not realise but your mouth had dropped open in surprise as Mevolent spoke. It was impossible to believe and yet there he was on your sofa telling you himself. “After The Faceless Ones were actually brought back I saw what monsters they were. They would not listen to anyone and would have destroyed everything. After all, I have seen the mortals and sorcerors alike accomplish, I can say I am quite comfortable living out my days like this”. Putting yourself back in the moment you frowned, “But don’t you have your own home? Or friends?”. It disgusted you a little, but you felt genuine concern for Mevolent’s well being. He chuckled at this, “What does someone like me need friends for? I caused a lot of suffering because I was young, headstrong and foolish. My mind corrupted by my mentor’s teachings- what use has my life if not to right those wrongs? Friends do not fit into the picture. Most of the time I can easily sneak into mortal hotels so I stay there a lot. I like penthouses”, he added with a smirk. A small smile weaselled its way onto your face and you remembered to sip your own tea, “Do you know where they are? The other’s that you are looking for?”. Mevolent shrugged, “Most find me purely by coincidence. Kind of like how you bumped into me earlier. You are a very kind young lady”. You laughed this off and fiddled with your mug, “I don’t know why you would say that. I attacked you earlier”. Mevolent sipped at his own tea, musing over that thought with humour on his face, “Yes you did. Which is to be expected. But before that, when you bumped into me you recognised me and still apologised for the inconvenience. Even after I hit you, I still received shelter and tea from you”. You didn’t really think you had much of a choice in the latter, but he was being considerate all the same. Mevolent stood finishing his tea and then made to leave, “Feel free to tell anyone about our meeting by the way. They will not believe you. And any sensitives will not be able to detect my presence in your memories so that will not work either. Goodnight… what was your name?”. You paused for a moment before responding, “Y/n… my name is Y/n”. Mevolent flashed you the briefest of smiles before walking out of the front door as he closed it, it locked behind him.