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******
Marvin's gaze drifted effortlessly across the dark theater, finding the girl in the midnight-blue dress once more. Bey was watching him, her posture rigid, her eyes burning with a silent, consuming fire that was feeding his demonic core with the richest, most intoxicating ambition he had tasted all night.
'Yes,' the Incubus purred internally, savoring the taste of the future icon's devotion. Almost comparable. But not quite.
Marvin quickly filed the data away in his vast, ancient mind. He turned back to the press pit, his flawless, charming smile firmly back in place.
Down in the aisle, Kevin Thomas of the LA Times watched the entire exchange. He didn't hear the whisper, but he saw the exact moment the crying, nervous child turned into a beaming, devoted follower. The critic shook his head in sheer, professional awe. The kid isn't just an actor, Thomas wrote, underlining the words. He is a lethal, absolute master of human psychology.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen!" Marvin called out, his voice booming effortlessly through the theater, commanding the room's attention once again. "Who's next?"
---
The Hollywood premiere after-party was exactly the kind of decadent, sprawling spectacle that Marvin wanted to avoid.
Held in the cavernous, chandelier-lit ballroom of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the event was a glittering monument to adult excess. Waiters in crisp white jackets circulated with silver trays of champagne and caviar. In the dimly lit, velvet-draped alcoves, the real business of Hollywood was being conducted: studio executives were making multi-million-dollar handshake deals, actors were aggressively networking, and the air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume, alcohol, and the unspoken, desperate transactions of fame.
As an eleven-year-old child, Marvin technically had absolutely no business being there. His original, highly pragmatic plan had been to make a brief, five-minute appearance for the Disney photographers, shake a few important hands, and immediately retreat to the quiet sanctuary of his San Marino estate to draft the next chapters of his book. The mundane, intoxicated posturing of human adults bored his soul to tears.
But then, he remembered the lobby.
He remembered the girl in the midnight-blue dress.
As an Incubus, an entity forged in the fires of primordial desire, his senses were tuned to the frequencies of ambition, beauty, and raw emotional power. To let the opportunity to approach the future undisputed queen of hip-hop and R&B slip through his fingers would not just be a tactical error; it would be a fundamental crime against his demonic ancestors.
The universe itself had practically orchestrated this collision. Elizabeth Olsen's adoration earlier that evening had been a sweet, potent appetizer, but the eight-year-old was far too young for anything beyond a gentle, strategic foundation.
She was rather too young for his comfort.
Beyoncé, however, at fifteen, was standing on the absolute precipice of girlhood to womanhood and global superstar Dom. Far more developed than girls of her age. She was the exact right age to spark the intricate, thrilling game of first love.
After spending his first thirty minutes in the ballroom politely accepting the fawning praises of Disney executives and veteran actors, Marvin's ocean-blue eyes swept the room.
He found her.
She stood alone in that quiet, gilded corner near the massive arched windows, the glittering chaos of Hollywood Boulevard stretching out like a sea of artificial stars below. At this adult-dominated premiere party, Bey looked every bit the solitary young queen — poised, watchful, a touch isolated, her fierce aura quietly commanding the space around her.
Her father, Mathew, was currently across the room, aggressively cornering a music producer.
Marvin felt the familiar, thrilling hum of the hunt vibrate through his core. He turned to his mother, Linda, offering a polite excuse about needing a drink, and slipped seamlessly through the crowd.
On his way across the ballroom, Marvin smoothly intercepted a passing waiter. He bypassed the champagne flutes entirely, his hands closing around two crystal glasses filled with chilled, golden apple juice.
He approached her corner, his footsteps silent on the thick Persian rug. As he drew near, he allowed the full, unadulterated weight of his perfection and Incubus charm to roll forward.
"So tell me, fair maiden," Marvin murmured, his velvety, resonant baritone easily cutting through the heavy bass of the 90s R&B track playing over the ballroom speakers.
Bey started slightly, turning her head.
Marvin stood before her, offering one of the crystal glasses with a devastatingly handsome, dashing smile.
"What is such a vision of heavenly beauty doing concealed in this lonely corner? Are the artificial stars of this glittering Hollywood night truly so radiant that they command thine gaze… when thou couldst simply behold thy own reflection in a mirror? Or, far sweeter still… lose thyself forever in the depths of mine eyes?"
Bey froze.
For a fraction of a second, the sheer, impossible magnetism of his presence completely short-circuited her defenses. Her breath caught in her throat. She looked at the boy—the genius author, the blockbuster actor, the musical prodigy—and felt a massive, undeniable pull deep in her chest. It was the terrifying, dizzying awakening of first love.
But Bey was not a standard, easily manipulated teenager. She was a Texas girl, forged in the fires of relentless discipline and boundless ambition.
'Get a grip,' she commanded herself, her internal monologue fighting desperately against the intoxicating wave of his aura.
Up close, he was even more unreal — those sharp, flawless features, the warm, knowing smile, the way his presence seemed to pull the air toward him. Her heart gave a traitorous lurch. *Lord, he's just a boy… right?*
But that specific, hesitating "right?" was exactly where the Incubus element quietly crept in.
Marvin's supernatural senses flared. He could hear the sudden, rapid shift in her heartbeat. He could taste the heavy, magnetic attraction radiating from her skin—an attraction easily comparable to the intense devotion little Liz had shown earlier.
But mixed with that attraction was something absolutely delicious: resistance. She didn't melt into a puddle of giggles. She didn't widen her eyes helplessly.
Instead, her dark, beautiful eyes sharpened.
She straightened her spine slightly, an instinctive, physical assertion of her own regal composure. It was a spectacular collision of pure attraction and fierce pride. That resistance was exactly what made her so incredibly interesting to the demon. She was slightly off-balance—a rarity for the meticulously rehearsed singer—but she remained sharp, proud, and fiercely self-aware.
Without even thinking, her hand reached out and accepted the crystal glass of apple juice.
The moment her fingers brushed the cold crystal, she realized what she had just done. It was the cardinal, unbreakable rule of the music industry her father had drilled into her head: Never, ever take a drink from someone you don't know personally anywhere, especially a Hollywood party. Yet, under the crushing gravity of his charm, she had taken it instinctively.
She took a small sip, her mind racing. :He's actually that talented?' she thought, genuinely shaken by how deeply his presence lingered in her mind. She was deeply curious about him as a person. But crucially, she wasn't looking at him and thinking, I'm less than him. She was thinking, 'How on earth is someone my age doing all of that already?'
She lowered the glass composition herself, a slow, cheeky smile curving her lips, perfectly matching his theatrical energy.
She recovered with a slow, cheeky smile, matching his theatrical energy with her warm Houston drawl. "Well, my lord… if I'd known the sixteenth century was crashing this party tonight, I would've worn my corset and practiced my curtsy. Do you always woo girls you've never been properly introduced to with Shakespeare?"
Marvin let out a rich, genuine laugh that sent a flutter of electricity straight down her spine.
Marvin let out a rich, genuine laugh — deep, warm, and unexpectedly boyish — that sent a delighted flutter straight through her. "Only when the lady before me demands poetry worthy of the heavens themselves, fair Beyoncé. For lesser souls, I might stoop to mere mortal compliments."
She couldn't help it — she laughed too, a bright, musical sound that lit up her face. The tension in her shoulders eased just a fraction.
He stepped closer, closing the space between them to something intimate yet respectful, their shoulders nearly brushing as they leaned against the velvet-draped windowsill together. The party noise faded into a distant hum, creating a private little world just for them.
"Marvin Meyers," he said softly, extending his hand with that dashing smile. "Though I suspect, with thy father deep in conversation with Mr. Mottola across the room, thou may already know the name."
Beyoncé looked at his outstretched hand, impressed by his sheer, terrifying situational awareness. He had cataloged her father's movements across the industry landscape without breaking a sweat.
She took his hand. The contact was electric — warm, confident, lingering just enough."Beyoncé Knowles," she introduced herself, her voice steady despite the adrenaline. "Columbia Records, as of very recently."
"A magnificent acquisition on Tommy's part," Marvin praised softly, his thumb gently, almost imperceptibly, brushing the back of her knuckles before he released her hand. "Though I have no doubt thou shalt soon outshine both the label and any group they place thee in."
They turned slightly, leaning shoulder-to-shoulder against the velvet-draped windowsill, looking out over the glittering, neon-lit sprawl of Los Angeles. The chaotic noise of the party seemed to perfectly mute itself, creating a private, secluded bubble around them.
"You know," Bey said, swirling the apple juice in her glass, her eyes reflecting the city lights. She allowed a layer of her industry armor to drop, speaking with genuine, quiet awe. "I re-read Kung Fu Panda on the plane ride from Houston. And watching you on that screen tonight... now I know you really are the one who wrote it. Nobody else could have engineered that specific kind of magic."
She turned her head to look at his flawless profile.
"How does an eleven-year-old do all of this?" Bey asked, shaking her head, the sheer, staggering reality of his existence washing over her. "It's like God made you personally with His own hands. Your soul might actually be His illegitimate child. He gave you absolutely everything a person could ever ask for—talent, beauty, power, intelligence, a massive vocal range, and this terrifying hunger to just... learn and conquer everything. And I'm sure you have a dozen more talents you haven't even displayed yet."
She let out a soft, self-deprecating sigh, leaning her shoulder against the window frame. "Yes. When I say it out loud... it really does sound so deeply unfair."
Marvin turned to face her fully. The boyish charm evaporated, replaced by the profound intensity of the Incubus looking at the young girl.
"Oho, my fair lady!" Marvin countered softly, his voice a mesmerizing, theatrical purr that vibrated directly against her chest. "Thou art the very last person on this earth to speak of unfair fortune!"
Bey blinked, surprised by the sudden, passionate defense.
Marvin turned to her with a playful, theatrical bow. "Ah, but thou art one to speak of unfair fortune, my lady! For here stands one graced with gorgeousness that blooms far beyond her years, development that leaves her peers gasping in wonder, a family of proud and ambitious spirit, rare talent that sings like fire in the blood, intelligence keen as a falcon's eye, and vocals so heavenly they could make angels weep with envy. Nay, gentle Beyoncé… thou hast received just as generous —"
Marvin stepped a fraction of an inch closer, his ocean-blue eyes completely locking her in place.
Beyoncé stopped breathing. Her heart was hammering so loudly she was certain he could hear it. No one had ever spoken to her like this. It wasn't the sleazy, transactional flattery of record executives. It was a profound, soul-deep recognition of her worth. It felt strange—like he somehow already knew the monumental destiny waiting for her.
"Nay, gentle one," Marvin smiled, his aura wrapping around her like a warm, protective blanket. "Even more bountiful — a share of heaven's favor as I. Compared to the average soul wandering this earth like plain Joe, we both walk as unfairly blessed by the gods themselves."
He tilted his glass toward hers in a silent toast. "Wilt thou not share this divine mischief with one who understands it?"
Clink.
Beyoncé burst into laughter again — louder this time, genuine and sparkling — her hand lightly touching his arm for a second. "Oh my goodness, you really don't stop with the Shakespeare, do you? You're ridiculous… but it's working a little too well."
"I suppose I could share a little mischief," she murmured, taking another sip of her juice.
For the next half an hour, they didn't move from the window. The rest of the premiere party ceased to exist.
*****
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