No Win for Manfred

Disclaimer: Charlie Bone and all associated with Charlie Bone are not mine at all. Miranda Arthur is mine though.
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It was always such a dangerous game playing with that girl. She never played by his rules, EVER. It was certain that the girl lived to aggravate him and would stop at nothing until he was bald from the stress of her constant badgering.
Miranda Arthur, bane of Manfred's existence; if there was anyone he couldn't stand more than Charlie Bone, it was Miranda. The way she'd constantly bait him into reacting to her, and turn around using her power to get out of the trouble he desperately wanted to give her for it, that smug little grin of hers when she knew she'd gotten under his skin exactly as she'd planned. Oh she knew; she knew very well that she held him in the palm of her hand; she knew he knew it too and this knowledge made Manfred burn with embarrassment. He was determined to find a way to bend her to his will.
That's how the beginning of Manfred's plan to seduce Miranda began.
Monday morning, she was striding confidently down the hall. Long dark hair fluttering behind her like a banner of silky dark chocolate, a white headband just behind her bangs; her appearance always made such an impression. Much like Vertigo, Miranda often showed up a wide range of different styles never sticking to any particular genre.  That particular day she was dressed in a creamy white, fuzzy sweater that came past her thighs, a black belt with gold buckle over top, a pair of black leggings, and a pair of creamy white leather boots. Well there was the customary purple Drama cape draped around her shoulder as well but that wasn't important.
"Your look suits you very well today Arthur." Manfred said, leaning near her shoulder as she stopped to rummage through her book bag.
"Does it really?" He could see the amusement already gracing her face. He hoped she hadn't gotten the whole idea already.
"Yes, you are looking quite lovely." He answered, and Miranda who pulled out the book she'd been looking for held it to her chest and smiled at him with that infuriatingly smug and amused look she always reserved just for him.
"You're gunna scare someone if you keep that up." She said teasingly as she leaned in a bit closer and looked up at him with those deeply green eyes of hers, oh she knew exactly what he was up to, Manfred could tell just by the way her eyes sparkled. Flustered, by this fact Manfred lost his nerve and stalked off scowling as Miranda called after him cheerfully.
"You're going to want to try a bit harder there Manny!"
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Later that afternoon, Manfred made his second attempt. Miranda was out in the courtyard since it was the mandatory run; she was talking to Vertigo and he approached only after she'd watched the other girl go off with her other friend Emma Tolly.
"Thanks for the complement this morning by the way." She said to him not even bothering to face him. He could hear the amusement as always.
"I meant every word." Manfred said quietly, she turned to look at him with a small grin on her face. She was so staring him down, that smug little grin of hers. How could he possibly put this plan into proper action if he couldn't even string a proper sentence together? She was just far too aggravating. He stood there struggling to think of something.
"I think your ears are starting to smoke there Manny..." She said. He could hear the laughter behind the words so clearly; once again he had to flee to safety; again to her cheerfully calling after him.
"Better luck next time Manny!"
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By this time Manfred was seriously berating himself for his complete lack of courage. He was of course not by any means ready to give up on this idea until he saw it through to the very end; where he'd crash and burn spectacularly with her rejection or quite possibly score beyond measure with her agreement. Manfred decided to give it one final shot.
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"I really hate you." He stated firmly, standing in the middle of the hall. No one else but that smug little thing standing a few feet from him; she was wearing that smile of hers again. That one she always wore when she was about to mess with him.
"Now Manny, you know that just isn't true." She said playfully as she started to walk towards him slowly; those hips swaying dangerously as she did. She was in a different ensemble now, just a simple brown short skirt and a white button down shirt.
"Yes. Yes, I really do." Manfred retorted defiantly. He would absolutely, NOT give into her; no, not ever. He was determined to fight her out to the very end, even if he went down in flames. But even as these thoughts went through his head he could feel himself falter. Oh god, she was swirling around in his head.
"If you hate me so much Manfred, why do you get so excited whenever you see me coming your way?" She asked quietly. She was so close he could smell her perfume, it was lavender and vanilla. Miranda, with her smug little smile, watched him closely with her amused expression as he tried in vain to fight her off.
"Trying to play mind games; Manfred, you know very well there's no one better at that then I am." She said; Manfred could feel the sweat on his neck drip down beneath the collar of his shirt. He wasn't going to last much longer against her he was already worn thin. In desperation he looked around but when he looked back, the look of Miranda with her eyebrow so delicately raised, Manfred snapped. Grabbing her by the waist, Manfred pulled her to him and kissed her.
"Been waiting for you to do that," she said when they parted for air. She was still grinning smugly which did nothing to remedy the situation. Manfred, kissed her again fiercely, Miranda pushed him away hard enough he landed on the floor. Moving to get up, he was knocked flat on his back when she pushed him down further and sat on his waist, effectively pinning his arms at the shoulders to his sides.
"You drive me insane, Arthur." He said thickly, her smile was hardly the same as it usually was; this time it was quite a bit darker and those green eyes of hers were dark with a wickedly twisted amusement.
"I know." She said it with such a simple air. Like a cat she stretched painfully slow a crossed the length of him, her hands moving in his hair and removing his pony to let the black locks free.
"Backfired didn't it?" She asked softly as her face was inches from his, her curves pressed against him in all the right places; impossible for Manfred to form a coherent thought. He watched through a haze as with that wickedly smug smile she bent closer to him and very softly kissed him back; biting his bottom lip. Manfred was overwhelmed by the very presence of her; left breathless and intoxicated by her soft lips, the scent of lavender and vanilla. Miranda pulled back a little and looked down at him; he was little more than a disoriented, breathless puddle on the floor.
"Honey, if I leave you that breathless after one little kiss; no way you would be able to keep up with me."  She said as she gently patted his cheek; and that was how she left him. Manfred stared up into the shadows that hid the ceiling, lying on the cold floor. His plan didn't just backfire, nope; instead of winning her over to his side she had completely dominated him.
"Damn it . . ." He whispered to himself.
~END