Popularity Poll Results

“And the results are in!” Scarlet announced, completely out of nowhere as far as the people in the room were aware, “Let’s see who the Audience likes, and just how much they like them.”

The orange feather quill swept through the air again, this time causing a rolling burst of flame to lick out over one of the stone walls of the throne room. The fire faded away, leaving behind an enormous, black TV screen. Slick and modern, and totally at odds with the medieval surroundings, it would have been more at home in a glass and steel mansion than a castle.

“The scoreboard is now live, for both VP and BP, so be aware that anything you do now can gain or lose points appropriately,” the Host warned, “If anyone would like to demonstrate, feel free to flash your tits at Matty here and earn that first-time bonus.”

The Contestants all glanced at each other, but the closest anyone came to making a move was April’s fingers toying nervously with the bottom edge of her top. Even Max restrained herself, either the crowd or the situation putting a damper on her boldness.

“No? Fair enough,” Scarlet moved swiftly on, not seeming very surprised, “Now before we get started, I’d like to congratulate you all on a very statistically-interesting result. Somehow, seven of you managed to score the average amount of expected BP or better. Genuinely impressive!”

Matt’s brow furrowed as he considered the implications. If almost all of them had scored average or better, then that meant the remaining one must have really skewed things downwards. His eyes drifted over to the last chair in the line, just as he heard Max let out the disappointed grunt of someone bracing to be kicked in the teeth at any moment.

“Credit for this extraordinary circumstance goes primarily to one extraordinary individual,” Scarlet continued, her yellow eyes blazing with sadistic glee, “With a mere 3.9% of the score, meaning well over half of all voters ranked her stone-dead last place... Christine!”

“What the fuck?” Max muttered and Chrissy shrieked, almost entirely in sync as they were surprised for entirely opposite reasons.

“That’s right! The poll results were actually incredibly close, and shifted back and forth rather a lot, but right from the very start the one thing the vast majority of our Audience could agree on was: fuck that girl in particular. As we’re rounding up to the next whole number for BP rewards, she earns a measly 4 BP compared to an average result of 13 BP.”

Chrissy’s face screwed up in anger and she jolted in place, trying to lunge out of her chair but thwarted by the compulsion to remain seated. Scarlet gave her a patronising grin and quickly moved on before the anger could turn into a pointless argument.

“In seventh place, ittedly quite a leap in score but still right near the bottom of the pack where hypocrites like her belong, we have Emma with 12.4% and therefore 13 BP.”

The corner of Emma’s eye twitched, then she folded her arms and gave a sad smile.

“Yeah, that figures,” she shrugged, though her posture was tight and tense, “Whatever.”

“Moving on,” Scarlet’s gaze shifted back to the start of the line, “Perhaps a little ironically, our Master’s wife and his ex were nearly tied for almost the entire vote duration, but a last minute surge of for our beleaguered spouse had her pull ahead to 13.1% and 14 BP.”

Sarah just barely glanced up at the score before wilting like a dying flower. Up on his throne, Matt’s heart ached as he watched the love of his life close herself off from the world. He tested the bounds of the compulsion to remain seated more strongly than even Chrissy’s attempt to launch herself at the Host, but to no better result.

“Sarah...” he said softly, getting even less reaction from her than the poll announcement. Scarlet allowed the tense silence to linger for a moment before smoothly continuing.

“In fifth place and only 0.1% ahead, Eleanor comes in with 13.2% and 14 BP.”

“Your Audience has terrible taste,” the rich girl sniffed derisively, turning her nose up.

“I know, right?” Scarlet agreed readily, “I’d have expected Emma to get a much lower score than that, but apparently some people found her somewhat entertaining.”

Emma’s eye twitched again and her jaw clenched, but she didn’t rise to the bait. The Host seemed immensely pleased with herself regardless, and took several smug seconds to bask in the tall blonde’s annoyance.

“With that, we arrive at the upper half of the scoreboard,” she said eventually, just when the discomfort was beginning to become unbearable, “Maxine is in fourth with 13.7% and 14 BP.”

“I’m surprised I did that well,” Max grunted, then she blinked as a thought occurred to her and she glanced to one side, “Wait, doesn’t that mean...”

“Yep!” Scarlet confirmed her worst fears with a cheerful smile, “That means our first pair of roommates is Max and Eleanor!”

The punk and the goth made eye , then both scowled and looked away. Without any sort of coordination between the two of them, they somehow took up mirrored positions with folded arms, crossed legs, and matching indignant expressions.

“Onto the podium positions, and in third place with 14% and 14 BP we have April! This lovely little lady will be sharing a room with Sarah, which could be a good opportunity to ask for some tips about the Master.”

April blinked in pleasant surprise at how highly she had placed and looked over towards Sarah, who glanced up briefly to return her gaze with a wary examination. The timid brunette tried very hard to summon up her earlier fury as she was paired up with one of the few people who seemed happy to be in a competition for her husband, but she was too emotionally exhausted to be angry at the shy smile pointed in her direction. She turned her face downward again, staring at her own knees but not really seeing anything.

“Finally, our top two just happen to be the two who would have least wanted to be in the spotlight,” Scarlet announced, gesturing to the two remaining Contestants with theatrical flair, “One of you was a clear frontrunner right from the start, while the other started low and slowly crept up the ranks to ultimately take first place just before the end. Congratulations to Grace on coming second with 14.7% of the score, but our overall winner is Poppy with 15%!”

“Oh,” Poppy said distantly, her eyes widening but her face otherwise blank and neutral. She wasn’t really sure why that had happened, but something had clearly gone wrong with the vote.

Grace grit her teeth and stuffed her hands deep into her pockets, even as her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she could feel it hammering against the inside of her ribs. She could only think of one reason why she would have placed so highly in a popularity poll for a sex-based gameshow, and she was both furious and terrified of what that implied. With intense effort of will, she **** the fury to take precedence. She refused to break down in front of everyone here. She wouldn’t give the Audience what they wanted.

“This, of course, means that Grace will be sharing a room with Emma,” the Host explained, “But it also means that Poppy will be sharing with Chrissy. I hope you’re proud of yourselves for that one, voters. You bunch of sadists.” She shook her head in mock disappointment, but quickly recovered and clapped her hands together, spinning on the spot to face the large screen once more. “Let’s take a look at our final results.”

Scoreboard

• Poppy: 0 VP / 15 BP
• Grace: 0 VP / 15 BP
• April: 0 VP / 14 BP
• Max: 0 VP / 14 BP
• Eleanor: 0 VP / 14 BP
• Sarah: 0 VP / 14 BP
• Emma: 0 VP / 13 BP
• Chrissy: 0 VP / 4 BP

The whole room watched as the scoreboard populated with points. Even Sarah lifted her head briefly to scan through the list, though only for long enough to reach her own name and then collapse back in on herself once more. Again, Matt saw. Again, he tried as hard as he possibly could to get up from his seat. Again, he made no progress. Clearly no amount of strength or willpower was going to work, but charisma might.

“Hey, uh... Scarlet?” he called out, clearing his throat.

“Yes, oh great and powerful Master?” the Host replied instantly, spinning on her heel and batting her eyelashes at him.

“I don’t suppose you could let us stand up now? I don’t think anyone is going to try and run away at this point,” he asked with his best disarming grin.

“Why? Do you have somewhere to be?” she asked. The flicker of her yellow eyes betrayed that she knew exactly why he was asking. The curious smile on her lips suggested that she wasn’t yet sure whether to agree to the request or not.

“I just think it might make for a better story if you did,” he tried appealing to the topic she had kept bringing up repeatedly, maintaining his grin even as he silently pleaded with the strange but powerful woman who seemed to hold their lives in the palm of her hand.

Scarlet narrowed her eyes, but widened her smile. She nodded approvingly, then snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and clear in the wide open throne room, almost piercing as it burned away the invisible compulsion. When Matt tried to stand again he found his movement free and easy, and so he pushed himself to his feet and slowly descended the stairs as the Host watched him like a hawk.

Across the room, Grace lifted herself off of her own chair. Not by much, not even an inch, but just enough to prove to herself that she could before she sat back down. She breathed out a tiny sigh of relief, her heart rate slowing from the edge of panic to merely frantic. Chrissy shuffled to the edge of her seat, glaring at the back of Scarlet’s head.

Matt approached his wife and knelt in front of her, laying a hand on her leg and rubbing gently.

“Hey,” he said, low and soft.

“Hi,” Sarah responded, thin and weak.

“You know, with how close the scores were, you basically tied for second place,” he pointed out.

“Great. t second place for a position in my own husband’s heart,” she scoffed.

“First place in my heart, now and forever,” he corrected her, picking up one of her hands in his and pressing it to his lips, “I don’t care what the Audience thinks, I don’t care what happens in this game. I love you, Sarah Hawkins.”

“Ugh. Get a room, you two,” Max said from beside them, rolling her eyes.

“As much as I wish that was an option, Max, I don’t think we’d be allowed to do that right now,” Matt said sternly, not taking his eyes off his wife, “So please shut up.”

A tiny giggle escaped from Sarah, and her eyes lifted as if to track its flight only to be intercepted by her husband. His expression was full of love, understanding, and comion, just as she had expected, and that almost made it worse. She didn’t deserve him.

“I love you too,” she whispered, her voice quivering just a little.

Matt smiled, broad and sincere, and kissed the back of her hand again.

“Ah, emotional stakes,” Scarlet sighed wistfully, utterly shattering the moment, “How lovely, but I’m afraid we still have a schedule to keep to. Back to your seat, Matty boy.”

With one final squeeze of his wife’s hand, Matt nodded his **** agreement and turned to climb the steps back to the throne, his fingers remaining intertwined with Sarah’s until they slipped loose at the last possible moment. When he took his seat, only two people were looking in his direction: the Host, with a knowing smirk, and Poppy with an adoring smile. Everyone else was finding somewhere else to turn their gaze, though Sarah had a little more strength in her spine than she’d had before. He took a deep breath, and braced himself for what was coming next.