Chapter Three published 8 October 2010
A/N: I don't own the lyrics to 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' by Cascada.
The week leading up to the competition was filled with both fun and serious stuff, but it was mostly fun. Something was happening to Sylar. He was having so much fun, that he forgot that his reason for entering the competition was a nefarious one. Azaria attended numerous parties with the other girls, in swimming pools and out of swimming pools, which was much to Sylar's liking. A few sleazy guys tried to pick up Azaria, but combined death glares from her and the security guards, which said, 'look, but do not touch', put a stop to that.
Sylar felt himself getting closer to Nikita and the other contestants, and not in a creepy, stalkerish way. Azaria learnt much about Nikita's family (her mother worked as an administration manager, her father as finance executive, her brother as a stage actor and the family owned a black-and-white cat named Jesse) and Nikita's aspirations to become a political speechwriter. Sylar found himself admiring the young woman. There was more to her than first met the eye, and Sylar felt like someone had invaded his head overnight, imploring him not to do anything bad to her. He tried to push through this 'barrier', but to no avail. He grudgingly surrendered himself to Gabriel for now, because he remembered how messed up he had become when he was trapped within his own nightmare. He was not going to get trapped by another intruder again. Eventually, he would get his game back, he just knew it.
The serious parts of the week involved visiting centers for the underprivileged, and other community projects funded by the Miss Harmony Organization. Against his will, Sylar found himself feeling bad for these people who were less fortunate than himself. What was happening to him?
One of Azaria's highlights was the filming of the national dress competition. Her costume consisted of a corset style top (which was thankfully looser than a very uncomfortable corset), and a beautiful red hoop skirt. Azaria admired herself in a full length mirror, as did the other girls around her. She looked like a Southern belle who had been featured in an American Civil War re-enactment. She stepped in front of the cameras with confidence, holding a red parasol, and swayed her hips slightly. She said, 'Azaria Quinto, 22, Miss USA!' as her pre-recorded introduction to be shown at the start of the competition broadcast. She needed a lot of coaxing to remove the hoop skirt afterwards, so desperate was she to keep it. Eventually, she used her persuasion ability to convince the organizers to let her keep the skirt, much to her selfish delight.
Midway through the week was the dreaded preliminary competition, which would narrow the finalists to 15 contestants. The 88 ladies answered questions in front of a panel of judges (oh, no!) followed by a catwalk style parade of evening gowns in front of the same panel (yay!). The questions included 'What are your life goals?' and 'Why did you enter the Miss Harmony contest?' Azaria felt that she did well under the circumstances, and it was fortunate that Sylar excelled at playing characters. 'I want to rise up the ranks of the legal profession, hopefully have a family one day, and help those less fortunate than myself' and 'I entered because the Miss Harmony Organization empowers women to be the best that they can be, while also helping them to make a difference in the world', were her answers to the above questions. Azaria loved her asymmetrical plum-colored evening dress with a long train, and the judges saw this in the wide smile that she wore.
Another highlight happened a day before the day of the final competition, which was rehearsing some simple choreography for a dance routine. The track chosen by the organizers was 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' by Cascada, and the dancing would be shown near the beginning of the live broadcast. Azaria picked up the choreography quickly, even though Sylar was more of a head-banger (and head-slicer, though that was another issue entirely). Thank you, intuitive aptitude. Azaria found herself infected by the song's sound, and almost said out loud, 'stop, this beat is killing me!' This was too much fun to be healthy.
That night, Nikita squeezed Azaria's arm gently, smiled and said, 'Tomorrow is the big day. Can you believe it?'
'No, I can't. It's a bit sad that it's coming to an end,' Azaria replied genuinely, but returned the smile. Sylar, Gabriel and Azaria all agreed on one thing: tomorrow would be an interesting day.
Brownie points for those of you who can guess where the inspiration for Jesse the cat came from.
Is it just me, or is Azaria developing her own personality? A three way personality split would just be insane.
The idea for the red hoop skirt came from a brilliant magic trick, which is hyperlinked below. I should have given queenoftheoutlands and petrelli heiress the following warning, many apologies ladies: the video reveals the secrets of the trick. Remove the (dot)s and replace them with full stops. www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=E3FGIB57fLk