Feigning Stupidity
Short fic 1: How Dez Holds Auditions or How Dez and Austin First Meet
Disclaimer: If I owned Austin & Ally, there would so be an origin flashback in the next season.
A/N: What if Dez intentionally lets people underestimate him, just for the fun of it?
When Dez gets his first camcorder, he knows exactly what he's going to do for the rest of his life. The viewfinder is his telescope and he vows to find all sorts of hidden treasure with it. Sure, the first few hours of footage are shot so shakily that he gets a headache when he plays them back, but he learns quickly.
He keeps his camcorder in his backpack and uses it as often as possible. But the kids around him suddenly become boring when they see the shiny, silver Sony in his hand. They put their hands up and duck away or they make funny faces and stupid noises — nothing worth recording. Dez wants a real subject, someone who's "alive" in front of the camera. Using a thesaurus, Dez finds out the word he's looking for is "dynamic," but he can't pronounce it when he's ten years old, so he never says it out loud.
He searches for the right subject by watching his classmates, staying quiet in the back of the room. When someone seems like a good choice, he whips out the silver and starts a conversation. But the results end the same way; his newfound subjects shrink into themselves. He claps the viewfinder back in place with a forced smile and tries to ignore the disappointment by getting back into the conversation. But by then, his subject (reject) isn't talking about cheese and he looks dumb for not noticing. Dez shrugs it off. He is on a mission. The awkward chit-chat will all be worth it once he finds that Dynamic Dude/Dudette.
By the thirteenth reject, Dez realizes that being a bit clueless helps. The kids get a little more comfortable in front of the camcorder when they focus on how weird or slow he is. The rolled eyes and confused stares are a step up from stiff smiles and outstretched hands, but they're not enough. These moments are not the life he wants to capture.
Half a year passes. None of the kids in Dez's classroom are good enough. He tries finding The One during recess when he can see other people, but a bully on the playing field threatens to bury Dez's camcorder in the sandbox and if she sees him filming her again. This is nothing calling an adult can't fix, but he'd rather keep the Sony safe than risk endangering it with an unexpected sneak attack. So he lays low for months, watching and waiting.
The teacher talks about an upcoming talent contest. Dez hasn't filmed anything worth showing to people just yet, so he doesn't sign up. But when other kids wait in line to sign the sheet, he hears them bragging. A light bulb brightens over his head. He could use the talent show to find the Dynamic Dude/Dudette! Why wait to find people by himself when the talent show could be like one big audition? When he gets home, he begs his parents to mark the date on their calendars so that they'll remember to take him to it. They are hesitant, so he tells him he wants to tap dance for it. They agree and he gets tap shoes.
He ends up loving tap dance; it almost makes him forget the real reason he's going to the talent show. When his mother holds up his Sony on the afternoon of the talent show, cooing at his lime green outfit, he remembers. The mission is back on.
Nighttime. Talent Show Night. He's giddy backstage, clutching his top hat in one hand and Sony in the other, bouncing in place but making sure his tap shoes don't click so that the noise doesn't mess with anyone else's performance. He steadies his right hand as he holds up the silver. His hiding place between the curtains could give him an okay profile shot of the performers.
Who would he find tonight? He doesn't know most of the kids on the program. He hopes for the best.
Gloria Diaz plays a Disney song on a pink guitar. She plays well, but she's so nervous up there, Dez can't hear her say her name even with a mic she is provided. Next.
Brian Johnson. Unfunny comedian. Next.
Martin Wang plays the piano, but Dez can't see him behind the huge instrument. Next.
Nick Casper and Joe Wolowitz trade hilarious "Yo' Mama" jokes. Nick Casper is out. Joe is a tentative maybe.
Cindy O'Brian sings "Too Little," by JoJo. Her friends act as back-up singers. Dez can see by the bossy way she looks at her friends that she's horrible to work with. Next.
He hears his teacher call his name over the applause. She shoos him over to another curtained section. One more performer and he is up. Dez puts his hand in his pocket to see who's next in the program, but his hand gets stuck in there when a cheerful voice says, "Hi! I'm Austin Moon, and I'm going to sing a song for you!"
Dez looks up as piano music starts. Now that Dez has moved, he can see that a blond boy is sitting behind the piano, but the boy's back is to him so Dez can't see his face. But Dez can see the brave line of the boy's posture and can hear the sureness of the boy's voice. The piano music is smooth as the boy sings "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter, but his enthusiasm speeds up the tempo, changing the catchy, sad song into a happier one. Dez stands, transfixed, and hope hits him harder than an extremely clean glass door he accidentally walked into last week.
The Dynamic Dude could be this guy, right here, right now, finally.
Dez waits until the blond is done playing to make sure. He doesn't want to be disappointed again so he pushes back hope for what feels like the longest minute of his life.
When the boy plays his last note, he looks up to smile at the audience. He slides off the bench and crosses his arms in a pose that screams confidence and strides off the stage like he's letting everyone else borrow it for tonight. It takes two seconds for Dez to realize that the boy is coming towards him to get off the stage, and Dez freezes. As if in hyper-focus, Dez notices the boy's big, brown eyes glance down to the camcorder in Dez's hand.
The moment of truth. What is this guy going to do?
The boy's grin widens as he looks right into the camera. He spins. Makes a full turn right there, strikes the same pose he did moments ago, and walks off the stage as if it is all part of his performance.
"Break a leg, man," he says as he passes by Dez.
"Thanks," Dez replies, and barely registers his teacher's hands grabbing his camcorder before his world starts up again.
Dez has a smile on his face when he walks on the borrowed stage. He can't help but pump his fist in victory before calming down and starting his tap dance routine.
Austin Moon gets first pick in the talent show.
As he should. Dez doesn't hold auditions for nothing.
But Dez isn't able to find Austin Moon that night, not when relatives and family capture Dez and take him home immediately to celebrate his first tap dance recital. A long weekend detains him more, and Dez watches the recital footage so many times his parents worry a little.
The following Monday recess, Dez upgrades his eyesight to Hawk Level to find Austin Moon. The boy is playing basketball with kids from his classroom, so Dez asks to play.
"The game would be uneven, then," says some other kid. "If you wanted to play, you should've saved the spot."
Austin Moon shrugs an apology and keeps playing. Dez is forced to watch, and asphalt burns his butt where he sits because the trees and shade are on the other side of the playing field. But that's okay. Austin Moon is the kind of boy a person doesn't mind watching. He tries to do fancy tricks with the basketball and fails, but his easy grin and quick reflexes show that he'll get it eventually.
Once the game is over and the recess bell rings, Austin Moon spins the basketball on one finger as he approaches Dez.
"Did you really want to play?" the boy asks.
Noticing that he has been caught staring, Dez nods. "Yeah."
The grin that never really leaves Austin Moon's face stretches. "Well, I'll save you a spot tomorrow then."
"Thanks," Dez says, standing up and wiping his pants. When he looks up, the basketball is still spinning. "Hey, how do you do that?"
"Oh, this?" Austin Moon tosses the ball in the air and catches it. "It's easy. I can teach you."
A whistle blows in the distance and the recess monitors are telling everyone to line up. The blond looks over to the edge of the playing field.
"I can't right now…"
"Tomorrow, then," Dez blurts out.
The smile is back. "Sure. We'll have enough time tomorrow. What's your name?"
"Dez." Dez puts out his hand.
Austin Moon shakes his hand like he's genuinely happy to meet him. "I'm Austin."
The next day, Austin Moon becomes Austin, the boy who teaches Dez how to spin a basketball on one finger.
Fourth grade. Dez is delighted when Austin has the same fourth-grade teacher he has. The bully has graduated to middle school so Dez can bring his camcorder to the playing field without fear. He records Austin playing basketball, playing four-square, dancing, even just talking underneath the shade in the Miami heat, because everything Austin does in front of the camera is interesting. And best of all, Austin doesn't mind that a camera is around. He doesn't even mind it when Dez gets off track and talks about cheese! When it happens, Austin joins in and talks about how he'd love to make a game entirely out of cheese. Dez's fourth-grade year outshines his third-grade year by a million watts.
It takes a random conversation with Austin for him to recollect why.
"Hey, Dez," Austin says, after gulping down some chocolate milk at the cafeteria.
Dez's mouth is full with tater tots. "Mmrah?" (Yeah?)
"Why do you call your camcorder a telescope sometimes?"
Dez knows his handy dandy "telescope" is supposed to help him find hidden treasures. He never expected it to help him find a best friend.
He doesn't tell Austin that. Instead he smiles and doesn't miss a beat.
"Because it can zoom in, duh."
A/N: I hope you this short fic makes you go, "awwww" in a good way. How do you like my take on Dez? Did you like all the little Dez trivia sprinkled in there? If you do, tell me! If you don't, still tell me! I won't know unless you review.
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