WHAT'S THIS? ANOTHER UPDATE FOR THE DAVEKAT BASEBALL AU FIC?
Thanks again to @mangoconruedas for the AU and the help. And to @allegorius for beta reading. They've been a whole lot of help so far! They haven't checked over the most recent big changes, though.
Second draft of the prologue + first half of the first chapter. Calling it a day here but I really wanted to post this. Don't mind the grammar mistakes, typos, etc, I'm gonna fix those on the 3rd draft.
More updates to come, stay tuned :> Can you peep the big change I made?
PROLOGUE:
“I don’t give a shit about baseball, dude, how the hell am I supposed to do this?"
Dave can practically hear his half-sister roll her eyes on the other end of the call. Dave is currently sitting outside the office for Seattle News. He’s wearing a dark blue suit and tie John had dug out for him. It’s a size too big and not his color, but he wasn’t about to go out and drop a couple hundred on a suit he was probably only going to wear for this first day. Not when that same amount of money can get him half a month’s worth of button ups from Walmart.
“Dave, Kanaya and I really worked hard to get you this job. Are you really going to give up before even walking through that door?” How Rose knows exactly how to push Dave’s buttons without ever actually living with him, he’s not sure, but dammit if she isn’t good at it. That psychology degree is really paying off even if she rarely uses it professionally anymore.
“Of course not. Momma didn’t raise no quitter,” he says, despite never having had a mom to raise him.
“Then go on. We don’t need you being late on your first day.”
--
CHAPTER 1
Dave gets along well with his team, at the very least. Sollux, a thin troll who looks like his limbs are too long for his torso and he should smell like Monster Energy, is his camera and tech guy. Dave wonders if Rose couldn't get Dave a job behind the camera because of his lack of professional tech experience or if she just didn't bother to try. They worked closely with Kanaya Mayam, the manager for the Seattle Mariners, and Dave’s half-sister-in-law.
Sollux actually seems like a decent guy, and he definitely knows what he’s talking about. Apparently he used to be in IT for a big tech company, but left when he ‘couldn’t handle everyone’s stupidity.’ He programs on the side, but is the main cameraman and tech guy for the sports department of the Seattle News. Dave immediately hits it off with him, bonding over the different tech they’re going to be using, especially the cameras.
“Here, you can use this one,” Sollux says after Dave laments his position in front of the camera. He has a pretty decent lisp, even worse than John with his buck teeth. “Grab some supplemental footage. B-Roll for me to use when you’re not interviewing.
“What? Are you sure?” Dave is pretty sure he should argue, it sounds like quite a privilege to be able to handle the expensive handheld camera Sollux is handing him. Sollux just pushes it into his hands, nodding before returning to packing up all the equipment they’ll need on the field.
Before Dave can get a chance to try the camera out, Kanaya is already pulling him aside and giving him a rundown of his ultimate goal.
“Today, you are going to do some preliminary interviews while they are practicing. We don’t usually start the interviews this early, but we are trying to get our catcher, Karkat, more comfortable in front of the camera. He’s a bit…grumpy, at times,” Kanaya explains, looking to the side as she speaks in a way that makes it clear to Dave this Karkat guy is more than just grumpy.
“He isn’t very good at the press side of the sport. He is a great player!” She rushes to say, as if Dave needs the reassurance or cares. “But he is not very…charismatic, sometimes-” Before she can explain any further, her phone’s ringtone interrupts her. She steps away, apologizing. Dave doesn’t mind, it gives him a chance to look into this Karkat.
Karkat Vantas, also known as ‘Vantass’ to his fans, is an award winning baseball player. He led his team to state in high school, and nationals in college, practically securing him his choice of team. Why he chose the Mariners, a team who has never made it to the world cup, he hasn’t said. Though, Dave is pretty sure it has something to do with the fact he’s never actually left the city. Born and raised, he even turned down a full ride at UCLA just to stay in the city. Dave can’t relate to that sense of loyalty to his hometown.
The ‘grumpiness’ Kanaya referred to is easy to see. Anytime there’s a camera pointed at his face, Karkat is scowling. Though, Dave can’t be sure that scowl isn’t a permanent fixture. What few interviews of him exist are full of bleeps to censor out the troll’s crude language. That, Dave can appreciate. Besides, none of these reporters were able to roll with the punches. They were all really lame, trying to police Karkat’s language like it actually mattered. It’s not like he was saying slurs-presumably, over half of Karkat’s rant is often turned into just one long beep noise.
After a long hour of preparing Dave for the sake of the camera and Karkat, they finally leave for the field. Dave watches a few different reporters' attempts at interviewing the famously grumpy baseball player, as well as interviews of the other players to get a feel for the team as a whole. Dave focuses on Karkat, though, trying to get an understanding of him and see through the indignation and ego, because it’s not just ego. There’s something else coupled with it. Throughout any of the interviews, whatever isn’t bleeped out is either him posturing about being a kickass baseball player, the most kickass baseball player, actually, or letting slip jokes and quips that Dave seems to be the only one on the internet able to see them for what they are. Self-depracation and, more than that, hints of self-loathing.
On the way to the field, Dave doesn’t just watch the failed interview attempts in preparation, he also watches (skims through) Karkat's college level games. His best friend, John, was on the Seattle Mariners team too, but Dave had made it a point to not listen to any of his rants about baseball. He found the sport unbelievably boring, the only entertaining part of those conversations was Dave’s increasingly stubborn bit of not paying attention. Even so, there was just something about watching Karkat Vantas specifically play it that made it tolerable. It definitely wasn't just the source behind Karkat's nickname that did it for Dave. Definitely not. No, he respected Karkat's talent and passion for the game. That was it.