Jesus, here it is: my first Homestuck fanfiction. I really thought my first was going to be Erisol, but I guess not. This is pre-slash, with a slashy sequel coming later, and it's part of a 'verse that I'm going to be writing (as a multi-chapter fic) with predominantly Erisol but a butt-load of other pairings as well (slash, femslash, and het ships, so should be a lot of fun).

Thanks to Soso for beta-ing most of this. Honk honk.

Updated 15 DEC 12 for slight dialogue edit.

17 DEC 12: Guys, I already edited Gamzee's dialogue three times. I'm not doing it again (unless someone gives me a VERY good reason). Thanks in advance.

"You shouldn't let Vriska make you all up an' get your feel bad on. She's not a nice person." The taller boy cupped Tavros's face in his hands and peered into his eyes with a small smile. "She's really motherfuckin' mean, you know?"

Tavros looked down for a moment at the carpet they were sitting on, cross-legged and facing each other. "But, uh, what about Karkat?" he asked finally. "He says mean stuff to you all the time."

Gamzee's grin widened. "That motherfucker? Nah, he's harmless. He doesn't mean what he says. Besides, no matter what he says to me, he's my best friend an' he acts like it when shit gets bad. He acts hard an' tough on the outside, but on the inside, he's really motherfuckin' squishy. He just has to make up for his height by bein' really loud an' annoyin'." Gamzee pushed back a lock of Tavros's growing-out Mohawk to meet the smaller boy's brown-eyed gaze. "But Vriska, man? She'll do the exact opposite. She'll act all nice an' sweet just to take advantage of you but you know she doesn't give a motherfuck about you."

Tavros nodded slowly. "I, um… I guess you're right," he stuttered out. He let his fingertips trail over Gamzee's wrist for a moment. "But still. I really thought she was my friend."

"That's the thing. A friend won't all up an' tease you like that about somethin' you motherfuckin' like."

"But Karkat makes fun of you for liking Faygo, doesn't he?"

Gamzee shrugged. "Yeah, but that's because he doesn't like it, not because he all up an' thinks I'm lame for likin' it. If I asked him to, he'd stop. You asked Vriska to stop teasin' you, right?"

"R-right."

"An' she didn't all up an' get her motherfuckin' stop on." Gamzee gently tweaked at Tavros's septum piercing, causing the smaller boy to smile a bit, before lightly tugging Tavros into his lap. The smaller boy rested his head back against Gamzee's shoulder and turned his face into his neck, enjoying the warmth of his arms sliding around him.

Even though Gamzee was six feet tall, a foot taller than Tavros, everything he did was gentle and careful, and no matter what he might say, Tavros knew Gamz was a very unique person, quite different than the rest of their bundle of offbeats. Who else but Gamzee Makara could take all of Karkat's verbal abuse (as well as harassment from nearly everyone else, same Tavros himself, Nepeta, and Jade) with a smile, let it just roll off like rain on a tin roof, not allowing it to affect him? No one else would put up with that treatment (except maybe Tavros, but he didn't like admitting that, even to himself), and certainly no one would just grin while they were being insulted. Somehow, Gamzee had the ability simultaneously not to give a single fuck and give all the fucks, at least about his friends.

The taller boy's hands running through the holes in his shirt, into the ripped-open sleeves, traced soothing patterns against Tavros's skin, and he melted into Gamzee. It was nice to just sit in his lap and be held for awhile. He knew just how to calm Tavros down, and even though it wasn't often the smaller boy got worked up into genuine anger (in fact, it was incredibly rarely), he needed comforting quite a bit. He was lucky that Gamz was always ready to entertain him for however long he needed.

He'd actually grown to rely on the taller boy's presence over the past few months. He would still spend much of his free time with Jade Crocker, who was his best friend after all, but sometimes he just felt like hanging out with Gamzee, enjoying the way the taller boy would play with his hair and try to make him smile, that perpetual grin seemingly never leaving his face as he poked and tickled and joked. Tavros had started to get the feeling that maybe Gamzee liked him (not that he really understood why), thought he was cute or whatever, but he never said anything to that effect. It was mostly in the way he comforted him, looking at him like he was the most important thing in the world, making sure he didn't fall asleep feeling awful about himself. Gamzee definitely cared about him, but whether it was because he wasn't sure Tavros would reciprocate or he didn't want him to feel pressured or whatever, Tavros didn't know.

And honestly, he didn't quite know how he felt about Gamzee, but he knew he liked spending time with him and being comforted by him and sometimes he would catch himself looking a bit too long at his eyes, which were such an unusual shade of blue, they were almost purple. They were really quite pretty, but if Gamzee ever noticed the looks, he never said anything.

"You okay, brother?" he heard Gamzee's deep rumble of a voice ask, and Tavros nodded against his neck before leaning back to meet his gaze again.

"Good," Gamzee said, and he still wore that serene, blissful grin of his. "Now can I get a motherfuckin' smile?"

Tavros smiled more in response to his lightly teasing tone than his actual request, but Gamzee's grin widened and then Tavros couldn't help it anymore. The grin that split Gamzee's face was so genuine and unforced, so different than his, that it was infectious and he realized his cheeks hurt from how wide he was smiling. "Um… Why are you doing all this, Gamz? Uh, I mean, it can't be fun trying to cheer me up every day…" As he spoke, the smile slipped off his face. The taller boy was still looking at him with a small grin, but it was sad now.

"Oh. You don't know, brother?" Gamzee almost looked stunned, but it was difficult to read his expression clearly. When he wasn't grinning, he had a way of being able to mask his emotions.

Tavros bit his lip and shook his head. "Uh, no, I guess not," he mumbled, looking down and feeling like an idiot.

But Gamzee lifted his head with one hand and brushed the fingers of his other hand through Tavros's hair. "It's 'cause I like you, man. You got the self-confidence of an ant, but I like you. I like seein' you all up an' get your joy face on. It's a motherfuckin' miracle every time you smile, brother." He rested his forehead against Tavros's, who suddenly realized it was getting hard to breathe but he couldn't bring himself to care. Gamzee really did like him, but he just had to make sure he understood him correctly.

"Uh… you, uh, like me, uh, like…" He swallowed. "Like Karkat, or, uh…" He let his voice trail off as he mentally fumbled for a comparison, but Gamzee somehow knew what he was trying to ask and laughed.

"No, brother. Like Eridan likes that motherfuckin' scarf of his. Except I don't think he wants to get his mack on with it," he added with another laugh.

Tavros laughed at that mental image as well before he realized what exactly Gamzee meant. "Uh, you want to make out with me?"

"Yeah, motherfucker." Gamzee grinned, his matter-of-fact tone throwing Tavros off slightly. "I like you, you know? I don't know, brother, I thought it was obvious." He shrugged, but his grin stayed firmly in place. "I've had my like on you for awhile, brother."

"Uh, I thought maybe, but I wasn't sure," Tavros said softly.

"We don't gotta get our talk on about this now, brother. We don't gotta get our talk on about this again if you don't want to. I just figured, a motherfucker's gotta know when another motherfucker likes him, right? So at least you know now."

"But, uh, I think, uh, I like you, too," Tavros said hesitantly, biting on his lip for a moment. "Uh, so now what?"

Gamz kept on grinning. "Now we do whatever the motherfuck we want. I can just keep holdin' you if you want. It's up to you."

"Oh." Tavros swallowed. "Uh, well, uh… maybe one kiss," he said tentatively. After all, he was pretty sure he liked Gamzee, even if he hadn't entertained the notion much.

"Like I said, it's up to you," Gamzee said simply. "I don't wanna make you do somethin' you don't motherf—"

Tavros startled them both by silencing him with an abrupt kiss. Their noses smacked together and tugged at the hoop through his septum, but he tilted his head to get in a proper kiss. The way Gamzee's arms tightened around him, sending warm sparks dancing up his spine, and the way the taller boy parted his lips just right made Tavros suddenly absolutely sure he liked this, liked kissing Gamzee, liked being with Gamzee. This was nice. This was sweet. This was right.

He finally pulled back, and Gamzee was still smiling. "Uh, I hope that was okay…"

"Tavvy, you're more than okay, brother." He tweaked Tavros's nose again, and Tavros let out a giggle.