Loving Tango Hours

"I think I was in love him."

Saying the words out loud don't really feel like much. Holster's holding a solo cup of tub juice, on a balcony of an apartment that's in the heart of Providence. It's somewhere between winter and fall. It doesn't feel like anything, now.

Holster feels the Kent's eyes on the side of his head. When he turns, Kent still looks at him.

"I think I was in love with him, too." Kent says it with a sort of reverence, but his gaze is focused on Holster's. Eyes something of a color that Holster tucks back to remember.

There's a moment where nothing happens. Where the only noises is of friends and teammates and past loves singing along as the leaves change colors. Where all that exists are a bunch of people in the aftermath of something that happened and never really happened at all.

Kent smiles. And Holster smiles back.

There are exactly 7 Jack look-a-likes on campus and Holster knows each and everyone one of them

Random Holster and Ransom high five doodle that I made

Concept for an OMGCP TV/live adaptation of the Hockey Shit episodes: have it where the sequence plays out as it does in the comic, but then all the theatrics and 4th Wall Breaking are actually Holster and Ransom talking to the freshmen

For example:

There is exactly one time Jack and Holster could have canonically kissed and it was during Holster’s sophomore year and they were playing spin the bottle and Holster’s landed on Jack, and then so Holster leaned in but then Jack saw that Parse was there and made a 😒 face and Holster took that personally for the rest of his life

AU where Ransom is stuck doing a group project with a guy who's Discord profile picture is just his flexed bicep. He tells him to call him Holster. Ransom debates asking the professor for another partner.

Ransom thinks he'll have to carry the project, but ends up having a pretty fun time with the project, the both of them texting a lot. Both of their schedules are too insane to ever meet up, but they sneak in any messages they can. Even if they're not exactly about the project.

At the same time, Ransom has been fighting the same guy for his favorite study room spot in the library. It's not exactly his, but Ransom is the only one who booked it. That is, until it started being booked at all the odd hours Ransom needed it for. Ransom knows it's the same guy, spying the flash of blond hair in the room every time it's booked before he can get it.

Yes, he's staked out his competition. What about it?

All Ransom retaliates in his own way. That being getting his CS buddies to make a program to book spots as soon as they appear. So Ransom gets the satisfaction of watching the blond guy stuck outside the room as he studies. And from the stink eye he gets, he knows he's doing it right.

Holster, Ransom finds, is actually pretty funny, despite the puns and random references he doesn't always get. There's the issue of them both being unavailable at differing times, but Ransom has woken up to a mess of messages and ideas Holster texted for him to find, and Ransom does the same back. It's a fun exchange of sorts.

Meanwhile, Ransom finds himself in an increasing stakes battle between himself and "Adam" (he found the guy's econ homework on the floor of the room after he left and it was the only part legible). Adam literally bribed people to block his way. Ransom would do the same back.

At the end of the semester, when they have to prepare their presentation, Ransom and Holster finally meet-up. Or rather, they plan to. But Ransom is stuck in a stare off with Adam as they both refuse to let the other take the room.

It's almost as if they're on the same page.

Adam is loudly declaring that Ransom should just give up since his partner is "Already almost here, let me check, dude" , tapping his phone with the other hand. Ransom just glares, mouth open to say *something* he probably shouldn't when his phone dings.

Ransom looks at Adam. Holster looks at Justin.

"Well this is awkward."

AU where Holster is an audiobook narrator/audio content creator and Ransom is hooked on his latest story for more than one reason

AU where Holster’s knee injury was a little too bad and Holster goes to college close to home. He’s not on an athletic scholarship or anything, so when he learns about some opportunities to make some cash, he takes them as they come. Holster is a very loud man, and he likes playing a lot of roles just out and about, so he maybe might just fall into doing some audio books and the like. And by the like, some of it lands closer to ASMR, others land.......somewhere else.

AU where Ransom keeps meeting this same guy on the bus every morning, the same guy who wears the most ugly shirts hits his head on the exit every time. The same guy who smiles big at him, and waves a little. One time there’s no seats left except next to him, and when Ransom sits down, the guy smiles even wider

AU where Holster loses his voice at a concert the day before the cute guy on his bus sits next to him.

AU where Ransom and Holster meet on LinkedIn and have a battle over some oddly specific mention they both have in their profile bios

Jackholtz ends only in divorce, even if they don't get married

AU where Holster and Ransom meet on the comments of a deal posting website

Jack and Holster don't like each other because they both tried registering for the last spot in the same class and Jack ended up getting it purely because he was in a place with faster WiFi

"Were you ever in love with Jack?" Kent asks, absent-mindedly swirling the cup of tub juice in his hand.

Holster pauses, bottle halfway to his lips. He sets it down on the bench they're sitting on instead.

"I don't think so." Holster says to the concrete below. It's mostly the truth.

Neither of them look at the other, the cold breeze passing between them. Distantly, Holster can hear the muffled remnants of music and voices as the night goes on.

"Good," Kent says, cup to his lips, "Because it kind of sucks."

Whenever Ransom want to remind Holster of something but in a fun way he sticks a sticky note into a place Holster would see it. Holster affectionately calls them his "Ransom Notes"

OMGCP AU where Ransom makes aesthetic playlists and Holster is a hockey player who’s been listening to his playlists ever since his Junior days.

Holster is the type of person who would bully Jack about not knowing how to use the internet but also not know how to make the backgrounds of images transparent