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Ever since that first night he'd had them all over, Jet's apartment had been open to all of his friends as a place to crash any night they wanted. For all he knew, Sam might be by soon enough to do just that, no better time to get a good night's rest like the night before the arena start, but on the off chance he didn't, Jet made his way to Sam's suite on District 5's floor.

One hand wrapped around the object in his pocket, he used his other hand to give the door a quick knock. If Sam wasn't in...well, maybe he'd tuck it under the door and hope his friend got it.

"Yo...anyone home?"

Sam's been using that more often than not, when he isn't with Clint or Bucky. He isn't on anywhere near as shakey ground as he'd been on when they first found out about Steve, or the first few weeks after, but he still prefers not to be alone at night.

It didn't take him long that it helped him sleep better, and if it's something his friends are willing to give him, he'd be stupid not to take it. They're all going to need their sleep, especially tonight. Especially when Sam can't stop thinking about the arena tomorrow, about whether Steve's gonna show up or not, what shape he might be in, what it means if he doesn't-

Well, not being alone tonight is definitely going to be a good thing. So he's only making a pit stop in his room before he seeks company elsewhere, but he's there for Jet's knock.

"Hey man," he says, giving him a smile that's mostly genuine as he opens the door. "What's up?"

Jet gives a smile back and leans against the doorframe with his hands still shoved into his pockets. He didn't mean to linger long.

"Hey, didn't know if you were coming over tonight, so I decided to drop by. There's...um...something I wanted to give you."

He looked away and all the way down to the floor which was currently being abused by the toe of Jet's shoe as he worked past the self-conscious embarrassment to get to the point.

"I saw you didn't have your token anymore and I thought...damn."

His words weren't working for him and his tongue was tripping over itself to say words that weren't there. He gave a chagrined smile before finally standing up straight and deciding to just be direct. Actions were easier than words.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and one of them held a chain. Carefully, Jet slipped the thin chain around Sam's neck then quickly stuck his hands back into his pockets like they were retreating. There, hanging from the chain against Sam's neck was a small pendant of a jet plane.

"It's..dumb, but take that, alright? Until you can get your old one back. If you want, anyway, don't worry about it if it's not your style or whatever."

He'd been about to confirm that he was planning on coming over, but he holds back when Jet says he has something to give him. His eyebrows raise a little, and he does his best to hide the vague, affectionate amusement at Jet's sheepishness. He's guessing that means Jet's about to do something that actually means a lot to him but he's kind of worried that Sam might think it's dumb, and he's considering making some kind of joke meant to reassure him.

Right up until Jet goes for it, and slides the necklace around his neck.

For a moment, Sam looks down at the jet pendant in surprise, reaching up to run his fingers over it. Then his face cracks into a wide smile, and he grabs a handful of Jet's shirt to yank him into a hug.

"Thank you," he murmurs.

It's a hell of a lot better token than the one he'd tried to replace his old one with, the one that was nothing more than a shadow of the pin now in Albert's possession. The necklace actually means something, will be something for him to hold onto, and Sam knows he needs something like that in the arena. Most people do, he thinks, which makes something else occur to him.

When he pulls back, his brows are furrowed. "Do you have something else to bring? If you don't, I, uh. I got something for you, if you want."

It's spur of the moment, yeah, but now that he has the idea, he kind of likes it.

He returns the hug readily, pleased Sam hadn't thought it was stupid or something. The opposite, in fact, if Jet was hearing his tone right. It put a warmth in his chest.

When Sam pulls away and stumbles a bit over his own offer, it spurs a grin onto Jet's face. He had his wedding ring, but he knew for a fact his stylist had been one of those creepy-level fans of his and Albert's relationship, if he asked her to help him sneak in the ring on top of something else, she'd do it. Plus, he was very curious about this mystery item.

"What is it?"

Definitely the opposite. It's a better idea than anything Sam'd come up with.

He offers Jet a slightly sheepish grin as he takes a step back into his room, heading over to his nightstand. Sam still carries the challenge coins with him, most of the time, out of habit and sentiment, but when he doesn't, they're tucked away in one of its drawers. He bypasses the pararescue coin and instead goes for his EXO-7 coin, silver and blue, with the Air Force logo on one side and a pair of metallic wings on the other.

It's only after he offers Jet his hand to shake, the coin cupped in his palm, that he wonders if the Jet's version of the military has a similiar tradition. Well, if Jet starts looking confused, he figures he can always explain.

Jet gives Sam's hand a slightly confused look but takes it nonetheless. When he feels the coin his confusion only grows and he pulls it back to look it over. It takes a moment, but then Jet's face lights up and he grins at Sam.

"Is this a challenge coin? You've still got yours?" He looked over both sides, his thumb running across the metallic wings. Obviously, it was Air Force, but he didn't recognize the other half. "What division is this? Not pararescue." Unless It was, nothing said their world's coins had to look the same.

As soon as Jet's face lights up, Sam's brightens in response.

"Yeah, man, I had 'em on me when I got picked up. Not sure if they're replicas or not, but if they are, they're real damn good ones." It's easier not to question it too much, not when he's got a ton of other things to be concerned over.

"That one's for the EXO-7 project. I got it after my first successful mission with my wings."

"EXO-7." He repeated it, still not entirely getting it until that and 'wings' hooked up. Then his eyes went wide and he held his hand back out, the coin in his palm.

"No way, Sam, that's gotta be way too important to you. I can't take something like that."

Maybe he was wrong, but to Jet it seemed like a memory, a piece of that time and feeling that Sam had lost, something immensely personal.

But, then again, so was that necklace. Maybe the way he'd gotten it had been dumb, but there was a strong memory attached to it. It was a piece of Jet that held Albert too.

Sam yanks his hands back when Jet starts trying to hand him the coin, tucking them into his pockets so there’s no way Jet can give it back.

“Yeah, well. You are, too.” And then he makes a face at himself, because yeah, that was pretty sappy. He means it, though, so he doesn’t take it back.

“I want you to have it, even if you don’t use it as your token.” He likes the idea of it in Jet’s hands better than his right now, and it’s not like it doesn’t fit. Jet’s the only one who also gets what flying is really like.

Jet made a face too, he laughed even as his face heated up from the comment. "You're a goddamn sap, you know that?" He looked away and his fingers curled over the coin gently. "But you're important too, so I guess I'll just take care of it for you."

His own hands stuck into his pockets where he deposited the coin. He'd find a way to get it into the arena with him. He looked up.

"Thanks...that means a lot."

He grins a little at Jet's laugh. "Been accused of that, yeah," he replies, smile turning fond when Jet returns the comment about being important. "You'll learn to get used to it."

Sam trusts Jet to look after it for him, even as big of a piece of him as it is. "Yeah, man. You too." He clears his throat slightly. "Can I walk you back to your room? I owe you for the escort back in the space arena."

Yeah, he hasn't forgotten Jet offering to walk him home.

"Jerk." He didn't know if Sam was trying to make fun of him, but it sure felt that way, not that it made his smile dampen at all.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not headed that way just yet, need a little fresh air before I turn in. Door's open for you if you want to go on ahead and make it cozy for me, though."

Sam flashes a bright smile at him, entirely unapologetic. He'd been teasing, but yeah, he was a little bit of a jerk, he'll admit it.

He would have absolutely walked Jet back to his room if he was headed that way, offered his arm and everything.

"Yeah, man, you got it. I'll meet you there."

Jet flashed him a wide smile and gave a half-assed salute before turning away to head back downstairs.

"See you later."

IC Contact

Action | The evening before Arena 14

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