#basic training

Don’t think about how military call signs are always a joke.

Don’t think about Soap swearing like a sailor during basic.

Okay okay, y'all. Imagine Jay during this.

He knew neither of his parents were gonna show up, and Will was in New York, so maybe Jay didn't even tell him about it. He didn't wanna distract from med school. But one of Jay's friends (probably Mouse, but idk if they went through basic training together or just deployment, but it also sounds like a pretty Mouse thing to do) calls Will in advance.

Jay thinks he'll just have to stand there at attention and listen as most of his fellow soldiers reunite with family until a kind person taps him out with a look of sympathy or, worse, pity. He's not looking forward to it. At all. Sure, it means he completed basic training, but it's not much more.

Will's there. He was grinding even harder at school the past week or two so he'd have less to worry about while he missed. He has enough unused absences to miss a few days. (Ngl I'm applying community college knowledge to ivy league medical school so I don't actually know the ins and out of missing a few days of classes.) But he's not gonna miss this.

He's not shocked when he's waiting there as family members of everyone else arrive, and his parents are nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t been sure if he was going to try staying with them, but he's sure it's not a good idea now. He would not keep quiet about them missing this. Hell, he'd love to go tell dad off about it anyway. But that's not what he'd want to come home from, so he's not gonna stress Jay out. See, he can, in fact, take the high road.

So once the family side of the field (or room?) is free to go tap out their loved one, Will silently makes his way over to stand in front of Jay, whose face impressively shows no indication of whether or not he can feel someone standing there, and knocks on his chest lightly. Jay's arms relax as he opens his eyes, and the default appreciative half smile he was gonna give a stranger only appears as a flicker before excited shock takes over.