X-Men One-Shots and Preferences

Happy Thoughts- Jean Grey

We've been getting a lot of rain where I'm living, and that one night with the thunderstorm prompted this one-shot out of me. So, for the summery, the reader's mutation amps her senses which unfortunately makes her sensitive to loud noises (such as from a thunderstorm). During a storm, the reader starts freaking out, but Jean uses her powers to help calm her down.

Some fluff. Hope you like it.

It was a nice warm day at the school; classes were done for the day so you decided to spend some time outside, just enjoying the peace and quiet. It was a little something the professor and Dr. McCoy suggested you do; a little way to help you control and keep your mutation from overwhelming you. Your mutation amplified your senses which includes sight, smell, sound, and even taste and touch. While four out of the five weren't so bad, your biggest challenge was maintaining your sense of sound; the smallest sounds, such as the clinging of metal or the spark of electricity, that weren't usually a big deal for other people could be overwhelming to you.

Anyway, part of the exercise that was recommended to you was to spend some time outside and listen to the sounds of nature; take it all in, and then focus on tuning it out. It was working for a while until you hear voices of the other students playing a game on the other side of the mansion; you were sure several of those voices were Scott's, Peter's, and Alex. You take in an exasperating deep breath and decide to head back inside. You couldn't really blame the guys, it wasn't their fault your mutation made things a little more difficult for you.

Walking heading into the lounge, you notice Jean, Jubilee, and Ororo were watching the TV. "Hey, guys," you greet, "Whatcha watching?" "The weather," Jubilee answers, "apparently there's a storm coming in...a big one." "A storm?" you look outside, feeling somewhat nervous "That can't be right, it's so nice right now." "That can change in the blink of an eye," Ororo points out, "Take that from someone whose power is to create storms." "Oh um, that's great," you slump down on the sofa, trying to process what might happen; even if you are starting to get better, you still have yet to tune out the really loud noises such as thunderstorms.

"You okay?" Jean takes a seat next to you on the sofa, having noticed your discomfort. "Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine," you try to assure the red head, "It's just...this big storm coming in it just sounds...well I'm not sure how to put it into words." "You're not scared of thunderstorms are you?" Jean asks. "What? No," you deny. "Mind reader remember?" Jean says in a way that suggests she wasn't buying it. "I'm not scared of storms," you explain, "But I haven't exactly worked out all the kinks that are associated with my mutation, and a thunderstorm is the last thing I need right now."

"Hey, I get it," Jean places a hand on your shoulder, "I still have trouble controlling my powers too." "Yeah, the memories of you shaking the mansion with just your mind is still embed in my head," you lightly joke, "Look, I know you have your own set of problems that come with your mutations, but you never have to worry about your senses getting out of control, making you highly uncomfortable on a daily basis, you never have to constantly worry that one day something will come along that make one or two or all five of your senses so overly sensitive that they become numb and you can never use them again. That's what I have to deal with." "At least your mutation doesn't scare everyone else in the school," Jean shrugs. "I never thought your powers were scary," you respond, "If anything, I think the opposite." "You'd probably be the first," Jean shrugs again. "What about the professor or Dr. McCoy?" you point out, "Or Scott or Ororo, Peter, or any of our other friends?" "Oh," Jean realizes, "Yeah, I guess they don't find me all that scary either." You laugh a little at that. "I'm sure the storm isn't going to be as bad as they're predicting, you probably have nothing to worry about."  

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Sure enough, several hours later, dark clouds started to emerge from out of nowhere. The students outside remained there even as the downpour began; it wasn't until it started to thunder and lightning did everyone retreat to the safety of the mansion.

Meanwhile, you were hiding in your dorm room, covering your ears to block out the sound; you usually kept noise cancelling headphones nearby for just this sort of situation, but this happen to be the one time you ended up misplacing them. You tried regular earplugs but that didn't exactly do much to ease your senses. 

Several rooms over, Jean was tiding up some things in her room when she felt something; it was your thoughts echoing from your room and into her mind. Your thoughts were a little difficult to decipher but they suggested you were in some sort of pain, and possibly in panic mode.
Feeling concerned, Jean walks over to your room. She contemplates knocking but decided against it, seeing that adding another loud noise to the thunder outside was the last thing you needed right now.

So Jean uses her telepathy to reach into your mind.
"(y/n)? Can you hear me?" You hear Jean's voice in your head. You turn towards the door and give a verbal yes. "Can I come in?" Jean whispers from the other side of the door, knowing you'd be able to hear that. You give another verbal yes and the young mutant enters. She finds you sitting on your bed, taking deep breaths, as if trying to calm yourself from the noises outside. "Why are you here?" you ask of her. "I could kinda hear your thoughts from the other room," Jean answers, "I wasn't reading them purposefully, but they were practically screaming." "I told you I'm not scared," you sigh, "I just...I'm just trying to focus on not letting my senses get out of hand, which a just a tad bit hard to do right now because of the weather and-"

Before you could finish, a clap of thunder reverberated across the mansion, driving your sense of sound into overdrive. You cover your hears and scream, trying to drown out the noise, but it didn't seem to do any good. Jean rushes to your side and wraps her arms around you. "Shh, shh," she tries to comfort you, "Calm down, don't be scared, it was just a little bit of thunder." "No it wasn't!" you exclaim, tears actually starting to stream down your face, "I can't keep doing this, Jean. I can't be keep living like this. I want this gone, I just want my old life back before these mutation occurred. I want to be able to see and hear things like a normal person again."

Jean wasn't sure what she could at this point; your condition was different from hers so she couldn't exactly give you any specific advice on how to control it. There was, however, something she could try out. "(y/n)?" she gets your attention as you look at up to face her, "Do you trust me?" You seemed a bit confused at first so she elaborates, "You told me earlier you didn't find my powers scary. How much do you trust me to use them?" "...I have complete faith in you...why?" you ask.

To answer your question, Jean places a hand on each temple. She closes her eyes and concentrates. At once, you began to see visions; memories of happier times. There were memories from before you came to the school, the happy times you spent with your family at home, at the local park, the time you got your first dog (you really miss the dog), the friends you had back at your old school.
You were beginning to realize Jean was taking your happy memories and using them to distract you from the noises outside the mansion. She used memories from before you were enrolled into this school and took memories from during your time here as well: the first time you met your friends, the first time you met Jean, the times you sat back in the lounge playing cards and board games with those same friends, your first training session with the professor, the first time you pulled pranks on your peers here during prank week (your personal favorites were when you super-glued Peter's shoes and Scott's glasses and the one where you used an air horn on a sleeping Kurt which made him poof to the ceiling like a cat). You also remember the first time you joined the others in a training session as one of the X-men.

With these memories swirling in your head, you began to forget everything that was happening outside; the noises that were plaguing you not too long ago were no longer a nuisance. You open your eyes for a brief moment to gaze at Jean as she focuses on bringing happy thoughts to your mind. "Thank you," you mouth; in the heat of the moment, you lean in and press your lips to Jean's. Jean's eyes open wide at this act and pulls back in surprise.

"Oh," you pull back yourself, realizing what you had initiated, "Gosh, Jean, I'm sorry," you turn away slightly, "I swear that wasn't intentional, I was just..caught in the moment." "It's fine," Jean replies, "Can't say I didn't enjoy it. I was actually...pleasantly surprised." "Oh...well I'm glad you liked it," you fight off the awkwardness, before realizing something else, "Hey you hear that?" Jean looks around, and realized it too, "It stopped. Looks like the storm is over."

You and Jean look out the window; sure enough, the sun was shining through the clouds. "Thanks for helping me through this," you address Jean, "I'm not sure I could've done this without you." "I was glad to help," Jean responds, "If you ever need my help again, just remember I'm a few doors over."

"I'll keep that in mind," you nod.