hey it’s all cool i’m just gonna lie down and cry

jexnmcrexu:

I have this headcanon that for the first few years after getting out of Evermore, Jean kept constant track of time in his head, since it was almost impossible to keep track of it with the Ravens. It was a coping mechanism to be able to feel in control. He was able to tell how much time had happened between one moment and the other, and he did it so often it became almost unconscious.

Example:

“Hey Jean?”

“Yes?”

“How long since I put the pie in the oven?”

“15 minutes and 34 seconds to the moment you asked.”

“Thanks pal”

Or, in an angstier setting:

He knows it takes 5 hours, 5 minutes and 15 seconds for his body to stop aching at night the moment some random athlete walks out of his room. He knows it usually takes 2 hours, 1 minute and 22 seconds after that for it to start aching again.

He knows it took Renee 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds to get to him after Riko lost it when he heard of Kengo’s death. He knows that, if she had arrived 10 minutes, 3 seconds later, he would have died.

But it gets better when he joins the Trojans, and he keeps track of time less and less, until one day Jeremy says, “How long has the dog been lying on our bed, Jean?” and Jean replies “I don’t know, a couple of minutes maybe,” and Jeremy just stops and stares at him. When Jean looks at him, he has the heels of his hands digging into his eyes, and Jean is extremely confused for a moment, until he realizes and he says “oh,” and lets Jeremy hug the air out of him.