That wasn't quite the 'thing' Tony thought was between Moira and Xavier, but he was also a little disappointed in himself that he was surprised to hear it. Did anybody else know this? Was there some reason Xavier neglected to mention it, or was it just one of those things Tony never found important enough to make room for in storage? Probably the latter. But, wait, "So you were going to start a franchise?" Not a terrible idea, surely there were a lot more mutant children than could reach or knew about the Institute, but she sure wasted a lot of time taking care of the rest of the world instead of realizing her own dreams. Just enough time, in fact, for Xavier to come asking her for help. Maybe she just wanted her school back, or maybe she needed someone to ask her before she trusted herself to presume anyone needed a hand.
Now that she was blessed with what she had been wanting, it probably wasn't such a good time for Tony to be asking her for his own brand of favours and knock her off track again. He could figure it out on his own, anyway, it would just take more time. He didn't mind, the old armors were just as effective when he needed them to be, this one could sit in the shop for a little while longer.
Whatever was going on in Tony's mind, it made him distant enough to stumble in their otherwise impressively controlled dance, which put some of the surprised onlookers at ease but made Tony stop to shake his head clear and laugh apologetically. "It's been a while since a gal had me dreaming on my feet," he excused with a rakish grin.