Mutate and mutant. Those were new, but he listened while she explained the differences between them and the eventual conclusion that no they were not related. "Huh, well that's kinda weird. So you're a mutant." He thought about what that would mean, an evolved form of humanity, but by the looks of her not vastly evolved, but there were probably all sorts of things about mutants beneath the obvious that showed their evolution. It was interesting, the sort of thing Tony would like to know more about but could you just ask someone about mutants? That felt like it was probably an off limits sort of thing, so he'd just have to keep to the observable and whatever he could get Jean to tell him.
"We don't have mutants were I'm from, at least not that I've ever heard of." Because Tony could admit there were plenty of things he'd never heard of. Like the multiverse, he'd never known that was real until Fury had explained it to them, and then of course the very real proof of that right here. And plenty of other things too. "It's mostly just humans at the Academy," He paused for a moment, "We had some aliens too, and the Inhumans, but I guess they're more - what mutates?" He wasn't sure if that was right but it seemed close at least from what he knew of them and the explanation Jean had given him
Whatever, it was weird, people came from all over and they were different. As long as they weren't out to destroy the Academy - or the world, he didn't really think it mattered all that much.
And then she basically responded to something he'd been thinking and well that was just... well beyond weird. "I mean I guess," She was probably right people weren't thinking about him as much as he thought they were, he wasn't that important to anyone here. And yeah maybe it was true but that kind of sucked too, for all the time he spent obsessing over Steve there should probably be a little bit of reciprocation there maybe. Or maybe he just needed to get his head on straight and just stop. "So you're like... reading my mind, yeah?" There that was better, less inward more outward.