"It's not-- it's not weird. Mutants aren't weird." Jean objected gently. It was a common reaction from homo sapiens, and while she was positive that Tony didn't mean anything by it, it was the same kind of rhetoric that people used to justify killing mutants. "We're natural. We're born this way. Inhumans are mutates, that's right. But we're like, um, it's like how neanderthals evolved into modern people. We're another step. We have an extra gene in our chromosomes that activates at some point in our loves, releasing a unique protein that...mutates us. My friend Hank could explain it better, but you're a science guy, right?"
Jean kicked her feet out. It was weird having to explain this to somebody because everyone knew about mutants back home. Her heels thudded against the stone fountain on the backswing.
"Reading your mind is a common misconception. The reality is similar, but let me reframe the narrative. Reading is intentional. I'm a telepath, so I hear people's thoughts in their own voices. Their surface thoughts, so what they're thinking right now. Sometimes more than one train of thought if people are thinking about multiple things. And thoughts aren't exactly linear, so sometimes one person's thoughts overlap or even interrupt one another. It's like you're constantly talking and I can hear what you're saying, but it's not because I'm trying to. What I can do is probe deeper. That's the 'reading' part. I can sift through people's memories, their subconscious, even watch them like movies. But that's rude and invasive. I don't do that. But the 'hearing' part? It's not really something I can just turn off, like a lot of people think in pop culture."
Jean cast her eyes over at him, looking him up and down.
"It's okay if it makes you uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable, but that's my life and I have to cope with it or go insane. I can try and block people out. It's, um, it's kind of like shutting a door and someone's having a conversation on the other side of it? The sound is muffled, but it's still there. Or it's like when you're sitting at a restaurant and everyone is talking all around you. You can hear what people are saying, but you're not really listening. Does that make sense?"