"Have some ice cream. It's about to melt. The kitchen made this dessert especially because you were coming. You're young and still a student, so I thought you might like it."
James picked up a serving of ice cream topped with premium black truffles and began eating, suggesting Emma try some.
Miss Emma Frost, who was usually so confident and in control, mechanically picked up the other serving of ice cream and silently put it in her mouth.
The chill cleared her head a little. She silently savored the sweet but not cloying flavor, with the rich aftertaste of black truffles, and considered how to continue the conversation.
James didn't rush to speak either. He gazed through the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows at Erik, his mother Edith, and Mrs. Sarah, Steve's mother, tending to the flowers. The scene seemed more captivating to him than the beautiful, extraordinary young woman across from him.
"Mr. Howlett, what are we?"
James nodded, then shook his head with a smile. He looked at Emma, his gaze gentle, though not at ease.
"Just call me James. What's interesting is that you and Erik have both asked me the same question."
Neither of them bothered with obvious questions like, "So you're extraordinary too. You must already know Erik's secret." Emma was a clever girl, and conversations with clever people were much simpler.
"We're humans with special talents. Evolution and genetic mutation are what cause these changes, but I don't think that makes us superior to others. Of course, there's no reason to feel inferior either."
James scraped the last of the ice cream from the little crystal bowl.
"You must have a fine talent. You're so young, yet you've already mastered and learned to control your telepathy. Did you figure it out entirely on your own?"