.
.
"Too furry."
Pepper rolls her eyes at Tony and crouches down to get a better look at the puppy.
"He's adorable, look at him! Hey, buddy, hi there." She pets at the bit of fur she can reach through the cage. The puppy, a muted mutt of browns and reds, shifts slightly, but otherwise gives no sign of interest in her.
"See?" Tony says, with only slight superiority, which for him is quite the feat. "He doesn't even like us."
"That has nothing to do with his furriness," Pepper points out, but she stands back up anyway.
Tony's wearing sunglasses, but she still knows his eyes are glinting with amusement. She scowls at him ineffectively even as he wraps an arm around her waist.
It's funny how someone who spends that much time literally in the clouds can make her feel so grounded.
And yet.
Lost in her thoughts, she misses Tony stepping away, and only comes back when she hears her name.
"Pep? Pep, look! This one, I want this one."
Pepper walks over to the far side of the pound and crouches down next to Tony.
The puppy is tiny, beyond tiny even. Surely, the runt of the litter. He's ink black and shivering, and honestly looks like he might not make it through the week. His wide eyes are looking up at them with a mixture of fear and curiosity, and if she's not mistaken, a defiant sort of intelligence.
She sighs. Of course this would be the one Tony wants.
"I already have one of you," she says, giving Tony a fond glare.
He just grins at her and whips off his sunglasses, sticking them in his pocket.
"Don't give me the eyes, Tony," Pepper warns, "You know they don't work on me!"
"Not alone," Tony says, popping open the dog's cage before she can stop him.
"Tony!" she says, torn between laughter and scolding. She doesn't even ask how he opened the locked cage.
"No respect for property," she says, instead, giving in to her protesting legs and seating herself on the floor more comfortably.
Tony follows suit, bringing the quivering puppy up to his chest and tucking it under his chin.
"I'll buy the pound, whatever," he says, waving his free hand, unconcerned.
Pepper takes a moment to smile at that. Selfish as his reasons might be, Tony's money could help a lot of animals in this place.
"Come on, Pep," he says, "Look at her, she wants us."
A girl, Pepper notes, absently. She hadn't realized.
She looks at them both; the man she loves against reason and the tiny mess of fur.
Both with wide, chocolate eyes, looking at her with hope.
Tony knows she's given in before she even speaks, and he grins in triumph.
"Alright! You hear that, puppy, you're coming home with us. You're gonna love it, let me tell you. Milkbones as far as the eye can see!"
The puppy yips happily, and Pepper laughs.
"Come on, then," she says, standing, "We have paperwork to fill out before we can bring her home."
.
The paperwork takes a few hours, as Tony really does buy the place. The owner is dumbstruck when he's offered three times what it's worth, but takes the offer on the condition that nobody loses their job. Tony, always eager to not have to train people, accepts.
.
"She'll need a real name, you know," Pepper says, as they walk to the car.
Tony thinks for a moment, before shrugging and cuddling the puppy closer.
"Nope. I like Puppy. Puppy works."
"Hey, Boss," Happy says, as they reach the car.
"Happy," Pepper and Tony reply in unison.
"I'm the boss, remember?" Pepper reminds him, teasingly.
"Vague mental breakdown, sudden transfer of power... any of that ringing a bell?"
"Hmm," Tony replies, "I think I was pretty concussed for a while after that. There was a mite of trouble, if you don't recall."
"I recall," she says, swatting him in the arm, as they settle into the car.
"I seem to remember quite a bit after that," Tony says, dropping his voice to just above a whisper. "Something involving you and me, and my jacuzzi. If you recall..."
Happy coughs from his place in the driver's seat, and Pepper's cheeks go red, even as she's trying not to smile.
"There," Tony says, moving to kiss behind her ear, where he knows drives her crazy. "You look good all flushed."
Before Pepper can reply, the puppy barks, no doubt confused by the sudden movement of the car.
They laugh, and the moment is broken, but it's ok. Pepper reminds herself they have no shortage of moments, now that they've stopped dancing around each other.
"It's alright, girl," Pepper soothes, reaching over the scratch the puppy's head gently.
The puppy takes the moment to leap from Tony's lap and scamper onto hers, taking Pepper by surprise. But she scoops her into her lap, anyway, amazed at how her hands can almost completely cover her.
"Five minutes," Tony says, shaking his head, "Five minutes and she's abandoned me! Women."
Pepper just rolls her eyes again and leans into Tony, nudging him until he wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"Women," Tony repeats, with mock horror, "Taking over my life. How does that happen, Happy?"
Happy, smart man that he is, says nothing.
"You love it," Pepper replies, turning her head to kiss him quiet for even a moment.
"You..." Tony says, expression softening into what she calls "her" Tony. Not Stark, not Iron Man, just Tony.
"I, what?" she asks, leaning her head back on his shoulder.
"No," Tony says, "Not you. Well, yes, you, but...You. That I... it's not "it," it's "you.""
"You've lost me, genius," Pepper says, closing her eyes and enjoying the warm sun on her face.
Tony clears his throat and is quiet for a moment before responding.
"That I love," he says, finally.
Pepper's eyes pop open in genuine surprise.
"Oh," she says.
It's not like he's never said it before, but every time it feels new. Like every time is more important, somehow more truthful.
"It's you, too," she replies, quietly, curling into Tony closer as he plays with her hair.
.
They rest in comfortable silence until they're almost home, when the puppy yips again as the car slows down.
"She still needs a real name," Pepper points out, "She won't be a puppy forever."
Tony is unconcerned.
"Then it'll be ironic, she'll be a hipster dog. We'll get her a scarf. It'll be great."
Pepper pauses, taking in all that's wrong with that statement, before deciding on her response.
"I'm not sure that's ironic as much as just...wrong," she says, finally.
"Shh," Tony says, covering Puppy's ears for a moment until he's sure Pepper is done.
"Don't listen to her, Puppy. You be whoever you want. And however hipster you want. I can make you some of those wood-frame glasses, how would you like that? No prescription, of course, unless you need one.. hey, Pep? Are there dog optometrists? Maybe we should hire one."
"Oh, Tony," Pepper sighs, but she can't help the grin on her face.
"Mama doesn't know what to do with us," Tony says to Puppy. "But that's ok, she loves us anyway."
Pepper shakes her head in amused resignation. Because it's true.
.
.
The End.