Pepper looked down at the impossibly tiny kitten as Tony held it against him, shifting his hold to best adjust for the creature's squirming and moving about. Those wide, blue eyes peered up at her from beneath the snow white fur...and Pepper found herself completely rendered speechless at the sight. She always would have pegged Tony to have been more of a dog person. And not some little, "cute" dog either...but a large, powerful sort of animal that she could probably ride if she so chose. That was the kind of pet she always thought might find its way into Tony's house. An extension of himself in animal form.
But...this tiny little kitten?
Pepper shook her head in wonder as she watched the little creature paw curiously against the soft, blue glow of Tony's arc reactor. The way he cradled it so delicately in his strong arms...those hands that could crush the thing if applied with too much pressure, petting its head with such warm tenderness...it made for such a sweet, domestic sort of picture.
Despite herself, Pepper could feel a smile spreading across her face.
"You can barely manage to take care of yourself, Mr. Stark," she smirked, reaching out to touch one finger against the tiny head, making the kitten jerk with surprise that caused her to laugh. "How do you think you're going to manage to take care of a kitten?"
Salt...? He'd named her Salt?
Pepper glanced up at Tony when he called the creature by name, but he was too enamored with his new pet. She watched as he set the thing down and it bounced around his feet in a little pouncing manner.
"Oh, actually, Im kind of busy right now. Jarvis just found an old documentation of an ancient..."
But Tony wasn't listening. He'd told to take a break, and he meant it as a boss giving an order to his employee. She watched as the animal....as Salt...bounded after him, pausing only long enough to look back at her with that little squeak of a sound it made before turning back around to follow at his heels.
...and with a sigh, Pepper found herself following after the two of them, reaching a hand back to rub at her aching neck muscles.
Perhaps a break might be nice for just a little while.