rodrikstark's headcanons (part 1)

f. adler + first time adopting a pet

frank watches as mary clumsily coaxes her new friend to sit still by the doorframe.

he's never seen his niece possess so much patience in her entire life. she nudges his butt, trying to scooch him to the left. fred meows in confusion and steps too far for her liking.

instead of harrumphing, she uses her little arm to gently cage him back in, determined to try again.

once satisfied, she uses her pencil to draw a notch on the wall right between the cat's ears.

"that thing isn't gonna grow that much bigger, mary."

she and roberta had found this disgusting, one-eyed kitten in a trash can somewhere down the road and brought it into the house. mary begged to keep it, insisting that roberta didn't care if they had a pet.

frank had narrowed his eyes at his neighbor, who just shrugged, like she couldn't help but do whatever made mary happy.

he wasn't much of a fan of cats to begin with, but mary's endless crying had at least convinced him to drive it to the shelter. for what, he wasn't sure. maybe they could wash the thing, determine if it was safe to keep around a kid.

mary kneels on the floor and concentrates on making the line darker. "she said he can't grow another eye, but he's gonna get taller."

frank thinks back to you, the only worker at the shelter who hadn't hesitated to sit cross-legged on the floor so you could be at mary's height.

"it's a big responsibility to take care of a cat, y'know." for just a moment, your eyes had flickered to frank, probably trying to suss out if he seemed like a competent cat owner, too.

mary nodded, her bottom lip trembling and her voice squeaky. "is it harder with a monocular cat?"

a pretty, surprised laugh had left your lips. "no, i don't think so."

about an hour later, you stood behind the main desk, watching frank fill out some forms, a cheek braced on your fist. "monocular is a big word for like, a four year old."

he barely chuckled, head still downturned. "she just turned three."

your eyebrows raised. "wow, she seems smart." behind frank's shoulder, you admired mary, who was dangling a toy in front of her new pet, giggling at the funny way he spun in tight circles. "but she's more caring, than anything else." she caught your eye, and waved at you with a toothy grin. "i can tell."

that got frank to look up from the paperwork, blinking slowly at you. "yeah." he let a small, heartfelt smile finally grace his grumpy features. "that's mary."